~ by Chris Herlinger, Global Sisters Report
Catholic sisters, joining thousands of other women from throughout the world in two weeks of meetings, at the United Nations, marked the 30th anniversary of the landmark 1995 Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action with both jubilation and sober assessment.
Sisters who attended the 69th session of the United Nations’ Commission on the Status of Women (March 10-21), spoke of a dual reality: of progress for women and girls in some areas and yet still frustrating challenges and pushback to gains made over three decades. With what many see as the global rise of authoritarianism and misogyny, the Commission on the Status of Women gave participants a chance to speak, reflect and re-energize for what sisters and others called a pivotal moment for women’s rights.
Also worrying, the document said, are “all forms of violence and discrimination against women and girls, including domestic violence, armed conflict and the feminization of poverty, and that significant levels of inequality persist globally, including underrepresentation in decision-making at all levels, and that many women and girls experience multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination, vulnerability and marginalization throughout their [lives.]”
In his opening remarks on the first day of the Commission on the Status of Women, U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres sounded a somber note, saying that “women’s rights are under siege. The poison of patriarchy is back — and it is back with a vengeance,” he said, describing what is happening as “slamming the brakes on action; tearing-up progress; and mutating into new and dangerous forms.”
But, he said, the “antidote is action. Now is the time for those of us who care about equality for women and girls to stand up and to speak out.”