Rollback on Gender Equality and Women and Girls’ Rights in International Fora Since 2016

Abstract

Several studies document an increased backlash around women’s rights and feminism in international fora – particularly in United Nations (UN) spaces – since 2016. A growing number of studies highlight that not only has progress in implementing the Beijing Platform for Action stalled, but that women’s rights advocates in international fora are now fighting against regression of the rights of women and girls, due to the illiberal and conservative agendas of some particularly influential countries. This report focuses on evidence of backlash in international fora such as UN committees, councils and other spaces, and regional fora such as the European Parliament. It is accompanied by another helpdesk report on data and evidence of global rollback in women and girls’ rights since 2016 (Birchall, 2020).