Chapter 11 - Transnational Women's Movements & Networks
What are the four international UN women's world conferences? How did they contribute to transnational feminist movements? How do they illustrate the complexities of international politics and cooperation regarding women's rights? How did they evolve over time? What is the role of NGOs in the conferences?
Mexico City, Copenhagen, Denmark,Nairobi Kenya & Beijing China. These conferences helped the transnational movement because they publicized the low status and power of women in the world. They also encouraged national commitments to increase the status of women through the development of women's bureaus and commissions and through legal and constitutional changes. The conferences evolved overtime because at first delegates agreed to work to end discrimination against women, and then Nairobi forward looking strategies for the advancement of women, and then after these goals were reached the Beijing platform for action was the product of the fourth conference for women's empowerment. NGO's play an important role at all UN women's conferences influencing the content of conference documents and engaging in transnational feminist organizing.
CEDAW Committee
Monitors progress for women made in those countries that are the parties to the 1979 convention on the elimination of all forms of discrimination against women
CEDAW (Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women)
Sometimes called the women's convention and sometimes called CEDAW. An international bill of rights for women signed by the majority of UN member nations that defines gender discrimination and sets up an agenda for national action to end it
What is CEDAW? Why is it important? How do the problems in ratifying CEDAW represent a problem that plagues the women's rights as human rights endeavor?
Sometimes called the women's convention and sometimes called CEDAW. An international bill of rights for women signed by the majority of UN member nations that defines gender discrimination and sets up an agenda for national action to end it. It is important because its a series of measures to end discrimination against women in all forms. Measures to end discrimination: - incorporating the principle of equality of men and women in their legal system. - abolishing all discriminatory laws and adopting appropriate ones prohibiting discrimination against women; - establishing tribunals and other public institutions to ensure the effective protection of women against discrimination; and - ensuring elimination of all acts of discrimination against women by persons, organizations, or enterprises.
What three challenges face the women's human rights movement?
The challenges brought with CEDAW is moving from identifying abuses to accountability for abuses, incorporating women's human rights into the mainstream human rights agenda, and creating an inclusive women's rights agenda
How have transnational feminist networks and activists influenced the UN? What is the Vienna Declaration and Platform for Action? Why is it seen as a major breakthrough for transnational feminism and women's rights?
The influence has grown overtime. Women's organizations and movements have long played an important role in the bringing the views of women into the UN. Transnational feminists use lobbying and other forms of activism to ensure that women are not left out of the UN mission. The UN now prioritizes women and gender in their publications, policies, and programs because of the activism from the transnational feminist. The VDPA is an 1993 UN declaration resulting from transnational feminist activism that linked women's rights to human rights, documented women's rights abuses in five areas, and provided recommendations for their reduction. This is seen as a breakthrough because it brought major success in bringing the women's human rights agenda into the human rights agenda and is viewed by transnational feminist activists as a turning point.
Transnational Feminist Networks
The organizational expression of the transnational feminist movement
What characterizes global or transnational feminist movements?
These movements involve the coming together of feminist NGOs to work across regional or international borders in coalitions and campaigns. They recognize diversity and acknowledge that there are diverse meanings of feminism, each responsive to the needs and issues of women in different regions, societies, and times. Diversity and difference remain central values in transnational feminisms, values to be acknowledged and respected, not erased in the building of alliances.
Are transnational feminisms new? When were the first intentional women's movements founded, and what was their focus?
They are NOT new. The first transnational feminist organization, association internationale des femmes, was founded in 1868 in Geneva, Switzerland. Their focus was "universal sisterhood" of women and noted, "the position of women anywhere affects the position of women everywhere." They expressed the hope that the international council would "devise new and more effective methods for securing the equality and justice of women" and would help them realize their power in combining together to these ends.
How does the success of the women's movement require that we embrace both universal human rights and cultural difference?
They must be balanced. You shouldn't reject cultural practices just because they are not your own and that we should not presume to understand the experiences of those in another culture. You should use "social conventions" neither speaking right or wrong about which we should keep an open mind. You just have to recognize that cultural and class differences affected others.
Transnational Feminist Movements / Global
Women's movements spanning across multiple nations to resist gender inequalities, influence policymaking, and insert a feminist perspective in transnational advocacy and activism
Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action
A 1993 UN declaration resulting from transnational feminist activism that linked women's rights to human rights, documented women's rights abuses in five areas, and provided recommendations for their reduction
Commission on the Status of Women
A UN body dedicated to gender equality and the advancement of women that is responsible for monitoring the implementation of agreements from the women's conference
United Nations Decade for Women
A period when the UN gathered data about the status of women and held three world women's conference that promoted transnational feminist activism
Beijing Platform for Action
An agreement from the UN fourth world conference on women that identifies 12 critical areas of concern and specific strategic objectives and specific actions for each area
What is the nature of the cultural relativist criticism that international human rights are incompatible with a respect for cultural diversity? How do "universalists" respond to cultural relativists' criticisms of the human rights approach?
Cultural diversity and human rights must be balanced. Cultural diversity should not be used to excuse human rights violations; nor should a claim for universal values be used to justify the eradication of unique cultural practices that do not violate human rights. This issue is particularly acute in international law, which is concerned with transnational standards. "Universalists" respond to the approach by saying that human rights are universal and should apply to every human being.
Universal Human Rights
Inalienable rights possessed by virtue of being human such as rights to life, liberty, and security of person
What are universal human rights?
Inalienable rights possessed by virtue of being human such as rights to life, liberty, and security of person. All humans are born free and equal in dignity and rights, which no one, including governments, can deny them.
What is the Beijing Platform for Action (BPFA)? Why is it important? What is the purpose of the Beijing follow-up conferences?
It was the product of the fourth world conferences on women held in Beijing, China. It was an agreement from the UN fourth world conference on women that identifies 12 critical areas of concern and specific strategic objectives and specific actions for each area. The follow-up conference is to review the progress that the platform has made overtime.
