Women and International Solidarity: UN Independent Expert Urges States to Protect Women Activists Working Across Borders

Summary

On 16 October 2026, the United Nations Independent Expert on human rights and international solidarity, Cecilia M. Bailliet, presented a report to the General Assembly's Third Committee on women and international solidarity. In a press release issued the same day, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) quoted her as saying that women "are demonstrating extraordinary leadership in building more inclusive, just and peaceful societies", while "women solidarity actors frequently face harassment, surveillance, smear campaigns, online abuse, criminalisation and violence".

According to UN Meetings Coverage (GA/SHC/4445), the Independent Expert told the Committee that women organising across borders increasingly face raids, surveillance, online harassment, travel bans and even assassination. "We see that targeted women are leaving politics, they are leaving journalism, they are leaving academia and advocacy work," she said. This report summarises the Independent Expert's findings, the context in which they were presented, her recommendations and the relevant international standards.

Background: The Mandate and the Report

The report, "Women and international solidarity" (A/81/179), is dated 14 July 2026 and was transmitted to the General Assembly's eighty first session by the Secretary-General in accordance with Human Rights Council resolution 53/5. That resolution, which extended the mandate of the Independent Expert, was adopted on 12 July 2023 by a recorded vote of 31 in favour, 13 against and 3 abstentions, according to the Council's voting record.

The report draws on inputs received from States, non-governmental organisations, university law clinics and individual researchers, which are identified in its footnotes. Country examples include Afghanistan, Brazil, Colombia, Indonesia, Kenya, Mexico, Nicaragua, the Republic of Moldova, the Sudan and Uzbekistan, among others. The Independent Expert frames her inquiry around Sustainable Development Goal 5 on gender equality and states that she seeks to understand State and societal commitment to recognising women as solidarity actors.

Key Findings of the Report

The report states that women are often at the forefront of international solidarity actions in areas including peace, environmental protection, labour rights, minority rights, refugee and migrant assistance, health and education. It finds that there is at present "a backlash against women's rights" and that women are experiencing political, legal and economic disempowerment "at a level that may be considered a threat to peace".

Legal Equality and Its Limits

According to the report, many constitutions contain equality guarantees, but women may still be unable to obtain justice in practice because of a lack of legal aid, the failure to reverse the burden of proof in discrimination cases or weak monitoring by national bodies. It raises concern that a move towards purely gender-neutral equality standards, including a proposal cited by the Norwegian Women's Lobby to remove the word "woman" from such legislation, may weaken protections. The report also notes that in some jurisdictions equality standards may be limited by interpretations of religious law affecting family law, inheritance, nationality and political participation.

The report presents Colombia and Latvia as examples of developed legal frameworks, citing article 13 and article 43 of the Colombian Constitution and Latvia's gender equality provisions in labour law. In the case of Colombia, it also records continuing concern, citing UN-Women, about significant levels of violence against women, including Indigenous women and women of African descent.

Women-Led Solidarity Networks

The report describes a wide range of women-led initiatives, including legal aid groups such as the Federation of Women Lawyers in Kenya, cross-border networks linking women garment and maquila workers in Mexico, Central America, the United States and Canada, and community kitchens known as takaya that, according to one input, have become the only reliable source of food for thousands of families in parts of the Sudan. It also refers to informal food-sharing and caregiving networks organised by women in Tigray, Ethiopia, and to women's cooperatives in Morocco, where it cites a figure of approximately 15,000 cooperatives involving some 30,000 women.

Peace Processes and Women's Tribunals

The report describes women's participation in peace negotiations, peacebuilding and the redistribution of resources as an area in which "there remains much need for improvement", and refers to Security Council resolution 1325 (2000). It describes the People's Tribunal for Women of Afghanistan, held in Madrid in October 2025 and organised by four Afghan organisations, at which 24 women gave testimony. According to the report, the Tribunal's judgment found that the Taliban's actions against women protesters amounted to the crime against humanity of gender persecution. The Tribunal was convened by civil society organisations and its judgment is not legally binding. The report also describes a campaign to recognise "gender apartheid" as a crime against humanity, a category that is not currently defined as a distinct crime in the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.

Harassment, Surveillance and Restrictions

Drawing on UN-Women research and submissions, the report lists measures it says are used against women's solidarity groups, including raids without warrants, designation as foreign agents or threats to national security, surveillance, doxxing, Internet shutdowns, travel bans, asset freezes, smear campaigns, arbitrary detention and physical violence. It states that some organisations have been suspended or lost legal status because they received international funding. It also states that women's international solidarity activism "may be wrongfully classified by the State as 'acts that undermine national sovereignty'", and that targeted women may engage in self-censorship or withdraw from public life. The report cites specific concerns raised in inputs on Afghanistan, Brazil, Kashmir, Nicaragua and the Sudan.

Responses and Context

The UN Meetings Coverage summary of the 16 October meeting records the Independent Expert's presentation alongside reports from other mandate holders, but does not attribute specific responses from delegations to her report. Some States contributed information on their own measures, which the report includes: Latvia reported cases of online harassment documented by its Ombudsman, Myanmar described a helpline and legal aid system run by its Department of Social Welfare, and Ecuador described consultations promoting the civic leadership of young women. The report also describes civic education, social support and leadership programmes for women and girls in Austria, Algeria and Uzbekistan.

The report also records positive practices identified in other countries, including legal reforms in Mexico addressing digital violence and femicide, while noting that their effectiveness depends on cooperation between the State, civil society and private institutions. Many of the country specific concerns set out in the report are drawn from submissions by civil society organisations and are presented as such in its footnotes. Resolution 53/5, which renewed the mandate, was adopted by recorded vote rather than by consensus in the Human Rights Council.

Recommendations

The report sets out 31 recommendations addressed to States, civil society, businesses and international organisations. They include recognising women's leadership in international solidarity initiatives, strengthening transnational and intergenerational solidarity networks, increasing "direct, flexible and timely funding" for grassroots women-led initiatives and shifting solidarity funding from "gender-neutral" to "gender-transformative" approaches.

On protection, the Independent Expert recommends criminalising gendered or misogynistic hate speech and harassment of women solidarity actors online, providing early warning mechanisms, legal aid and digital security support, pursuing corporate accountability for online attacks, and recognising the right to asylum of women solidarity actors at risk of persecution. She further recommends adopting gender equality legislation and constitutional guarantees, reversing the burden of proof in discrimination cases, ensuring women's equal representation in courts and public office, and including women and youth at all levels of peace processes. A separate recommendation asks civil society to advocate for women's inclusion in the design of artificial intelligence content moderation tools.

Relevant International Standards

The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women obliges States parties to eliminate discrimination against women in political and public life and, under article 8, to ensure women the opportunity to represent their Governments at the international level and to participate in the work of international organisations. The rights to freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly are protected under articles 19, 21 and 22 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. The report also refers to general recommendation No. 40 (2024) of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women on equal and inclusive representation in decision-making systems.

The report calls for ratification of International Labour Organization conventions including the Equal Remuneration Convention, 1951 (No. 100), the Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention, 1958 (No. 111) and the Violence and Harassment Convention, 2019 (No. 190), and for removal of reservations to the Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence. On asylum, the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees protects persons with a well-founded fear of persecution, including for reasons of political opinion.

Taskforce Note

The Global HR Taskforce will continue to monitor developments, including any responses from States to the Independent Expert's report and the Third Committee's ongoing work during the eighty first session. Sources: Report of the Independent Expert on human rights and international solidarity, "Women and international solidarity", A/81/179, 14 July 2026; OHCHR press release, "Women's international solidarity vital for human rights, equality and peace, says UN expert", 16 October 2026; UN Meetings Coverage and Press Releases, GA/SHC/4445, 16 October 2026; Human Rights Council resolution 53/5, 12 July 2023; Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women; International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.