UN Women Goodwill Ambassadors Marta Silva, Dana Gurira and Jaha Dukure (left to right)
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern with partner Clark Gayford and newborn Source: Screenshot of The Gayford social networking site
Canadian scientist Donna Strickland was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics
Moroccan Women of the Suraliyat ethnic group finally have equal land rights Source: UN Women/Hassan Chabbi
Yazidi human rights activist Nadia Murad and Dr. Congo gynecologist Deni Mukwege were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize
On January 29, in Bucharest, Romania, Violeta Denchile took the oath at the oath-taking ceremony of the new government. Xinhua News Agency (Photo by Christier)
A graffiti artist painted an orange mural in Guatemala City in support of the UN Campaign to End Violence against Women Source: UN Women/Carlos Rivera
People participate in a Women's Day parade in the center of Madrid, Spain, on March 8, Xinhua News Agency reporter Guo Qiuda/Photo
■ Yu Huaiqing
From the introduction of new laws on violence against women in many countries, to the first national leader taking maternity leave, from women receiving free tampons, to the Nobel Peace Prize awarded to activists working to end sexual violence as a weapon of war... Some notable moments for international women's rights and gender equality in 2018 are worth revisiting here.
Bangladesh High Court Bans 'Two Finger Check' (Chastity Test)
It was a momentous moment when a high court in Bangladesh issued an injunction in April banning "two-finger testing" of rape survivors, arguing that there was no legal or scientific basis for it. The High Court also stipulated that rape survivors should not be asked questions that might compromise their dignity during the trial and requested the Ministry of Health to propose a set of guidelines to better support survivors in their access to examination and treatment.
Virginity testing exists in many parts of the world, and in many countries it is even a long-standing tradition. Virginity verification is a gynaecological examination to determine whether a woman or girl has sex. This is often done by looking at whether the hymen has been torn or examining the size of the slit, or by inserting a finger into the vagina ("examination of two fingers").
As part of the global appeal, UN Women, the UN Human Rights Office and the World Health Organization have called for an end to the "virginity test" – a painful, traumatic and humiliating practice that it calls gross human rights violations that are harmful to women and girls around the world.
This year, in more news about norms and practices harmful to women, the Swedish parliament finally amended the 1973 law prohibiting child marriage to apply to foreigners. Under this amended law, which takes effect in the new year, all marriages under the age of 18 will be null and void. Couples in the country who want to continue to live together can get married when they grow up.
Break the glass ceiling
For the first time in 226 years! The New York Stock Exchange welcomed a female head, and Stacy Cunningham was named chairman in May, along with NASDAQ President Adena Friedman, making the two world's largest stock exchanges now at the helm of women for the first time.
Breaking the glass ceiling in the scientific community is the appointment of Holly Reeds as NASA's chief flight director, the first time a woman has held the position. Canadian Donna Strickland won the Nobel Prize in Physics again as a woman, becoming the third female Nobel Laureate in Physics after Marie Curie in 1903 and Maria Gopport Mayer in 1963 55 years later.
The first national leader took maternity leave
Make history! In June, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern became the first national leader to take maternity leave and the second to give birth while holding public office (after Bey Bhutto of Pakistan in 1990). Ardern took 6 weeks off, and she set an example for the world about the importance of parental leave. In New Zealand, parental leave has increased from 18 weeks this year to 22 weeks and will increase to 26 weeks by 2020. As a working mom, Ardern made another splash when she brought her three-month-old daughter, Neve, to the United Nations General Assembly in New York in September, making the Little Kiwi the youngest ever to attend the annual meeting of world leaders.
In 2018, New Zealand, as the first autonomous country to grant women the right to vote, held a celebration of the 125th anniversary of women's right to vote. In addition, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Germany and Poland celebrated the centenary of women's right to vote.
Women in many countries have made great strides in politics
Around the world, women have made unprecedented progress in politics. In July, Mexican women won 48 percent of the seats in the lower house and 49 percent in the Senate, making it the fourth-highest percentage of women to have a seat in Congress, behind Rwanda, Cuba and Bolivia. In December, Mexico's cabinet also achieved gender equality, as did Colombia, Costa Rica, Spain, South Africa, Rwanda and Seychelles.
In other historic leaps, Tunisia, four years after the adoption of the Constitution, made up 47 per cent of Tunisia's local parliaments; Romania, Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados, Viet Nam, Ethiopia and Georgia all welcomed their first female leaders.
Eventually land rights are acquired
After 10 years of advocacy, Moroccan Women of the Suraliyet ethnic group finally have equal land rights. In July, as part of the national land privatization effort, the National Lottery Company divided about 860 plots of land equally between men and women. This is a victory for women! Under tribal law, women could not inherit land, placing single women, widows, divorced women and women without sons at a particular disadvantage. More than a decade ago, morocco began economic liberalization and land privatization, and Soviet women took the opportunity to organize a national grassroots equal land rights campaign in 2007 with the support of the Moroccan Association for Democracy of Women and the early organizations of UN Women.
Amid more information in the region, Tunisia's cabinet passed a law in November that would provide for women's equal inheritance rights. The bill is currently awaiting parliamentary approval.
Compete for equality
The Tour de France is one of the most prestigious cycling events in the world, but no women have crossed the finish line. In the summer of 2018, in the 115th year of the race, a group of women changed the status quo of men's exclusivity, riding bicycles and informally completing the entire schedule before the men's race. This is not the first time they have done so, it expresses the idea that women are equally and equitably inclusive. As the race for gender equality in cycling continues, women are constantly on the move.
In September, the World SurfIng Federation announced that it would begin offering equal prize money to female players in all events. In November, Discovery Channel 's Animal Planet' director, Suzanne Dinec, was selected as the first female leader in Premier League history.
Free tampons and pads are provided in Scotland
This is the first time in the world. Scotland will now offer free pads and tampons to all students, including university students. The initiative was introduced in August as part of a phased effort to tackle the country's phased poverty. According to a study published this year by Plan International, around 45 per cent of girls in Scotland use toilet paper or other alternatives, such as socks or newspapers, during their periods because they cannot afford hygiene products.
In addition, India, Australia and the Maldives also eliminated taxes on health products in 2018. In other reproductive rights news, in May, Ireland voted overwhelmingly in favour of the legalisation of abortion, a movement that, according to the Irish Times, is part of the "Irish Women" movement.
Hop on the Equality Train
The children are about to get a whole new perspective on life from the train. In September, the United Nations and Mattel launched a collaboration on the Sustainable Development Goals through the animated children's series Thomas and Amp: Friends to raise awareness of social issues ranging from education to gender equality. In collaboration with other UN agencies, including UN Women, new Female Locomotives for Africa and storylines have been introduced to draw more attention to the discrimination and challenges girls face in their daily lives that hinder their realization of their potential and rights.
In 2018, the Financial Times also changed the narrative by developing a robot that could alert editors and authors to look for more female experts if they found too few heroines.
In physical spaces, women are seeking to rewrite their environment through grassroots efforts to include more women in Amsterdam street names and more statues of women in the UK.
Human rights activists have been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize
A commendable moment – Yazidi human rights activist Nadia Murad and DRC gynecologist Deni Mukweg won the Nobel Peace Prize in October for their efforts to stop sexual violence as a weapon of war and armed conflict.
A global activist against rape in conflict, Mukwege and the staff of the Panchi Hospital he founded have treated tens of thousands of survivors of wartime sexual violence in the Dr. Congo since 1999.
Murad, a goodwill ambassador for human trafficking survivors at the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, used her voice and stories as a survivor of human trafficking and sexual slavery to draw attention to gross human rights violations.
Listen to my voice: End the violence now
In 2018, activists around the globe launched the UN-led 16-Day Action against Gender-Based Violence (25 November to 10 December) under the theme "Listen to Me" to bring the voices of survivors of violence and women's rights advocates under the spotlight to the forefront. More than 600 campaigns have been held in more than 90 countries around the world, from mexico's Angels of Independence to Egypt's majestic Pyramids of Giza, where landmarks and monuments have been lit up in orange, calling for a future free of violence.
Many countries took steps in 2018 to eliminate gender-based violence: in Morocco, a new law imposing harsher penalties for violence against women entered into force; in Palestine, a law on "marrying a rapist" was repealed; in Sweden and Spain, new sexual consent laws were adopted, meaning sex without explicit consent is rape; in France, a new crime of "sexism and insult" was created to strengthen penalties for sexual assault and sex discrimination; in New Zealand, survivors of domestic violence can now take paid leave, in order to take measures to protect themselves.
Champions of change
In 2018, UN Women welcomed three new goodwill ambassadors: Award-winning American playwright and actress Dana Gurira, renowned African human rights activist Jaha Dukuré, and world-renowned Brazilian footballer Marta Silva.
In December, the appointment of Gurira was announced on stage on stage on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of Mandela's 2018 Global Citizen Day in Johannesburg, South Africa. She was the first African-Zimbabwean-American UN Women Goodwill Ambassador, and throughout her career as an actress and acclaimed award-winning writer, she has worked to bring the voices of unheard of women, often survivors of violence, to the front lines and centers.
Dukuré joined UN Women in February as a Goodwill Ambassador for Africa. An outspoken activist who led the campaign to end female genital mutilation and child marriage, she not only set up her own NGO to deal with these issues, but also contributed to the Gambia government's ban on female genital mutilation.
Appointed in July, Silva is a role model and icon for many footballers around the world, she is one of the best women's footballers of all time, the top scorer of the FIFA Women's World Cup, and she has also been named FIFA Player of the Year six times.
Declaration of Human Rights at the age of 70
The landmark Universal Declaration of Human Rights was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 1948, which turned 70 in December. Today, the Declaration is issued in more than 500 languages and dialects, and for the first time in human history, it is stated that all people — men and women alike — should enjoy fundamental civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights. Together with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (1966) and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (1966), the Declaration constitutes the cornerstone of modern human rights and constitutes the International Bill of Human Rights. In celebrating the importance of this declaration at the end of the year, it reminds people of the uphill struggles and triumphs that have been waged on a global scale for decades to ensure that "human rights are women's rights and women's rights are always human rights".
(The main information in this article is from the UN Women website)