“This year, given Canada’s longstanding championing of gender equality, hopes are high for continued progress”
Attacks on the rights of women and LGBTIQ+ people are not new. From local school boards to the halls of the United Nations, there have been coordinated and well-funded efforts to reverse gains for the respect and protection of those rights. There are crackdowns on feminist and LGBTIQ+ organisations. Hate crimes are on the rise. New legislation targets same-sex relationships and trans people. Technology-facilitated gender-based violence is growing. Although there have been improvements in some jurisdictions relating to sexual and reproductive health and rights, in many other places access is shrinking and there are new forms of criminalisation. There is the possibility that this could happen under Canada’s G7 presidency. Canada has a global reputation as a staunch advocate for gender equality. In 2010 Prime Minister Stephen Harper championed the Muskoka Initiative on Maternal, Newborn and Child Health, mobilising over $1 billion in support. Criticised by activists for failing to include comprehensive reproductive health services, the Muskoka Initiative is nonetheless seen as one of the major achievements of that year. At the 2018 Charlevoix Summit, Canada initiated the Gender Equality Advisory Council, highlighted gender equality issues across discussions and launched several initiatives. A CRITICAL MOMENT FOR GENDER JUSTICE The Women 7 is the civil society engagement group providing feminist recommendations to G7 officials and leaders. We heard from activists around the world that – this year – there is a heightened sense of urgency. There are calls for strong leadership on gender justice issues. This year, 2025, also marks the 30th anniversary of the Beijing World Conference on Women, a time to take stock of what has been achieved. Feminist activists are warning that progress is much too slow and regression is an all-too-real possibility. Between 2019 and 2022, nearly 40% of countries stagnated or declined on key gender equality indicators. As well, 2023 saw 50% more cases of conflict-related sexual violence than the previous year.
To meet these challenges, this year’s W7 is calling for:
// BETH WORONIUK Beth Woroniuk is co-chair of the 2025 Women 7 and was appointed to the 2025 G7 Gender Equality Advisory Council. She is a senior fellow with the Feminist Foreign Policy Collaborative. She has championed women’s rights and gender justice issues for over 35 years, both as an activist and providing technical support to bilateral aid agencies, women’s funds, United Nations entities, international non- governmental organisations and feminist organisations. She co-founded the Women, Peace and Security Network-Canada and served as its chair for over 12 years.
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Increased ambition to ensure attention to women’s human rights, LGBTIQ+ rights and gender justice issues across all discussions and also to address gender equality priorities as a key standalone agenda. Strengthened coherence of policies and actions across all major G7 discussions, documents and priority areas, noting gender equality priorities throughout. Recognition that progress on gender justice is required to address today’s global challenges. Gender justice forms part of good solutions. A gender-just world is more secure, sustainable and prosperous. Concrete commitments, actions and resources, both monetary and non-monetary (including resources for feminist movements, organisations and networks). Demonstrated leadership and policy coherence based on gender justice and universal human rights and fundamental freedoms both domestically and globally. Greater investment in gender and age-disaggregated data in order to track change.
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// DIANA SAROSI Diana Sarosi is co-chair of the 2025 Women 7 and the director of policy, campaigns and communications for Oxfam Canada. A longstanding feminist advocate, with close to 20 years of experience working with non-governmental organisations to promote human and women’s rights, she previously worked for the Nobel Women’s Initiative and lived in Thailand for five years where she founded an organisation working to protect human rights defenders. She is a board member of Child Care Now, a national organisation advocating for universal child care in Canada.
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Backtracking on past statements would signal a new and dangerous precedent. The world is watching to see if this year’s G7 finds a way to build on past commitments and stands firm against rollbacks on gains and rights.
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