From expertise to influence: Shaping gender equal laws

During the legislative amendment process, we, together with partners, provided the authorities in Uzbekistan with recommendations on the introduction and formulation of articles addressing violence against women and sexual violence. Many of these suggestions were incorporated into the newly adopted legislation to protect women and children from violence, which significantly strengthened protections for women and girls. In 2024, this law was included as one of the important reforms for Uzbekistan to be recognized by the World Bank as one of the top five global improvers in gender equality. In a country where civil society voices have historically been marginalized, the government’s active engagement with our network of civil society organizations in Uzbekistan represented real progress in terms of civic involvement in the legislative process.

Progress was also achieved during 2024 in neighboring Kyrgyzstan.  We worked with our partners to build constructive relationships with legislators and policymakers following a positive response to our earlier report on sexual violence against women and girls with disabilities in Kyrgyzstan. An amendment to the Law on Protection from Domestic, Sexual, and Gender-Based Violence included specific protections for persons with disabilities.

In Kenya, trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation is one of the most common forms of human trafficking, yet the rate of prosecution for this type of crime remains low. In 2024, Equality Now partnered with the International Association of Women Judges (IAWJ Kenya Chapter) to support the effective implementation of anti-trafficking laws and to ensure that perpetrators are held to account, through the joint publication of The Kenya Judicial Bench Book on Trafficking for Sexual Exploitation. Designed specifically for officers in the Kenyan Judicial System but also drawing jurisprudence from comparable jurisdictions around the world, this comprehensive guide is now being used to facilitate the adjudication of cases of trafficking in persons for sexual exploitation and improve access to justice for women and girls across Kenya.

Amending violence laws in Kyrgyzstan: In August, Kyrgyzstan adopted the Amendment to Legislative Acts for Protection from Domestic, Sexual, and Gender-Based Violence. 

As a founding member of the Alliance for Universal Digital Rights (AUDRi), Equality Now has been at the forefront of global efforts to promote digital equality and to shape national and international initiatives against new forms of technology-facilitated gender-based violence (TFGBV), such as image-based sexual abuse, technology-enabled sex trafficking, deep-fake imagery, and cyberstalking. In 2024, our work in this area contributed to the successful adoption by the UN of a Global Digital Compact (GDC) – a set of shared principles aimed to guide global digital governance and cooperation and regulations that uphold digital rights and reduce digital harms, thus establishing the foundations for a safer, fairer digital space for women and girls.

Removing barriers to justice in Georgia: In February 2024, Georgia amended its Criminal Procedure Code to remove discriminatory provisions that had previously prevented persons with disabilities from testifying as witnesses in their own cases. This change is a significant step toward ensuring equal access to justice, particularly for the estimated 198,000 women and girls with disabilities in Georgia, who face heightened risks of sexual violence and other forms of abuse.