Globally, some progress on women’s rights has been achieved, including in India. However, work is still needed to achieve gender equality.
According to UN Women:
- As of February 2021, only 14.4% of seats in parliament were held by women
- 3% of women aged 20-24 years old were married or in a union before age 2018
- In 2016, 22% of women aged 15-49 years reported that they had been subject to physical and/or sexual violence by a current or former intimate partner in the previous 12 months.
The second wave of COVID-19 in India brought unprecedented losses – with the poorest and most marginalised, including women and girls, facing higher risks without the means to absorb economic shocks and mitigate the health crisis. The female labour participation rate in India fell to 16.1% during July-September 2020, the lowest among major economies. When India imposed strict lockdown measures in April-June 2020, the percentage of women in the labour force fell to a record low of 15.5%.