New Delhi: Gender equality is “under attack” amid hatred, misogyny and politicians campaigning to undo women’s rights, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Monday. He was at the launch of a global conference on women’s issues Women Deliver in Vancouver.
“Progress can backslide. We’re seeing it happen. Gender equality is under attack. And I can only imagine how hard it is to a feminist on the frontlines,” he said in his opening address.
“Individuals and interest groups are trying to roll back women’s rights,” Trudeau said without taking any names.
He warned that “politicians are giving into the pressure, shamefully campaigning to undo women’s hard-won victories.”
Some 8,000 delegates from more than 165 countries are attending Women Deliver in Vancouver, the world’s largest gender equality conference, which will address topics from women’s political empowerment to education and employment.
Earlier on Monday, Trudeau attended the unveiling of a report that concluded that thousands of indigenous women were victims of endemic violence amounting to “genocide.”
Citing colonial violence, racism, sexism and more, the report said many indigenous people have grown up normalized to violence, while Canadian society showed “an appalling apathy” to addressing the issue.
On Monday, the Canadian government had announced the funding of Can$ 300 million for women’s rights organizations in Canada and overseas.
Canada goes into elections in October this year. Back in 2015, Trudeau’s cabinet had an equal number of male and female ministers.
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Ms Kalinga