1. PREAMBLE
2. WOMEN TAKE LEADERSHIP
3. WOMEN IN AN EQUITABLE AND PRODUCTIVE
ECONOMY
4. WOMEN IN A JUST AND CARING
SOCIETY
PREAMBLE
We gather on the 150th anniversary of the Declaration of Sentiments issued
by the first U.S. women's rights convention in Seneca Falls to reaffirm and
advance its basic human rights principles. The Declaration, patterned after
the Declaration of Independence, described the legal, social, and economic
liabilities under which women lived in the United States in the 19th Century
asserting, "A history of repeated injuries and usurpation on the part of man
toward woman."
While women have made many advances over the past one and one half centuries,
equality has not yet been achieved. For example, the Equal Rights Amendment
to the U.S. Constitution first proposed 75 years ago has not yet been ratified.
The persistence of entrenched patterns of sex discrimination, poverty, political
exclusion, and violence against women in many forms in the United States and
around the world should outrage women and men alike on the eve of the new
millennium.
The year 1998 is also the 50th anniversary of the Universal Declaration
of Human Rights, a United Nations document setting forth fundamental human
rights for all, signed by the United States and all member states of the UN
in 1948. The document affirms everyone's entitlement to civil, economic, political
and social rights, "without distinction of any kind, such as race, color,
sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin,
property, birth or other status."
Today women around the world are demanding that women's rights be defended
as human rights and that governments, private institutions, and communities
be held accountable for promoting and upholding the human rights of all. We
pledge to work to achieve worldwide realization of equal human rights for
women, men and children of all races and nations.
In linking these two important anniversaries, we add our voices as U.S.
women to those of other women in this country and around the world who are
seeking to realize equality and human rights for all. Further, we affirm previous
programs of action for women's rights, noting in particular the National Plan
of Action from the National Women's Conference held in Houston, Texas, in
l977 and the International Platform for Action from the Fourth World Conference
on Women in Beijing, China, in l995. It is essential that our government work
vigorously to implement these platforms and that the United States Senate
ratify the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against
Women (CEDAW). We deplore the fact that the United States is one of only a
handful of countries that have not yet ratified this international Women's
Convention.
We note with alarm trends at the end of this century that tend to undermine
the human rights of women and men. Without sufficient enforcement of human
rights standards, the globalization of the economy has worsened the marginal
existence of hundreds of millions of women. The growing economic inequality
within and between countries threatens our peaceful co-existence. The continuing
escalation of war and civil strife and the violence practiced against women
destroy lives and turn large numbers of women and children into refugees.
The neglect and pillage of the environment and disregard for the resources
necessary for sustainable development diminish lives today and for future
generations. The growing global market trafficking in women and children for
sexual and economic exploitation demeans and destroys countless lives. Further,
women throughout the world face growing backlash and fundamentalist forces
determined to deny our claims to the human rights guaranteed by the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights.
Women everywhere are seeking to counter these trends and to create societies
with justice and equality for all. Nevertheless, we are often separated from
one another by the persistence of racism, homophobia, ethnic, class and other
divisions in the world which produce inequality among women. We will not trade
off the rights of one woman for the advancement of another. We commit ourselves
to respecting women's diversity and finding common ground by working to end
all forms of discrimination women face based on race, color, ethnicity, national
origin, religion, culture, age, sexual orientation, disability, class, childbearing
choices or marital status.
We also celebrate the contributions of women to political and civic life,
our economy and our communities. The values and leadership of women are changing
businesses and governmental policy as well as daily life. Democracy thrives
when women have full and equal representation in all decision-making. Families
thrive when women and men share the responsibilities and joys of family life.
Times have changed. Women in the United States are now the majority of voters,
almost half the workforce and the driving force behind the growth of small
business. Policies and institutions have not kept pace.
We see it as the responsibility of women and men to create the changes necessary
to advance the human rights of all. As U.S. women, we acknowledge our challenge
and obligation to work against injustice and for human rights at home and
wherever U.S. policy and institutions impinge on the lives of others around
the world.
We pledge to uphold the principles of the Seneca Falls Declaration of Sentiments
and of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and to seek policies that
embody these principles. We build upon a global women's movement which has
reached into every corner of our country and consciousness and which gains
strength from women's diversity. Further, we commit ourselves to extending
the promise of this movement to new generations.
Just as women's lives and roles are seamless, so the following areas of
concern are interrelated and the actions proposed are only some of those needed
to move this agenda forward. Bearing these principles in mind, we call for
bold actions and legislation at all levels to transform our society to assure
equality and human rights for the girls and women of the next millennium.
As our foremothers and forefathers in Seneca Falls pledged to achieve equality,
so we, the women of Forum'98, pledge our individual and collective efforts
to the achievement of these goals.
WOMEN TAKE LEADERSHIP
On the threshold of the 21st century, we envision a world with new leadership
reflecting the rich variety and diversity of people in our communities, our
country, and around the globe--a world in which compassion and caring, human
rights, social justice, and economic equity are central values.
We affirm that women have a fundamental human right and responsibility to
full political participation and leadership to create an inclusive, humane,
and just society. Decision-makers must be representative of the gender and
racial composition of the population.
Shaping a better world in the 21st century includes:
Teaching respect for human diversity, in all its forms;
Building a viable and just economy based on environmentally sensitive and
sustainable development;
Ending poverty and eliminating economic disparities and inequitable access
to resources;
Creating a culture of peace and rejecting the glorification of war and violence;
Eliminating violence against women and children;
Ending the use of religion to subjugate and control women;
Providing quality health care and educational opportunity for all;
Ensuring that technology serves and does not dehumanize women.
The grand dream of democracy can be realized only when women and men share
leadership in all the institutions of our society. To this end, we call
for:
Equal representation of women in public office;
Institutional and structural changes to remove the barriers to equal power;
Support for statutory and constitutional equality for women;
Dramatically curtailing the power of money in electoral politics;
Open and accountable decision making in all public forums;
Education of girls and young women to gain leadership and power;
Concerted public education to stimulate citizen participation in politics;
Public laws and budgets constructed and evaluated in terms of gender impact;
Increased competition and decentralization of ownership and power over all
communications systems accompanied by increased access for women and other
underrepresented groups;
Empowerment of women and girls to design and master new and emerging technologies.
WOMEN IN AN EQUITABLE AND PRODUCTIVE ECONOMY
In recognition of economic rights as human rights, we call for the creation
of an economically just society that embraces the full participation of
women in every aspect of economic life and requires that all employers provide
living wages, decent and equitable working conditions, and equal respect
for women and men.
In addition to their jobs, all workers also have responsibility to care
for others. Employers, government and society at large must recognize this
reality. Policies and work places must be transformed to allow workers to
meet these caretaking responsibilities. Job protected family leaves must
be expanded and paid; the United States is virtually alone among the industrialized
nations in not providing paid leave for family care. Expanded or alternate
work options must be available without penalty in pay, benefits, and advancement.
All people are entitled to a quality public education, from early childhood
through higher education. Public education is the foundation of a democratic
society and the key to a productive economy. Women and girls have the right
to a discrimination-free educational environment, training that maximizes
their ability to contribute to the economy and society, and equal access
to scientific and technical knowledge which will prepare them for the occupations
of the future.
We deplore the growing disparity between the rich and the poor and between
the exorbitant pay of CEOs and the low value of the minimum wage in the
United States. We affirm our connection to women as workers around the globe
and our responsibility to eliminate exploitative practices that arise from
the U.S. consumer economy and the excessive profits generated by U.S.-based
multi-national corporations. We affirm women's initiatives in creating alternative
economic systems and structures.
Both the workforce and the economy are changing as new technologies emerge.
We call for these opportunities to be used to maximize women's potential
rather than marginalize women as contingent workers with little security,
low pay and minimal benefits. Women must be equal participants in economic
decision making at all levels, from local community development organizations
to global institutions.
We seek to transform the economy and workplaces so that women's basic
rights are affirmed including the following:
Freedom from discrimination in hiring, pay, benefits and advancement;
Equal pay for work of equal value;
Work and educational environments free of violence and sexual harassment,
and sex stereotyping that narrows women's choices to a limited range of lower
paid occupations;
Access to public information about the employment practices of all employers,
such as statistics on wages, hours, and representation of women in job categories
both in relation to men and disaggregated by race and ethnicity;
The right to organize collectively and be proportionately represented in
the leadership of labor unions;
Equal representation in senior management and on the Boards of Directors
of corporations and businesses;
The opportunity to own and develop their own businesses and to have equal
access to capital, credit, government contracts and business assistance programs;
A secure, adequate and equitable retirement income;
An adequate safety net for those unable to work; and
Taxation that is fair to women.
WOMEN IN A JUST AND CARING SOCIETY
We affirm women's and girls' fundamental human right to full recognition
of and respect for bodily integrity and reproductive self-determination.
This includes:
Freedom from violence, sexual abuse, and rape;
Freedom from coerced pregnancy, with protection for the right to safe abortion
and safe birth control;
Freedom from forced sterilization and genital and other forms of bodily
mutilation;
Freedom from harassment based on gender or sexuality at all ages;
Right to health education and quality and affordable health care, including
preventive, reproductive, prenatal, well-baby, and elder care;
Right to determine one's own medical treatment;
Right to physical development and full participation in athletics;
Right to develop a healthy bodily self-image;
Right to sexual self-determination.
We affirm women's fundamental human right to form families and mutually
consensual adult intimate relationships. Women also have the right not to
enter into relationships and not to be penalized or disadvantaged because
of this choice. Public policy as well as religious and societal institutions
should respect and support women's diverse personal relationships, including
their right to dissolve such partnerships equitably and with the protection
of children's security.
People have the basic human right to receive care throughout their life
course to ensure that fundamental needs are met. We affirm that participating
in nurturing and caring--as parents, adult children, partners and others--is
an integral and joyful part of what makes us human. We also affirm that
providing care is the most valuable and important societal work, is indispensable
and central in a compassionate society, and is one which men and women should
share fully.
The above principles demand new policies. Governments, private institutions,
and the community at large have the responsibility to provide affordable,
quality child and elder care, and early childhood education; to ensure that
all who need it receive appropriate care; and to assure the safety and well-being
of those requiring care. Moreover, all providers, including parents and
other family members who choose to provide care for children, the elderly,
and persons with disabilities or long-term illnesses, should be economically
supported or fairly compensated and not be discriminated against in social
security, pensions, health care benefits, employment, and tax policy. Income
level should, therefore, not be an impediment to anyone's choice to provide
care.
As concerned women, we commit ourselves to stand together on these issues.
We recognize and respect the diverse choices and circumstances women face
throughout their lives. Therefore, we will not be divided nor exploit each
other in our intimate, relational, and caring lives.
