Advocacy and lobbying are effective tools for gender advocates, male champions, civil society, and other stakeholders to hold leaders accountable to their commitments on concrete, measurable actions that guarantee women can fully and equally enjoy their rights. These include the ability to exercise freedom and choices, go to school, live free from violence, earn equal pay for equal work, and meaningfully engage in decision-making and political processes. Advocacy groups can collectively put pressure their leaders for legislative reforms to protect and promote women’s rights and concerns, which may require coalition-building, fundraising, civic education, awareness-raising and consensus-building on key issue platforms. Influencing legislation itself may require lobbying to convince policy makers and legislators to address specific issues relevant to gender equality and women’s empowerment, which may involve introducing or revising legislation and policy.
A recent study published in the journal Violence Against Women surveyed 19 victim-survivor support practitioners and interviewed five across nine Pacific Island nations, finding smartphones, Facebook and AI-generated sexualised deepfakes are used to control and harm women and girls.
The right to education does not end at the classroom. It extends into digital spaces, including social media, group chats, messaging apps, and even online learning platforms.
UN Women is inviting civil society organizations, especially women-led organizations, to submit proposals in
Yordanos Bezabih, an Ethiopian women’s rights activist, had faced online threats for years: of acid attacks, gang-rape and death. She tried her best to ignore the abuse as she continued her advocacy work. But in 2025, the threats became more menacing.
Christine Arab, Regional Director of UN Women for Asia and the Pacific, delivers opening remarks at Our Safety, the national dialogue on technology-facilitated gender-based violence on 10 December 2025, Phnom Penh. Photo: UN Women/Lim Sophorn
MANILA – When Filipino women human rights defenders (HRDs) step forward to demand accountability, they are met with a new kind of violence. Technology is now weaponized to silence, shame, and intimidate.
The current moment of feminism in Latin America and in much of the world is characterized by an increasingly evident tension between regulatory advances that recognize rights and a political climate that hinders their real implementation.
The current moment of feminism in Latin America and in much of the world is characterized by an increasingly evident tension between regulatory advances that recognize rights and a political climate that hinders their real implementation.
The third day of the 70th session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW70) featured a day-long, two-part session with parliamentarians discussing women’s political representation and access to justice.
A new World Bank study is reshaping how we think about women’s roles in politics. It argues that empowering women is not only about equality but also about making governments work better.