In 1995, 189 countries signed the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action to “advance women’s rights and achieve gender equality” and to “revoke any remaining laws that discriminate on the basis of sex.” However, many countries have failed to repeal existing laws, or have proposed new laws, that directly expose women and girls to violence and discrimination. Examples include laws that grant men the right to abduct or rape a woman or girl if he marries his victim; laws that prescribe whipping for women who wear trousers in public; laws that allow husbands to forbid women to work or leave their home; and laws that allow husbands to beat their wives.
To highlight this discrepancy, the advocacy group Equality Now has launched a new campaign titled “No More #Unsexy Laws” to promote legal equality for women by bringing attention to some of the most egregious laws on the books for women and girls. As stated by a representative of Equality Now, “Justice is the foundation stone for equality and without it, women and girls are enormously disadvantaged politically, economically and socially.”
Compiled from: Rice, Francesca and Redfern, Corrine, The World's Eleven Worst Anti-Women Laws, Marie Claire (June 2, 2016)