From March 9 to 20, 2026, the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) will hold its 70th session at the United Nations headquarters in New York. A global intergovernmental forum dedicated to gender equality and the follow-up to the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, adopted by the international community in 1995, the CSW is a strategic space where governments and civil society assess, negotiate, and reaffirm their commitments to women's rights. This year, the priority theme of CSW 70 is: "Ensuring and enhancing access to justice for all women and girls, including by promoting inclusive and equitable legal systems, eliminating discriminatory laws, policies, and practices, and addressing structural barriers."
An essential forum for advocacy on gender equality issues, the CSW is nevertheless regularly questioned by feminist organizations. At issue are the rise of conservative states in negotiations, diplomatic compromises that weaken certain advances, and barriers to access for organizations from the Global South (visas, ECOSOC accreditations, costs). In addition, the United States' withdrawal from 66 international organizations—including UN Women, which operates as the secretariat of the CSW—has been accompanied by restrictive visa measures targeting more than 70 countries, particularly affecting French-speaking African countries and effectively limiting access for feminists and civil society organizations from these countries to key United Nations bodies in New York. Since January 1, 2026, nationals of 39 countries have had to pay a deposit of up to $15,000 to obtain a temporary visa under the Visa Bond Program, making spaces for negotiation, training, and advocacy virtually inaccessible to the majority of activists. At the same time, increased control by US authorities over social media and digital surveillance limits their freedom of expression and their ability to document or relay their actions, thus constituting a major obstacle to the participation of feminist movements in international decision-making spaces.
Given this context, some feminist movements have decided not to participate physically in this event. This decision reflects both concrete concerns, such as violence at borders, security risks, and travel difficulties for activists from the Global South, and more structural criticisms of the CSW process, whose efforts to translate feminist presence into real political influence are considered insufficient.
Why Equipop attends the CSW
Equipop nevertheless chose to actively participate in the CSW this year—as in previous years—alongside a delegation fromthe Francophone Feminist Alliance, a project jointly supported by Equipop, the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), and the Fund for Women in the Mediterranean (FFMed).
Our participation in CSW70 aims to:
- facilitate the participation of French-speaking feminists in international decision-making spaces;
- Strengthen the voices of survivors of sexual violence and French-speaking activists committed to access to justice, the fight against all forms of gender-based violence, including female genital mutilation, and menstrual, gender, and economic justice.
- build transnational alliances in the face of setbacks to rights;
- promote a concept of justice centered on survivors of gender-based violence, beyond a strictly legal approach;
- remind that international decisions must translate into concrete changes for women and girls.
A historic moment: access to justice at the heart of international debates
The issue of access to justice for women and girls remains a key challenge. In a global context marked by a worrying weakening of the rule of law, justice is not progressing at the same pace as international commitments. Yet states have clear legal obligations: to respect, protect, and fulfill human rights. This means investigating, prosecuting, punishing, providing redress, and preventing the recurrence of rights violations. Despite the existence of national and international legal frameworks, justice remains out of reach for many. On the contrary, in many parts of the world, we see:
- persistent obstacles, whether legal, political, financial, institutional, or cultural—such as failure to enforce laws, lack of political will and adequate investment, the persistence of rape culture, and the normalization of impunity—preventing women and girls from accessing effective justice mechanisms;
- increasing restrictions on civic space—marked by increases in criminalization, surveillance, and reprisals—limiting the ability of feminist organizations to mobilize and document violations;
- the rise of anti-rights movements that challenge the achievements made in terms of gender equality;
For survivors of sexual and gender-based violence in particular, structural barriers in peacetime are exacerbated in conflict situations. Too often, justice is reduced to a narrow vision: investigation, trial, conviction, sentencing. But a verdict is not enough. For survivors, guaranteeing access to justice also means:
- official recognition of gender-based violence as a crime;
- being believed, heard, and protected;
- access to high-quality medical, psychosocial, and legal care;
- effective repairs;
- the opportunity to contribute to a collective memory that acknowledges the crimes committed.
For the Francophone Feminist Alliance (AFF), access to justice must be approached holistically and cannot be separated from demands for:
- sustainable and substantial funding for feminist movements;
- the active defense of acquired rights in the face of conservative offensives;
- the full and active participation of activists in multilateral forums;
- the guarantee of sexual and reproductive rights and health;
- a systemic fight against gender-based and sexual violence, including when used as a weapon of war.
Placing survivors at the center of public policy, ensuring holistic care, effectively enforcing existing laws, and guaranteeing effective reparations: these are the structural changes that are needed. At a historic moment marked by attacks on multilateralism and human rights, defending access to justice is not an abstract principle—it is a political battle to prevent setbacks and build more just and equal societies.
Find Equipop at the CSW
In New York, Equipop and the Alliance Féministe Francophone (AFF) are pleased to invite you to join them for four parallel events:
- Tuesday, March 10, 4:30–6:00 p .m. “Access to Justice for Women Human Rights Defenders” with the Women Human Rights Defenders Coalition, Church Center, 11th floor. Registration: http://bit.ly/3OdYoEC
- Tuesday, March 10, 6:30–8:00p.m.: “ Access to justice: survivors of conflict-related sexual violence make their demands heard, ” with FIDH and the Mukwege Foundation, Church Center, 10th floor. Registration: https://forms.fillout.com/t/gue87rm1rBus
- Thursday, March 12, 10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.: " When treaties deliver justice" with Fos Feminista, Japan Society.
- Friday, March 13, 5:00 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.: “Access to justice for women in the Mediterranean” with FFMED, The People’s Forum. Registration: https://bit.ly/4pMoHyI
If you would like to get in touch with the Equipop and AFF delegation at CSW70, please feel free to write to us at:contact@alliancefeministefrancophone.org
