International Woman's Day 2026

The official theme of IWD this year is “Rights. Justice. Action. For ALL women and girls" featuring campaigns including #GiveToGain and local community initiatives to promote equality and empowerment.

According to UN Women, in nearly 70 per cent of surveyed countries, women face more barriers accessing justice than men:

• 54% of countries still lack consent-based definitions of rape
• 44% of countries have no laws guaranteeing equal pay
• 3 in 4 countries continue to permit child marriage, which curtails girls’ childhoods, education, and future opportunities.

Given the state of world security at this time, our thoughts are with the almost 700 million women and girls living within 50 km of active conflict zones, for whom justice systems are largely absent, enabling perpetrators of sexual and gender-based violence to act with impunity.

What can we do to support rights and justice for all women and girls?

UN Women urges us to know our rights, speak up and engage in women’s rights issues on social media and support organisations campaigning for justice for women and girls.

Dr Kate Molesworth (Chair of the SJC Women's Network)