Global Scans · Gender Equality · Weekly Summary

In September 2015, 193 world leaders agreed to 17 Global Goals for Sustainable Development. If these Goals are completed, it would mean an end to extreme poverty, inequality and climate change by 2030.
Goal 5: Achieve gender equality and empower women and girls.

• [New] WORKFORCE Mental health takes center stage: CEOs elevate it above gender equality and work conditions A worldwide priority: CEOs across the US, Europe, and Japan rank mental health as one of the top three social issues they will prioritize in 2026. The Conference Board
• [New] In 2026, EU countries will enact rules mandating the inclusion of pay ranges in advertised positions, and in 2027, companies in the EU must report their mean and median gender pay gaps. financialpost
• [New] Health officials from the Trump administration announced several moves Thursday that will have the effect of essentially banning gender-affirming care for transgender young people, even in states where it is still legal. NPR
• [New] The European Union has announced it will invest 55 million pesos (US $ 3 million) to finance five Mexican projects to combat gender violence in 2026. Mexico News Daily
• [New] The rise of anti-gender rights movements is jeopardising legal protections for women and girls around the world, threatening to undo decades of legal progress. Equality Now
• [New] Looking at what's coming in 2026, the biggest questions will center around Medicaid financing, parity enforcement, reproductive and gender-affirming care, harm reduction policy, and whether the federal government continues to retreat from equity-centered health policy. Behavioral Health News
• [New] If Amendment 3 passes in Missouri, gender transition surgeries and the prescription of cross-sex hormones and puberty-blockers for children under the age of 18 will be banned. AOL
• [New] By 2026, the intersection of gender-driven tech leadership and AI workplace integration is not just a social imperative but a strategic investment opportunity. Ainvest
• [New] Global crises - including climate change, conflict, rising authoritarianism, and digital threats - are creating new risks and widening existing gender gaps. WFUNA
• Promoting gender-balanced participation will strengthen Ukraine's mine action capacity and align reconstruction with broader principles of equality and social inclusion. FREE NETWORK
• The Food and Drug Administration says it's going to go after the manufacturers of chest binders, alleging they are illegally marketing them to children as a treatment for gender dysphoria. Reason.com
• The Food and Drug Administration warned makers of breast binders, used by many transgender males to flatten their chests, about illegally marketing their products to minors with gender dysphoria. The Week
• New Hampshire will prohibit prescribing hormone treatments and puberty blockers to alter a child's gender and will ban certain surgeries as gender care for minors. Yahoo News
• The Northern Territory government will no longer fund puberty blockers or gender-affirming hormone treatments for children. Australian Broadcasting Corporation
• Israel had increasingly employed sexual, reproductive and other forms of gender-based violence against Palestinians, including forced public stripping and nudity, sexual harassment including threats of rape, as well as sexual assault. BBC News
• Peace and Security Index, Afghanistan ranks bottom out of 181 countries on almost every measure of women's wellbeing, from the threat of partner violence to gender-based political persecution and general women's safety. Spiked
• In the United States, partisanship constrains gender affinity, such that women voters will rarely cross party lines to vote for a woman. Cambridge Core

Last updated: 18 January 2026