Vatican, Muslim states block women's rights drive at United Nations

Church & State, Jul/Aug 2000

Efforts to expand a United Nations document outlining the universal rights of women ran into a roadblock in June thanks to opposition from the Vatican and its fundamentalist Muslim allies.

The new document was an effort to build on a statement on women's rights approved five years ago at a UN conference in Bejing, China. The original document states that women "have the right to decide freely and responsibly on matters related to their sexuality" and can do so without "coercion, discrimination and violence."

Several Western nations had lobbied for expanding the document to include explicit references to women's rights to access safe abortions. They also wanted to include a broader definition of the word "family" and some type of acknowledgement of gay rights. This effort, however, was turned back thanks to Vatican-led opposition.

Joining the Roman Catholic Church in opposing the expansion of women's rights were hardline Muslim nations, including Iran, Libya, Algeria, Pakistan and Sudan.

Delegates from 180 nations did approve some changes to the document, including the addition of language opposing domestic violence, marital rape and so-called "honor killings," whereby women are murdered by family members who claim they have shamed them.

Advocates of women's rights noted that the Vatican-led alliance had hoped to roll back some of the rights outlined in the original Bejing document. That effort failed, leading one UN official to claim victory.

"I'm very happy that the dire predictions that there would be a rollback have proved false," said Angela King, a UN official who oversees women's rights issues. "We were determined to get a strong document that did not in any way diminish the gains women had achieved in Bejing. We were also determined to go beyond Bejing, and we did, despite the efforts of countries that made the process such an arduous one."

But church officials also claimed success. After the vote, Archbishop Renato Martino, the Vatican representative at the UN, told Catholic News Service, "I saw again that the developed world tried to impose a decadent view of society on the rest of the world. I thank God they did not succeed."

Martino, noting that the Vatican was accused of entering into "unholy alliances" with fundamentalist Muslim nations, added, "I'm not bothered. We do not seek accolades. We have to uphold principles."

Bishop William F. Murphy, writing in the Boston Pilot, took things a step further and saluted the radical Muslim nations that formed a partnership with the Vatican. "Don't be fooled," Murphy wrote. "It is the `conservative Vatican' or in reality the Holy See and other brave nations who are speaking out for life and defending women and children against the forces of the culture of death who think abortion is liberation."