What Important Global Womens Activism Occurred in 1995 - Essay Example

Liberal feminists just aim to change the system, mostly ‘by promoting legal reform’ (Ferree 84). In Asia, a series of campaigns is in progress for promoting the rights of women. These campaigns have the title ‘Violence Against Women’ (Roces and Edwards 15) and are based on two different strategies: a) the promotion of laws for eliminating violence against women, and b) the increase of public awareness regarding violence against women (Roces and Edwards 15). The above campaigns are based on the rules of liberal feminism. As for radical feminism, the specific movement is mostly promoted through independent institutions. The National Black Feminist Organization (1973) is an example. It should be noted that the specific groups have been quite popular among African women who considered these groups as the only means for supporting their rights.

Why does simply increasing women’s participation and leadership not necessarily imply a more egalitarian future?

Many efforts have been developed worldwide for securing the participation of women in leading positions, either in politics or business. However, these efforts have faced many barriers. The key reason is that the ability of women to respond to the demands of such roles is often doubted. In practice, it has been proved that ‘only in societies where egalitarian practices are highly promoted, women are likely to have equal opportunities with men (Doh and Stumpf 362). In other words, simply increasing women’s participation cannot set the basis for an egalitarian future. Such a future can be guaranteed only in societies where equality between men and women is clear in all social and economic activities.

What important global women’s activism occurred in 1995?

In 1995 a critical event for global women’s activism occurred: the Beijing Conference. The United Nations arranged this conference for discussing women’s rights (Ledwith 117). The level of participation has been impressive: about 30,000 women participated in the conference, supporting women’s rights (Ledwith 117). The participants have been representatives of organizations, governments, or even individuals (Ledwith 117).

Why must the global always be a part of feminist activism? What post-Beijing follow-up has occurred?

The global dimension always needs to be part of feminist activism, because this is the only way for women’s rights to be effectively protected. The Beijing Conference of 1995 has highly contributed to ‘the transnationalization of women’s movements’ (Caouette, Masson, and Dufour 89). In other words, the above conference helped women’s movements to become known worldwide. As a result, the number of members of these movements has increased in number worldwide. From a similar point of view, it is noted that Beijing led to an increase in the value of women’s rights.

In the past, legislators have avoided supporting women’s rights, aiming to avoid social conflicts. However, through the Beijing Conference, ‘the women’s rights were transformed to human rights’ (Hamilton 235). In addition, as a result of the Beijing Conference, the cooperation between women in supporting their rights has increased (Hamilton 235). Still, not all countries welcomed the decisions of the event. For example, the United States has refused to support the initiatives suggested by the Beijing Conference (Ferree and Tripp 53).

What is CEDAW?

The Convention for the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) was introduced in 1979 (Benninger-Budel 225). The Convention refers to discrimination that a woman may face during her daily activities (Benninger-Budel 225). It should be noted that the convention does not include rules for enforcing the elimination of discrimination against women (Benninger-Budel 225). For facing this problem, the United Nations promoted the establishment of the CEDAW Committee. The above committee ‘monitors compliance with CEDAW’ (Gupta 209). Since 2001, the committee has had the power to check ‘the complaints of individuals’ (Gupta 209) regarding the violation of the rules of CEDAW.

Read More