Access to justice
The confidence that all will be treated fairly and equally under the law is the foundation of a just and successful society.
But women across the world face barriers to justice which do not exist for men.
Too often crimes against women are not recognised by national laws, ignored by police or treated leniently by the courts.
In many cases, these offences, often very serious, are simply excused as family or cultural issues.
Even in many developed countries, women have greater difficulty getting justice because of a lack of resources, few if any female lawyers, and a legal culture which discriminates against the interests of women.
We have to step up efforts to remove the bias, formal and informal, from all justice systems so that women know they will be treated fairly.
The overwhelming majority of countries have laws which guarantee equal access to justice for all their citizens. But the reality, as women know to their cost, is very different.
Whatever the letter of the law might say, there are ingrained practices, often based on the interpretation of religious teachings or traditions, which treat women as second-class citizens.
This discrimination starts within the family. It is often institutionalised through laws and customs which reinforce the traditional male dominance of societies.
It can mean that crimes as grave as rape or domestic violence can be ignored or downplayed by the police and courts. Even if a case comes to court, the burden of proof for a woman can be so high as to make conviction almost impossible.
Indeed, the evidence of men in court in many countries is given greater weight than the testimony of women. Discriminatory practices and cultures also mean that women can find themselves facing harsher penalties than men for the same crime.
We also see this bias in the aftermath of violent conflicts. Crimes against women are often given a low priority in any peace settlement. Prosecutions for mass rape in war have only been successful in the past two decades.
But this injustice is not restricted to countries recovering from conflict or those in which religion plays a central role in framing their legal system. In almost all societies, women often face a legal culture which discriminates against them. They are treated unequally in law over employment rights and their entitlement to pensions and other benefits.
We are seeing change. Discriminatory laws and practices being reformed. There is a welcome new emphasis on treating violence against women seriously. But we need to embed and expand these reforms and ensure they deliver real change.