CIVICUS speaks with Amina Hersi, head of Gender Rights and Justice at Oxfam International, about women’s rights activism and anti-gender backlash at the 68th session of the United Nations (UN) Commission on the Status of Women (CSW), the main UN forum promoting gender equality and women’s empowerment.
Oxfam is a global movement of people who fight inequality and seek to end poverty and injustice. Across regions and from local to global, Oxfam works with people to bring lasting change. Its work is grounded in the commitment to the universality of human rights.
Do you see a trend of anti-gender backlash at CSW sessions?
This year, news emerged of confrontations between feminist and anti-rights advocates at the CSW session. But while this may have received more media coverage than in previous years, it’s by no means a new development. Anti-rights trends at CSW are well-known to feminist movements, which for years have repeatedly raised concerns over the rise in anti-rights civil society mobilisation in UN spaces, including but not limited to CSW.
Although their presence is not new, the space anti-rights groups occupy has certainly grown. They have formed regressive coalitions to lobby states and weaken the language of negotiated texts. They use their access to advocate for policies that undermine and seek to reverse progress on bodily autonomy, sexual rights, reproductive rights, sexual orientation and gender identity and expression for women, girls and non-binary people. It’s unfortunate they continue to occupy these spaces and are able to reverse years of progress towards gender justice.
What tactics are anti-rights groups using at CSW, and what impact are they having?
What we saw this year is that many anti-rights groups were very well organised. They arrived in large numbers, strategically disrupted specific events and spread themselves across the room to avoid easy identification. Their main tactic was to attract attention to their positions, which they repeated over and over, with interventions that reinforced one another to create the impression of a large constituency opposing the views of feminists and women’s rights activists presenting or present in the room.
Anti-rights activists were not necessarily hijacking CSW: many of them came invited by conservative governments as part of their delegations. They brought them in as speakers in their events and filled the rooms during side events. But they were certainly not invited to the NGO CSW space, and I would say hosting their event at the same time was an attempt to disrupt women’s rights, feminist and queer spaces.
While anti-rights tactics are not unique or new, the increasing normalisation of the presence of anti-rights groups in spaces intended to advance gender justice is a concerning trend.
What were the impacts of the Conference on the State of Women and Family (CSWF) on this year’s CSW?
I’m not very familiar with the CSWF beyond what’s stated on its website, so I’m unable to offer an official comment. As far as I know, the CSWF presents itself as a two-day event that runs parallel to CSW and features a ‘pro-family’ and ‘pro-life’ programme. It seeks to shift the focus from women’s rights to the rights of ‘the families they love’. It claims to pursue the same aims as CSW – such as women’s empowerment and the eradication of poverty – but says these can only be achieved through the recognition, protection and strengthening of the family – the ‘traditional family’, of course, re-entrenching the patriarchal understanding of family.
By strategically organising their conference on the margins of CSW, anti-rights groups increased CSW attendance by activists and groups seeking to undermine the parallel events held by women’s rights organisations. As you may know, unlike official side events, which are held within UN grounds, parallel events take place outside the UN and are open to anyone who wishes to attend and engage in the day’s activities.
I think the concerning impact of CSWF was that it reduced existing safe spaces in which feminist and queer activists could gather, organise, strategise and advocate for full and equal rights. The need to hold firm against anti-rights actions and resist regression is consuming an increasing amount of energies and affecting the ability of feminist and queer groups to push effectively for progressive, gender-just policies.
How have anti-rights groups managed to gain so much space in international policy forums?
Anti-rights forces do not operate in isolation. Globally, we are witnessing governments increasingly restricting civic space, deprioritising gender justice and regressing on their commitments to uphold human rights. Although anti-rights forces have long existed, their recent surge aligns with a shared desire to reduce recognition of human rights and reinforce patriarchal and heteronormative family structures.
How are women’s and LGBTQI+ rights groups working to contain their advances?
Feminist and queer activism has historically been the most crucial and consistent driver of change for gender justice. Activists resolutely refuse to focus on anti-rights action in the pursuit of gender justice. As civil society spaces are co-opted and eroded, many are raising the alarm and urging the UN to take measures to strengthen and enable feminist engagement.
Feminist movements are creating their own safe and enabling spaces. They are also determined in their efforts to hold their governments accountable for respecting, protecting and promoting their full rights and advancing gender justice.
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