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UNITED NATIONS

“Unholy alliance” charged
Vatican scored for opposing feminism

The human-rights group Amnesty International has charged that the Vatican and seven UN member states are forming an “unholy alliance” to roll back the conclusions of the 1995 Beijing Women’s Conference.

UN members and nongovernmental organizations were in New York hammering out the “Beijing+5” document, codifying the actions the General Assembly should take to promote women’s rights as defined by the Beijing Conference in 1995. Gita Sen, a professor at the Indian Institute of Management who heads a grass-roots women’s organization, called for an end to “the tyranny of this miniscule minority,” referring to the Vatican and other countries supporting its position. “The gains we made in Beijing are fragile, and they are in danger today,” added Regan Ralph, executive director of the Women’s Rights Division of Human Rights Watch. “Some governments have come to New York with the clear intent to dismantle what progress we’ve made.” She refused to identify the governments by name. But Pierre Sane, secretary-general of Amnesty International, said the Holy See, Iran, Algeria, Nicaragua, Syria, Libya, Morocco, and Pakistan were the guilty parties in the alleged effort to deny what was affirmed in Beijing.

Pro-family and Catholic groups rejected that characterization and said traditional religious groups and countries were only trying to prevent radical feminists and Western powers from forcing the dogma upon developing nations that abortion and contraception on demand to all women and girls is a fundamental human right. And pro-family groups pointed out that at least 88 countries were aligned with the Holy See in opposing the adoption of language that supports “reproductive rights” without defining that term—a move which is generally understood to support an end to all restrictions on abortion.

World Watch -- Table of Contents

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