Millions of women have no access to justice, says UN

Published: Tuesday, July 05, 2011

MORE THAN 50 per cent of working women globally, 600 million, are trapped in insecure jobs without legal protection, according to the first report of the new agency UN Women.

A similar number do not have even basic protection against domestic violence, it finds, while sexual assault has become a hallmark of modern conflict.

Michelle Bachelet, the executive director of UN Women, said the document showed millions of women had no access to justice.

"The report reminds us of the remarkable advances that have been made over the past century in the quest for gender equality and women's empowerment," she said.

"However it also underscores the fact that despite widespread guarantees of equality, the reality for many millions of women is that justice remains out of reach."

For millions of women in rich and poor countries, the search for justice is fraught with difficulty and is often expensive; laws and legal systems frequently discriminate against them.

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