Excerpts from the report's press release:
Progress of the World's Women: In Pursuit of Justice is UN Women's first major report, following the organization's launch in early 2011. It recognizes the positive progress made - 139 countries and territories now guarantee gender equality in their constitutions, for example - but also shows that too often, women continue to experience injustice, violence and inequality in their home and working lives.
To ensure justice becomes a reality for all women, UN Women calls on governments to:
• Repeal laws that discriminate against women, and ensure that legislation protects women from violence and inequality in the home and the workplace.
• Support innovative justice services, including one-stop shops, legal aid and specialized courts, to ensure women can access the justice to which they are entitled.
• Put women on the frontline of justice delivery. As police, judges, legislators and activists, women in every region are making a difference and bringing about change.
• Invest in justice systems that can respond to women's needs. Donors spend US$4.2 billion annually on aid for justice reform, but only 5% of this spending specifically targets women and girls.
"With half the world's population at stake, the findings of this report are a powerful call to action. The foundations for justice for women have been laid: in 1911, just two countries in the world allowed women to vote - now that right is virtually universal. But full equality demands that women become men's true equals in the eyes of the law - in their home and working lives, and in the public sphere," said Michelle Bachelet, Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director of UN Women.