A/HRC/39/51 C. Other forms of inequality 1. Sex -based discrimination 13. The Secretary-General, in his report on progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals (E/2017/66), found that sustainable development cannot be achieved without the full inclusion and effective and equal participation of women. The report notes that: that women’s participation in single or lower houses of national parliaments reached 23.4 per cent in 2017, just 10 percentage points higher than in 2000; women are still underrepresented in managerial positions — in the majority of the 67 countries with data from 2009 to 2015, fewer than a third of senior- and middle-management positions were held by women; the average amount of time spent on unpaid domestic and care work is more than threefold higher for women than men, according to survey data from 83 countries and areas; and just 52 per cent of women between 15 and 49 years of age who are married or in union make their own decisions about consensual sexual relations and use of contraceptives and health services (ibid., para. 9). The World Economic Forum reported that, in 2017, the gaps between women and men in economic participation and political empowerment remained wide: only 58 per cent of the economic participation gap had been closed and about 23 per cent of the political gap was unchanged since 2016; an average gap of 32 per cent remained to be closed in order to achieve universal gender parity. 16 The gender pay gap varies from 1.8 per cent of the male median wage (Costa Rica) to 36.7 per cent of the male median wage (Republic of Korea).17 Yet only one country to date (Iceland) has passed legislation explicitly outlawing unequal pay between men and women. 18 Women’s rights to participate in, contribute to and enjoy economic, social, cultural and political development are infringed upon by the inequalities they face in every area of their lives. 14. With regard to accountability mechanisms, women are underrepresented in virtually every international body responsible for adjudicating, monitoring and developing international law. As of June 2018, only 3 of the 15 judges on the International Court of Justice were women, 6 of 18 judges of the International Criminal Court were women and the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea had 21 judges, only 3 of whom were women. Additionally, women comprise no more than 30 per cent of the aggregate of the members of the Human Rights Committee, the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the Committee against Torture. As of June 2018, 33 of the 79 special procedures mandate holders were women. The situation is not better in national court systems. For example, in 2014, in the Supreme Court of Spain, out of 70 judges, only 12 were women; there were no women presidents in the chambers of the Audiencia Nacional (National Court); and only 6 out of 52 presidents in the High Courts of Justice were women (A/HRC/29/40/Add.3, para. 86). In Senegal in 2010, women accounted for only 17.29 per cent of judicial personnel and there were no women among the five members of the Constitutional Council (A/HRC/32/44/Add.1, para. 62). In Kuwait, in 2016, there was not a single woman among the judiciary (A/HRC/35/29/Add.2, para. 66). 2. Discrimination against other population groups 15. Inequality disproportionally affects many other groups (e.g. discrimination on the basis of race, ethnicity, religion, age, disability etc.). Persons with disabilities, for example, experience higher rates of poverty, lower educational achievements, poorer health outcomes, less legal protection and less political and cultural participation. In the European Union for example, in 2015, 30.2 per cent of the population aged 16 or more who had a 16 17 18 World Economic Forum, The Global Gender Gap Report 2017 (2017), pp. 7–8. Available at www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_GGGR_2017.pdf. OECD data (figures for 2016), https://data.oecd.org/earnwage/gender-wage-gap.htm. On 1 June 2017, the Icelandic Parliament adopted a law making it mandatory for all firms and institutions with 25 or more employees to obtain “Pay Equality Certification” (Jafnlaunavottun). The new provision entered into force on 1 January 2018. Professional certifiers will conduct reviews and deliver reports to the public Centre for Gender Equality (Jafnréttisstofa). See “Iceland: Equal pay certification legalised”, ESPN Flash Report 2017/55. 7