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The 70th session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW70) opened at the United Nations Headquarters in New York March 9, bringing together global leaders, diplomats, judges, advocates, and civil society organizations under the theme “Rights. Justice. Action. For All Women and Girls.” The day’s proceedings made clear that while progress on women’s access to justice has been significant, there are still structural gaps. Closing these gaps will require both legal reform and political will.
Progress and Persistent Gaps
The tone for the day was set early. In his International Women’s Day message, Secretary-General António Guterres highlighted a stark reality: women around the world hold only two-thirds of the legal rights that men enjoy. He called on countries to dismantle discriminatory laws and defend hard-won gains. High-profile participants included Anne Hathaway and Malala Yousafzai, who lent their voices to the cause. Yousafzai warned that women and girls in Afghanistan are being systematically erased from public life under Taliban rule.
Dr. Sima Bahous, Executive Director of UN Women, reinforced the urgency. While 84 percent of countries now have domestic violence laws on the books, a sign of meaningful global progress, she stressed that nowhere in the world do women yet enjoy full legal equality. In 70 percent of countries surveyed, women still face barriers including cost, distance, discrimination, stigma, and systemic failures. Bahous outlined an eight-point agenda calling for bold legal reform, whole-of-government approaches, expanded legal aid, financing for justice, accountability mechanisms, support for women’s rights movements, and the safe and inclusive use of legal technology and data.
Scaling Judicial Leadership
A centerpiece of the day was a panel on enhancing women’s access to justice through judicial leadership, organized by Egypt and UN Women. This session painted a portrait of national progress, told by women who have lived it.
Judge Amal Ammar, head of Egypt’s National Council for Women, traced a remarkable trajectory: from just 30 women judges in 2007 to 186 today, with 165 women now serving as assistant prosecutors. A 2025 legal reform, Rule 446, has opened senior judicial roles to women including deputy minister of justice, head of the economic court, and positions in the court of cassation and criminal courts. Egypt has also invested in specialized court chambers for domestic violence and expanded forensic support services.
Jordan’s former Minister for Social Development, Wafa Beni Mustafa, one of the country’s first female judges when appointed in 2007, described her nation’s push to expand access. Women’s representation in Jordan’s judiciary has grown from 22 percent in 2018 to 30 percent, and the country appointed its first female constitutional court judge in 2020. Jordan’s Ministry of Social Development now provides legal aid, housing support, and psychosocial services as a way of continuing to invest in women.
Morocco’s Minister of Solidarity, Social Integration and the Family, Naima Ben Yahia, described reforms under King Mohammed VI that have digitized court access, launched electronic courts, and opened senior judicial positions to women for the first time. Portugal’s Minister of Culture, Youth and Sports, Margarida Balseiro Lopes, offered a reminder of how recently some of these gains were won. Until 1974, women in Portugal were forbidden by law from holding positions of authority in the justice system. “Women were never absent from justice due to lack of competence,” she said, “but because of lack of opportunities.”
Dr. Maimouna Al Khalil, Secretary General of the Family Affairs Council of Saudi Arabia, reported that the number of female attorneys has grown by over 100 percent to some 7,000. Dr. Al Khalil stated that this is an indicator of women moving from beneficiaries of justice to active participants. While Rwanda, where women’s access to justice was reshaped in the aftermath of the 1994 genocide, now counts women as 44 percent of its judges, with both the chief justice and prosecutor general being women. Indonesia noted that more than 1,000 law enforcement and judicial officials have participated in gender responsive training programs. Tanzania reported eight women serving as high court judges and 588 female resident magistrates.
A recurring theme across all speakers was that representation alone is not enough. As Portugal’s minister Balseiro Lopes put it: “Access to justice is not only about the existence of rights. It is about people feeling safe enough to claim them.”
Negotiating Agreed Conclusions: The US Amendments
The day’s ministerial session also saw a procedural confrontation over the draft agreed conclusions. The United States proposed a package of oral amendments touching on the definition of gender, language on sexual and reproductive health, and other provisions the US delegation characterized as potentially radical or controversial. The US specifically sought to define “gender” in accordance with the 1995 Fourth World Conference on Women and expressed opposition to framing abortion as a form of family planning.
The Kingdom of the Netherlands moved to reject the amendments, proposing that they be considered as a single package. After procedural debate, including objections from Pakistan and a request for consultation time from Saudi Arabia, the motion to treat the amendments as one package was adopted. The US amendments were then put to a vote and rejected with only one vote in favor (the US), 26 votes against, and 14 abstentions. Egypt, abstaining, noted it could support some but not all of the proposals, since they were treated as a package. The session then proceeded with the original draft agreed conclusions.
Launching a Global Network of Prosecutors for Conflict-Related Sexual Violence
The afternoon brought the launch of a new global network for prosecutors and practitioners pursuing criminal accountability for conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV). Organized by Estonia, Austria, Belgium, Germany, Latvia, Slovenia, the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, and the UN Team of Experts on the Rule of Law and Sexual Violence in Conflict, the event formalized an initiative that began at a 2024 convening in The Hague.
UN Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict, Pramila Patten, framed the network’s mission succinctly: the goal is to make successful CRSV prosecutions replicable, not exceptional. The network’s tools include a new jurisprudence database, peer knowledge exchange, scenario-based training materials, forensic documentation standards, and guidance on interviewing, evidence collection, and criminal responsibility. The platform is live here.
Practitioners from the field gave the initiative tangible weight. Oscar Parra Vera, a magistrate for the Special Jurisdiction for Peace in Colombia, described how investigative methodologies were developed to demonstrate that sexual violence was tacitly authorized as a tool for territorial and social control, and that the UN Team of Experts played a vital role in supporting those cases. Matthew Odu Una, counter-terrorism practitioner at the International Institute of Justice and former Special Prosecutor to the Federal Government of Nigeria, called the network “the answer” to what has been a consistent call from practitioners worldwide.
Estonia’s Minister of Economic Affairs, Erkki Keldo, drew direct attention to Russia’s accountability for sexual violence against Ukrainian civilians and prisoners of war, noting that the International Criminal Court has issued arrest warrants for Russian military leadership. Latvia’s Vice Minister of Justice, Lauma Paegļkalna, echoed the point, underscoring that time must not become an obstacle to justice for survivors.
Statements from Belgium, Austria, Finland, Sierra Leone, Slovenia, Germany, and the Netherlands reinforced a shared conviction: that CRSV is not an inevitable byproduct of conflict, that impunity must end, and that prosecutors working on these cases should not have to work in isolation.
Looking Ahead
Day 1 of CSW70 offered both a progress report and a call to action. The numbers are moving: more women judges, more legal protections, more countries with domestic violence laws. But the structural barriers remain formidable, and the political headwinds are real, as the procedural clash over agreed conclusions made clear. The launch of the CRSV prosecutor network represents a concrete, practitioner-driven step toward accountability. Whether the broader ambitions of CSW70 translate into binding commitments will be the story of the days ahead.
The post US dispatch: UN women’s conference day 1—gaps in access to justice remain appeared first on JURIST - News.
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Progress and Persistent Gaps
The tone for the day was set early. In his International Women’s Day message, Secretary-General António Guterres highlighted a stark reality: women around the world hold only two-thirds of the legal rights that men enjoy. He called on countries to dismantle discriminatory laws and defend hard-won gains. High-profile participants included Anne Hathaway and Malala Yousafzai, who lent their voices to the cause. Yousafzai warned that women and girls in Afghanistan are being systematically erased from public life under Taliban rule.
Dr. Sima Bahous, Executive Director of UN Women, reinforced the urgency. While 84 percent of countries now have domestic violence laws on the books, a sign of meaningful global progress, she stressed that nowhere in the world do women yet enjoy full legal equality. In 70 percent of countries surveyed, women still face barriers including cost, distance, discrimination, stigma, and systemic failures. Bahous outlined an eight-point agenda calling for bold legal reform, whole-of-government approaches, expanded legal aid, financing for justice, accountability mechanisms, support for women’s rights movements, and the safe and inclusive use of legal technology and data.
Scaling Judicial Leadership
A centerpiece of the day was a panel on enhancing women’s access to justice through judicial leadership, organized by Egypt and UN Women. This session painted a portrait of national progress, told by women who have lived it.
Judge Amal Ammar, head of Egypt’s National Council for Women, traced a remarkable trajectory: from just 30 women judges in 2007 to 186 today, with 165 women now serving as assistant prosecutors. A 2025 legal reform, Rule 446, has opened senior judicial roles to women including deputy minister of justice, head of the economic court, and positions in the court of cassation and criminal courts. Egypt has also invested in specialized court chambers for domestic violence and expanded forensic support services.
Jordan’s former Minister for Social Development, Wafa Beni Mustafa, one of the country’s first female judges when appointed in 2007, described her nation’s push to expand access. Women’s representation in Jordan’s judiciary has grown from 22 percent in 2018 to 30 percent, and the country appointed its first female constitutional court judge in 2020. Jordan’s Ministry of Social Development now provides legal aid, housing support, and psychosocial services as a way of continuing to invest in women.
Morocco’s Minister of Solidarity, Social Integration and the Family, Naima Ben Yahia, described reforms under King Mohammed VI that have digitized court access, launched electronic courts, and opened senior judicial positions to women for the first time. Portugal’s Minister of Culture, Youth and Sports, Margarida Balseiro Lopes, offered a reminder of how recently some of these gains were won. Until 1974, women in Portugal were forbidden by law from holding positions of authority in the justice system. “Women were never absent from justice due to lack of competence,” she said, “but because of lack of opportunities.”
Dr. Maimouna Al Khalil, Secretary General of the Family Affairs Council of Saudi Arabia, reported that the number of female attorneys has grown by over 100 percent to some 7,000. Dr. Al Khalil stated that this is an indicator of women moving from beneficiaries of justice to active participants. While Rwanda, where women’s access to justice was reshaped in the aftermath of the 1994 genocide, now counts women as 44 percent of its judges, with both the chief justice and prosecutor general being women. Indonesia noted that more than 1,000 law enforcement and judicial officials have participated in gender responsive training programs. Tanzania reported eight women serving as high court judges and 588 female resident magistrates.
A recurring theme across all speakers was that representation alone is not enough. As Portugal’s minister Balseiro Lopes put it: “Access to justice is not only about the existence of rights. It is about people feeling safe enough to claim them.”
Negotiating Agreed Conclusions: The US Amendments
The day’s ministerial session also saw a procedural confrontation over the draft agreed conclusions. The United States proposed a package of oral amendments touching on the definition of gender, language on sexual and reproductive health, and other provisions the US delegation characterized as potentially radical or controversial. The US specifically sought to define “gender” in accordance with the 1995 Fourth World Conference on Women and expressed opposition to framing abortion as a form of family planning.
The Kingdom of the Netherlands moved to reject the amendments, proposing that they be considered as a single package. After procedural debate, including objections from Pakistan and a request for consultation time from Saudi Arabia, the motion to treat the amendments as one package was adopted. The US amendments were then put to a vote and rejected with only one vote in favor (the US), 26 votes against, and 14 abstentions. Egypt, abstaining, noted it could support some but not all of the proposals, since they were treated as a package. The session then proceeded with the original draft agreed conclusions.
Launching a Global Network of Prosecutors for Conflict-Related Sexual Violence
The afternoon brought the launch of a new global network for prosecutors and practitioners pursuing criminal accountability for conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV). Organized by Estonia, Austria, Belgium, Germany, Latvia, Slovenia, the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, and the UN Team of Experts on the Rule of Law and Sexual Violence in Conflict, the event formalized an initiative that began at a 2024 convening in The Hague.
UN Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict, Pramila Patten, framed the network’s mission succinctly: the goal is to make successful CRSV prosecutions replicable, not exceptional. The network’s tools include a new jurisprudence database, peer knowledge exchange, scenario-based training materials, forensic documentation standards, and guidance on interviewing, evidence collection, and criminal responsibility. The platform is live here.
Practitioners from the field gave the initiative tangible weight. Oscar Parra Vera, a magistrate for the Special Jurisdiction for Peace in Colombia, described how investigative methodologies were developed to demonstrate that sexual violence was tacitly authorized as a tool for territorial and social control, and that the UN Team of Experts played a vital role in supporting those cases. Matthew Odu Una, counter-terrorism practitioner at the International Institute of Justice and former Special Prosecutor to the Federal Government of Nigeria, called the network “the answer” to what has been a consistent call from practitioners worldwide.
Estonia’s Minister of Economic Affairs, Erkki Keldo, drew direct attention to Russia’s accountability for sexual violence against Ukrainian civilians and prisoners of war, noting that the International Criminal Court has issued arrest warrants for Russian military leadership. Latvia’s Vice Minister of Justice, Lauma Paegļkalna, echoed the point, underscoring that time must not become an obstacle to justice for survivors.
Statements from Belgium, Austria, Finland, Sierra Leone, Slovenia, Germany, and the Netherlands reinforced a shared conviction: that CRSV is not an inevitable byproduct of conflict, that impunity must end, and that prosecutors working on these cases should not have to work in isolation.
Looking Ahead
Day 1 of CSW70 offered both a progress report and a call to action. The numbers are moving: more women judges, more legal protections, more countries with domestic violence laws. But the structural barriers remain formidable, and the political headwinds are real, as the procedural clash over agreed conclusions made clear. The launch of the CRSV prosecutor network represents a concrete, practitioner-driven step toward accountability. Whether the broader ambitions of CSW70 translate into binding commitments will be the story of the days ahead.
The post US dispatch: UN women’s conference day 1—gaps in access to justice remain appeared first on JURIST - News.
Continue reading...
Note: We don't have any responsibilities about this news. Its been posted here by Feed Reader and we had no controls and checking on it. And because News posted here will be deleted automatically after 21 days, threads are closed so that no one spend time to post and discuss here. You can always check the source and discuss in their site.