Justice systems meant to uphold rights and the rule of law are failing women and girls everywhere by UN Women   Mar. 2026   On 8 March 2026, International Women’s Day, UN Women issues a global alert: Justice systems meant to uphold rights and the rule of law are failing women and girls everywhere. Women globally hold just 64 per cent of the legal rights of men, exposing them to discrimination, violence, and exclusion at every stage of their lives.   This is one of the findings of the new United Nations Secretary-General’s report, “Ensuring and Strengthening Access to Justice for All Women and Girls”. The same report reveals that in over half of the world’s countries – 54 per cent – rape is still not defined on the basis of consent, meaning a woman can be raped and the law may not recognize it as a crime.   A girl can still be forced to marry, by national law, in nearly 3 out of 4 countries. And in 44 per cent of countries, the law does not mandate equal remuneration for work of equal value, meaning women can still legally be paid less for the same work.   “When women and girls are denied justice, the damage goes far beyond any single case. Public trust erodes, institutions lose legitimacy, and the rule of law itself is weakened. A justice system that fails half the population cannot claim to uphold justice at all,” said UN Women Executive Director Sima Bahous.   As backlash against longstanding commitments on gender equality intensifies, violations of the rights of women and girls are accelerating, fueled by a global culture of impunity, spanning from courts to online spaces to conflict.   Laws are being rewritten to restrict the freedoms of women and girls, silence their voices, and enable abuse without consequence. As technology outpaces regulation, women and girls face growing digital violence in a climate of impunity where perpetrators are rarely held accountable.   In conflicts, rape continues to be used as a weapon of war, with reported cases of sexual violence rising by 87 per cent in just two years.   The UN Secretary General’s report also shows that progress is possible: 87 per cent of countries have enacted domestic violence legislation, and more than 40 countries have strengthened constitutional protections for women and girls over the past decade. But laws alone are not enough.   Discriminatory social norms – stigma, victim-blaming, fear, and community pressure – continue to silence survivors and obstruct justice, allowing even the most extreme forms of violence, including femicide, to go unpunished.   This International Women’s Day 2026, under the theme “Rights. Justice. Action. For ALL Women and Girls,” UN Women calls for urgent and decisive action: end impunity, defend the rule of law, and deliver equality – in law, in practice, and in every sphere of life – for all women and girls.   “Now is the moment to stand up, show up, and speak up for rights, for justice, and for action – so that every woman and girl can live safely, speak freely, and live equally,” stressed UN Women Executive Director, Sima Bahous.   http://www.unwomen.org/en/get-involved/international-womens-day http://www.unwomen.org/en/articles/explainer/case-open-justice-for-all-women-and-girls http://www.unwomen.org/en/articles/explainer/what-justice-means-to-women-and-how-to-deliver-it http://news.un.org/en/story/2026/03/1167081 http://docs.un.org/en/E/CN.6/2026/3 Visit the related web page
	Inter-American Court of Human Rights orders reparations for forced sterilisation case in Peru by IACHR, OHCHR, news agencies   Mar. 2026   The Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACHR) has ordered Peru to pay reparations to the family of Celia Ramos, a mother of three whose death resulted from a campaign of forced sterilisations during the 1990s.   The ruling stated that the 34-year-old Ramos was coerced into sterilisation against her will, causing an allergic reaction that led to her death. The court ordered Peru to pay her family $340,000 as part of the ruling.   It noted that the Peruvian government had “failed to fulfill its obligation to initiate and conduct a thorough investigation” into Ramos’s case, heightening the strain on her family.   “Ms Ramos Durand’s family members — especially her three daughters, who were children at the time of the events — suffered profound harm as a consequence of the sterilization and death of Celia Edith Ramos Durand and the impunity surrounding the case,” the IACHR wrote in its decision.   Peru’s campaign of forced sterilisation took place under the late President Alberto Fujimori, whose tenure included widespread human rights abuses that continue to cast a shadow over the country.   The scheme largely targeted poor and Indigenous women who were often tricked or coerced into sterilisation procedures.   This week’s ruling is the first time the human rights court has weighed in on the issue, which has been the subject of years of legal contestation in Peru.   “After almost 30 years of searching for justice, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights recognised the responsibility of the Peruvian state in the forced sterilisation and death of Celia Ramos,” the Peruvian feminist organisation DEMUS said.   “This ruling marks a fundamental step in reparations for Celia, her family and the thousands of victims of forced sterilizations in Peru.”   As many as 314,000 women and 24,000 men were sterilised against their will in Peru under Fujimori’s government. The procedures were particularly invasive for the women involved, leading to long-term complications, including death.   Family members often received little information about the circumstances that led to loved ones dying after the unnecessary operations. Some survivors did not realise what had happened to them until years later, when they discovered they were unable to have children.   In Ramos’s case, the 34-year-old mother had gone to a state health clinic for medical assistance on July 3, 1997, but was instead forced to undergo tubal ligation. Ramos, however, suffered a severe allergic reaction during the procedure. She was placed in a recovery room, but the clinic was not able to treat her adequately.   In its decision, the IACHR explained that the clinic “lacked the necessary equipment and medications for adequate risk assessment or to handle emergencies”.   Ramos was ultimately transferred to an intensive care unit in the city of Piura, where she died 19 days later, on July 22, 1997.   The state did not carry out an autopsy and declined to share details with her family.   In October 2024, the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women at the United Nations ruled that Peru’s sterilisation programme amounted to sex-based violence and discrimination against poor, rural and Indigenous women.   The committee’s statement cited a lack of adequate medical facilities and a lack of informed consent, just as the IACHR did in its decision this week.   “The victims described a consistent pattern of being coerced, pressured, or deceived into undergoing sterilisations at clinics lacking proper infrastructure or trained personnel,” committee member Leticia Bonifaz said.   “The procedures were carried out without informed consent from these victims, with some of them, especially those from remote areas, unable to read and speak Spanish, or fully understand the nature of the procedure.”   Scholars have concluded that Fujimori’s sterilisation campaign was driven, in part, by racist views among government officials who saw rural, Indigenous communities as an obstacle to economic modernisation.   But Fujimori’s legacy remains contested in Peru. Victims who have spoken out about their experiences have reported being harassed and threatened by supporters of Fujimori, whose daughter Keiko remains an influential figure in national politics. She is a candidate for the presidency in Peru’s upcoming general elections in April.   Formerly a representative in Peru’s Congress, Keiko Fujimori served as first lady under her father from 1994 to 2000. She has denied that her father is guilty of any human rights abuses, reflecting a trend of denialism in the country.   In 2009, the elder Fujimori was convicted of human rights violations and sentenced to 25 years in prison, but in 2017, then-President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski issued a pardon for Fujimori that was subsequently contested in court. He was ultimately released in December 2023 but died several months later, in 2024.   Since his death, advocates have continued to push for accountability from other high-level government officials in his administration.   Mar 2026   Inter-American Court finds Peru guilty of Forced Sterilization, Reproductive Violence, and Denial of Autonomy - Center for Reproductive Rights:   "Today marks a historic turning point for justice in the Americas. For the first time, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights—the region’s highest tribunal—has held the State of Peru accountable for the forced sterilization and subsequent death of Celia Ramos. The ruling advances the protection of women’s reproductive autonomy, consolidating the principle that the right to health is inseparable from civil and political rights, and that States bear a heightened duty to guarantee free, prior, full, and informed consent — with particular rigor in surgical sterilization procedures.   Celia Ramos was a Peruvian mother of three living in poverty who sought medical care in 1997. Under a discriminatory state policy targeting poor and marginalized people, she was subjected to forced sterilization and died 19 days later. The Court confirmed that this was part of an unjust policy that violated women’s reproductive autonomy — and established that consent must result from a genuine, coercion-free process, never the product of pressure, deception, or the substitution of a woman’s will.   The judgment is a foundational pronouncement on reproductive violence — recognizing it as a form of institutional violence and gender-based discrimination. The Court found that Peru’s National Reproductive Health and Family Planning Program set coercive numerical targets directed almost exclusively at women of reproductive age, disproportionately affecting women in poverty, indigenous women, and rural women, and generating systemic violations that national oversight bodies identified and the State left unaddressed.   Peru was found responsible for violations of the right to life, personal integrity, health, private life, equality before the law, and the prohibition of violence against women".   http://reproductiverights.org/news/inter-american-court-finds-peru-guilty-of-forced-sterilization-reproductive-violence-and-denial-of-autonomy/ http://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2024/10/peru-fujimori-governments-forced-sterilisation-policy-violated-womens-rights http://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2026/mar/06/peruvian-state-responsible-for-mothers-death-in-forced-sterilisation-court-rules
	View more stories