International Policy on Women
Rationale
"It is about time that we all realize that investment in women is the single most important path to higher productivity for society as a whole - in industrial as well as in developing countries."Gro Harlem Brundtland (United Nations, Development Programme, 1995, p. 110)
Social workers must commit themselves to enhancing the well being of women and girls as an essential aspect of the profession's ethical and practice commitment to human rights. This special commitment to women of all ages is necessary because in all national and cultural contexts women and girls do not have equal access to the tangible and intangible benefits of being members of human society (United Nations, 1991). Social workers are involved in the broadest range of professional activities that are critical to the well being of women and girls. Specific antipoverty efforts include the delivery of health and mental health care services and public health programs; prevention and early intervention efforts addressing both interpersonal and community-based violence; education, employment, and training programs; and activities to increase the participation of people traditionally excluded from political, economic, and community decision making. Thus, it is essential that the International Federation of Social Workers (IFSW) state clearly its position on issues of relevance to women internationally.
Background
Women's rights are inherently human rights, and social work's historical and international commitment to human rights is a core value of the profession. Historically, women and girls have not enjoyed equal access to basic human rights, protections, resources, and services. As a response to this discrimination, there have been major international efforts directed at eradicating these inequalities, in which both social workers and members of the International Federation of Social Workers (IFSW) have participated. These efforts have included1. the 1975 United Nations Conference on Women, held in Mexico City. The conference launched the United Nations Decade on Women.
2. the 1980 United Nations Conference on Women, held in Copenhagen. The conference was held at the midpoint of the Decade on Women to assess progress.
3. the 1985 United Nations Conference on Women, held in Nairobi at the end of the UN Decade on Women. "The Nairobi Forward-Looking Strategies for the Advancement of Women to the Year 2000", was created and distributed with the interest in helping guide nations, organizations, professions, and individuals in action.
4. the 1995 United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women, held in Beijing. This conference, using an international assessment of the status of women in relation to the goals set forth in the Nairobi document, issued a platform statement outlining 12 areas of critical concern, including the identification of obstacles and strategies for action in all 12 areas.
All meetings of non-government organizations (NGOs) held in conjunction with these meetings of governments were guided by the theme of "Equality, Development and Peace." In addition, the UN has adopted (and endorsed by many nations) conventions in such key areas as The Convention on the Political Rights of Women (1952), The Convention on the Consent to Marriage (1962), and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW, 1979). Recently, the Earth Summit on Environment and Development (Rio de Janeiro, 1992), the World Conference on Human Rights (Vienna, 1993), the International Conference on Population and Development (Cairo, 1994), and the World Summit for Social Development (Copenhagen, 1995) also have featured specific attention to both the unmet and the unique contributions of women to human development and well-being in these areas (Wetzel, 1995).
Following the 1985 Conference in Nairobi, IFSW expressed its commitment to women by adopting a "Strategy Document". The "Strategy Document" urges IFSW members to advocate for their governments endorsement of CEDAW (if they have not already done so); to continue efforts to develop and disseminate social work knowledge about the status of women and girls; and to analyze local, national, and international policies and proposed policies for their effect on women. The "Strategy Document" also affirms, "In social work, there is special concern for the profession and the women social workers service". In addition, the IFSW delegation to the United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women endorsed a resolution, prepared by the Older Women's Caucus at the 1995 NGO Forum, urging that attention be given within the platform statement (in Beijing) to areas of key concern to older women.
Areas of Critical Concern for Social Work
The Platform for Action adopted in Beijing (1995) recognizes two contradictory global trends affecting women: (1) the growing strength of women's organizations and the women's movement and (2) a global trend toward democratization versus the changing national and international economic, environmental, and structural arrangements that have had a disproportionately negative effect on women. Based on this analysis the 1995 Platform for Action outlined 12 areas of "critical concern". Because of the great relevance to social work internationally, six "critical concerns" are highlighted:1. Poverty - Women represent 70 percent of the 1.3 billion people who live in poverty worldwide (Briggs, 1995). In India's rural Punjab, poverty takes a bigger toll on the nutrition of girls than of boys: 21 percent of girls in low-income families suffer severe malnutrition compared with 3 percent of boys. In addition, the fact that low-income boys fare better than upper-income girls (UN, 1995) can be interpreted as gender discrimination. In the United States, if an elderly woman is unmarried, her chances of being poor increase considerably. In 1990, 5 percent of married women age 65 or older were poor. For older unmarried women, the proportion of women living in poverty increased to 25 percent (U.S. Census Bureau, 1991). Women urgently need greater economic opportunity and adequate mechanisms of economic and social support - resources that do not require them to depend on a husband's assets and that enable them to care adequately for those family members who may depend on them.
2. The Economy - Although women do the majority of the world's work, women do not share equally in income, earnings, and wealth (Tomaskovie-Devey, cited in Gottlieb, 1995). Discrimination against women in earnings, employment, access to credit and capital accumulation mechanisms, and employment-related public and private social benefit systems affects the economic well-being of their children and other household members. In employment, discrimination against women can be overt, for example, when women earn less than men performing the same work do. However, discrimination more often takes a more subtle route, for example, when a labour market restricts a woman's job opportunities because of gender bias in a "traditionally" male domain or creates a "glass ceiling" that makes it difficult for women to advance in their careers. Gender discrimination in earnings and advancement exists even in the social work profession itself. (Gibelman & Schervish, 1997). Elimination of discrimination against women in employment, with attention to developing economic opportunities for women in private enterprise, in agriculture, and all sections of formal employment, must be prioritized to enable women to overcome poverty.
3. Education and Training - In addition to being a human right, education and training are essential tools for achieving economic well being. Among the world's 900 million illiterate people, women outnumber men two to one, (United Nations Development Programme [UNDP], 1995). Girls often are required to marry young or face childbearing at a very young age. In many countries girls face negative attitudes toward their education and are given inadequate and gender-biased educational materials. Worldwide, about 76 million fewer girls than boys are enrolled in primary and secondary schools (Briggs, 1995).
4. Health - The 1995 Platform for Action recognizes the importance of mental health along with physical, social, and sexual and reproductive health. The acknowledgment of the negative mental health effects of violence against women is also of critical importance. The toll of injury and disability from pregnancy-related causes is one of the most neglected health problems in the world. An estimated 15 million women fall victim to maternal morbidity annually (UNICEF, 1996). Life choices and opportunities are expanding as women are progressively liberated from the burden of frequent childbearing and from the risk of dying in childbirth. Use of modern contraceptives and access to health care for women of reproductive age are essential for progress in women's health. The United Nations Development Programme (1995) has reported that in 13 countries more girls than boys die at a young age. Discrimination against the girl in the provision of health and nutrition is the identified cause.
5. Violence - Many women and girls from all social, cultural, and income groups are subject to specific forms of physical, sexual, and psychological violence because of their gender. This gender-specific violence includes emotional, physical, and verbal assault; rape and mass rape; sexual harassment; sexual exploitation and slavery; forced pregnancy; forced or selective abortion; and forced sterilization. There are more than 100 million women missing as a direct result of persecution, persistent deprivation, and inequality (UNDP, 1995). The natural gender ratio of 106 women to 100 men has been revised in a number of countries, particularly China and countries in West Asia (UNDP, 1995). There the ratio is 94 women for every 100 men. Domestic violence is commonplace in much of the world, affecting an estimated 70 percent of families in Mexico (Carrillo, 1991). In Pakistan, reports show that women are murdered (at least one murder per day, on average) by being burned alive by their husbands. There are many more unreported cases (Sennot, 1995).
6. The Girl - Discrimination against women begins early in life. Prenatal selection, female infanticide or abandonment, childhood sexual exploitation, genital mutilation, limited access to adequate nutrition and health care all effect the number of girls even surviving into adulthood (UNDP, 1995). These factors combined with limited access to education, early marriage, and early childbearing affect the health and well-being of girls and can have a devastating effect on women's lives.
Policy Statement
IFSW endorses the platform statement adopted by the United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women. IFSW recognizes that global progress toward gender equality, gender-sensitive development, and peace requires attention to all the areas of critical concern described in the platform statement.IFSW stresses and affirms the core commitment of the social work profession to human rights, human welfare, peace, and the enhancement of the human potential and well-being of all people as well as from its mission of service to those from vulnerable, oppressed, and disadvantaged groups.
IFSW and its member organizations will work to advocate for development of policies, implementation of programs, and social action to improve the well-being of women of all ages. This work can be effective only if the special needs and contributions of indigenous, migrant, displaced, and poor women are emphasized.
Women's rights are human rights. To the extent that women and girls do not enjoy equal rights, their common human needs, and those of their families, will not be fully met and their human potential will not be fully realized. Therefore, the social work profession's core commitment to human rights must involve a commitment to protecting and preserving the basic rights of all women and girls. Women of all ages and at all stages of the life cycle deserve protection from discrimination in all forms, including the elimination of all forms of gender-specific violence.
IFSW recognizes that policies and programmes designed to eliminate poverty and to promote the economic well-being of all people will not succeed without attention to gender discrimination in economic arrangements, in the workplace, in the household, and in social and economic policies and programs themselves.
IFSW will work to improve the health status of women of all ages. Social workers are involved greatly in the delivery of women's health care, including maternal and child health, mental and behavioral health care services, and sexual and reproductive health care, including the care and prevention of HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases. Improving the health and well-being of women requires attention to physical, mental, emotional, and social well-being and the provision of gender-sensitive prevention, intervention, and long-term care services.
In addition, IFSW endorses women's self-determination in all health care decisions as a core professional value, including all decisions regarding sexual activity and reproduction. Social workers understand that women have the right to receive competent and safe reproductive and sexual health care services free from government, institutional, professional, familial, or other interpersonal coercion.
IFSW recognizes that social workers involved in schools and in adult education and training and literacy efforts must attend to gender issues as they affect the education and training of women and girls of all ages.
IFSW affirms that social work's commitment to children and youths and their families must include attention to the risks associated with being a girl.
IFSW supports the full participation of women in all decision-making bodies and processes that affect the political, economic, social, educational, and health concerns of women and girls. This commitment includes full participation in the profession, education for the profession, social agencies, and other social services delivery systems.
Finally, IFSW recognizes the need to expand the social work knowledge base and improve the skills of professional social workers as they relate to the needs of women and girls, especially those from indigenous, poor, migrant, or displaced groups.
Approved by the IFSW Executive Committee,
Helsinki, Finland, 9-11 June 1999
The document was prepared by the National Committee on Women's Issues, National Association of Social Workers, USA
References
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page last updated on 25.10.2005