ABSTRACT
Although international human rights law guarantees women’s legal rights to equality and security, widespread discrimination and violence against women continue to exist throughout the world. While the ICCPR demands equal civil and political rights for men and women and forbids sex-based legal discrimination, conventions like CEDAW compel State parties to “condemn discrimination against women” and enact legislation to protect their rights. Physical or sexual abuse at some point in their lives,highlighting a disconnect between expectations and reality. The Council of Europe’s Istanbul Convention (2011), for instance, clearly acknowledges violence against women as a violation of human rights and requires signatory states to criminalize all forms of gender violence and implement comprehensive protective measures in order to close these gaps. Examples at national level include the US Violence Against Women Act (1994, repeatedly reauthorized), which provides funding for coordinated law enforcement, victim services, and tribal jurisdiction over domestic violence, and India’s Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act 2005, which offers protection orders, residence rights, financial relief, custody, and compensation. The UK’s 2021 Domestic Abuse Act introduced new criminal offenses, protection orders, a Domestic Abuse Commissioner, and a comprehensive definition of abuse. Despite these regulations, societal hurdles and enforcement issues persist. Courts and women’s organizations place a strong emphasis on states’ “due diligence” duties to stop, look into, prosecute, and address gender-based violence.Using examples from India, US, and the UK, this article examines the multilevel legal framework for women’s protection, including treaty obligations, criminal and civil remedies, preventive policies, enforcement concerns, and special protections (domestic violence, sexual violence, workplace harassment, reproductive rights). Additionally, we take into account intersectional issues (disability, racism, and immigration status) and suggest changes. Enacting progressive legislation is not enough to guarantee women’s equality under law, strict execution, oversight, education, and resources are all necessary.
Keywords: Women’s Rights, International Human Rights Law, Access to Justice
I.INTRODUCTION
International law has established women’s human rights. Equality before the law was declared in the 1948[1]. Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and later treaties addressed women’s status in particular. Article 26 of the ICCPR ensures equal protection under the law against sex discrimination, while Article 3 expressly requires nations to provide “equal right of men and women”[2] to enjoy all civil and political rights.However, trustworthy statistics show that inequality and violence are still pervasive. For instance, according to WHO estimates, around 30% of women globally have experienced physical or sexual abuse from partners or non-partners at some point in their lives[3]. Human rights organizations today consider gender-based violence to be a serious human rights violation that states have an obligation to safeguard, and even domestic abuse that occurs “behind closed doors” is subject to examination[4]. In this regard, international, regional, and national legal safeguards seek to put these standards into effect through administrative actions, civil remedies, criminal prohibitions, and preventive strategies. Strengths and weaknesses of these safeguards will be examined in this examination.It will highlight intersectional factors and universal concepts through representative instances from the US, UK, and India. In the end, it evaluates the difficulties in enforcing the law and suggests ways to strengthen women’s access to justice, recognizing that laws by themselves are insufficient in the absence of successful application and cultural transformation.
[1]UDHR,Art.7
[2]International Covenant on civil and political Rights, 1966, Arts.3&26
[3]World Health Organization Report (2021)
[4]UN Women Reports