THIRTY years after world leaders adopted a historic blueprint to achieve gender equality, a new United Nations report says women’s and girls’ rights are under attack and gender discrimination remains deeply embedded in economies and societies.

The report released today by the UN agency focused on women’s rights and gender equality found that nearly one-quarter of governments worldwide reported a backlash to women’s rights last year.

Despite some progress, including on girls’ education and access to family planning, UN Women said that a woman or girl is killed every 10 minutes by a partner or family member and that cases of conflict-related sexual violence have increased by 50 per cent since 2022.