Informing the legislative debate since 1914
Updated May 5, 2022
Global Women’s Issues: Background and Selected U.S. Efforts
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For several decades, Congress has considered or enacted legislation aimed at improving the rights and status of women and girls worldwide. These efforts, which may address a range of issues globally, including women’s health, education, and security, are often grouped under the broad policy umbrella of “global women’s issues.” Background Many U.S. and international policymakers have increasingly recognized gender inequality as a human rights and development issue caused by long-standing unequal power relationships between men and women. This imbalance is reflected in pervasive stereotypes, attitudes, and behaviors that perpetuate a cycle of discrimination in many societies, with significant consequences for women’s socio-economic status and security. Often women do not have equal decisionmaking power with men and cannot independently make choices that affect their overall wellbeing, including household decisions, marital status, health, education, livelihood, and civic participation. These inequalities often negatively affect the rights and status of women in many parts of the world. In the global workforce, women hold fewer paid positions and earn less for similar work than men. Many women also lack basic legal protections. For example, in over 70 countries women hold no property or inheritance rights, and in more than 40 countries women have no legal protection against domestic violence. Globally, 60% of food insecure populations are women and girls. The emergence of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) further exacerbated these issues; some experts suggest that recent gains in gender equality may be lost due to the secondary impacts of the pandemic. Selected International Efforts Governments, including the United States, have sought to address gender equality in international fora. For example, the United Nations (U.N.) Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (1979), ratified by 189 countries, specifically addresses the rights of women. (The United States has not ratified the treaty due to sovereignty concerns.) At the Fourth U.N. World Conference on Women (1995), governments, including the United States, committed to eliminating discrimination against women and affirmed “women’s rights are human rights.” In addition, U.N. Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace, and Security (2000) urged governments to ensure the increased representation of women at all decisionmaking levels for conflict prevention, management, and resolution. (The Council has since adopted nine followup resolutions.)
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U.S. Policy U.S. efforts to address global women’s issues have shifted over time, often reflecting world events, domestic political conditions, and the priorities of individual policymakers. During the past two decades, many Members of Congress and the executive branch have increasingly recognized a growing body of research linking gender equality to the overall stability, prosperity, and security of societies. Selected Legislation and Trends. U.S. policymakers have considered women’s issues from global, regional, and country-specific perspectives, ranging from issuing high-level policy statements to providing assistance to other governments, civil society, and international organizations. Some have also sought to incorporate women’s issues into foreign policy on a broad level. In Congress, for example, the “Percy Amendment,” enacted as part of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1973 (P.L. 93-189), requires that foreign assistance funds work to integrate women into the national economies of developing countries. Since FY2014 State-Foreign Operations (SFOPS) Appropriations Acts have required that funds from such acts promote gender equality in diplomatic and development efforts. (Most recently, see Section 7059 of the FY2022 SFOPS Appropriations Act (Division K of P.L. 117-103).) In the executive branch, successive Presidents have supported different aspects of global women’s issues, in some cases issuing executive orders or memoranda. Most recently, in March 2021 the Biden Administration issued an executive order creating the White House Gender Policy Council to address gender issues in domestic and foreign policy. In October 2021, the Administration published a National Strategy on Gender Equity and Equality, which aims to elevate and promote gender issues in strategic planning, budgeting, and policy development at both domestic and global levels. Legislation on global women’s issues has at times reached an impasse due to long-standing abortion and family planning-related debates. Some policymakers contend that previously enacted abortion and family planning restrictions should be included in certain gender-related legislation to ensure the restrictions apply to those bills. Others argue that the restrictions do not need to be included because they are already law or because the bills are unrelated to abortion or family planning. Agency Roles. The Department of State and U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) play key roles in coordinating U.S. efforts to address women’s issues, with the names and priorities of relevant offices often changing between Administrations. The State Department’s Office of Global Women’s Issues is led by an Ambassador-at-Large
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