Tea Cimini: Women’s Rights Then and Now
By Tea Cimini
This is part of a student-led blog series aimed at elevating current issues facing women in Canada and abroad. This post will provide an overview of the evolution of women’s rights and it will conclude with a few suggestions on how to get involved on International Women’s Day 2017.
It is 2017 and the struggle for gender equality is still a pressing issue and an ongoing challenge worldwide. Yet, in the past few decades, significant milestones towards the attainment of gender equality have been achieved. On the eve of International Women’s Day (IWD), which will happen in Canada on March 8th, it is important to acknowledge where we come from to better pin down what we are trying to achieve. This blogpost provides a brief timeline regarding the achievements spearheaded by the United Nations (UN) since 1945. However, despite the limited timeframe this blogpost will be surveying, it is imperative to keep in mind that inspiring women and men fought for gender equality long before the landmark year of 1945 and in ways that go beyond the fora offered by the UN.
In 1945, the UN Charter and the subsequent UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UNHR) (1948), reaffirmed the universality of human rights on the basis of equality. All human beings, they declared, are born equal in dignity and in rights. Both treaties represent landmark agreements for the stewardship of human rights, and set up the basis for the diffusion of humanitarian principles all over the world. Yet, neither of them addressed gender-specific issues — challenges that affect different genders in different capacities. Even so, both the UN Charter and the UDHR, while lacking the ability to provide substantive equality — and this holds true not only for issues related to gender, but also religion, culture, ethnicity and so on — put gender-equality concerns on the table for the international community.
It was not until 1967 that the UN General Assembly adopted the Declaration on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women. Yet, while still representing a great achievement, the document was not legally binding; it was a product of high political debate more than it was a game-changer for those who were affected by gender-based discrimination and violence on a daily basis. Subsequently, in 1972 the UN General Assembly passed Resolution 3010, which acknowledged the importance of achieving de jure and de facto equality between women and men, and called for the proclamation of 1975 as International Women’s Year. In that year, the first of four conferences on the status of women was held in Mexico City. From 1975 to 1995, a World Conference on Women was held every five years, bringing together world leaders to set common objectives towards the achievement of gender equality. As this issue became more and more prominent on the global agenda, important, progressive steps were achieved, such as the adoption of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) during the Second World Conference on Women in Copenhagen (1980). CEDAW, a legally binding document, has been ratified in 189 states and effectively represents an international bill of rights for women.
More recently, the UN established a common platform containing core objectives to be achieved by the year 2015, the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Among the eight commitments, “promoting gender equality and empowering women” featured prominently on the list. While the goals have been criticized for being too narrow, focusing, for example, on school enrollment ratio rather than the quality of education, the MDGs managed to achieve certain goals. We saw both a reduction in the number of women in vulnerable employment situations, and an increase in women’s representation in public leadership positions worldwide. The MDGs’ successors, the Sustainable Development Goals, expanded on the number of goals and the quality of commitments agreed upon by the international community. Another important achievement was the establishment in 2010 of a proprietary agency dedicated to the stewarding of gender equality and women’s empowerment, UN Women. The agency, whose mission supports gender equality and women’s empowerment, adopted the functions of four previously independent UN agencies and committees, such as the UN Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM).
With this overview of the historical development of women’s rights in mind, we ask “how is Canada doing in terms of gender inequality?” Answering this question is not quite as simple as it may seem. On the one hand, the election of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, a self-proclaimed feminist, came together with the prioritization of gender equality on the national agenda. One of his very first actions was appointing a perfectly gender-balanced cabinet, indeed a powerful social and political statement. At the international level in 2014, Canada ranked 25th according to the UNDP’s Gender Inequality Index and 11th in terms of maternal mortality ratio.[1] Yet, the situation in Canada is not flawless either and there are, indeed, many areas to improve on. According to a review conducted by the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women, Canada has failed to address “continued high prevalence” of gender-based discrimination and violence, especially against Indigenous women and girls.[2] Another issue addressed by the Committee was that of the disproportionately high incarceration rate of black and Indigenous women.
Concluding, we have come a long way since the establishment of the UNHR in 1945. In the following decades, many milestones have been achieved thanks to the hard work of countless women and men fighting for gender equality. It is true we are not at the finish line yet, and the path to achieve gender equality is arduous and difficult. Yet, from ratification of CEDAW to the establishment of UN Women, we have many reasons to celebrate.
Today, we encourage you to get out there and celebrate the important women in your life and in your community. Many events are organized each year on IWD to accomplish exactly this purpose, so you have no excuses not to get involved! Virtually all major cities have one or more community centres whose programming foresees sustaining and empowering women in the community. While there are many ways to support these centres, attending their events is definitely a good way to show your support. For example, the North York Women’s Centre and the Working Women Community Centre in Toronto will be holding celebrations and events on IWD. If you are passionate about tech and science, DevTo is organizing an event to celebrate the past and ongoing achievements of women in STEM (tickets are sold at a discounted price for students too!). If you want to reconnect with your artistic self, B’Nai Brith Canada is organizing an exhibit on Women Refugee Art. In synthesis, lots of amazing events will be happening in Toronto and all throughout Canada on IWD. Make sure to get involved and show your support!
[1] http://hdr.undp.org/en/composite/GII
[2] Tavia Grant, "United Nations report urges Canada to address gender equality barriers," The Globe and Mail, November 20, 2016, , http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/united-nations-report-urges-canada-to-address-gender-equality-barriers/article32952539/.