Amnesty International says women’s rights deteriorated significantly in 2021

Amnesty International has said rights of women and girls have been under attack over the past year.

“Events in 2021 and in the early months of 2022 have conspired to crush the rights and dignity of millions of women and girls,’’ Agnes Callamard, the human rights organisation’s Secretary-General, said on Tuesday.

“The world’s crises do not impact equally, let alone fairly.’’

In a statement published on International Women’s Day, Callamard said the COVID-19 pandemic and the rollback on women’s rights in Afghanistan were among the events that disproportionately impacted women’s and girls’ rights over the past 12 months.

“Each is a grave erosion of rights in its own terms but taken together? We must stand up to and stare down this global assault on women’s and girls’ dignity,’’ Callamard said.

She also listed the widespread sexual violence characterising the conflict in Ethiopia and attacked abortion access in the U.S. and Turkey’s withdrawal from the landmark Istanbul Convention on Gender-Based Violence among the events.

She called on governments that took decisions that worsened the situation of women and girls to revoke them. (dpa/NAN)