CSW Session Highlights Ongoing Global Rights Concerns

The United Nations’ annual Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) concluded in New York this month amidst growing strain on the international legal order and a concerning backlash against gender equality. This year’s session, focused on “Ensuring and Strengthening Access to Justice for All Women and Girls,” highlighted concerns that pathways to justice and accountability are narrowing, with implications for women’s rights and global security. Member states largely resisted attempts by some states, led by the United States, to backtrack on commitments to gender equality and reproductive rights.

Notwithstanding broad support for expanding access to justice, real-world opportunities continue to contract worldwide, particularly for women and girls. Governments are undermining judicial independence, restricting civil society activity, and codifying discriminatory legal frameworks. Internationally, declining financial and political support for multilateral institutions, the use of sanctions and vetoes against justice actors, and growing fragmentation among states further weaken enforcement mechanisms.

Breaches that Signal Broader Instability

Justice is a precondition for long-term stability and peace. Denying women and girls their legal rights entrenches discrimination and facilitates violence, while the failure to hold perpetrators accountable signals tolerance for breaches of international law. Impunity emboldens autocrats and triggers conflict, as seen in Sudan, Afghanistan, and Ukraine. Autocratic governments are codifying repression into national law and using justice systems against human rights, often through laws that privilege men over women, penalize sexual assault survivors, legalize early marriage, and prevent women from reporting harassment. Genuine access to justice requires considering factors beyond legal architecture, including public health, education, employment, and climate change. Women and girls encounter layered barriers that shape their ability to access justice, influenced by factors like age, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, and displacement. Alternative mechanisms, such as the Tokyo Women’s Tribunal and the People’s Tribunal on Women of Afghanistan, provide truth-telling platforms and may inform prosecutions before the International Criminal Court, which recently released unprecedented arrest warrants for Taliban leaders accused of gender persecution.

Commitments to International Law and the Lack Thereof

The CSW Agreed Conclusions affirmed the need to protect and strengthen international and regional justice institutions, recognizing their importance for women seeking redress. States should incorporate international crimes into domestic legal codes, including the recognition of gender apartheid as a crime against humanity. Addressing technology-facilitated gender-based violence requires international coordination and responsive legal frameworks.

CSW participants also emphasized the importance of upholding commitments under international law, such as the Women, Peace and Security agenda, and utilizing universal jurisdiction to expand access to justice for victims and survivors, even in wartime. Transitional justice models should prioritize accountability, and justice processes must be survivor-centered, accessible, safe, and responsive to lived realities.