Spoken and Unspoken Harms: The Global Regression in Women's Rights and Patriarchy
“Society, being codified by man, decrees that woman is inferior… All oppression creates a state of war. And this is no exception.”
– Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex
Globally, one in three women are victims of gender-based violence. This alarming statistic reflects only one component of the broader patriarchal system of subjugation and suppression that targets women and girls––a system that, no matter how covert, underlies almost every society on earth. Of course, the rights and liberties of women have indeed expanded in the past century across the developed world and beyond. Today, in most advanced industrialized economies, women can vote, be employed, and have freedom of movement. Yet geopolitical turmoil and waves of regressive political measures have resulted in a significant deterioration in women’s rights, jeopardizing the safety and well-being of millions of girls and women. Furthermore, while the abnegation of many de jure forms of oppression against women has undoubtedly diminished the reach of patriarchy, more insidious forms of discrimination remain entrenched in contemporary societies. The continued patriarchial abuses––both seen and unseen––of women present a humanitarian crisis that requires immediate and comprehensive remediation.
Perhaps the most stark and recent nationwide reversal of women’s rights was the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan. In August 2021, following almost 18 years of constitutionally enshrined rights for women, the Taliban regained control of Afghanistan. Almost immediately, the group began enacting fundamentalist policies, systematically eroding the autonomy and personal freedoms of women living under the theocratic regime. Since then, women have been banned from going to secondary schools, working in most sectors, and moving freely in public spaces. While the extremity of the structural violence perpetrated against women in Afghanistan is exceptional in its brutality, it is not anomalous. In countries such as Poland and the United States, reproductive freedoms have been severely curtailed, posing adverse mental and physical health consequences for women. In the United States, following the overturning of Roe v. Wade, many states began restricting abortion access––measures that have resulted in heightened maternal mortality rates. Meanwhile, in China, extensive legal efforts have been made to censor feminist movements and activists. For instance, in June 2024, Chinese investigative journalist Huang Xueqin, a vocal pioneer of the #MeToo movement in China, was sentenced to five years in prison for her alleged subversion of state power. Coupled with the suppression of digital content regarding women’s issues and feminist messaging, China’s policies and practices constitute a clear and constant threat to all victims of gender-based violence, whose voices have been effectively revoked for fear of brutal punishment. In South Korea, feminism is becoming increasingly divisive as patriarchal and militaristic cultural underpinnings clash with widespread feminist activism. To appeal to the conservative agenda opposed to contemporary feminism, past presidential candidate Yoon Suk Yeol even vowed to abolish South Korea’s Gender Equality Ministry, the central entity responsible for ensuring the protection of women’s rights. Beyond the political and social polarization of the feminist movement, the country continues to suffer from increasing rates of violence against women and a new epidemic of digital sexual violence––a situation only worsened by the anti-feminist backlash.
These countries and their recent actions exemplify the broad, frightening regression of women’s rights and freedoms. However, the patriarchal structures that uphold and sustain these abuses have long remained embedded in the sociocultural and economic fabric of even the most seemingly egalitarian societies. Findings from the United Nations Development Programme suggest that 90% of men globally harbor a “fundamental” bias against women. This finding is corroborated by the lived experiences of women who face harassment, employment discrimination, and general aggression from men. Additionally, women still do twice the amount of unpaid labor as men worldwide. Despite the almost omnipresent nature of patriarchy and its impacts on women, many men and women alike in developed nations remain resistant to the notion that it continues to impact the lives of women. For example, in the United States, 56% of men surveyed said that sexism was effectively eliminated.
Patriarchal structures are multifaceted; to adequately address the full breadth of patriarchy’s systemic harms, solutions must be complex and holistic. Efforts must center on ameliorating situations, such as in Afghanistan, wherein women face imminent and perpetual threats to their safety. However, the scope of humanitarian efforts to achieve gender equality must also pay critical consideration to how patriarchy continues to maintain its pernicious grasp on even more outwardly egalitarian societies. Meanwhile, public narratives must expand to encompass the smaller-scale ways in which patriarchy interferes with and degrades women’s lives. To dismantle the global grip of patriarchy, we must combat not only its overt violence but also the subtle, pervasive forces that continue to undermine women's rights and freedoms.
