Driving reform through advocacy

The US is one of the few UN Member States and the only democracy in the world that does not explicitly guarantee gender equality in its constitution. The Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) was proposed 100 years ago and ratified by the required number of states in 2020, but the efforts for its recognition and incorporation have become increasingly politicized, leaving women’s rights, health, safety, and economic status in a constant state of risk. In recent years, we have highlighted the importance of constitutional inequality in the US, to support national and grassroots allies, including the ERA Coalition and the American Bar Association, to effectively advocate for universal recognition of the ERA, and to support the call for implementation of the UN’s 2023 recommendations to the US on this issue at the White House Domestic Policy Council. In 2024, in recognition of our significant contributions to the wider ERA movement, we became a founding member of the ERA Coalition’s National Strategy Task Force.

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.

Our work on CEFM (Child, Early and Forced Marriage), including our publication in 2024 of a report, Breaking Barriers: Addressing  CEFM in Eurasia, has led to increased discussion of this issue at local, regional, and global levels.

We also achieved significant legal progress as a result of our existing child marriage campaigns during 2024, including in Colombia, where the closure of a legal loophole permitting children to be married off under certain circumstances finally brought the country’s laws in line with international standards, as well as in the US, where our persistent joint advocacy with partners resulted in three more US states (Washington State, Virginia, and New Hampshire) enacting legislation to set the legal age of marriage at 18 years old without exception.

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

In 2024, in response to a motion brought before the National Assembly of The Gambia to repeal anti-FGM provisions in its laws, we joined with local civil society organizations, UN agencies, survivors, and activists in a successful campaign to protect the country’s anti-FGM laws. Following the defeat of this motion, Equality Now convened this campaign coalition and its allied stakeholders to look back at why and how the law was challenged, and to strategize on how best to champion its future protection. With pushback on the country’s anti-FGM laws having since shifted from Parliament to the courts, (through a legal challenge to the law filed before the Gambian Supreme Court) this important mission also served a critical secondary purpose: to support the mobilization of a formidable legal force to respond to the imminent threat to the law.

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.