Women's rights in 2014
[3] Denise Balkissoon, writing in The Globe and Mail, disagreed with and criticized the view that 2014 marked a "watershed" moment and that "some collective 'we' has finally had enough", citing her ongoing concerns regarding a "broken system" with respect to violence against women.
[3] Australia, the UK and Singapore barred US-based dating coach Julien Blanc, after complaints that his aggressive techniques amounted to abuse of women.
In January, President Barack Obama launched the White House Task Force to Protect Students from Sexual Assault,[32] and in September, California Governor Jerry Brown signed SB 967,[33] legislation requiring colleges to adopt affirmative-consent policies.
[16] American video-game developers Zoë Quinn and Brianna Wu were forced to leave their homes after threats, as was media critic Anita Sarkeesian, who researches sexism in video games; Sarkeesian cancelled a lecture at Utah State University because, for legal reasons, it could not screen attendees for concealed weapons despite the threat of a school shooting if she spoke there.
[45] Provisions were changed to encourage more men to take paternal leave and requiring workplaces to improve gender equality or face fines.
[48][49] In December 2014, Canada changed their prostitution laws to follow the Swedish model, which focuses prosecution on those who purchase sexual services.
Rosen Hitcher, a former prostitute and abolition advocate, walked 800 km (500 m) from Saintes, in southwestern France, to Paris to protest the Senate's decision.
[55][56] The World Economic Forum's 2014 Global Gender Gap Report, measuring the allocation of resources between women and men in health, education, economy and politics, ranked Iceland, Finland, Norway, Sweden and Denmark highest on their Global Gender Gap Index, while Yemen, Pakistan, Chad, Syria and Mali were among those ranked the lowest.
[57][58][59] During a visit to the UK in April, the United Nations' Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women, Rashida Manjoo, criticized the country's "boys' club sexist culture".
She argued that sexism in the UK was more "pervasive" and "in your face" than other countries she had visited, which included Algeria, Italy, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Azerbaijan, India and Croatia.
[63] She said that violence against women "is acknowledged as a pervasive and widespread human rights violation" and that "no single country can claim that there is progressive elimination occurring".
[64] In June, UN special envoy Angelina Jolie and William Hague chaired the Global Summit to End Sexual Violence in Conflict in London,[65] and the following month UNICEF and the UK government hosted the first Girl Summit, aimed at ending female genital mutilation and child marriage.
As of November 2014, there were 31 female permanent representatives, and six seats (Argentina, Jordan, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Nigeria and the United States) out of fifteen on the Security Council were held by women.
In January Mary Barra became the first female CEO of General Motors,[69] in February Janet Yellen the first woman to chair the US Federal Reserve Board of Governors,[3] in July Adm. Michelle J. Howard of the United States Navy the first female four-star admiral,[70] and in December Libby Lane was the first woman chosen as a Church of England bishop.
[72][73] Malala Yousafzai, a 17-year-old Pakistani woman who was shot by the Taliban for her efforts to secure education for girls, shared the Nobel Peace Prize in December.
