At least 200 million girls and women alive today have been subjected to female genital mutilation, based on the latest available data from 31 countries, where the practice is concentrated. The practice of female genital mutilation has proved remarkably tenacious, despite efforts spanning nearly a century to eliminate it. However, the profound effects of the COVID-19 pandemic are threatening this progress, with up to 10 million additional girls at risk of child marriage in the next decade because of the pandemic. Globally, the prevalence of child marriage has declined by about 10 per cent in the past five years. Child marriage is most common in sub-Saharan Africa, a region where progress has been modest, followed by South Asia, which has achieved greater declines. One in five young women worldwide (19 per cent) were married in childhood in 2021. Only less than 10 per cent of eligible data on intimate partner violence capture the prevalence of this form of violence against women aged 50 years or over. Data on violence experienced by older women, including on specific forms such as being restrained, being ostracized or neglected, are urgently needed but remain largely unavailable. In 2018, globally, over 1 in 4 (26 per cent) ever-partnered women aged 15 years or over, or a total of 641 million women, have been subjected to physical and/or sexual violence by a husband or intimate partner at least once in their lifetime. Violence against women and girls is prevalent across countries and affects women of all ages. Although over 90 per cent mandate non-discrimination based on gender in employment, almost half continued to restrict women from working in certain jobs or industries and almost one quarter of countries did not grant women equal rights with men to enter marriage and initiate divorce. Based on 2020 data from 95 countries and territories, more than half lacked quotas for women in the national parliament while 83 per cent included budgetary commitments to implement legislation addressing violence against women, 63 per cent continued to lack laws defining rape based on the principle of consent. Efforts must be strengthened to ensure that laws, policies, budgets and institutions advance gender equality.ĭiscriminatory laws and legal gaps continue to prevent women from enjoying their human rights. Furthermore, many countries do not have comprehensive systems for tracking budgets for gender equality, limiting the allocation of public resources for implementation of laws and policies. Moreover, despite women's effective and inclusive leadership in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic, they are excluded from decision-making positions. Women's health services faced major disruptions and undermined women's sexual and reproductive health. Over 100 million women aged 25-54 years with small children at home were out of the workforce globally in 2020, including the more than 2 million who left the labour force owing to the increased pressures of unpaid care work. Women and girls remain disproportionately affected, struggling with lost jobs and livelihoods, derailed education, increased burdens of unpaid care work and domestic violence. The world is not on track to achieve gender equality by 2030 and has been pushed further off track by the socioeconomic fallout of the pandemic.
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