History Professor Marysa Navarro described to an audience of about 75 people yesterday afternoon the issues addressed at the "largest women's meeting in the history of the planet."
Navarro's speech, titled "Feminism and the U.N. Fourth World Conference," was the first lecture given by Navarro in her position as the Charles Collis Professor of History, a professorship inaugurated in 1989.
A delegate to the Fourth World Conference on Women last year in Beijing, Navarro described the conference and its results, giving her audience a history of feminism and womens' conferences.
Actually occurring 50 kilometers north of Beijing in a small resort chosen five months before by the Chinese government, the conference included more participants than the resort could handle, Navarro explained.
Despite the rainy conditions and overcrowding, the conference accomplished a great deal, she added.
"The documents negotiated represent a blueprint for action in the 21st century," she said. "I think it is very important that these documents are there."
"Governments are shamed for their treatment of women because they have to report on these issues," Navarro said. "I cannot conceive of changes for women in the world without those documents."
With 17,000 registered participants, 5,000 official delegates and thousands of other women from all over the world, Navarro said the "number of activities was staggering."
"Participants came ready to attend workshops," she said, explaining there were hundreds to choose from.
Macintosh had a showing at the conference, setting up computer terminals to teach women how to use electronic mail to further their attempts to network, Navarro said.
Women at the conference discussed and negotiated international documentation on 12 main subjects including government, human rights, health, race and ethnicity and more, she added.
Following months of preparatory work on documentation, "the discussions in Beijing were the last stage of negotiations," Navarro explained.
Describing the frustration in dealing with the Holy See and its followers, Navarro said verbiage regarding sexual orientation, adolescent rights and violence against women was delayed by this group.
"The Holy See and its allies refused to accept the right to sexual orientation," she said.
The decision to include that right in the main document produced by the conference did not pass.
Navarro explained that the United Nations Conferences on Women fall under the auspices of an NGO, or Non-Governmental Organization.
"The proliferation of NGOs dedicated to the advancement of women has spread to Africa and Asia," she said.
Approximately 280 NGOs are headed by CONGO, a permanent organization of the United Nations, she added.
The Fourth U.N. Conference on Women coincided with the 50th Anniversary of the founding of the United Nations, Navarro said.
Navarro commented on the changes in the world since the last women's conference held in Nairobi in 1985.
With the end of the Cold War, a worldwide trend towards democracy, a Democratic president in the White House and the downfall of apartheid, many of the issues previously discussed at the world conference changed this time around, Navarro said.
However, the conference still "seeks to eradicate sources of women's oppression," she said.
"Views about the appropriate role of women in society still vary greatly," she added. "It is up to the women of the world and our male allies" to change the role of women for the future.
Navarro has been at Dartmouth since 1968 and has helped to implement change at the College, including pushing for the establishment of the Women's Studies Department.
