"Well, it might come as a surprise to many, including younger generations of women in the global north, many of whom perceive feminism to be an outdated ideology, that it was only in the early 1990s that the United Nations finally recognised that women and girls also have human rights. If you consider this a bit late in history, you might be even more surprised to learn that the UN did so rather unwillingly, and only under the immense pressure of thousands of women and women's groups both from the south and the north, initiated by a global women's network coordinated by the Center for Women's Global Leadership."-
Pinar Ilkkaracan-
Ilkkaracan is a psychotherapist and researcher and the founder and coordinator of Women for Women's Human Rights as well as the author of "Human Rights and Legal Literacy Training Manual," used across Turkey to increase knowledge and understanding of women's sexual and reproductive rights. In
"Do Women and Girls have Human Rights?" she explores the work of the international women's movement as well as continuing and future struggles the movement faces. She has said: "My sister and I developed a clear sense of the injustices women and girls face, but it was only when I joined the feminist movement and consciousness-raising groups that I realized we were not alone, that women all around the world experience violence just because they are women. This had an incredible impact on me. To this day I believe that the consciousness-raising group is the best tool the women's movement ever created."
posted by Alexandra at 2/27/2007 10:37:00 AM 
