‘Full legal equality for women is some 300 years away,’ says UN chief

UN Secretary-General on Friday said women across the globe continue to face discrimination and human rights violations as he noted that full legal equality for women is too far away.

“At our current rate of change, full legal equality for women is some 300 years away,” the UN chief said at an event held to mark the annual International Women’s Day in New York.

Antonio Guterres told a packed U.N. commemoration Friday that “a global backlash against women’s rights is threatening, and in some cases reversing, progress in developing and developed countries alike.”

The most egregious example is in Afghanistan, he said, where the ruling Taliban have barred girls from education beyond sixth grade, from employment outside the home, and from most public spaces, including parks and hair salons.

Guterres said progress for achieving equality “has been far too slow,” and “a persistent epidemic of gender-based violence disgraces humanity.”