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	We must preserve hard-fought gains for women’s rights by UN Working Group on discrimination against women Independent Expert Mechanisms on the Elimination of Discrimination and Violence against Women   “We seize this opportunity to raise our voice against the growing backlash against women’s and girls’ rights in all spheres of life. Global progress towards gender equality has slowed across regions, and targeted rollbacks of women’s and girls’ legally protected rights have significantly intensified. This trend needs to be reversed, otherwise, gender equality will not be achieved in the next 300 years.   We have witnessed a sharp increase in the violations of the rights of women and girls, compounded by severely restrictive policies that strip women and girls of their autonomy, mobility, education and freedom of expression, as well as the revocation of laws guaranteeing basic rights to bodily autonomy and the erasure of institutions previously established to tackle gender-based discrimination and violence against women and girls.   Women and girls are not only victims, but are also drivers of solution. As agents of change, impactful decision-makers, and courageous human rights defenders, they focus on improving livelihoods for everyone, empowering others, and ensuring sustainable development and peace.   We call for the creation of a safe and supportive environment for feminist movements and civil society to combat the backlash against women’s human rights and to resist all anti-rights trends and movements.   We observe how the concept of gender itself has been challenged and misused to further undermine the struggle towards the elimination of discrimination against women and girls and in the direction of gender equality.   We express our deep concern at the violent crackdowns on female protestors, repealing of special laws and measures for the protection of women and girls, criminalisation of women’s behaviours and the normalisation of the reliance on sexual harassment and gender-based violence as a tool to discourage opposing views and appeals for transparency and accountability by States and non-State actors alike.   More than ever before, we must unite and support as well all local efforts to preserve or construct the democratic space. We should block any position that endorses patriarchal and discriminatory norms, misusing culture, religion, and State sovereignty as fallacious justifications.   Pervasive violence against women and girls, visible also in the digital space, should not be tackled as an isolated issue, but as one of the most brutal manifestations of gender-based discrimination and patriarchal oppression.   We encourage States, the international community and all actors to work together to overcome the gender backlash and to prioritise and continue to uphold the fundamental human rights of women and girls across the globe.   http://www.ohchr.org/en/statements/2023/03/global-and-regional-experts-call-united-efforts-preserve-hard-fought-gains http://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2023/05/un-womens-rights-committee-publishes-findings-china-germany-iceland-sao-tome   6 June 2024   Argentina’s far-right president to shut down anti-gender violence agency, reports Buenos Aires Times, agencies   Javier Milei, Argentina’s far-right president, is to dissolve the government department responsible for tackling gender violence, prompting a furious backlash from human rights activists.   Claudia Barcia, the head of the undersecretariat for protection against gender violence, resigned this week with a warning that the agency will soon be shut down shuttered.   “The Undersecretary of Protection against Gender Violence … will cease to exist,” Barcia wrote, confirming to the Guardian that she had received the news the previous day.   The agency oversees the 144 emergency telephone hotline and the Acompanar programme, which assists those at risk of gender violence.   It has already faced cuts – public spending on gender-based violence reduction policies was 26.8% lower in the first quarter of 2024 than in 2023, according to an analysis of government data by the Civil Association for Equality and Justice.   “We are faced with a total hollowing out of policies for the prevention of gender-based violence,” said the department’s workers, who originally numbered 600 but have been slashed to 200, in a statement.   Fernanda Tarica, a doctor and founder of NGO Shalom Bait, which supports victims of gender violence, said Argentina is “in the hands of a dangerous man”. “Women are at risk,” she added.   Argentina faces high rates of gender violence, with the number of femicides – misogynistic killings – increasing 11% last year, according to court data. Local observatory Now They See Us has recorded 78 femicides this year, which accounts to one gender-based murder every 37 hours.   “Milei is dismantling the last resource against gender violence in public policy. He has established feminism as his enemy and he is punishing women again,” said Veronica Gago, a researcher and member of the feminist movement #NiUnaMenos (Not One Less).   The state workers association called the move an “enormous setback” and noted that this will be the first time since 1992 that Argentina will “not have an agency responsible for carrying out public policies that promote a life without violence and discrimination, and in favour of equality”.   The far right president is openly anti-feminist and has faced regular criticism over women’s rights issues. In his first six months as president he has banned gender-inclusive language across the public sector. The gender violence department was itself a replacement of the ministry of women, gender and diversity, which Milei closed shortly after taking office in December.
	Equal pay for work of equal value by ILO, ITUC, UN Women   International Equal Pay Day, celebrated on 18 September, represents the longstanding efforts towards the achievement of equal pay for work of equal value. It further builds on the United Nations' commitment to human rights and against all forms of discrimination, including discrimination against women and girls.   Across all regions, women are paid less than men, with the gender pay gap estimated at around 20 per cent globally. Gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls continue to be held back owing to the persistence of historical and structural unequal power relations between women and men, poverty and inequalities and disadvantages in access to resources and opportunities that limit women’s and girls’ capabilities.   Progress on narrowing that gap has been slow. While equal pay for men and women has been widely endorsed, applying it in practice has been difficult.   In order to ensure that no one is left behind, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) address the need to achieve gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls. Furthermore, the SDGs promote decent work and economic growth by seeking full and productive employment and decent work for all women and men, including for young people and persons with disabilities, and equal pay for work of equal value. Mainstreaming of a gender perspective is crucial in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.   Achieving equal pay is an important milestone for human rights and gender equality. It takes the effort of the entire world community and more work remains to be done.   The United Nations, including UN Women and the International Labour Organization (ILO) invites Members states and civil society, women’s and community-based organizations and feminist groups, as well as businesses and workers’ and employers’ organizations, to promote equal pay for work of equal value and the economic empowerment of women and girls.   http://www.un.org/en/observances/equal-pay-day http://ilostat.ilo.org/equal-pay-for-work-of-equal-value-where-do-we-stand-in-2023/ http://www.ituc-csi.org/international-equal-pay-day-2023 http://www.ituc-csi.org/Trade-union-action-to-promote-equal-pay-for-work-of-equal-value http://www.ituc-csi.org/ituc-report-on-care-2022-en http://policy-practice.oxfam.org/resources/time-to-care-unpaid-and-underpaid-care-work-and-the-global-inequality-crisis-620928/ http://www.developmentpathways.co.uk/blog/time-to-care/ http://www.wiego.org/publications/engendering-informality-statistics-ilo-working-paper-84 http://www.care.org/news-and-stories/resources/growth-is-not-enough/ Visit the related web page
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