Words and Deeds: Holding Governments Accountable in the Beijing+20 Review Process

2015 marks both the 20th anniversary of the adoption of the Beijing Platform for Action and the adoption by States of a new post-2015 development framework to eradicate poverty and to promote equality globally. Governments must turn words into deeds and finally repeal or amend all laws that discriminate on the basis of sex so the next generation of women and girls can enjoy their rights and live as equal partners in society. Without good laws women and girls have no formal recourse to protect and promote their rights and cannot fully participate in society. Legal equality is also essential to meeting internationally agreed upon development goals for the greater inclusion and prosperity of all peoples. In our advocacy reports, Words and Deeds – Holding Governments Accountable in the Beijing Review Process , published in 1999, 2004, 2010 and 2015, Equality Now highlights a sampling of explicitly discriminatory laws relating to: marital status (marriage, divorce, polygamy, wife obedience); personal status (citizenship, weight of court testimony, travel, prostitution); economic status (inheritance, property, employment) and in addressing violence against women (rape, domestic violence, “honorÀ killings). Such laws demonstrate the clear disrespect of governments for the fundamental right of women and girls to equality and an official endorsement of women and girls as people of lesser worth.

Publisher: Equality Now
Year of Publication: 2015
Download : 20065_b+20_report_en.pdf