"Women’s rights are under siege. The poison of patriarchy is back – and it is back with a vengeance: slamming the brakes on action; tearing-up progress; and mutating into new and dangerous forms. But there is an antidote. That antidote is action." These opening remarks of the UN Secretary-General at the 69th Session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) this month, reverberate with their starkly dark and emotive undertones.

Has this well-documented backlash against women spreading across the global north and south – from the US' severe curtailing of women's reproductive rights to South Korea’s feminism censorship to Afghanistan’s gender apartheid – been reflected in the news coverage globally?

In other words, has news coverage of gender equality-related topics increased in recent years to reflect the growing challenges that women face globally?

To answer this question, my consultancy AKAS and I analysed the last eight years’ global news coverage of gender-related issues on International Women’s Day (IWD) which occurs on 8 March every year. In any given year, this day is the apex of news attention centring on women. But the results were not only informative but revelatory.

Some key numbers:

In short, global news coverage has not increased in line with the increase in women’s predicaments in recent years.

One might argue that at best, the news media has remained unaware or indifferent; at worst, it has turned its back on the growing challenges stemming from one's gender, confirming a key finding in my Missing Perspectives of Women report series. The news is a mirror of society and shifts its focus in line with shifting social norms, which at present are increasingly anti-diversity, equity and inclusion.

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