By Anick Druelle
under the supervision of Marie-Andrée Roy, Denise Couture and Anita Caron
Institut de recherches et d'études féministes Université du Québec í MontréalMay 2000
Translated from the French by Sharon Gubbay Helfer
Translation was made possible thanks to financial support from the
Feminist Alliance for International Action of Canada /
Alliance féministe pour l'action internationale du Canada.
All views expressed in this report are those of the authors alone
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1. Introduction
3.
The idea of putting together this background document came in response to feedback
from women involved in the lead-up to Beijing+5. Many of these women, coming from women's
groups or other NGOs in support of gender equality, expressed their unease at the presence of
right-wing anti-feminist groups at the United Nations. This document is part of a larger research
project designed to analyse the discourse and strategies of a number of national governments
and groups that claim religion as their authority when they address the rights of women at the
United Nations. The research project is supported by a strategic grant from the Women and
Change Program of the Social Sciences and Research Council of Canada, (1) and is being carried
out in partnership with the Quebec Women's Ecumenical Network.
This document offers an overview of the positions and strategies developed by right-wing
anti-feminist groups in their attempts to gain support for their views and to negate the work of
groups supporting women's rights, in particular during the last meeting of the preparatory
committee held in New York, March 3 to 16, 2000. This information should support a more
adequate response to anti-feminist groups and their anti-democratic strategies during the
upcoming United Nations meetings on women's rights.
1. Introduction
The presence of representatives of openly anti-feminist, right-wing groups was particularly
marked during the last meeting of the 44 th session of the United Nations Commission on the Status of
Women, held in March 2000. The Commission was then acting as a preparatory committee for the
United Nations General Assembly Special Session that would be held from June 5 to 9, 2000, to
evaluate implementation of the Nairobi Forward-looking Strategies for the Advancement of Women and
the Beijing Platform for Action. This process is better known as Beijing +5.
The presence of right-wing anti-feminist groups at the United Nations has been intensifying since
the International Conference on Population and Development held in Cairo, Egypt in 1994. It would
appear that several of these groups receive sustained support from the Vatican and other religious
bodies, as the information in this document illustrates. Officially, these groups calling themselves pro-life
and pro-family have no more than a dozen organisations accredited with the United Nations Economic
and Social Council. However, taking advantage of the lack of clearly established guidelines at the UN,.4
they were able to send large numbers of representatives to the last meeting of the Commission on the
Status of Women. Just seven anti-feminist groups managed to have over 350 individuals accredited,
including over one hundred men. (2)
In one case, a single group signed up 90 representatives. (3) R.E.A.L.
Women of Canada (see fact sheet 10) registered 60 representatives, thirty of them Franciscan Friars of
the Renewal, an order established in New York since 1987 with the blessing of Archbishop John
Cardinal O'Connor. (4)The other right-wing anti-feminist groups accredited with the Economic and Social
Council are:
Table of Contents
2. Positions taken by right-wing anti-feminist groups
3. Right-Wing Anti-Feminist Group Strategies
4. Ways and Means for Responding to Right-Wing Anti-Feminist Groups at the United Nations
5. BIBLIOGRAPHY
6. Appendix A: Fact sheets on anti-feminist, non-governmental organisations that participated in the
Fourth World Conference on Women, at the NGO Forum on Women, Beijing 1995, or
at other United Nations meetings
Page
6.
10.
17.
20.