The Global Governance of Sex and Gender

The global governance of women’s and LGBTQI+ rights is characterised by persistent institutional weakness and intensifying political contestation. Decades of norm development, including the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) and United Nations human rights mechanisms, have advanced principles of equality and non-discrimination. Yet compliance gaps, financial constraints, and weak enforcement continue to hinder their effectiveness. At the same time, coalitions of conservative states and civil society actors opposing the expansion of women’s and girls’ rights and of sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI) related rights have employed discursive and procedural strategies to limit further institutionalisation of sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) and SOGI protections. This analysis demonstrates that reform trajectories remain constrained by enduring divergences among state coalitions, chronic funding shortages within the UN system, and shrinking civic space — factors that collectively undermine the democracy, effectiveness, and robustness of global human rights governance.