UN Women: Women and Girls Worldwide Face Unprecedented Levels of Violence and Deprivation

Photo: WAKIL KOHSAR /AFP

UN Women has warned in a new report that women and girls around the world are facing the highest levels of violence and deprivation seen in decades.

The report, released on Monday (October 20) to mark the 25th anniversary of UN Security Council Resolution 1325, which highlights the role and participation of women in peace and global security, paints a grim picture of the current state of women’s rights.

According to the report, more than 676 million women and girls live within 50 kilometres of active armed conflict zones. Over the past two years, cases of conflict-related sexual violence have increased by 87 percent, while civilian deaths, particularly among women and children, have quadrupled.

The United Nations says that by the end of 2024, about 123 million people globally had been forcibly displaced, with more than 60 million of them being women and girls. Many of these women live in unsafe conditions, face a high risk of sexual violence, and are deprived of access to health care and education.

The report also highlights the continued exclusion of women from peace processes: in 2024, only 7 percent of negotiators and 14 percent of mediators in formal peace processes were women. In many peace talks, not a single woman was present.

Afghanistan is highlighted in the report as one of the countries where women and girls have suffered most from conflict, poverty, and social exclusion. Under Taliban rule, Afghan women face some of the most extreme forms of discrimination and deprivation in the world.

The report states: “Four years after the Taliban’s return to power, eight out of every ten young Afghan women remain deprived of education, employment, or skills training.”

It also notes that decades of progress in women’s participation in the judicial system have been erased. Since the Taliban takeover in 2021, all female judges have been removed from the judiciary.

The United Nations warns that Afghanistan is among the countries where more than one million pregnant and breastfeeding women are suffering from acute malnutrition. Along with the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, South Sudan, and Sudan, Afghanistan is listed among the world’s most critical regions for women’s malnutrition.

Since the Taliban’s return to power in 2021, severe restrictions have been imposed on the social participation of women and girls. The Taliban have banned women from education, employment, and even public spaces. These restrictions have not only stripped women of their basic rights but have also severely limited their access to essential services such as health care and nutrition.