Violence against women and girls is found in all countries and affects women of all ages. Globally, 26 per cent of ever-partnered women aged 15 and older (641 million) have been subjected to physical and/ or sexual violence by a husband or intimate partner at least once in their lifetime. Limited evidence points to an intensification of violence against women during the pandemic. A 2021 rapid gender assessment survey in 13 countries, undertaken by the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women), found that 45 per cent of women reported that they or a woman they know has experienced some form of violence since COVID-19.

Global awareness of violence against older women specifically is growing, but data on the subject are limited, and the nature, scale, severity and complexity of such violence may be underestimated. Less than 10 per cent of eligible data on intimate partner violence capture the prevalence of such violence among women aged 50 and older. Limited evidence from 2000–2018 found that 4 per cent and 7 per cent of women in this age group experienced physical and/or sexual violence by an intimate partner in the last 12 months. Older women, however, may be vulnerable to specific forms of violence not usually measured in surveys on violence against women, such as economic exploitation, or being ostracized or neglected.

During the pandemic, women leaders have acted decisively and effectively to implement and manage response and recovery efforts, prioritizing measures that address the most vulnerable groups. Despite this widely acknowledged success, the pace of progress on women’s representation in decision-making positions is discouraging. As of 1 January 2022, the global share of women in lower and single houses of national parliaments reached 26.2 per cent, up from 22.4 per cent in 2015. Women’s share is slightly over one third in local governments. At this pace, it would take another 40 years for women and men to be represented equally in national parliaments.

Working women, including those in managerial positions, have been disproportionately affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Many have had their hours reduced or left the workforce altogether due to increased unpaid care work at home. In 2019, before the pandemic, women accounted for 39.4 per cent of total employment. In 2020, women represented nearly 45 per cent of global employment losses. The share of women in managerial positions worldwide saw only slight improvement from 2015 to 2019, increasing from 27.2 to 28.3 per cent. That share remained unchanged from 2019 to 2020, which is the first year without an increase since 2013.

Only 57 per cent of women aged 15 to 49 who are married or in a union make their own informed decisions regarding sexual relations, contraceptive use and reproductive health care, according to data from 64 countries for the period 2007–2021. Critical to this decision-making ability is the extent to which laws prevent or enable access to relevant health care and information. Among 115 countries with data, countries had in place an average of 76 per cent of the laws and regulations needed to guarantee full and equal access to sexual and reproductive health and rights.

The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic are likely having a significant impact on women’s ability to exercise their bodily autonomy. In the first year of the pandemic, an estimated 1.4 million additional unintended pregnancies occurred in lower- and middle-income countries. This could be due to several factors. Women may have experienced financial hardships that prevented them from making their own decisions to seek health care and contraception. During lockdown periods, women may have found it harder to say no to sex due to increased tensions in the home related to health, finance and social isolation. Finally, disruption or suspension of sexual and reproductive health care may have made these essential services inaccessible to women.

Protection of women’s land and property rights still has a long way to go

Owning rights to land, specifically agricultural land, reduces women’s reliance on male partners and relatives. Yet, in 30 countries, less than half of women had ownership and/or secure tenure rights over agricultural land, according to 2009–2020 data from 36 countries. In 18 of these countries, the share of men having ownership was twice that of women. Gender-responsive policy and legal frameworks are essential to advancing women’s rights to land. However, only 15 out of 52 reporting countries included sufficient provisions in their legal frameworks to offer women good protection in this regard. The most prominent areas in which positive results have been achieved are in succession rights and in protection from being disposed in land transactions.

Accelerated progress is needed to align public financing with gender equality objectives

Building back better from COVID-19 means doing so in a way that advances gender equality and women’s empowerment. Fundamental to this goal is ensuring that the allocation and spending of public financing takes gender equality into account. According to data reported by 105 countries and areas for the period 2018–2021, only 26 per cent of countries have comprehensive systems in place to track public allocations for gender equality, 59 per cent have some features of such a system, and 15 per cent do not have the minimum elements of such a system. Accelerated action is needed to expand comprehensive implementation of gender-responsive budgeting and strengthen its monitoring and evaluation.