Total Erasure of Women from Public Life
Since the Taliban takeover in 2021, women have been banned from secondary and university education, barred from most employment, prohibited from visiting parks and public baths unaccompanied, and required to cover fully in public. In 2024, the Taliban enacted a "vice and virtue" law criminalising women's voices being heard by unrelated men. Afghanistan is now ranked last on the Global Gender Gap Index.
Education ban
Employment ban
Freedom of movement
โฑ Ongoing since Aug 2021 ยท Escalated 2024
Mass Sexual Violence in Civil War
Since the civil war erupted in April 2023, the UN and NGOs have documented mass rape and sexual slavery being used as a weapon of war by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF). Thousands of women and girls have been abducted in Darfur and Khartoum. Sudan ranks last on the 2024 Global Gender Gap Index for the second consecutive year, with the conflict devastating healthcare and education access.
Conflict-related violence
Sexual violence
Displacement
โฑ Ongoing since April 2023
Women Activists Imprisoned Despite Reform Rhetoric
While Vision 2030 has expanded women's rights in some areas (allowing driving, concerts, and mixed workplaces), women's rights activists who campaigned for these very changes remain imprisoned. Loujain al-Hathloul, a prominent activist, was released in 2021 but remains under a travel ban. New detention cases emerged in 2024. Guardianship requirements, though reduced, continue to restrict women's autonomy in key legal matters.
Activist detention
Guardianship system
Travel bans
โฑ Ongoing ยท Activist arrests 2024
Sexual Violence & Institutional Impunity
The 2024 rape and murder of a trainee doctor at Kolkata's RG Kar Medical College sparked nationwide protests demanding better safety for working women. India records over 31,000 rape cases annually, widely considered a severe undercount. Caste-based sexual violence remains particularly underreported and under-prosecuted. The Manipur conflict also saw ethnic sexual violence documented by human rights organisations in 2023โ2024.
Gender-based violence
Workplace safety
Impunity
โฑ Structural issue ยท RG Kar case Aug 2024
Post-Roe Abortion Access Restrictions
Following the Supreme Court's 2022 Dobbs decision overturning Roe v. Wade, 21 states have enacted significant abortion restrictions or near-total bans as of 2025. Women in restrictive states have faced life-threatening delays in obstetric care, with documented cases of near-fatal sepsis. Cross-state travel for abortion care has increased dramatically. Several states have also introduced legislation restricting contraception access.
Reproductive rights
Healthcare access
Legal rights
โฑ Since June 2022 ยท Ongoing 2025
Boko Haram Abductions & Child Marriage
Despite the release of some Chibok girls, Boko Haram and ISWAP continue to abduct women and girls in the northeast. Nigeria has one of the world's highest rates of child marriage, with 43% of girls married before age 18 in northern states. Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting (FGM/C) affects approximately 20% of women nationally, with prevalence exceeding 70% in some states. Access to contraception in the north remains severely limited.
Child marriage
FGM/C
Abductions
โฑ Ongoing structural issue
Domestic Violence Decriminalisation & Wartime Impacts
Russia decriminalised first-time domestic violence in 2017, classifying it as a minor administrative offence. NGO reports show domestic violence rates have increased significantly since the Ukraine war began. Anti-war women activists face imprisonment. The government has also moved to restrict access to abortion in several regions, framing population growth as a patriotic duty. Feminist organisations have been designated as "foreign agents."
Domestic violence law
Civil society crackdown
Reproductive rights
โฑ Decrim 2017 ยท Escalated 2022โ2025
Military Junta Violence Against Women
Since the 2021 military coup, the UN has documented systematic sexual violence by the Tatmadaw against women in conflict zones. Women protestors have been tortured in detention. Many female politicians and activists from the NLD government remain imprisoned. Rohingya women, already displaced since 2017, face compounded crises in refugee camps. Access to reproductive healthcare has collapsed in conflict regions.
Conflict violence
Political prisoners
Refugee crisis
โฑ Ongoing since coup Feb 2021
Femicide Crisis & Impunity
Mexico records approximately 10 women killed per day, one of the world's highest femicide rates. Despite a 2020 law requiring state-level "gender emergency" declarations, prosecutions remain rare and impunity exceeds 90%. The State of Mexico and Juรกrez remain particularly dangerous. Indigenous women face compounded risks, with their cases even less likely to be investigated. Feminist activists fighting for accountability face harassment and threats.
Femicide
Impunity
Indigenous women
โฑ Structural crisis ยท Ongoing 2025
Conflict-Related Sexual Violence in Eastern DRC
The DRC remains the epicentre of conflict-related sexual violence globally. With the M23 offensive expanding in 2024โ2025 and the fall of Goma to rebel forces, mass rape has been documented as a systematic weapon of war. UNFPA has reported a surge in gender-based violence cases. Hundreds of thousands of women have been displaced, with maternity services and safe spaces overwhelmed or destroyed.
Warzone sexual violence
Displacement
Healthcare collapse
โฑ Ongoing ยท M23 escalation 2024โ2025
Abortion Law Reform Stalled After Near-Total Ban
Poland's near-total abortion ban, imposed by the Constitutional Tribunal in 2021, led to multiple documented deaths of women denied medical care. Despite the liberal coalition winning elections in 2023 promising reform, legislative attempts to restore abortion access have repeatedly stalled due to the President's veto power. Doctors report continued fear of prosecution, creating a chilling effect on obstetric care. A partial reform bill passed in 2024 but was vetoed.
Abortion access
Maternal mortality risk
Legislative deadlock
โฑ Ban since Jan 2021 ยท Veto 2024