What the United Nations Is Doing for Women

The present struggle for equality between the sexes goes back to the end of the eighteenth century, and the first to call for it were the free men of the French Revolution. But organized movements to raise the status of woman were not known, in most countries of the world, before 1840. The growth of these movements resulted in national and international congresses being held, and woman was granted man's rights in obtaining an education; there followed the demand for political rights. Certain states of the United States were the first to grant woman the right to vote, followed by New Zealand, then Finland, then Norway, then Sweden, then Denmark.

The American woman was not given absolute equality in political rights until after the First World War; then came Great Britain, then Czechoslovakia, the Soviet Union, Luxembourg, New Zealand, and other European states.

As for woman's attainment of equality with man in all rights, it remains a distant goal, whether in statutory law or in the course of daily life.

Old traditions, deficient education, and the difference between the way public opinion regards woman and the way it regards man — all these obstacles still stand in woman's path, and there is still pressing need of a long struggle; and this requires joint international activity, of the kind we are concerned with today.

Years before the "San Francisco" conference, several international congresses were held to discuss the solution of woman's legal, and then social, problems. In 1902 some amendment was made to governmental regulations regarding marriage, divorce, and guardianship of minors, yet nothing tangible was carried out until the Covenant of the League of Nations was put into effect in 1920; it registered a step forward and opened the work of the General Secretariat to woman and man alike, on condition that persons of competence be accepted for posts without regard to sex or age.

In 1923 the same government affirmed non-discrimination between the sexes, and at the Fifth Conference of the American Republics, held in Chile, the members agreed to add certain subjects for discussion in the programs of coming conferences. The most important of these subjects was: how can the physiological difficulties that woman faces be overcome? And all girls' schools were directed to give greater place to the physical and mental sciences.

This was followed by the "Havana" conference of 1928, when a group of women banded together to study women's affairs in the American republics and to work for the attainment of their legal and civil rights; and at the seventh conference at "Montevideo" in 1933 the governments adopted these resolutions. Two years after that date, the League of Nations issued to all the countries of the world its call for spreading publicity for these resolutions and for their adoption by all.

Woman showed her desire to be given a wider field of real, practical participation, but this desire, in all its aspects, was not taken into consideration by the League of Nations until 1935, when it entrusted the study of this subject to the governments and the official women's organizations. Thirty-eight states replied, and important documents were thereupon drawn up, the purport of which was woman's equality in rights: the right to vote in local and parliamentary elections, the right of guardianship over minors, the right to own property and to keep her income. Woman's view of these demands varied in the different American regions.

In September 1937 the League of Nations resolved to give this subject its due of careful scientific study, and the Council appointed a committee of specialists to give the matter thorough study and investigation. But because of the declaration of the Second World War this committee was compelled to stop pursuing its work, the results of which had not yet appeared.

The Application of the "Charter" of the United Nations:

But this struggle did not reach its height until the appearance of the right affirmed by the "San Francisco" conference in 1944, when the "Charter" of the United Nations guaranteed, with absolute clarity, equality between man and woman, their basic purpose in this being to arrive at international cooperation and to raise the level of respect for the rights of the individual human being, without any regard to origin, sex, language, or religion.

This latest victory for woman came about because of the presence of a large number of women delegates at the San Francisco conference, and because of the world's recognition of the great contribution woman made toward the victory of the democratic front in the war, in which she proved her competence in assuming responsibilities.

When the Council met in February 1946 it appointed a subsidiary committee of specialists in various fields, among its branches being the Commission on Human Rights, whose scope includes inquiry into women's affairs. All these branches met in April and May and gave their decisions in June.

Thereupon the Council approved the establishment of the Commission on the Status of Women, to study woman's condition in all countries and to work to assist her in claiming her political, social, economic, and cultural rights, and to draw the Council's attention to urgent situations that might befall certain women's circles and call for attention.

On December 11, 1946, the General Assembly met and unanimously approved an appeal to all the states belonging to the United Nations to give woman the same political rights given to man. This resolution was communicated at once through the delegate of Denmark.

The First Session:

Most of the discussion in the first session of the Commission on the Status of Women was preparatory to future work, and may be summed up in phrases like these:

"Freedom and equality are essential to the advancement of mankind, and woman, as a human being, is not inferior to man; therefore she must share these rights with him."

"The success of society depends on the extent of cooperation between man and woman, for the display of their full personalities and the fulfillment of their responsibilities toward themselves and toward one another; woman therefore has an important part in building a moral, free, and sound society, and she cannot perform this task of hers in the fullest manner unless she is herself a free and responsible member."

To arrive at this goal, the aim of the Commission on the Status of Women will be to raise the status of woman, without regard to nationality, origin, language, or religion, and equality with man in all the social and civil fields.

As regards political rights, the Commission demanded for women of full age the right to vote and to be elected, and the right to hold posts of responsibility, with the exercise of all civil rights and duties, without regard to origin, language, or religion.

As regards marriage, the Commission demanded freedom in the choice of husband, the safeguarding of woman's dignity, the prohibition of polygamy, and equality in the right to dissolve a marriage. The Commission likewise demanded equality in the right of guardianship over minors.

As for the cultural aims of this Commission, they are the application of free compulsory education in all fields, and the opening to woman of the right to enjoy the scientific discoveries that lead to the growth and advancement of mankind.

The Commission insisted that, since all the states belonging to the United Nations have agreed to the articles of the Charter, it is incumbent on them all to support their laws fully and to watch over their position as regards raising the status of woman and her equality with man.

As a result of the deliberations of the Commission on the Status of Women, several recommendations were submitted to the Economic and Social Council in its sixth and seventh sessions; and, in order that the Assembly might be informed how the principles of equality are being applied, the Secretary-General was asked to submit to the Assembly an annual report on the privileges woman enjoys and on the conditions of her entry into public office. The Council accordingly addressed a request to the member states, where woman does not enjoy the same rights as man, to grant these rights to woman likewise in the economic, national, cultural, social, and political fields. It asked the member states to present a report showing their intention as regards the application of the law of the United Nations and the imposition of equality between the sexes.

The Council likewise approved another request of the Commission, appealing to the member states to grant woman, without regard to her nationality, her origin, or her creed, equality with man in obtaining an education. The Council insisted that the system of equality set forth in the Charter of the United Nations must be applied in all its branches, and added that it had directed UNESCO to give the programs of higher education for women special attention, and that this should be on the basis of equality.

The Commission on the Status of Women felt that the hardest part of the matter is to awaken woman and alert her to her civil and political responsibilities, to encourage her to take part in the electoral round, and to fight prejudice against her participation in public life. In connection with these aims the Commission submitted three proposals to the General Secretariat, and the Council approved them:

1 — That the world be appealed to, by means of publications, radio, cinema, and other means of publicity and dissemination that help to kill prejudice against equality between man and woman.

2 — That the assistance of the Department of Public Information of the United Nations be secured, to the fullest extent, in preventing this prejudice and in enlightening the world on all aspects of women's affairs.

3 — That suitable information be prepared — materials of every kind for this purpose — including a small pamphlet on woman's political rights.

What Is the Secretariat Doing?

To carry out the program of work proposed by the Commission and approved by the Council, the General Secretariat established a special branch for women's affairs, attached to the Division of Human Rights. This branch prepared a lengthy questionnaire on woman's legal condition and her treatment in the two fields of law, public and private. Its first part turned on woman's privileges, the conditions of her election to public office, the increase of her standing in constructive posts, civil liberties, and the law of property and nationality. This questionnaire was circulated to all the member governments and to the women's organizations holding consultative standing with the United Nations. Since most of the replies came late, or were inadequate, the Commission supplemented them with answers obtained by its own diligence, the result of its own inquiries and studies concerning woman's privileges and the conditions of her election in 73 states. On the basis of this information the branch for women's affairs submitted a report to its Commission at its second session. This preliminary document also contained indications of the cultural opportunities given to woman, after it had become clear to it that deficient education is one of the chief causes of opposition to woman's equality with man.

In order that the Commission on the Status of Women might be able to convince the Economic and Social Council, it had to arm itself with solid information on which to build its demands. It therefore became necessary to keep organized records of the condition of each of the member states, or the dependent territories, the records containing these states' replies to the questionnaires addressed to them concerning woman's rights.

Conclusion:

This is the distant goal of the United Nations: to grant woman in all countries absolute equality with man. And these are the developments that have taken place for the carrying out of the articles of the Charter in this field. The records have set down only the first steps, but they make clear the field of work and the methods followed.

We must not forget that neither the Commission on the Status of Women nor any other branch of the United Nations can legislate and accomplish the principle of equality between the sexes. The United Nations cannot itself change laws and crush customs and traditions. The first thing it relies on in this arena is the spreading of education, and the pointing out of the many differences that exist to this hour. The Commission on the Status of Women, by its recommendations to the governments, has helped to bring this democratic view into consideration, and has stirred up enthusiasm and activity in the organized groups in the individual countries, to win the sympathy of world public opinion.

The Commission's recommendations are, as it were, a set of tools to help woman in working toward her goal; and in truth the Commission and the branch concerned with women's affairs are, as it were, world organs cooperating with her in exerting efforts to arrive at the desired end. As Mme Marie-Hélène Lefaucheux, the member for France, said: "The application of the project of equality between the sexes, and the proof of its worth, rests with woman herself."

And the member for India, Begum Hamid Ali, said: "Woman must profit by the opportunities that are now open to her."

Translated by: A. J. Sh.