Citation

Facio A. Casa Mujer 1993; 1993(4): 7-12.

Vernacular Title

Las mujeres se vuelven "humanas" en la reunion regional preparatoria de la

Copyright

(Copyright © 1993, Editorial de la Universidad Nacional)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

12319531

Abstract

The Latin American and Caribbean Regional Preparatory Meeting for the 1993 World Conference on Human Rights was attended by representatives from over 150 nongovernmental organizations (NGOs). The women's groups attending the preparatory meeting succeeded in developing a "women's platform" whose proposals were largely adopted by the main conference. The composition of the attending NGOS was varied. Some of the women represented the traditional, androcentric human rights focus, while around 20 of the organizations were feminist. Human rights groups and women's organizations were urged not to wait for a government invitation, but to seek accreditation and attend the conference independently. The feminists prepared for the conference with a preliminary satellite conference in which a 19-point women's platform was created and strategy was discussed. The women consequently were able to use the conference time for meeting and lobbying the delegates. The women's platform was distributed to women's and human rights groups before the conference so that they would arrive prepared to defend it. The satellite conference debated the need to reconceptualize "human rights". The significance of "human being" is often taken to refer to male human being, and human rights might then be considered rights of male human beings. A second theme debated was whether mechanisms to protect the human rights of women are insufficient and marginal in UN activities. The feminization of poverty resulting from neoliberal policies, gender violence as one of the gravest forms of discrimination against women, and the need for recognition of rights required only by women were other topics debated. The final Declaration incorporated a paragraph affirming that violence against women should be considered a violation of human rights.

Language: es