Around the world and through the decades, we have all shared in the global struggle for gender equality.

Online and digital spaces should empower women and girls. Yet every day, for millions of women and girls, the digital world has become a minefield of harassment, abuse, and control. What can start small, on screens – a message, a comment, or a post – can quickly spiral into a torrent of threats and violence in real life. Private photos are stolen without consent. Lies spread in a matter of seconds. Locations are tracked. AI is weaponized to create deepfakes designed to shame and silence women. During the 16 Days of Activism (25 November – 10 December), join us as we rally for a world where technology is a force for equality — not harm.

Nadia, a young tutor from Karachi, faced harassment through WhatsApp from a trusted neighbor, leading to a traumatic assault. In the past five years in Pakistan, around 1.8 million women have experienced cyber-crimes, but only 3.5% of offenders face conviction. The Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (PECA) 2016 aims to combat such crimes, but enforcement is weak. After her attack, Nadia found support at Pakistan's first Anti-Rape Crisis Cell, established in 2023. There, she received medical, legal, and psychological help, helping her regain confidence and a sense of justice, inspiring her to advocate for all silenced women.

This International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women (25 November), let’s turn our attention to the digital world. Online violence against women is a fast-growing threat aimed at silencing their voices: through cyberbullying, harassment, doxing, and more. AI is only amplifying the harm. Yet fewer than 40% of countries have laws protecting women from cyber harassment or stalking. Join UN Women’s campaign and call on governments, tech companies, users, and society to convert technology into a force for equality, not harm. There is #NoExcuse for online abuse.

Investing in care isn’t just compassion, it’s powerful economics that creates jobs, empowers women, and builds healthier, fairer societies for generations.

Women and girls around the world are calling for peace with messages like “Ceasefire” and “End the war.” UN Women is amplifying these urgent demands through its initiatives. Research shows that when women participate in peace negotiations, the outcomes are more effective and enduring. Yet, 25 years since the launch of the Women, Peace, and Security agenda—where global leaders recognized the impact of war on women and committed to their participation in peace processes —governments are still falling short. Understanding the link between gender equality and peace is essential, especially given the risks of neglecting these critical areas.

2025 is a pivotal year for global equality, with just five years left to meet the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The Gender Snapshot 2025 highlights the potential consequences of inaction versus the benefits of progress. While there are hopeful signs, such as girls surpassing boys in education and increased female representation in government, persistent issues like poverty, climate disasters, and anti-feminism threaten these gains. The choice is clear: the world must invest now to ensure that equality becomes a reality for girls born today.

What is life like for women and girls in Afghanistan today? UN Women’s 2024 Afghanistan Gender Index explores the data and helps you understand what the world must do to stand with Afghan women.

UN Women spoke with four young changemakers who are localizing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through bold feminist leadership. Their message is clear: invest in youth-led action, especially by young women and girls.

For the first time, gender equality ranks alongside healthcare and climate change as a top global concern, yet 58% of young people don’t know how to support it.

Members of the Green Valley Women’s Association take part in Vanuatu’s International Day of Rural Women celebrations in the village of Emua. Emua is one of five market sites on Efate Island that are part of UN Women’s Markets for Change programme. After it was devastated by Cyclone Pam in March 2015, it was one of the first markets to be up and running again. Over a decade, the programme operating in Fiji, Samoa, Solomon Islands, and Vanuatu, has demonstrated how local markets can become engines of women’s empowerment and economic growth, not just places to buy and sell goods. 

Fifteen years ago, UN Women was created with a bold mission: to become the United Nation’s powerhouse for gender equality and women’s empowerment. Active in more than 80 countries, UN Women has become a driving force, leading campaigns, reshaping laws, and rallying people everywhere to stand up for the rights, equality, and empowerment of the world’s 4 billion women and girls.

Thirty years after the Beijing Platform for Action, women remain underrepresented in UN peace operations, yet their leadership is crucial to building lasting global peace and security.

Online misogyny is increasingly infiltrating schoolyards, workplaces, and intimate relationships, reflecting deeper societal issues that need urgent attention and action.

A new UN Women report warns that half of women-led and women's rights organizations in humanitarian crisis zones may close within six months due to funding cuts, jeopardizing vital services for millions of women and families. In a survey of 411 organizations across 44 crisis-affected countries, 90% reported financial impacts from reduced foreign aid, with over 60% already cutting back on services like emergency healthcare and shelter. Between 2021 and 2022, women’s rights organizations received less than 1% of humanitarian aid funding and heavily depend on government support, which is now diminishing. These organizations play a crucial role in delivering essential humanitarian services in Myanmar, Palestine, Sudan, and Afghanistan.