As part of their preparation for an EU future, the Western Balkan countries have taken steps to advance women's rights in recent years. These include adopting or amending relevant legislation(e.g.criminal and labour laws), elaborating national strategies and action plans, and establishing institutional mechanisms to carry out and monitor relevant policies. Nevertheless, promoting gender equality is often sidelined, and the action taken in this respect is insufficient. Ensuring equality between women and men remains 'unfinished business' in a region where traditional gender roles are deep-rooted and social attitudes and lack of awareness of women'srights are at the core of the problem. This Briefing aims to highlight the EU's efforts to promotegender equality as part of EU enlargement policy, and the way the EU strives to mainstream equality across the board. It also aims to cast light on somemajor challenges that women face in the Western Balkans, such as their weaker roles in economy and politics,and widespread gender-based violence.This follows up theJune 2017 briefing on 'Rights and empowerment of women in the Western Balkans'.