A March to change the world !

This document was amended by the delegates during the International Preparatory Meeting of 16-18 October, 1998. To consult the final version click here:
Advocacy Guide to Women's World Demands

June 4, 1995. A crowd of 15,000 assembled in Quebec City to welcome 800 women who had spent ten days marching across the province to protest against poverty. The march was barely over when the question was raised : when will the next one be ?

The idea to organize a World March of Women in the Year 2000 originated among women activists in Quebec. They tried out their brainchild in a workshop of French-speaking women at the NGO Forum in Beijing. The response was enthusiastic.

October 17, 1998. Two hundred women from 60 countries discuss which demands to bring to international attention and which actions to undertake collectively between now and October 17, 2000. The working document attempts to echo your values, while denouncing the direction in which the world is headed and proposing change.

What you will read is broadly based on the reality of life for women on all continents. The analysis contained in the document is shared by thousands of women and certainly justifies our endeavour. This is not to say, however, that the analysis is final and there is no room for modification. It may well be enriched during our weekend meeting and in the weeks to come.

We will not amend the document in the workshops or plenary sessions. A more pressing task awaits us : to agree on our common demands and on international actions. We do, however, encourage delegates to hand in their comments in writing so that we can take them into account in the final draft. If you prefer, you may send us your comments in November. We will have a more definitive draft ready in January and will send it to all participating groups.

We hope you will find below 2000 good reasons to march. We urge you to circulate the document share the analysis with women in your organizations. This way it will serve its purpose to educate and to provide background support for action.

We wish you a good read and a successful march!

Coordinating Committee

World March of Women

Montreal, October 16, 1998

The world we live in

We live in a world where many forms of injustice reign. The year 2000 is around the corner and intolerable social inequity is deeply entrenched : between women and men; countries of the North and South, East and West; among the people within countries - between rich and poor, young and old, cities and rural communities; between human beings and Nature.

We live in a world that has witnessed spectacular technological and scientific developments, substantial increases in industrial and agricultural productivity, and a communications explosion. Nonetheless, billions of people are without work and without even basic access to food, safe water, housing, health care, education, culture, information, energy sources, and transportation. Everywhere now we experience the paradox of people becoming more impoverished in societies that are becoming progressively more wealthy. Women are the majority of those being crushed by this skewed development.

We live in a world whose dominant economic system, neoliberal capitalism, is, at its core, fundamentally inhuman. It is a system governed by unbridled competition and characterized by privatization, liberalization, and deregulation. It is a system entirely driven by the imperatives of the market and where full expression of basic human rights is subordinated to the laws of the marketplace. The result : the crushing social exclusion of large segments of the population, ultimately threatening world peace and the future of the planet.

We live in a world still largely dominated by the partriarchy, reinforced by economic inequality and insecurity and violence against women that is still universally present in the form of wife battering, sexual assault, genital mutilation, and systematic rape in war-time. This is the fate of millions of women.

We live in a world undergoing a crisis of identity, values, programs, and social cohesion; a world where culture is in a state of shock, causing us to lose our bearings and provoking a retreat into religious sects and fundamentalism, racism, sexism, intolerance, and homophobia. This crisis bars productive dialogue between people of different cultures, denying us access to one of the greatest assets of humankind: our diversity.

We live in a world being ravaged by seventy-five "low intensity" armed conflicts that are decimating populations and straining the budgets of the nations involved while filling the coffers of the arms industry. It is women who in large part suffer this violence.

We live in a world where the draining of natural resources and the destruction of the environment are killing our planet and imperiling future generations for the benefit of industrial polluters. And it is women who in large part suffer the consequences of this false growth.

We live in a world where governments' obligations to their citizens are abandoned before the dictates of the marketplace, now organized as an unelected supranational power composed of huge international institutions that sprang up after the Second World War : the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank (WB), the World Trade Organization (WTO), the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), and various regional trade deals. This supranational force imposes its anti-deficit creed on governments in the form of structural adjustment programs in the South, social services cuts in the North, and the projected Multilateral Agreement on Investment (MAI).

We live in a world where democracy is at the mercy of these new "warlords" who are above the law, suffer no sanctions, and are accountable to no one.

We also live in a world characterized by countless initiatives of the autonomous women's movement to resist inequality, oppression, and social exclusion. We have only to think of the many advocacy groups, cooperatives, collective kitchens, women's centres, environmental groups, etc. Tenants' rights and land access struggles, unionizing, the democratization of nations, improvement of social and health services, education : women are always to be found at the heart of these struggles and often lead them.

The world we want to build

The World March of Women in the Year 2000 aims at eliminating neoliberal capitalism once and for all - everywhere on the planet. This involves far more than reforming the existing system; it means creating a new system based on alternative solutions proposed by women and social movements locally, nationally, and internationally.

The World March of Women in the Year 2000 aims to bring down the patriarchy and eradicate all forms of violence against women - everywhere on the planet.

We want to enter the new millennium knowing that we can change the world, rendering it more humane and peaceful. We will be marching peacefully because we want to reaffirm the value of human life as a central priority and to make global solidarity a reality.

We are marching so that in the next millennium, our fundamental freedoms, indissociable from our human rights and undeniably universal in nature, are implemented once and for all. We are determinined in our belief that all human rights are interdependent and that the values of equality, justice, peace, and solidarity will predominate.

We are marching to demonstrate that the active participation of women in political, economic, social, and culture life is the starting point for liberating ourselves and our communities; too often we are excluded from decision-making on questions that directly concern us.

We are marching to end all forms of discrimination and violence against women, children, and the most vulnerable segments of the population. We are marching to consolidate actions, based on principles of cooperation and sharing, aimed at instituting crucial changes.

We are marching to give birth to a world based on sharing the spiritual and material wealth of humanity so that every woman and man has the means to make a living and make living worthwhile.

We are marching to eliminate poverty

At the dawn of the third millennium, the overwhelming majority of humanity live in poverty : 1.3 billion people, 70% of whom are women, live below the absolute poverty line. In all, four billion people live below the poverty line - again a great majority of them are women and children.

Human poverty "can mean more than a lack of what is necessary for material well-being. It can also mean the denial of opportunities and choices most basic to human development - to lead a long, healthy, creative life and to enjoy a decent standard of living, freedom, dignity, self-esteem and the respect of others," access to everything that makes life worthwhile.

Poverty is the denial of fundamental human rights, an impediment to citizenship. People who are poor are relegated to the fringes of humanity, and women are pushed to the very edge of those fringes. Poverty represents systemic violence against all marginalized people.

From time immemorial, women have contributed to humanity's development, yet whether we are wage earners or work in the informal economy or in the home, our labour is not truly acknowledged. Since the earliest times, the economy, no matter what kind, has been largely based on women's work, whether visible or invisible. Still today, while women make up half of humankind, we supply two thirds of work hours - and yet we only receive one tenth of world revenue. We are expected to look after the well-being of our family and community, often at the cost of our own health.

Everywhere on the planet, most women are poor. We do not have access to such basic resources as food and drinking water, education and training, basic health services, social security, land ownership, a decent and equitable income, credit, inheritance, jobs, new technologies, measures to fight unemployment and so on.

International institutions (the International Monetary Fund, World Bank, World Trade Organization, Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) perpetuate poverty by imposing inhuman structural adjustments on populations. The adjustments hit women particularly hard, often causing ferocious discrimination where jobs, wages and working conditions are concerned. They also have more dire consequences for women than for men : drops in income, cutbacks in essential services, suppression of food aid. In some countries, women and girls are deprived of education, food and health care in favour of the men and boys of their families.

International institutions perpetuate the poverty of populations by giving free rein to chaos, turmoil and speculation on stock markets, thereby provoking disasters such as those in Mexico and Asia. They keep obligingly mum about those who "leave with the cash register under their arm," bound for a tax haven, one of those 37 places in the world (e.g., Gibraltar, Cayman Islands, Liechtenstein) where rich families, financiers, businesses, conglomerates, multinationals, organized crime networks and others can hide their money without paying taxes, thereby eluding their country's laws. Tax havens are nothing other than a worldwide system of theft. Then there is banking secrecy, which protects the rich, organized crime, dictators and corrupt governments. Such unprincipled operations are undermining democracy the world over.

The same international institutions keep a host of poor countries in debt. Every year, billions of dollars flow northward in interest payments to wealthy creditors, both public and private, blocking national development, even though this runs counter to any and all economic logic, ethics in international relations and morality in human relations. Meanwhile, official development assistance continues to shrivel : from an average of 0.34% of donor countries' gross national product in 1990 to 0.25% in 1996. This is the lowest amount recorded since 1970, when the target was set at 0.7% of the GNP. It was observed in 1996 that ODA provided by the industrialized countries as a whole had dropped for the fifth consecutive year. According to the UN, if this rate of decline is maintained, ODA will disappear altogether in the year 2015.

Women are only too aware : the well-being of people and conservation of the environment are pushed aside in the economic development model originating in the North - a model centred on ruthless production and growth without social progress, without jobs and without respect for people's fundamental rights.

As a result

We are marching to fight feelings of powerlessness, to bring to the fore solidarity and sharing (of cultures, work, knowledge, responsibilities vis-à-vis children and future generations), to give rein to our imaginations, to explore new forms of creating and distributing wealth (the citizen's dividend, for example), to ensure the fullest development for every individual and every group.

We are marching to institute a world economic system that is more democratic, more transparent, more responsible, more equitable, fairer, more respectful of the environment and that evinces more solidarity. The world must do away with the economic war waged by financial markets on the backs of populations. We need structural change, not structural adjustments. We need equitable trade and trade networks between peoples.

We are marching to demand that financial dictates be subordinated to social values, that economics be subordinated to politics, that women's individual and collective rights be respected.

We are marching to have women's financial independence become a priority objective in all battles against women's poverty.

We are marching to support women working tirelessly to end wars through negotiated settlements. Women have often been, and still are, the architects of peace agreements in armed conflicts. This is why they condemn governments whose military spending exceeds their health and education budgets. They demand that the military industry be overhauled as part of the building of an economy based on equitable and responsible development, on respect for local and regional initiatives, and on the observance of basic human rights.

WE DEMAND THAT THE WORLD'S

WEALTH BE SHARED

We, women the world over, will march to demand that

the wealth of the planet and of humanity be shared equitably

between women and men,
among women themselves,
between generations,
between North and South,
between East and West,
between cities and rural communities.

WE DEMAND :

1. That all governments adopt a legal framework aimed at eliminating poverty.

Governments must implement national anti-poverty programs, including specific measures to eliminate women's poverty : right to association and unionization; access and right to work; observance of the International Labour Office's labour standards; pay equity; access to safe water and decent housing; access to education, health care, culture, food security, land and equitable credit.

All acts, pieces of legislation, regulations and positions taken by governments will be assessed in the light of the human poverty index (HPI), introduced in the Human Development Report 1997; the human development index (HDI), put forth by the United Nations Development Program; and the gender-related development index (GDI), discussed in the Human Development Report 1995 and which measures instances of inequality between men and women.

2. That the Tobin tax be implemented immediately and the revenue from the tax be paid into a fund for social development. The fund would be managed democratically, with equal representation of men and women, and the 1.3 billion people living in extreme poverty (70% of them women) would have preferred access to it.

3. That the debt of all Third World countries be cancelled.

• On an immediate basis, we demand the elimination of the debt of the 41 poorest countries on the planet, in support of a demand made by the Jubilee 2000 campaign.
• In the longer term, we demand cancellation of the debt of all Third World countries and the setting up of a mechanism to monitor debt write-off, ensuring that this money is employed in eliminating poverty and furthering the well-being of people most affected by structural adjustment programs, the majority of whom are women.

4. That a new world economic system, subordinated to the political power of the
   international community, be implemented.

The new world economic order must be founded on new democratic institutions subordinated to the political power of the international community (not only the Group of 7 countries) and on feasible short- and medium-term measures :

• A World Council for Economic and Financial Security. This body would be in charge of redefining the rules for a new international financial system based on the fair and equitable use of the planet's wealth. It would also focus on the increase of the well-being of the world population, particularly women, who make up over half that population. Gender parity should be observed in the composition of the Council's membership.
• Any ratification of trade conventions and agreements should be subordinated to individual and collective fundamental human rights. Trade should be subordinated to human rights, not the other way around.
• The elimination of tax havens.
• The end of banking secrecy.

WE ARE MARCHING TO ELIMINATE VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN

The term "violence against women" means "any act of violence directed at women that results in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual or psychological harm or suffering to them, including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or private life. Violence against women both violates and impairs or nullifies the enjoyment by women of their human rights and fundamental freedoms".⁶

Violence against women is a consequence of the historically unequal power relations between women and men and is a legal violation of a woman's human rights and fundamental freedoms. It is a universal reality, existing in all societies regardless of income, class, and culture. All women are affected. It would be difficult to find one women who, at one time or another in her life, had not been afraid because she was a woman. Simply walking in the street after dark or working at night are significant problems for women in terms of safety.

Physical, sexual and psychological violence occurring in the family includes battering, sexual abuse, female genital mutilation and other traditional practices harmful to women and girls such as marital rape, dowry-related violence, incest, non-spousal violence (for example, the violence of a son against his mother), violence related to exploitation or the complete denial of a woman's freedom.

Physical, sexual and psychological violence occurring within the general community includes battery, rape, sexual abuse, sexual harassment and intimidation at work, forced medical treatments and abusive medication, trafficking in women and prostitution of girls. The increased commercialization of women's bodies is related to women's increased poverty that is mainly a result of unbridled economic liberalism. Violence against women also includes forced contraception, forced sterilization or forced abortion, abortion of female fetuses, and female infanticide.

Physical, sexual, and psychological violence is all too often perpetrated or condoned by States that allow custom or tradition to override respect for fundamental rights. The rise of the fundamentalist religious movements is extremely worrisome with respect to women's right to financial independence and freedom of choice. In some countries, women are actually excluded from public life, creating a new form of apartheid. Women are considered as second class beings, of lesser value, and are denied their fundamental human rights.

Violence against women is also exercised as a weapon of war in situations of armed conflict, taking the form of murder, systematic rape, sexual assault and sexual slavery, hostage taking, and forced pregnancy.

The Special Rapporteur of the Commission on Human Rights on violence against women has named an additional violation of human rights and fundamental freedoms : "the trafficking in women and girls for the sex trade, forced prostitution, rape, sexual abuse and sex tourism that have become a focus of international organized crime." She has also stated that "additional measures should be taken to abolish all forms of forced labour, commercialization of sex, and forced marriage. Women and girls are at an increased risk of unwanted pregnancy and sexually transmitted infection, including infection with HIV/AIDS."

Violence affects all women but those who live in destitute conditions or who belong to minorities or groups that are doubly discriminated against are particularly vulnerable, for example : female children and adolescents, indigenous women, refugee women, women migrants, lesbians, women with disabilities, elderly women, etc.

More particularly, with respect to lesbians, there exists no international convention to protect a person's freedom to choose their sexual orientation. No international human rights legislation offers explicit protection to lesbians with respet to these rights and freedoms. Most states systematically discriminate against lesbians in their laws, statutes, policies, and services. In many countries, simply being a lesbian can result in imprisonment for varying lengths of time (including life), whipping, torture, and death.

Women know what kind of action is needed to end violence against women : women's rights education, access to services, legal reform encompassing the harmonization of national laws with international laws, the criminalization of acts of violence against women, court reform, training of personnel in the legal system and other public services, institution of reporting mechanisms, allocation of adequate funding within the government budget for actions related to the elimination of violence against women, public education and media awareness.

Women denounce the inaction, ineffectiveness, and silence of governments who are under the obligation to provide the means to fight violence, particularly by the criminalization of aggressors, compensation of victims, and the creation of public awareness and education campaigns concerning violence against women. In addition, governments should include violence against women among the criteria for obtaining refugee status. Finally, as mentioned in the Beijing Platform, custom, tradition, or religious considerations should be subordinated to human rights and fundamental freedoms.

Women demand that respect be accorded to our bodies and our person. We expect significant action and a concrete investment in the elimination of all forms of violence perpetrated against us. We want a society where governments take seriously their responsibility to assure the safety and well-being of the whole population.

We want a society where all men - husbands, lovers, sons, fathers, grandfathers, uncles, cousins, neighbours - commit to abolishing all forms of violence against women, denounce the exploitation of women strongly and unequivocally, and develop relationships with women founded on equality and respect. For our part, women will continue to struggle collectively to end violence.

We demand the control and respect of our bodies

We, women the world over, are marching to stop the inaction, ineffectiveness, and silence of the international community and our own governments and communities in the face of all forms of violence against women and girls.

WE DEMAND :

1. That our governments dissociate themselves from any authority - political or
   religious - that aims to control women and girls and denounce any regime that violates our rights.
2. That nations recognize, in their statutes and actions, that violence against women is a violation of fundamental human rights and cannot be justified by any custom, religion, or cultural tradition.
3. That nations implement effective and adequately financed action plans to end violence against women.
4. That the men in our communities seriously commit themselves to denouncing and working against the diverse forms of violence directed against women and girls.
5. That the United Nations bring extraordinary pressure to bear on member states to ratify the conventions and covenants relating to the rights of women and children and respect the universal declarations, in particular, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women, and the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action.
6. That, as soon as possible, protocols be adopted and added :

• to the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women;
• to the Convention on the Rights of the Child;

• that allow individuals and groups to bring complaints against their governments. These protocols are a means to apply international pressure on governments to implement the rights set out in these covenants and conventions.

1. In solidarity with women victims of the sex trade, that there be a review of the 1949 Convention for the Suppression of the Traffic in Persons and of the Exploitation of the Prostitution of Others, so that nations will implement the two resolutions of the United Nations General Assembly (1996) concerning trafficking in women and girls and violence against migrant women.
2. That states recognize the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court and conform to the provisions defining rape, sexual abuse, and forced prostitution as war crimes.
3. That the United Nations and member states formally accord homosexuals the rights and freedoms contained in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women.

That the United Nations implement an action plan to eliminate discrimination and violence against homosexuals exercised by states or their representatives.

That, in particular, homosexuals be accorded the right to asylum.

In conclusion

WE DEMAND THE SHARING OF WEALTH IN A WORLD WITHOUT VIOLENCE

We commit ourselves collectively to be extremely vigilant so as to ensure that governments and international organizations not only accede to our demands but also implement them. The next millennium will witness women achieve equality all over the world. Together we will chart our course of victory so that the world becomes a place of justice and freedom for all women and men.