Counting Backwards on Equality: Why Gender Parity Could Take 123 Years

As delegates meet at the UN  for the 70th session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women, the state of equality for many women in the world remains dire. The World Economic Forum’s 2025 Global Gender Gap Index shows the world at about 69% of the way to achieving gender parity, and at the current trend, needing a staggering 123 years for full equality to be achieved. Few countries are moving forward at a pace, with analysis carried out ahead of this year’s Commission on the Status of Women warning that women’s rights are regressing in many contexts, as laws have been reshaped to restrict women’s freedoms, silence their voices and allow abuse without consequence. In this week’s episode we take stock of the huge gap for women achieving equality and fair access to justice, seeing where we may hone in with our intentions and prayers. We explore what’s behind the global backsliding, including legal barriers and threats from restrictive laws and technology, and in a specific case that will resonate with many of our listeners, assess the disproportionate impact on women inherent in the SAVE Act legislation currently being proposed in the USA. Intentions and prayers start at 25 minutes 16 seconds. Suggested Intention Focus for this week This week, as we reflect on the reversal of moves toward women achieving equality with men in many countries, we suggest holding as our main intention: We will that all who have influence within UN member nation governments and their justice systems to implement and uphold equality protections will be moved and guided by the pleas of UN Women to ensure and strengthen access to justice for all women and girls. Please join us in holding this. Find out about UN Women and the 70th session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women at https://www.unwomen.org/en/articles/in-focus/the-70th-session-of-the-un-commission-on-the-status-of-women-csw70 Chapter markers 00:00:00            Introduction 00:01:02            Analyzing Global Gender Equality Trends 00:03:00            A Brief History of Women’s Day 00:04:05            Current Gender Equality Gains and Setbacks 00:08:39            Voting Rights and Women’s Representation 00:12:06            Barriers to Justice for Women 00:14:34            Understanding Backsliding in Women’s Rights 00:18:04            The Importance of Gender Equality 00:19:51            Emerging Issues in Gender Equality 00:20:36            The Need for Mindset Change 00:25:16            Intentions and Prayers 00:31:39            Closing Thoughts and Community Connection Sources referenced in this episode: https://www.refworld.org/document-sources/un-entity-gender-equality-and-empowerment-women-unwomen https://research.un.org/en/CSW https://docs.un.org/en/E/CN.6/2026/3 https://www.idea.int/publications/catalogue/html/beijing30-taking-stock-progress-gender-equality-using-global-state https://www.abc.net.au/pacific/programs/pacificbeat/iwd/106417888 https://www.weforum.org/publications/global-gender-gap-report-2025/in-full/benchmarking-gender-gaps-2025/       https://www.edge-cert.org/article/wef-publishes-global-gender-gap-report-2025/  https://equalmeasures2030.org/2024-sdg-gender-index/       https://news.un.org/en/story/2026/03/1167081       https://www.statista.com/statistics/244387/the-global-gender-gap-index/ https://www.icj.org/hrc35-srijl-srvaw/     https://unstats.un.org/sdgs/gender-snapshot/2025/    https://desapublications.un.org/publications/gender-snapshot-2025 https://19thnews.org/2025/04/save-act-house-voting/      https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2021/sep/07/joe-biden/are-women-disproportionately-impacted-voter-id-law/   https://www.eui.eu/research-hub?id=feminist-judgments-in-central-and-eastern-europe-as-a-response-to-gendered-democratic-backsliding https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000396066 https://www.ijraset.com/best-journal/global-covid19-research-networks-collaboration-and-authorship-trends-2024-2025 https://edintegrity.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1007/s40979-025-00187-6 https://jfs.ulis.vnu.edu.vn/index.php/fs/article/view/5475 https://knepublishing.com/index.php/KnE-Social/article/view/19403 https://www.weforum.org/publications/global-gender-gap-report-2025/ Join us in person for intention holding:    https://www.legacylabyrinthproject.org/events-1 Labyrinth Activist Network Zoom calls   https://insighttimer.com/cliverj Daily intention holding with Clive on Insight Timer.   Our websites:  www.heartfulimpact.com/   Our show website.   https://globalhealingresponse.com/ Global Healing Response ~ Offers a wealth of prayers, suggested practices and prompts in response to environmental catastrophe, conflict, and other world events.   https://www.legacylabyrinthproject.org/ Legacy Labyrinth Project ~ Creating global energetic connections through the labyrinth; inspiring active intention sending using the labyrinth via labyrinth activism.   https://www.clivejohnsonministry.com/ Clive Johnson Ministry ~ Events and offerings aimed at building beloved community, including weekly energy holding vigils and Power of Eight group.   https://insighttimer.com/cliverj ~ Daily intention holding.   Impact! Is presented by Ellen Bintz and Clive Johnson. It is produced by Impact Productions.   Our show content is hosted by Podbean and available from all major podcast platforms.   Our theme music is by Chris Collins. indiemusicbox.com.   Our logo artwork is by AltoClassic (Getty Images/istock).   Contact us via Facebook Messenger from the Impact! Facebook group, or using any of the contact methods mentioned on our websites.   Impact! www.heartfulimpact.com.