Combat violence against women

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called Monday to combat violence against women, at the start of the annual Commission on the Status of Women, which is expected to call for greater action against sexual harassment. 

During the pandemic, women have been more exposed than men to harmful consequences, Guterres said, citing loss of jobs, sexual abuse or child marriage.

"Women's equal participation is the game-changer we need," he said, calling for gender equality and gender parity in leadership.

"Only 22 countries are headed by a woman Head of State or Government. And at current rates parity among Heads of Government will not be achieved until 2150," Guterres said. "That's right, another 130 years of men making the same kinds of decisions they have made for the past 130 years and more."

According to the UN chief, the coronavirus pandemic "provided yet another opportunity for men to dominate decision-making."

"And we spend trillions on weapons that fail to make us safer, while neglecting the violence that one in three women globally have experienced," he said.

"Changing these default settings must be seen as an imperative," Guterres said.