Why laws alone don’t guarantee women’s rights

Each March, Women’s History Month invites reflection on the progress women have made — and the work that remains. International Women’s Day (March 8) similarly serves as a global moment to recognize both the achievements of women and the systems that continue to shape their opportunities and rights.

One of the most important lessons from women’s rights history is that laws alone do not guarantee equality. Legal protections matter deeply, but whether those protections translate into real-world rights often depends on how laws are implemented, enforced, and accessed.

A recent United Nations report examining women’s access to justice highlights this gap. Globally, women still have only about 64% of the legal rights afforded to men, and in nearly 70% of countries, women face greater barriers to justice than men.

Understanding the difference between legal protections and practical access to rights helps explain why women’s experiences can vary so widely — not only across countries, but across states and communities within the United States.

Note: At WRDI, our work focuses on helping readers navigate that complexity by tracking policy developments, explaining legal changes in clear language, and providing context about how laws shape everyday life.

Why it Matters

When people think about women’s rights, they often focus on whether a law exists. But the presence of a law does not automatically mean that a right can be exercised in practice.

Several factors can shape how accessible a legal right actually is:

• Implementation and enforcement: Enforcement can vary widely depending on resources, institutional practices, and political priorities. For example, while most countries now have laws addressing domestic violence, many still struggle with consistent enforcement, survivor support services, or adequate funding for justice systems.
• Access to justice: Legal protections can also depend on whether individuals can navigate the legal system. Attorney fees, geographic distance from courts, language barriers, and limited access to legal information can all affect whether women are able to pursue their rights.
• Institutional bias and social norms: Justice systems operate within broader social contexts. Cultural expectations, bias within institutions, and gender imbalances in decision-making roles can all influence how laws are interpreted and applied. For example, although workplace discrimination laws prohibit unequal treatment based on gender, some women may hesitate to report violations due to fear of retaliation or career consequences.
• Differences across states: In the United States, many policies affecting women’s lives are determined at the state level. Laws governing issues such as reproductive healthcare, workplace protections, education policy, and voting access can differ significantly from one state to another. As a result, women living in different states may experience very different legal landscapes.

Taken together, these factors illustrate why tracking both laws and their real-world impacts is essential for understanding how women’s rights evolve.

Background

Over the past century, major legal milestones — from suffrage to workplace protections and civil rights legislation — have expanded formal legal equality. In many cases, however, the passage of a law marked the beginning of a longer process, rather than its conclusion. Implementation, court interpretation, and continued policy debates have all influenced how those rights function in practice.

Globally, researchers continue to document gaps between legal frameworks and everyday realities. According to the same United Nations report, barriers to justice for women can stem from several sources, including discriminatory laws, weak enforcement mechanisms, and structural barriers such as poverty, lack of legal literacy, and unequal representation within justice systems.

In some areas, progress has been significant. For example, more than 80 percent of countries have adopted laws addressing domestic violence. Yet legal protections still remain uneven in other areas: globally, more than half of countries lack consent-based legal definitions of rape, and many still lack legal guarantees for equal pay.

In the United States, the role of state governments adds another layer of complexity. Since the Supreme Court’s 2022 Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision, abortion policy has shifted dramatically across states. Some states have moved to restrict access, while others have enacted constitutional protections, expanded healthcare access, or adopted laws designed to protect providers and patients.

These developments illustrate a broader reality: women’s rights are shaped not only by the presence of laws, but by the systems that interpret, implement, and enforce them.

Understanding those systems — and how they vary across states and policy areas — is essential for anyone seeking to understand the evolving landscape of women’s rights.

Resources

United Nations - International Women’s Day 2026: Rights. Justice. Action.
UN Commission on the Status of Women — Ensuring and strengthening access to justice for all women and girls, including by promoting inclusive and equitable legal systems, eliminating discriminatory laws, policies and practices, and addressing structural barriers
PBS News - Here's what to know about International Women's Day — a celebration and a call to action
National Women's History Alliance - Why March is National Women's History Month
WRDI - What it means for women’s rights to be legally protected