Comments
May I offer comments, as a majority women who is supportive of and wishes to work with women
from minorities on their terms, because I believe that lasting progress will be only made for minority
women by minority women. The realities of the gendered discrimination and practices of
stereotyping can not relieve states, in my view, of their obligations, nor should it facilitate lethargy in
rights bodies. The obfuscation of minority women’s rights by manipulation of the care and control
roles that are played by women from minorities, and indeed by all women, is something that we need
to focus on again today.
Full and effective equality for minority women and the realisation of minority women’s rights means
mainstreaming their rights into all considerations, so that, when Treaty Bodies are considering rights,
the rights of women need to be considered, and also the rights of women from minorities. There
needs to be explicit mainstreaming of the rights of minority women when women’s rights are
considered by global and regional treaty bodies. Measuring is essential. Special measures and
positive actions need to be taken. We need also to go beyond the idea of the equality of opportunity
as the goal, to equality of participation, equality of outcome, and to the measuring of impact.
These
are the terms in which this Forums recommendations need to be framed.
Finally let me say, that I believe that this Forum has to acknowledge the hierarchy that exists
between minority women, some rich, some poor; some privileged, some marginalised. If we don’t