Policies that put the rights of women and gender-diverse people at risk

The emergence of increasingly regressive bills and proposals on gender equality is raising concern in the human rights world. The case of Peru and its law on “equal opportunities” between men and women. 

The violation of the rights of women and gender-diverse people is a problem that, while culturally ingrained in societies, becomes even more harmful when it is institutions themselves that put inclusion at risk. The promotion of regulations or case law that, through action or omission, erode gender-inclusive perspectives is a problem that still persists and that alarms civil society and human rights organizations. The recent case of Peru has once again put the international community on alert on this issue.

The parliamentary approval of the aforementioned Law on “equal opportunities between men and women” prompted a reaction from the United Nations, which even asked the Peruvian Congress to prevent the full implementation of this measure. The concern lies in how the bill replaces the concept of “gender equality” with “equity of opportunities,” engaging in a dangerous abstraction that undermines the spirit of gender-sensitive laws.

As the UN has pointed out, this type of legal maneuver renders invisible the structural inequalities faced by women and gender-diverse people and could pave the way for a gradual weakening of the guarantees and protections that shield these vulnerable groups. It has also been warned that this new regulation undermines basic rights related to sexual and reproductive health. 

For its part, the UN also pointed out that this regulation imposes new obstacles to the participation of civil society actors in filing complaints against the Peruvian state regarding gender-based violence. Human rights associations and organizations could be arbitrarily criminalized under this law, even if their very goal were the fight against discrimination.  

The case of Peru reveals regressive criteria from within the state's own legal structures, where notions of “biological sex” are once again recycled to be applied in laws, obscuring the very root of the struggle for the rights of gender minorities. Experts have sounded the alarm about how this may have an impact not only in legal terms but also as a dangerous symbolic precedent for civil society. 

The Center for International Policy Studies (CEPI) of the University of Buenos Aires analyzed the Peruvian case and referred to the risks of promoting a policy of equality between people that is stripped of the category of gender. In a report titled “Un retroceso anunciado” (A Foretold Setback), CEPI highlights how this type of legislation reduces sexuality to a merely bodily and biological matter, stripped of the structural social inequalities it entails. Stripping away the social dimension of gender, the report warns, obscures phenomena such as the high rates of sexual violence against women in that country. 

The situation in Latin America

Another case that drew attention this year with regard to the rollback of the rights of women and gender-diverse people was that of Ecuador. In mid-2025, activist groups in the country spoke out against the closure of the Ministry of Women. The decision, made by the country's president Daniel Noboa as part of a public sector austerity program, raised concern in civil society, which regarded it as a setback in human rights for women and minorities. 

In concrete terms, the merger of the Ministry of Women with other agencies translates into a reduction of its structure, going from 9 secretariats to only 3, draining the resources and tools for public policy. The women's and gender-diversity movement warned that this was a dangerous maneuver that leaves adrift problems requiring urgent attention from the state. The Coalición de Mujeres del Ecuador (Coalition of Women of Ecuador) was one of the organizations that took a stand in outright rejection of the measure and led street mobilizations.

The UN Women warning

UN Women had already issued warnings about the problem of the rollback in the rights of women and gender-diverse people. In 2024, the organization published a report detailing the social factors with the greatest impact on the regressive nature of policies in several countries. According to data released by the organization, it is estimated that as of last year some 2 billion people lived in countries where sexual relations between people of the same sex/gender identity are criminalized. 

In light of this, UN Women emphasized the advance of emerging anti-rights political groups in various parts of the world, and how women and gender-diverse people tend to be the favorite target of their attacks. 

Guillermo Whpei

President of Fundación para la Democracia