CSW Highlights: Week 2
Image of IYc & C-Fam volunteers during the second week of CSW
The Commission on the Status of Women (CSW), established in 1946 by ECOSOC, is an annual conference convening governments, civil society, and UN agencies to discuss gender equality and women's empowerment. The Commission is largely run by feminists who, among other controversial ideas, fixate on abortion access as a key component of women's empowerment.
Amid the myriad of CSW events promoting controversial ideas such as abortion access, comprehensive sexuality education in schools, and the celebration of diverse sexual identities, a vibrant group of pro-life and pro-family volunteers are ready to share a different perspective on women’s empowerment.
To read our reflection on Week 1 of CSW, head over here.
Worst of CSW69 - Week 2
Picture of panelists at a CSW parallel event hosted by Catholics for Choice, “The role of faith-based advocacy in advancing sexual and reproductive rights”
🚨 At a Catholics for Choice parallel event entitled “The role of faith-based advocacy in advancing sexual and reproductive rights,” panelists insisted that support for abortion access and the Catholic faith are not “contradictory to one another.” A Catholics for Choice representative said their goal is to “[m]obilize, gather people of faith who support reproductive freedom.” The topic of abortion was at the forefront of their presentations. Mónica Menini, an abortion advocate from Argentina, mentioned that the Catholic church has great influence in Latin America and that this influence should be leveraged to promote abortion access. Towards the end, a Catholics for Choice representative argued that the “Bible does not prohibit abortion.”
🚨 Catholics for Choice also delivered a statement against the Holy See at a CSW Interactive Dialogue saying that “The Holy See does not speak for Catholics on gender equality and reproductive rights” and that the UN should retrieve the Holy See its UN Permanent Observer Status, as it is standing in the way of global progress towards achieving women’s rights. Their full intervention can be found here.
Outright International event, “LGBTIQ persons, Gender and Religion”
🚨 Allison Lind, IYc volunteer, attended the CSW side event, “LGBTIQ persons, Gender and Religion: a conversation with the Outright International Rights and Religion Fellows.” Reflecting on the panel discussion, Allison shared the following with the IYc team:
❗️“They seek to use religious texts as a tool to promote LGBTQ rights, and say they are on the mission to ‘decolonize faith and religion.’ Allison went on to say that they “took 1 Corinthians 12:12-27 out of context to say that the Body of Christ having many members of different functions means many different people of different sexual preferences.”
Pictures of Bible verses displayed at Outright International headquarters in NYC.
❗️“Nobody on the panel actually claimed to align with any single religion, except Andre du Plessis, who works with Outright directly and claims a Christian faith. Although Outright’s mission is apparently to reconcile faith and LGBTQ rights, it seems they have only produced universalists who reject any religious canon and instead opt for an ‘all ways lead to God’ type of view.“
❗️“There was a sentiment across the whole panel that monotheism was somehow a main perpetrator of colonialism and oppression. Their fight as a Religious Fellowship is to “reclaim narratives” in the face of “misinformation”.
❗️“A panelist from Uganda who was a biological male identifying as a woman shared that he believed in a god who was both man and woman at the same time. He also claimed Uganda’s ancestors believed in love, but Christianity believes in hate.”
Image of several panelists at CSW side event, “Reclaim Families: A Feminist and Human Rights Based Approach to Family Policy”
🚨 At “Reclaim Families: A Feminist and Human Rights Based Approach to Family Policy” co-sponsored by Brazil, Cabo Verde, the Netherlands, UNFPA, Outright International, and Fòs Feminista, panelists argued that the traditional nuclear family is an oppressive concept. Leila Sherafi from UNFPA said that the diversity of the family is increasing and that policies need to “reflect this diversity.” Sherafi referred to cohabitating couples as an example of diverse families and said Comprehensive Sexuality Education can be used as a “tool for changing hearts and minds,” including on “diverse families.”
A young person in the audience asked the panelists for their view on research that shows children benefit from having “both a mother and father inside the home.”
One of the panelists replied by saying, “[w]e all need the feminine energy and the masculine energy” and that “this is not about having a mom and dad with a physical body [that corresponds to the biological sex] […] it’s about the two types of energy in the life.” An audience member who self-identified as part of the LGBT community said that the young person’s question was racist and that the vision of a family being formed by a mom and a dad is an oppressive colonial idea.
🚨 At an Indonesian CSW side event “From Faith to Action: Women Religious Leaders Transforming the Beijing Platform into Reality,” Bandana Rana from UN CEDAW Committee, said that harmful religious “traditional” stereotypes are “pervasive” and stop gender equality and that she wants to “bring out progressive views and interpretation of religious texts.”
🚨 At CSW parallel event, “Charting the Future for a Queer Feminist Fund in Asia,” panelists shared the donation range for LBQ is usually between $5,000-$1.5 million with a median amount of $200,000. “Between 14% to 51% of their funding for LBQ movements around the world goes to LBQ movements in Asia and the Pacific," one panelist said. A panelist also pointed that “There are [LGBQ] donors who are investigating to see who is funding anti-rights groups, which countries and faith groups.”
🚨 At a parallel event “Sexual and Reproductive Rights Defenders for Climate Justice” hosted by the Women’s Major Group, L’Associació de Drets Sexuals i Reproductius, Resurj, and DIVA for equality panelists mentioned that “Climate change is rooted in deeper problems…and [including] sexual and reproductive rights.” They talked about the need to shift from a health-based approach to health to sexual rights and reproductive justice and join forces with other groups from an intersectional perspective.
“We go beyond SRHR and look into neoliberal capitalist, patriarchy, corporate overtake of governments, it is an intricate network of systems that is upholding certain dynamics”
During Q&A, someone asked about investigations into “anti-rights” groups carried out by L’Associació de Drets Sexuals i Reproductius, including about CitizenGo. Diana from L’Associació de Drets Sexuals i Reproductius said, “We have been investigating these groups for many years because they are one of the hubs for anti-gender anti-abortion rhetoric, [we] carried out various investigations [and] in June or July we will make a presentation…we have relationships with journalists investigating these international groups…[we need to] get these groups to be finally defunded let’s see what happens.”
Best of CSW 69 - Week 2
Picture of IYc volunteers at CSW
Despite the hostile rhetoric against conservatives and the open and aggressive promotion of abortion, the conference still had its silver lining moments, thanks to the energy, enthusiasm, and dynamism of the pro-life and pro-family volunteers.
Image was taken at a Holy See event, Motherhood.
The Holy See hosted a side event on motherhood, a topic that rarely found its way among the hundreds of CSW side and parallel events.
Professor Abigail Favale from Notre Dame University talked about the Catholic Church's teaching that men and women have “equal dignity,” as well as “meaningful differences”. Professor Avale flagged “the ever-present temptation to affirm one side of that principle at the expense of the other.”
Talking about the current progressive trend to “denigrate women’s capacity for womanhood” and to refer to it as “a threat to equality," Professor Favale said that
“Phrases such as ‘reproductive rights’ have increasingly become reductively synonymous with access to abortion thus that which is intrinsically female is anonymous with pathology”
“The uniquely female capacity is seen as a threat to autonomy”
Speaking about technology such as IVF and surrogacy, Professor Favale said it is important we ask ourselves, “Is this a technology that seeks to disrupt our nature, transcend what it means to be human?”
During a CSW side event on peace and security for women and children co-hosted by Cameroon, UNFPA, and UNICEF, an audience member from Cameroon, Dr. Lidwine Meffo (former UN Advisor), asked the panelists “What have you done concretely to help women in Cameroon?” She mentioned that she heard “a lot of talk but not much tangible help.”
Apart from attending events, IYc & C-Fam volunteers engaged with panelists and event attendees, asking clarifying questions and sharing thoughts on contentious topics. They did so with like-minded groups but also with those who disagreed.
Reflections from IYc Volunteers
”I have mixed thoughts about CSW69. There were positive things such as the Holy See's conference on motherhood. It was nice to see various countries agreeing on the importance of ensuring women's access to secondary education. Yet, I was disturbed by how many countries and NGOs pushed for abortion, and demanded that this "right" be protected.” - Sebastian
”This was my first time attending CSW. With each meeting I’ve gone to and the support I received from fellow volunteers and co-members, I’ve gained insight and knowledge of key discussions on policies and strategies that directly affect families, motherhood, sovereignty, and faith.” - Chelsea
“CSW was very eye-opening for me in realizing that it’s such an echo chamber that a lot of people fighting for new-wave feminism either aren’t aware of or are actively ignoring real human rights issues for women and children: the sanctity of life, erasing motherhood from the public eye. It seems like this feminist movement is imploding on itself and they are searching for answers to the issues that they created, such as the infertility crisis has been exacerbated by a push for abortion as family planning.” - Allison
“Thus far, I have found CSW to be rather one-sided when it comes to addressing and discussing modern-day issues that women face. It is my personal opinion that most of the people and organizations taking part in the event are well-intended in their goals but are stained by ideologies that bring nothing but destruction and division. I have found that the conferences held by the Holy See Permanent Mission were a breath of fresh air as well as wonderfully crafted, intellectually stimulating, and eye-opening.” - Delfina
