The Evolution of Women’s Rights: Where We Are in 2025

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The Evolution of Women’s Rights: Where We Are in 2025


Written By: Advocate Juhi Saxena

Edited By: Advocate Yash Jain




The world celebrates International Women’s Day today. It's a day set aside to recognize the hard-earned gains and the persistent struggles towards achieving women’s rights. As a law student in 2025, I find myself in the middle of an expanding legal saga and am keenly aware of the contemporary history being made outside the walls of my classroom. It is the 30th anniversary of the Beijing Declaration today, and I ask: What is the status of women’s rights today? With a legal lens, I perceive a narrative of progression, backlash, and a future yet to be determined.

A Legacy of Legal Wins 

It is quite fascinating to consider how far the legal changes associated with women’s rights have come, contiguously with the U.S. judicial system's slow march toward justice. This legal struggle began with the 19th Amendment in 1920 granting women the right to vote, and continued after the global adoption of CEDAW in 1979. Bolstered with pride while reflecting on the past three decades known as Beijing+30, I notice the equal pay legislation in so many countries, the reproductive rights being strengthened in France with the constitutionally permitted abortion of 2024, and the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act of 2022 that I studied, which mandates employers to provide reasonable accommodation for pregnancy.

What I researched indicates that more than 190 nations have adopted CEDAW and thus have attempted to espouse equality in principle, infusing it with their state policies. These accounts are no mere anecdotes of the yesteryears; they are the pillars of my pride and ambition as a lawyer. They exemplify how laws can exist as a double-edged sword, serving justice as both catalyst and an artificer.


 The Pushback of 2025 

Yet, celebration today feels bittersweet. Progress isn’t a straight line, and 2025 is proof. A UN Women report this year flagged setbacks in 24% of countries, driven by war, climate crises, and political regression. On X, I see threads about post-Dobbs abortion restrictions in the U.S., or the suffocation of women’s freedoms in Afghanistan since 2021. Closer to my studies, Project 2025 looms—a U.S. policy proposal that could erode anti-discrimination laws I’ve analyzed in class, like Title VII protections.

The numbers hit harder: one in three women still faces violence globally, a stat that haunts my torts discussions about justice gaps. The World Bank’s 2025 update shows women enjoy less than two-thirds of men’s legal rights—worse than earlier estimates. At this rate, full equality is 131 years off. That’s 2156—a deadline I won’t live to see, but one I refuse to accept.

 Where We Stand—and Where We’re Going 

What are we doing on March 8, 2025? It is a paradox. The number of women who lead countries has risen to 10% from 7% in a decade, and the STEM fields are slowly opening up. At the same time, however, the world-wide gender pay gap is still at 20%, according to the ILO, and law execution can be half-hearted. In my constitutional law seminar, we have held discussions on AI prejudice against women, climate change and its effect on women farmers, and the dark sides of the gig economy – all in need of legal creativity.

This milestone of Beijing+30 is not just a celebration. It should be a reminder. As a student of law, I have my sights on 2025 because I think it is a changing moment. The law is not a constant; it snaps like a twig under the force of people who decide it. That’s where I come in, and maybe you too.

A Lawyer’s Call 

Let me be completely honest here: I do not expect law to solve every problem. Culture, and complex human stubbornness often outdate a legal framework. But every journey has a starting point. This International Women's Day, I am thinking about my part on what is next – be it coming up with policies to mitigate the deep-seated payment differences, litigating for women survivors, or beating back the X-styled rollbacks that give me sleepless nights.

Women who came before me actualized legal aspirational dreams in my realm of contemporary existence and there are rights. I have negative thoughts about missing the mark: it is not hopeful, neither idealistic - it is my responsibility. In 2025 women’s rights in the ideal world: a tapestry of triumphs and tears. I am proud to inherit it and equally, am ready to join the battle. Wishing everyone happy International Women’s Day, cheering the pioneers of yesterday and today, and all of us rising to the challenge now.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

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