Unfinished business: Why the world is quietly slipping back on gender equality
She is a tech entrepreneur, author, and relentless advocate for gender equality in STEM and beyond. Over the past 20 years, she had immersed herself in the fast-paced world of technology and AI, building innovative products and leading initiatives that challenge the status quo. LESS ... MORE
'When sleeping women wake, mountains move.' But what happens when the world tries to rock them back to sleep? In early 2024, UN Secretary-General António Guterres made a chilling statement: 'Patriarchy is far from vanquished; it is regaining ground.' This wasn't poetic alarmism. It was a data-backed wake-up call. And yet, outside activist circles, hardly anyone flinched. Across continents, from Kabul to California, gender rights are being quietly, and sometimes violently, rolled back. After decades of hard-won progress, we're now staring at a grim reality: no country is on track to achieve full gender equality by 2030. In fact, at the current pace, a child born today may not see a gender-equal world in their lifetime. That's not just a policy failure; it's a moral collapse.
A global gender recession
Nearly 40 per cent of countries have stagnated or declined in gender equality indicators over the past few years. One in four nations has seen rights regress, according to UN Women. A toxic mix of democratic backsliding, economic turmoil, climate crises, extremist ideologies, and digital radicalization is fuelling this slide backward. Let's be clear: this isn't happening in the shadows. It's happening in broad daylight.
Afghanistan : With over 50 edicts banning women from schools, jobs, even parks, the Taliban erased 20 years of progress in months.
Iran : Women-led protests erupted in 2022, only to be met with brutal crackdowns.
Poland : Abortion rights were stripped, and women hit the streets holding signs that read 'This is War.'
Argentina : Austerity measures slashed violence-prevention budgets by 80 per cent, and the Ministry for Women was shut down.
United States: In 2022, the constitutional right to abortion was overturned after nearly 50 years, placing the next generation's rights behind their grandmothers'.
These aren't isolated events. They're part of a global pattern: when democracy falters, gender rights are the first to go.
When power shifts, rights slip
The last decade has seen a sharp rise in nationalist populism, and with it, a strategic, coordinated push to restrict bodily autonomy, civil liberties, and identity freedoms. In the US, federal and state-level rollbacks on reproductive rights, LGBTQI+ protections, and gender-affirming care haven't just reshaped domestic policy, they've emboldened regressive forces globally. Movements across Europe, Latin America, and parts of Asia have mirrored this playbook: eroding gender rights under the banner of 'protecting children,' 'preserving tradition,' or 'restoring order.' In many countries, legal protections for LGBTQI+ communities are being diluted or scrapped altogether. Trans and non-binary individuals are targeted not just by fringe groups but by state-sanctioned policies, media rhetoric, and social hostility.
It's critical we understand this: gender equality isn't just about women. It's about dismantling structures that police identity, enforce conformity, and punish difference, whether you're a girl forced into early marriage, a queer teen denied healthcare, or a trans activist fighting online hate.
So, why now?
Crises, historically, have never been gender-neutral. Covid-19 pushed millions out of the workforce, overloaded unpaid care systems, and gave governments an excuse to shelve equity agendas. Add economic inflation, conflict, and the global rise of strongmen politics, and you get a perfect storm, where patriarchy doesn't just survive, it thrives. Often, the rollback is subtle. Rights are stripped under the cover of 'national interest.' Budgets are cut. Language is sanitized. The erosion is slow, but deliberate.
And the battlefield isn't just policy. It's culture, media, school curriculums, even algorithms. Women, queer folks, and gender-diverse people find themselves at the centre of a global identity war, used as symbols, silenced as threats.
But, not all is lost
There are countries bucking the trend. France recently became the first to enshrine abortion rights in its Constitution. Nations like Ethiopia and Kenya are bringing more women into high office. And grassroots movements are mobilizing everywhere, from schoolgirls in Uganda demanding education, to queer artists in Brazil reclaiming public space.
Because backlash, ironically, is proof of progress. You don't push back unless something's pushing forward. The louder the opposition, the more threatening gender equity has become to the status quo.
India's tightrope walk
India isn't exempt from this global tide. We've made progressive strides, women in leadership, strong legal frameworks, vibrant feminist movements. But we also face rising digital misogyny, shrinking dissent, moral policing, and economic pressures that disproportionately impact women and LGBTQI+ communities.
Whether it's regressive dress codes, diluted sex education, or the lack of data on trans and non-binary persons, our challenges are structural, not just social. As the world backslides, India must decide whether it wants to lead from the front or lag in the shadow of patriarchy's return.
The price of regression
If current trends continue, by 2030 the world could be more unequal than it was in 2015, when the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were first adopted. We're talking higher maternal mortality, wider pay gaps, more child marriages, increased violence, and the silencing of entire identities.
And this isn't just a 'gender issue.' Three-quarters of all SDG targets depend on gender parity. You can't fight poverty, hunger, climate change, or health crises with half the population locked out of decision-making.
Backsliding is a choice. So is resistance
This piece marks the first chapter of a series titled Unfinished Business, where we'll unpack how global systems, governments, economies, ideologies, are structurally wired against women. In the coming editions, we'll explore:
How authoritarianism feeds misogyny
Why austerity hits women hardest
How climate change displaces women first
And why data gaps make women's struggles invisible
But we'll also spotlight the powerful resistance movements shaping a more equal world. Because while the backslide is real, so is the fightback. And history reminds us, when women rise, the world follows.
Let this be a beginning, not an obituary.
Stay tuned for the next chapter: Democracy in Decline: Why Authoritarianism and Misogyny Go Hand in Hand
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