women's rights

All over the world, women suffer discrimination and violence. In many States discrimination is included both in criminal law and in civil law relating to marriage, inheritance or property. But even in countries where women have been able to achieve equality in law, it is often illusory in practice. In public decision-making, women remain largely under-represented.

Violence against them often flourishes because of the lack of adequate laws, obstacles to victims' access to justice or inaction by public authorities that tolerate their trivialization. The lack of punishment for perpetrators of violence contributes to a culture of impunity that encourages the repetition of these crimes. However, women are not only victims. Everywhere, they are the principal actors of their own emancipation.
Faced with this, FIDH decided to make the protection of women's rights one of its priorities. Alerted by its member organizations and partners, FIDH:
documents violations of women's rights;
calls for the abolition of discriminatory laws and for the adoption of protective legislation;
appeals to regional and international bodies for the promotion of women's rights of the violations documented;
represents victims of sexual violence in the courts.
Womens rights
The Commission on the Status of Women
Equality for women was an objective of the work of the Organization since its founding in 1945. In 1946, the Commission on the Status of Women was established to deal with women's issues. It is made up of 45 Member States.
Its missions are diverse:
• examines the progress made in the equality of women throughout the world;
• it develops recommendations for strengthening the political, economic, social and educational rights of women;
• examines women's rights issues requiring immediate attention;
• it develops treaties and other instruments to improve the status of women in law and practice.
The Commission's work has shifted from the definition of rights to the study of factors that prevent women from exercising these rights. The social and cultural root causes of gender discrimination have therefore become the central concern. For example, the Commission developed a Declaration on the Elimination of Violence Against Women (A / RES / 48/104), which was adopted by the General Assembly in 1993. In this declaration, violence against women is defined explicitly as any form of physical, sexual or psychological violence that occurs within the family or community or is perpetrated or tolerated by the state.
The Commission has facilitated the development of international principles and standards for the advancement of women, in particular the 1979 Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women and the 1999 Protocol to that Convention.
Women in the United Nations
The organizations of the United Nations system have also re-examined their activities to ensure that women are better integrated into decision-making bodies and are seen as a key aspect of policies and programs on the ground. Provision has also been made to promote women within the Organization itself.
In recent decades, the United Nations has made tremendous progress in its defense of gender equality, including through historic agreements such as the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action or the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. discrimination against women.
Not only is gender equality a fundamental human right, but its realization has enormous socioeconomic ramifications. Women's empowerment fosters flourishing economies and promotes productivity and growth.
Yet gender inequalities remain deeply rooted in all societies. Women do not always have access to decent work and must overcome job segregation and gender pay gaps. They are too often denied access to education and basic health care. All over the world, they are victims of violence and discrimination. They are underrepresented in political and economic decision-making processes.

For many years, the United Nations had to overcome serious obstacles to promoting gender equality throughout the world, including a lack of funds and the fact that no agency served as a recognized leader in the organization related to gender issues.