The 2025 "Gender Snapshot", published by UN Women and the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, warns that if current trends continue, 351 million women and girls could still be living in extreme poverty in 2030. The report also says that progress toward gender equality is far too slow to meet the Sustainable Development Goals on the current path. These projections are not a prediction that nothing can change: they show how much policy choices and investment matter.
For many women, the effect of policy is practical and immediate: Can they afford care? Can they work safely? Will the law protect them if they experience violence? Are public services accessible to them, including women with disabilities, women in rural areas, and those displaced by conflict? The answers vary by country and community, but the underlying issues are connected.
Safety includes Online Spaces
Violence against women remains a global public-health and human-rights issue. WHO estimates that about one in three women worldwide - 840 million women and girls - have experienced physical or sexual violence by an intimate partner or sexual violence by someone else during their lifetime. WHO also reports that adolescent girls face significant risks of partner violence.
The harm can also take place through phones and online platforms: harassment, threats, stalking, non-consensual sharing of intimate images, and manipulated images or videos. UNDP describes technology-facilitated abuse as a growing concern that can silence women and girls and limit their ability to participate in public life. It highlights the need for rights-based digital governance and stronger institutional responses.
Being targeted is not the victim’s fault. Practical support can include preserving evidence, using platform reporting tools, reviewing account security, and seeking help from a trusted local service or legal-aid organization. Governments and technology companies also have responsibilities: prevention, clear reporting processes, fair enforcement, and access to support should not fall only on the person being targeted.
Care Work is an Economic Issue
Caregiving is essential work, but it is often unpaid and unevenly shared. The International Labour Organization estimated that 708 million women worldwide were outside the labour force in 2023 because of unpaid care responsibilities. The ILO says care responsibilities are a major barrier to women entering and remaining in paid work, and points to the need for policies that address unequal caregiving and improve conditions for care workers.
This is why childcare, eldercare, paid leave, reliable public services, and fair working conditions are not “women’s issues” alone. They affect families, employers, and economies. A fairer system recognizes care as valuable work and makes it possible for people of all genders to share it.
Political Participation and Public Debate Matter
Women’s rights are shaped not only by laws, but also by who has a voice in making them. Women who work in politics, journalism, advocacy, and community leadership can face threats and online abuse that pressure them to withdraw from public discussion. UNDP notes that digital violence can undermine women’s participation and democratic life.
Representation alone does not guarantee fair outcomes, but decision-making is stronger when women with different experiences can participate safely and meaningfully. That includes women from marginalized groups, whose concerns may otherwise be overlooked.
What Constructive Progress Can Look Like
There is no single policy that solves every problem, and countries face different legal and economic realities. Still, evidence points to practical priorities:
- Enforce laws against violence and discrimination, and make support services reachable.
- Invest in accessible healthcare, childcare, education, and social protection.
- Improve protections and accountability for technology-facilitated abuse.
- Support decent work, equal opportunity, and fair conditions for care workers.
- Include women: across age, disability, income, and community, in decisions that affect them.
- Track outcomes with reliable, disaggregated data so that gaps are visible rather than assumed away.
Bottom Line
A positive outlook does not require minimizing what remains difficult. It means recognizing that these conditions are shaped by choices - and can be changed through sustained public investment, effective laws, accountable institutions, and the everyday work of communities. Women’s rights are not an abstract debate: they are part of whether people can live safely, contribute fully, and make meaningful choices about their own lives.
References
International Labour Organization. (2024, October 29). Unpaid care work prevents 708 million women from participating in the labour market. https://www.ilo.org/resource/news/unpaid-care-work-prevents-708-million-women-participating-labour-market
United Nations Development Programme. (2025, November 25). Unite to end digital violence against all women and girls. https://www.undp.org/stories/unite-end-digital-violence-against-all-women-and-girls
United Nations Statistics Division. (2025). The gender snapshot 2025. https://unstats.un.org/sdgs/gender-snapshot/2025/
World Health Organization. (2026, June 18). Violence against women. https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/violence-against-women
