Women’s rights are human rights. Thus, when women are
denied basic freedoms, it is only appropriate that action should be
taken against these blatant human-rights violations. This is why
global feminism is essential to any plan for achieving
international human rights.
Unfortunately, women’s empowerment has often been shrugged
aside as a soft “women’s issue.” Today, we must
recognize that feminist issues are not simply “women’s
issues,” but everyone’s issues.
Before delving into women’s rights violations abroad, we
must first look at the situation of American women.
The religious right threatens to strip women of one of their
most basic rights ““ that of control over their own
bodies.
Ultraconservative gatekeepers attempt to block the availability
of birth control as well as research involving mifepristone (used
in “the abortion pill”), which has been shown useful in
the battle against cancer.
Although American women certainly suffer under the Bush
administration, women in developing nations bear the brunt of
American policies against birth control and abortion.
On the first day of his presidency, Bush reinstated the Mexico
City Policy as one of his first executive orders.
Also known as the Global Gag Rule, this policy mandates that no
U.S. family-planning assistance can be provided to foreign,
nongovernmental organizations that use funding from other sources
to perform abortions (except in cases of rape, incest, or when the
life of the woman is at risk), provide counseling or referrals for
abortion, or lobby to make abortion legal or more accessible in
their countries.
Bush’s international war on women can also be seen in his
refusal to ratify the United Nations Convention on the Elimination
of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, or CEDAW ““ a
treaty to which over 90 percent of the members of the United
Nations were party.
Despite efforts by some members of Congress and groups such as
The Feminist Majority Foundation, Congress continues to reject
CEDAW ratification.
Some claim that ratifying the U.N. convention would endanger
national sovereignty.
Yet many U.S. laws are compatible with and even enforced by
CEDAW. A brief glance at the convention reveals that countries
party to the convention are required to take “appropriate
measures” to eliminate discrimination, leaving plans of
action up to the nation.
Despite these setbacks, individual cities, including Los Angeles
and San Francisco, have ratified CEDAW.
It remains vital to press for national ratification because,
without the backing of the world’s superpower, CEDAW’s
full implementation appears unfortunately bleak.
It is our responsibility as global citizens to take action.
We must press for women’s rights both in the United States
and abroad. We must also be willing to learn from women in
developing nations to avoid becoming the next cultural
imperialists.
Women in both developed and developing nations are faced with
gender oppression. Now is the time to work together and realize the
interconnectivity of women’s empowerment ““ and the
threats to it.
The 2006 International Feminist Activist Fair will address
issues of how to repeal the Global Gag Rule, push for U.S.
ratification of CEDAW, and become involved in women’s
activism abroad. It will include representatives from Planned
Parenthood, UNIFEM, The Center for American Progress and on-campus
groups.
In addition to the fair, many renowned international activists
will be speaking at the related conference hosted by the Center for
the Study of Women.
Stover is the editor in chief of FEM newsmagazine. The
conference will take place today and Saturday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
in the UCLA School of Law 1430. The fair will run from 1 to 4 p.m.
on both days at the same location.