GENEVA - A group of UN experts* today issued a joint statement reaffirming the centrality of understanding gender as a tool in the advancement of substantive equality and human rights for all.
"Gender-based discrimination must be addressed alongside sex-based discrimination," the experts said, emphasising that gender is shaped by social and cultural norms, roles, and power dynamics, which change over time. "Legal and policy frameworks that fail to incorporate a gender perspective risk reinforcing, rather than dismantling, structural inequality," they warned.
They expressed deep concern about attempts to reassert rigid, binary conceptions of sex - minimising the social, historical and cultural factors that shape gender - and warn that such efforts undermine decades of progress in achieving human rights and gender equality.
"These regressive approaches ignore the lived realities of women and girls, as well as gender-diverse persons, and obscure the root causes of discrimination and violence," the experts said.
They highlighted the importance of recognising intersectional forms of discrimination, including those based on sexual orientation and gender identity, and reaffirmed the guidance of international bodies such as the CEDAW Committee in interpreting gender-based discrimination broadly.
"We call on States, UN entities, businesses and all other stakeholders to reaffirm their commitment to gender equality, the experts urge the continued integration of gender in international law, policy, and practice," the experts said.
"Ensuring the rights and dignity of all women and girls, in their diversity, is critical to the coherence and integrity of the international human rights system which is essential to realising the promise of human rights for all," they said.
