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	Sustainable Development Goal 5: Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls by UN Women, agencies   Gender equality and women''s empowerment Sustainable Development Goal 5 Targets   5.1   End all forms of discrimination against all women and girls everywhere   5.2   Eliminate all forms of violence against all women and girls in the public and private spheres, including trafficking and sexual and other types of exploitation   5.3   Eliminate all harmful practices, such as child, early and forced marriage and female genital mutilation   5.4   Recognize and value unpaid care and domestic work through the provision of public services, infrastructure and social protection policies and the promotion of shared responsibility within the household and the family as nationally appropriate   5.5   Ensure women’s full and effective participation and equal opportunities for leadership at all levels of decision-making in political, economic and public life   5.6   Ensure universal access to sexual and reproductive health and reproductive rights as agreed in accordance with the Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development and the Beijing Platform for Action and the outcome documents of their review conferences   5.a   Undertake reforms to give women equal rights to economic resources, as well as access to ownership and control over land and other forms of property, financial services, inheritance and natural resources, in accordance with national laws   5.b   Enhance the use of enabling technology, in particular information and communications technology, to promote the empowerment of women   5.c   Adopt and strengthen sound policies and enforceable legislation for the promotion of gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls at all levels   Progress of goal 5   Gender equality and women’s empowerment have advanced in recent decades. Girls’ access to education has improved, the rate of child marriage declined and progress was made in the area of sexual and reproductive health and reproductive rights, including fewer maternal deaths.   Nevertheless, gender equality remains a persistent challenge for countries worldwide and the lack of such equality is a major obstacle to sustainable development.   Assuring women’s rights through legal frameworks is a first step in addressing discrimination against them.   As of 2014, 143 countries guaranteed equality between men and women in their constitutions; another 52 countries have yet to make this important commitment.   In 132 countries, the statutory legal age of marriage is equal for women and men, while in another 63 countries, the legal age of marriage is lower for women than for men.   Violence against women and girls violates their human rights and hinders development. Most such violence is perpetrated by intimate partners, with available data from surveys conducted between 2005 and 2015, in 52 countries, (including only one country from the developed regions) indicating that 21 per cent of girls and women aged between 15 and 49 experienced physical and/or sexual violence at the hands of an intimate partner in the previous 12 months.   Estimates on the risks of violence experienced by women with disabilities, women from ethnic minorities and among women above the age of 50 are not yet included, owing to data limitations.   Additionally, human trafficking disproportionately affects women and girls, since 70 per cent of all victims detected worldwide are female.   Globally, the proportion of women aged between 20 and 24 who reported that they were married before their eighteenth birthday dropped from 32 per cent around 1990 to 26 per cent around 2015. Child marriage is most common in Southern Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, with 44 per cent of women married before their eighteenth birthday in Southern Asia and 37 per cent of women married before their eighteenth birthday in sub-Saharan Africa.   The marriage of girls under the age 15 is also highest in those two regions, at 16 per cent and 11 per cent, respectively. Social norms can and do change, however, with the rate of marriage of girls under the age of 15 declining globally from 12 per cent around 1990 to 7 per cent around 2015, although disparities are found across regions and countries.   The most rapid reduction in child marriage overall was recorded in Northern Africa, where the percentage of women married before the age of 18 dropped by more than half, from 29 per cent to 13 per cent, over the past 25 years.   The harmful practice of female genital mutilation/cutting is another human rights violation that affects girls and women worldwide. While the exact number of girls and women globally who have undergone the procedure is unknown, at least 200 million have been subjected to the procedure in 30 countries with representative prevalence data. Overall, rates of female genital mutilation/cutting have been declining over the past three decades.   However, not all countries have made progress and the pace of decline has been uneven. Today, in the 30 countries, for which data were available, around 1 in 3 girls aged 15 to 19 have undergone the practice, versus 1 in 2 in the mid-1980s.   In every region, women and girls do the bulk of unpaid work, including caregiving and such household tasks as cooking and cleaning. On average, women report that they spend 19 per cent of their time each day in unpaid activities, versus 8 per cent for men.   The responsibilities of unpaid care and domestic work, combined with paid work, means greater total work burdens for women and girls and less time for rest, self-care, learning and other activities.   Globally, women’s participation in parliament rose to 23 per cent in 2016, representing an increase by 6 percentage points over a decade. Slow progress in this area is in contrast with more women in parliamentary leadership positions.   In 2016, the number of women speakers of national parliaments jumped from 43 to 49 (out of the 273 posts globally); women accounted for 18 per cent of all speakers of parliament in January 2016.   http://www.unwomen.org/en/news/in-focus/women-and-the-sdgs http://www.unwomen.org/en/news/in-focus/women-and-the-sdgs/sdg-5-gender-equality http://www.unwomen.org/en/news/stories/2017/7/compilation-high-level-political-forum http://www.unwomen.org/en/digital-library/publications/2017/6/fiscal-space-for-social-protection-and-the-sdgs http://www.womenmajorgroup.org/ http://www.unwomen.org/en/digital-library/publications   * UN Web TV: Remarks by Ms. Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, Executive Director of the UN Women, on Accelerating Women''s Economic Empowerment to Achieve the 2030 Agenda: http://bit.ly/2v27pH5 Visit the related web page
	Strengthen laws and policies to protect girls and end child marriage by Reuters, Equality Now, Girls not Brides, agencies Bangladesh, Turkey   11th Jan 2017   In the next few weeks, the Parliament of Bangladesh is due to review the Child Marriage Restraint Act 2016, which includes a provision that would allow child marriage in “special cases”. The proposed new law also does not specify a minimum age of marriage.   Here is what you need to know.   1/ Currently, the law in Bangladesh says that women need to be 18 to marry, and men 21. The Child Marriage Restraint Act 2016 would weaken this law and make girls more vulnerable to child marriage.   On paper, child marriage has been illegal in Bangladesh since the adoption of the Child Marriage Restraint Act of 1929. However, the law is poorly enforced and the punishment – up to one month in jail and/or a fine of up to 1,000 Taka (US$13) – rarely acts as a deterrent.   Although elements of the proposed new law – stiffer punishments and better law enforcement – are welcomed, allowing marriage under 18 in “special cases” would be a step backwards for Bangladesh. It weakens the existing law and would risk worsening an already dire situation. 52% of girls in Bangladesh are married before the age of 18, one of the highest rates in the world according to UNICEF (2016).   Girls Not Brides Bangladesh, a coalition of civil society organisations working on addressing child marriage in the country, has issued a warning about the potential impact of the proposed provision.   2/ Marriage does not protect adolescent girls.   The Bangladesh Government is concerned that pregnant adolescent girls, particularly in rural areas, would be ostracized by their communities if they could not marry. Allowing marriage in “special cases”, such as pregnancy, is their proposed solution.   But marriage does not protect girls. Research consistently shows that child marriage goes hand in hand with dropping out of school, losing out on job opportunities, and experiencing domestic violence.   Instead, we must work with families and communities to ensure that girls are supported to stay in school, have access to the information they need to take control of their own bodies, and thrive.   3/ The proposed law is at odds with Bangladesh’s bold and ambitious commitments to end child marriage.   At the 2014 Girl Summit, Bangladesh committed to ending child marriage by 2041 and reducing the number of girls marrying between the ages of 15 and 18 by one third by 2021. The Government has since begun developing a National Action Plan to this end.   However, progress stalled after the 2014 proposal to lower the age of marriage to 16 years old was announced. The latest attempt to authorise marriage at any age in “special cases” would directly affect Bangladesh’s ability to fulfil its ambitious commitments.   4/ Countries all over the world are taking steps to strengthen their laws and policies to protect girls and end child marriage.   In the past four years alone, 12 government have made legal changes to raise the age of marriage or remove legal loopholes and exceptions.   Bangladesh’s neighbour, Nepal, increased the age of marriage to 20 and came up with a national strategy to end child marriage, which addresses the concerns driving parents to marry their daughters before 20. The strategy focuses on ensuring quality education for girls, working with families and communities – including men and boys – to change mentalities, and ensuring access to government services.   South Asia as a whole has adopted a regional plan of action to address child marriage, as well as the Kathmandu Declaration which lays out 12 concrete steps that governments can take to strengthen their laws and policies. Bangladesh endorsed both.   There are solutions to end child marriage. Allowing girls under the age of 18 to marry in “special cases” isn’t one of them.   http://www.girlsnotbrides.org/bangladesh-child-marriage-restraint-act-2016-recap/ http://www.thp.org/news/challenging-child-marriage-restraint-act-bangladesh/ http://www.her-choice.org/en/home/   Nov 2016   Major Step Backwards on Child Marriage in Bangladesh, by Heather Barr. (Women''s Rights Division HRW)   Bangladesh’s parliamentarians have a crucial responsibility ahead of them: kill a proposed law putting girls at greater risk of child marriage, or buckle under political pressure.   On November 24, the Bangladesh cabinet approved draft legislation that poses grave risks to girls by creating vague exceptions to the country’s ban on child marriage, and even punishing the victims.   The Bangladesh government is yet to take sufficient steps to end child marriage, in spite of promises to do so. Instead, in steps in the wrong direction, after her July 2014 pledge to end child marriage by 2041, Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina attempted to lower the age of marriage for girls from 18 to 16 years old, raising serious doubts about her commitment.   Bangladesh has one of the highest rates of child marriage in the world, and the highest rate in Asia. Fifty-two percent of girls in Bangladesh marry before age 18, and 18 percent are married before they turn 15.   Child marriage is deeply destructive to the lives of married girls and their families; it pushes girls out of school, leaves them mired in poverty, heightens the risk of domestic violence, and carries grave health risks for girls and their babies due to early pregnancy.   Ironically, the new draft law came out of a promise by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, in 2014, to end child marriage. She pledged, by the end of 2014, to reform the law to set tougher punishments for child marriage; finalize a national action plan on how to end child marriage under age 15 by 2021, and end all marriage before age 18 by 2041.   Two years later, there is no national action plan, and while the draft law does set tougher penalties – including, in another wrongheaded move, a penalty of 15 days imprisonment and a 5,000 taka fine [US$63] for children who marry – it also weakens existing law by making some child marriages legal. The current law permits marriage after the age of 18 for women and 21 for men, with no exceptions. However, the new draft law reportedly says child marriage below age 18 will be permitted in “special circumstances, such as accidental or unlawful pregnancy.” The draft does not set any minimum age for such “exceptional” marriages.   This is a major step backward. Although Bangladesh’s law on child marriage was widely ignored, the existence of a strict law meant the focus was on enforcement. Weakening the law is a setback for the fight against child marriage, and sends a message to parents across the country that the government thinks child marriage is acceptable in at least some situations.   It is also difficult to know just what is meant by “unlawful pregnancy.” It suggests the law could lead to a situation where girls who have been raped are forced to marry their rapist.   The next step is for the draft law to go to the parliament, expected in the coming weeks. Outcry against the draft law in the Bangladesh press and civil society has been fierce. Bangladesh’s parliamentarians now have a crucial chance to stand up for girls, where the prime minister has failed to do so. http://bit.ly/2fRBooY   22 Nov. 2016   Turkey withdraws highly controversial child marriage bill, submits it for review.   Following widespread public outcry, Turkey''s Government has withdrawn a proposal that critics say would have allowed men accused of sexually abusing underage girls to go free if they were married to their victims.   The proposal, which was scheduled to undergo a final vote in parliament on Tuesday, would have deferred sentencing or punishment for sexual assault of minors in cases where there was no physical force and where the victim and perpetrator were married.   The Government said it would now submit the proposal for review to a parliamentary committee.   The age of consent in Turkey is 18, although courts permit civil marriages for people as young as 16. Many younger people are married in Islamic ceremonies.   Opponents argued that the bill amounted to a pardon for statutory rape if the perpetrator was married to his victim, and would disrupt efforts to prevent child marriages and sexual assault of children.   They maintained that it would, for example, legitimise the practice of men taking brides as young as 13 or 14.   Hours before the vote, Prime Minister Binali Yildirim told reporters the Government was pulling back the proposal and would ask an all-party commission on family affairs to review it.   Hundreds of people gathered in front of the parliament building to protest the measure, even after the Government pulled it back.   Devlet Bahceli, the leader of the opposition Nationalist Movement Party, called on the Government to abandon the measure completely, and that submitting it to a review is not enough.   Opposition parties, rights groups and citizens had widely condemned the proposal since its initiation last week, issuing statements and staging demonstrations across multiple cities nationwide.   http://www.girlsnotbrides.org/events-turkey-show-fragile-progress-end-violence-women-girls-can/ http://www.unicef.org/media/media_93338.html   21 November 2016   Turkey should reject child abuse law shielding men who marry children from punishment   A bill that could allow men accused of sexually abusing girls in Turkey to avoid punishment if they marry their victim would create a climate of impunity for child abuse in the country, U.N. agencies warned on Monday.   The Turkish parliament gave preliminary backing to the controversial proposal put forward by the ruling AK Party last week.   MPs are due resume the debate on Tuesday before a second and final vote.   Several U.N. agencies criticised the legislation, which they said was akin to an amnesty for child abusers and could expose victims to further suffering at the hands of their abusers.   "Any forms of sexual violence against children are crimes which should be punished as such," the U.N. children''s agency UNICEF, the United Nations Population Fund, UNFPA, U.N. Women and the U.N. Development Programme in Turkey said in a joint statement on Monday.   "We call on all Members of the Turkish Grand National Assembly to do their utmost in ensuring that all girls and boys in Turkey are better protected from all forms of sexual abuse."   Civil marriage under the age of 18 is illegal in Turkey, but marriage between men and underage girls through religious ceremonies is not uncommon, particularly in rural parts of the Sunni Muslim nation of 78 million people.   Campaign group Girls Not Brides says Turkey has one of the highest rates of child marriage in Europe, with an estimated 15 percent of girls married before the age of 18.   The bill drew widespread condemnation from opposition MPs, rights groups and members of the public, with more than 800,000 people signing an online petition for parliament to drop the legislation.   Thousands of protesters took to the streets in Istanbul and other cities at the weekend, leading the AK Party lawmakers to consider revising the text, local media said.   "We hope Turkey will do the right thing and not pass this bill that promotes violence," said Antonia Kirkland of campaign group Equality Now.   http://www.girlsnotbrides.org/ http://www.equalitynow.org/ http://www.unicef.org/ http://www.unwomen.org/ http://www.undp.org/   * Ending Child Marriage in Africa: http://bit.ly/2jMmMtf Visit the related web page
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