Stamps of Germany (DDR) 1975, MiNr Zusammendruck 2019-2021

International Women's Year (IWY) was the name given to 1975 by the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmonizi ...

. Since that year March 8 has been celebrated as

International Women's Day International Women's Day (IWD) is a global holiday list of minor secular observances#March, celebrated annually on March 8 as a focal point in the women's rights, women's rights movement, bringing attention to issues such as gender equality, ...

, and the

United Nations Decade for Women The United Nations Decade for Women was a period from 1975 to 1985 focused on the policies and issues that impact women, such as pay equity, gendered violence, land holding, and other human rights. It was adopted December 15, 1975, by the United ...

, from 1976 to 1985, was also established.

History

After years of work by the

United Nations Commission on the Status of Women The Commission on the Status of Women (CSW or UNCSW) is a functional commission of the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), one of the main UN organs within the United Nations. CSW has been described as the UN organ promoting gend ...

(CSW) to adopt a declaration to eliminate discrimination against women, in 1965, CSW began working in earnest to obtain passage of a declaration to secure women's human rights. Collating responses covering education, employment, inheritance, penal reform, and other issues, from government actors, NGO representatives and UN staff, CSW delegates drafted the Declaration on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (DEDAW), which was passed by the General Assembly on 7 November 1967. Once support had been garnered for the declaration, the next step was to prepare it to become a

Convention Convention may refer to: * Convention (norm), a custom or tradition, a standard of presentation or conduct ** Treaty, an agreement in international law * Convention (meeting), meeting of a (usually large) group of individuals and/or companies in a ...

. Though there were delays, by 1972, when the

United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Washi ...

passed

Title IX Title IX is the most commonly used name for the federal civil rights law in the United States that was enacted as part (Title IX) of the Education Amendments of 1972. It prohibits sex-based discrimination in any school or any other educa ...

, eliminating discrimination in education for any institution receiving federal funding, hope that passage could be secured surged. In the meantime, members of the

Women's International Democratic Federation Women's International Democratic Federation (WIDF) is an international organization with the stated goal of working for women's rights. It was established in 1945 and was most active during the Cold War. It initially focussed on anti-fascism, wor ...

(WIDF) had long been pressing for an international women's year and conference to address women's inequality. As WIDF was designated as an observer and not a member of the CSW, they could not propose the event directly but drafted a proposal. Persuading the

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, a ...

n delegate of CSW to present their proposal, it was seconded by Finland. In turn, CSW approved the proposal and submitted it to the General Assembly, which proclaimed 1975 as International Women's Year on 18 December 1972. The date was significant because it would take place on the thirtieth anniversary of the creation of the United Nations. But there were problems with the conference. Initially, Soviet women rejected the call for a conference and

filibuster A filibuster is a political procedure in which one or more members of a legislative body prolong debate on proposed legislation so as to delay or entirely prevent decision. It is sometimes referred to as "talking a bill to death" or "talking out ...

ed the negotiations, preferring to host their own conference in

East Berlin East Berlin was the ''de facto'' capital city of East Germany from 1949 to 1990. Formally, it was the Soviet sector of Berlin, established in 1945. The American, British, and French sectors were known as West Berlin. From 13 August 1961 u ...

that would not be subject to the UN structure. As part of the Cold War politics, the United States then proposed that the conference not be limited to women, but should be gender-neutral, because an all-woman conference would not be taken seriously. Finally,

Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley of ...

agreed to host the conference, and CSW set about the tasks to prepare the "machinery" necessary to secure passage of CEDAW.

Helvi Sipilä Helvi Linnea Aleksandra Sipilä (née Maukola; 5 May 1915 – 15 May 2009) was a Finnish diplomat, lawyer and politician. She was known as a promoter of women's rights, and was the first-ever female Assistant-Secretary-General of the United ...

, was selected as the Assistant Secretary-General for Social Development and Humanitarian Affairs and placed in charge of organizing events for the year.

International

Mexico City

The first UN World Conference on Women was held in

from 19 June to 2 July. The 1975 conference led to the adoption of the

World Plan of Action United Nations General Assembly Resolution 30/3520 (XXX.) was a resolution adopted by the UN General Assembly on 15 December 1975. The resolution adopted the World Plan of Action and related resolutions from the International Women's Year World ...

, as well as the

Declaration of Mexico on the Equality of Women and Their Contribution to Development and Peace Declaration of Mexico on the Equality of Women and their Contribution to Development and Peace 66/34 was a United Nations resolution that was adopted on July 2, 1975, at the close of the International Women's Year World Conference on Women held ...

. It led to the establishment of monitoring mechanisms such as,

International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women The International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women (INSTRAW ) was a subsidiary of the United Nations General Assembly. It was established upon recommendation of the World Conference on the International Women's Year 1 ...

(INSTRAW) and the

United Nations Development Fund for Women The United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM, french: Fonds de développement des Nations unies pour la femme, ) was established in December 1976 originally as the Voluntary Fund for the United Nations Decade for Women in the Internationa ...

(UNIFEM) and set in motion plans for follow-up conferences, the first of which would be held in 1980 in

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

. It established the period of 1975 to 1985 as the UN Decade for Women, to enable progress and failures to be evaluated and resulted in urging that the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) be quickly ratified. The 1985 third conference in

Nairobi Nairobi ( ) is the capital and largest city of Kenya. The name is derived from the Maasai phrase ''Enkare Nairobi'', which translates to "place of cool waters", a reference to the Nairobi River which flows through the city. The city prope ...

Kenya ) , national_anthem = " Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...

, not only closed the decade of women but set a series of member state schedules for removal of legislated gender discrimination in national laws by the year 2000.Allison Dowie
Dangers on the Road to Complete Emancipation
''Glasgow Herald'', 22 October 1974. The 1975 Mexico City Conference was attended by over a thousand delegates. Prominent attendees included Elizabeth Reid and

Margaret Whitlam Margaret Elaine Whitlam, AO (née Dovey; 19 November 1919 – 17 March 2012) was an Australian social campaigner, author, and athlete. She was the wife of Gough Whitlam, the 21st Prime Minister of Australia from 1972 to 1975, and a representa ...

of Australia. The ''International Women's Year Tribune'' was also organized by the conference committee and attended by 4,000 women in 1975.

East Berlin

The World Congress of Women was held in East Berlin as a part of IWY soon after the Mexico City event. It idealized women's equality as the "true embodiment of the socialist conception of human rights". The Working Group on Equal Rights, composed of experts on government and law from the

East German Academy of Sciences The German Academy of Sciences at Berlin, german: Deutsche Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Berlin (DAW), in 1972 renamed the Academy of Sciences of the GDR (''Akademie der Wissenschaften der DDR (AdW)''), was the most eminent research institution ...

Humboldt University The Humboldt University of Berlin (german: link=no, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin, Germany. The university was established by Frederick Willi ...

and Socialist United Party Central Committee rejected the notion that women's rights should fall under a separate area designated by gender, but instead should be governed by the United Nations Human Right's position.

Angela Davis Angela Yvonne Davis (born January 26, 1944) is an American political activist, philosopher, academic, scholar, and author. She is a professor at the University of California, Santa Cruz. A feminist and a Marxist, Davis was a longtime member o ...

was one of the key guests at the conference, as was Hortensia Bussi de Allende, former

First Lady of Chile The First Lady of Chile ( es, Primera Dama de Chile) is the title for the wife of the president of Chile, who is traditionally responsible for directing and coordinating activities in the social field of the presidency and also accompany the presi ...

. The state-sponsored program advocated women's solidarity in the national struggles to free women from oppression based on class, race and gender through state socialism.

Brussels

The International Tribunal on the Crimes Against Women was planned as an event for IWY but was not held until 4 to 8 March 1976 in

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

, Belgium. Limited by funding strictures, the conference hosted 2000 women from forty countries. Speakers addressed economic exploitation and violence against women in its many forms. The most significant development to come out of the conference was the International Feminist Network.

Zionism controversy

The 1975 conference was also notable for passing the first "Zionism is racism" resolution passed at any UN-sponsored forum, thus preparing the way for

United Nations General Assembly Resolution 3379 United Nations General Assembly Resolution 3379, adopted on 10 November 1975 by a vote of 72 to 35 (with 32 abstentions), "determine that Zionism is a form of racism and racial discrimination". It was revoked in 1991 with UN General Assembly Re ...

in 1975 the following November. A statement equating Zionism with racism was also included in an annex to a report to be considered at the final conference of the United Nations Decade for Women in 1985 in Nairobi, Kenya.Sam Roberts
"Bernice Tannenbaum, Who Fought U.N. Resolution on Zionism, Dies at 101"
9 April 2015. However, as stated in ''It Takes a Dream: The Story of Hadassah'' (1997), by Marlin Levin, " Bernice annenbaumasked resident RonaldReagan to publicly repudiate the U.N. resolution. He agreed and promised that the U.S. delegation would walk out of Nairobi if the Zionism-equals-racism resolution was included in the final conference declaration." Tannenbaum also convinced the United States Senate to condemn the conference resolution and demand its withdrawal. She also personally flew to Kenya with a draft of the Senate resolution, where

Maureen Reagan Maureen Elizabeth Reagan (January 4, 1941 – August 8, 2001) was an American political activist and the first child of U.S. president Ronald Reagan and his first wife, actress Jane Wyman. Her brother is Michael Reagan and her half-siblings are ...

, President Reagan's daughter and the head of the American delegation, repeated the president's promise to withdraw from the conference if the resolution was included in the final conference delegation. Kenya then brokered a compromise in which Zionism was omitted from the final conference report.

National

Australia

A conference on 'Women and Politics' was held in September, attended by 700 women.

Canada

The events of IWY in Canada as a whole raised awareness with Canadian women as well as the general public on a wide range of women's issues and accomplishments. It spurred the creation of the Ontario Women and the Law Association and the Service, Office and Retail Workers Union of Canada (SORWUC) and offered funding for many to participate in educational and artistic endeavors aimed at presenting women's perspectives. One such effort was a petition to the

National Film Board of Canada The National Film Board of Canada (NFB; french: Office national du film du Canada (ONF)) is Canada's public film and digital media producer and distributor. An agency of the Government of Canada, the NFB produces and distributes documentary f ...

which led to the creation of Studio D. The

University of Guelph , mottoeng = "to learn the reasons of realities" , established = May 8, 1964 ()As constituents: OAC: (1874) Macdonald Institute: (1903) OVC: (1922) , type = Public university , chancellor ...

hosted a conference in September dedicated to

Nellie McClung Nellie Letitia McClung (; 20 October 18731 September 1951) was a Canadian author, politician, and social activist, who is regarded as one of Canada's most prominent suffragists. She began her career in writing with the 1908 book ''Sowing Seeds ...

and the reform issues which had been important to her.

New Zealand

In June a United Women's Convention was held in

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by m ...

United States

Events in support of IWY were held throughout the United States by private organizations and NGOs, such as those held in

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...

, 11–12 June 1977 and the ''

Greater Cleveland The Cleveland metropolitan area, or Greater Cleveland as it is more commonly known, is the metropolitan area surrounding the city of Cleveland in Northeast Ohio, United States. According to the 2020 United States Census results, the five-county ...

Congress'', October. One of the most significant US events, because it was funded by the US government, was held in Houston, Texas and though planned as an IWY event, did not take place until 1977. The

1977 National Women's Conference The National Women's Conference of 1977 was a four-day event during November 18–21, 1977, as organized by the National Commission on the Observance of International Women's Year. The conference drew around, 2,000 delegates along with 15,000-20,0 ...

included women from each state in the United States and developed a National Plan of Action, mirroring many of the points of the World Plan of Action.

India

The then Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi had inaugurated National Women's Day and International Women's Year event jointly sponsored by 50 women's organizations at NDMC Indoor Stadium New Delhi in India on Basant Panchami Sunday February 16, 1975.

Outcomes

As a result of the international focus on Women in 1975, a number of institutions were established: *

(INSTRAW) *

(UNIFEM) * Women's Studies Resource Centre was established in

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

during July.

Emblem

The IWY also launched the "dove" emblem used by the IWY, CEDAW, and UNIFIL. A stylized dove intersected by a female symbol and an equal sign, the emblem was donated by then 27-year-old New York City advertising company graphic designer Valerie Pettis. It remains the official symbol of

UN Women The United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women, also known as UN Women, is a United Nations entity working for gender equality and the empowerment of women. UN Women advocates for the rights of women and girls, and foc ...

and is used in

celebrations to this day.Dove Symbol for Women
Associated Press, ''The Calgary Herald''. 10 May 1974.

References

Citations

Bibliography

* * * * * * * * * * *

External links

International Women's Day
feature on the UN Women Watch site * Whitaker, Jennifer Seymour. (October 1975).
Women of the World: Report From Mexico City
" ''Foreign Affairs''. Retrieved September 6, 2016. {{Authority control Human rights Feminism and history 1975 in the United Nations Anti-discrimination law Reproductive rights Women's rights legislation Women's rights instruments Feminism and society Women in society Women's studies Sexualization

Women A woman is an adult female human. Prior to adulthood, a female human is referred to as a girl (a female child or adolescent). The plural ''women'' is sometimes used in certain phrases such as "women's rights" to denote female humans regardl ...

March observances 1975 in women's history