case study g

Beijing + 5: What Can International Conferences Achieve for Women’s Health?

Page 1 of 19

PRINTED FROM OXFORD SCHOLARSHIP ONLINE (oxford.universitypressscholarship.com). (c) Copyright Oxford University Press, 2022. All Rights Reserved. An individual user may print out a PDF of a single chapter of a monograph in OSO for personal use. Subscriber: University of Colorado at Boulder; date: 02 March 2022

The Practice of International Health: A Case- Based Orientation Daniel Perlman and Ananya Roy

Print publication date: 2009 Print ISBN-13: 9780195310276 Published to Oxford Scholarship Online: September 2009 DOI: 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195310276.001.0001

Beijing + 5: What Can International Conferences Achieve for Women’s Health? Nuriye Nalan Sahin Hodoglugil

DOI:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195310276.003.05

Abstract and Keywords This chapter presents some thoughts about the significance of the United Nations Beijing +5 Conference. In 1995, when the Fourth World Conference for Women was held in Beijing, women came from all over the world to discuss pertinent issues such as health, economic and political power, and violence and oppression. The final document produced at this conference was the Platform for Action, which described the overall status of women internationally based on these issues. The Beijing +5 meetings was organized by the UN's Division for the Advancement of Women to assess the current situations of women globally and to make relevant changes to the Platform for Action while also reaffirming commitment to the original document.

Keywords:   conferences, women's rights, women's issues, gender equality

According to the maps, the United Nations headquarters was only a few blocks from my hotel. Still, I set out early that day, and took my time strolling up First Avenue. As I drew closer, I caught sight of the immense skyscraper rising above the sea of other buildings. Although it was late spring and the sun was well above the horizon, the morning air was chilly, and I pulled my jacket close to my body as I walked. My stomach was jumping with nerves; to ignore it, I forced myself to look around at the city. The streets of Manhattan were just waking up along with me. If I were at home, in Ankara, I too would be moving with the throng of people, headed for the School of Public Health, consumed with my agenda for the day ahead. Being here felt very different as I watched men and

Beijing + 5: What Can International Conferences Achieve for Women’s Health?

Page 2 of 19

PRINTED FROM OXFORD SCHOLARSHIP ONLINE (oxford.universitypressscholarship.com). (c) Copyright Oxford University Press, 2022. All Rights Reserved. An individual user may print out a PDF of a single chapter of a monograph in OSO for personal use. Subscriber: University of Colorado at Boulder; date: 02 March 2022

women in spotless suits disappear into the tinted doors of office buildings—I had no idea what to expect from the upcoming morning.

I reached the entrance plaza and gardens within minutes. I shielded my eyes with my hand and looked up at the impossible building. It was so big that, up close, I could no longer see it all at once. Around me, tourists were snapping pictures. Moving through the wide glass entrance, I saw more of the same—they swarmed the lobby, and a long line had already gathered behind a small sign reading simply, “Tours.” I drew a breath and squeezed by the line of people. Their guide, I had read, would lead them past the highlights of the building and through the common areas.

My destination was not so public. Following a discreet sign, I turned into a hallway which led me to a lower level of the building. Soon I turned and followed another hallway. I was now a few floors below the ground level. The walls were (p.98) lined with a dark brown wood, and soft, low bulbs were placed every few feet, casting a dull, artificial light. This was in sharp contrast with the large windows and sunshine that had filled the main lobby.

People walking brusquely in both directions passed me by without a glance. They seemed to take no notice of the absence of light. Some were dressed in brightly colored traditional outfits and the rest wore business suits. My own outfit, in comparison, felt neutral and unimportant. I had tried my best to look both serious and professional, donning a black dress and black leather shoes, but despite the confidence I had felt when my mentor at the university, Dr. Meliha, had asked me to attend the meetings in her place, my insides had been a jumble of nerves ever since I had arrived in New York. Even my dress, at that moment, was a cause of anxiety.

As I continued down the hallway, I tried to quell my worries by reminding myself of my qualifications and of my initial excitement at accepting such an opportunity. As a physician and researcher in Turkey, I was certainly prepared to discuss women’s health needs within my country. Having worked in family planning clinics, I had inserted thousands of IUDs and worked with countless married women to address their health needs.

Just then, I saw a small break in the wood paneling on my right. A placard, stationed next to a small gate, read “General Assembly Conference Room.” The closed door was plain and unadorned, and I pushed it open quickly. The room that spread out in front of me made me catch my breath.

The room was split into two levels, the first of which was designed like an amphitheater. A polished stage stood in front, with the seats spreading outward in rows of semicircles, like the layers of a cinnamon roll. Tags for each country marked off sections of seats, moving along the rows in alphabetical order. Each

Beijing + 5: What Can International Conferences Achieve for Women’s Health?

Page 3 of 19

PRINTED FROM OXFORD SCHOLARSHIP ONLINE (oxford.universitypressscholarship.com). (c) Copyright Oxford University Press, 2022. All Rights Reserved. An individual user may print out a PDF of a single chapter of a monograph in OSO for personal use. Subscriber: University of Colorado at Boulder; date: 02 March 2022

country’s section was equipped with a microphone and multiple sets of earphones for listening to the simultaneous translations.

I looked to the second level, which was divided from the first by a high wall and could only be accessed by a separate entrance. Later, I would learn that these seats were reserved for spectators, persons from nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and others, who, since they were not named as official delegates, were forbidden from directly participating in the meetings. I walked slowly to the center of the amphitheater, searching for Turkey’s tag. A few people sat casually in some of the seats, but the vast majority of the room was empty.

In 1995, when the Fourth World Conference for Women was held in Beijing, women came from all over the world to discuss pertinent issues such as health, economic and political power, and violence and oppression. The final document produced at this conference was the Platform for Action, which described the overall status of women internationally based on these issues. In very strong language, it outlined suggestions to improve gender equality. The Beijing + 5 meetings, which would all take place in the huge room where I was standing, had been organized by the UN’s Division for the Advancement of Women to assess the current (p.99) situations of women globally and to make relevant changes to the Platform for Action while also reaffirming commitment to the original document.

I spotted my country’s tag, between the signs for Trinidad and Tobago and Tuvalu. Our seats were empty; I was the first of my delegation to arrive. Instead of going directly to our section, I hovered in the center of the room, my head tilted back as I stared at the top rows of the second level. For a second, I wanted to scream “Can you hear me?” out into the vacant seats. As children, we would do this every time we visited one of the many ancient amphitheaters scattered along the Mediterranean coast. One would yell “Can you hear me?” to which someone else, poised at the top, would respond “Yes! I can hear you ….” The acoustics amazed us: after screaming the first time, we would drop our voices again and again until we were using only whispers, to see what could still be heard. The important thing was the sense that somebody was listening.

I made my way up the steps to await the arrival of my codelegates. After a few minutes, more and more people began filtering into the room, coming through the same unimposing doorway that I had used. I watched them file in, greeting each other, making their way to various sections. I noticed a group of three women making their way up the stairs, walking directly toward where I sat. They reached me quickly and before I could stand up, the leader, a short, heavy, dark- haired woman with large glasses, stepped forward and put out her hand,

Beijing + 5: What Can International Conferences Achieve for Women’s Health?

Page 4 of 19

PRINTED FROM OXFORD SCHOLARSHIP ONLINE (oxford.universitypressscholarship.com). (c) Copyright Oxford University Press, 2022. All Rights Reserved. An individual user may print out a PDF of a single chapter of a monograph in OSO for personal use. Subscriber: University of Colorado at Boulder; date: 02 March 2022

Nuriye Nalan Sahin Hodoglugil.

introducing herself as Cemile. She had a strong, clear voice and held herself in an authoritative

(p.100) manner. It was obvious that she knew who I was, probably having been in contact with Dr. Meliha, because without waiting for an introduction, she used the cordial, official “Mrs. Nalan” to address me. I tried to shake her hand firmly but was struck by her impressive voice—she spoke with the formal emphasis of a government official or television newscaster, and her tone was very serious. She turned to the others and began introducing them, continuing to use the same formal voice. Nuran was nearly Cemile’s physical opposite—petite and blonde. She wore a light-colored suit and struck me as having a soothing, motherly attitude. Despite Cemile’s command of the situation, Nuran was actually her supervisor at the General Directorate of Women’s Status and Problems in Turkey. On the other side of Cemile was Sevgi, a woman who gave me a big smile. Although I did not know her, she was a teacher in the department of Gender and Women’s Studies in Ankara. Behind Sevgi stood Aylin, whom Cemile introduced last. She was younger than the others, had dark, flashing eyes, and wore heavy lipstick.

We shook hands and greeted one another warmly. I smoothed my dress with my palms while the others set their bags down and filed past me into the seats of our section. These would be the women I would be working with, day and night, for the next few weeks.

Just then, a loud banging noise filled the room, and the static of a microphone turning on crackled over the speaker system. The five of us turned; on the polished stage at the center of the room stood a tall woman in a crisp gray suit, leaning into the podium and looking out at the rows of chairs expectantly. The banging noise had come from a long wooden gavel she held in one hand. She poised it over the podium and brought it down again, three staccato raps that amplified out over the audience. A hush fell over the room, followed by the sound of shuffling papers and bodies shifting in chairs. I looked out over the sections below us and craned my neck to see the rows behind. Most of the chairs were filled; however, there were some countries, such as Tuvalu, next to us, that had only empty seats. It was not until that evening, back in my hotel room, that I came to realize that this was because these countries were too impoverished to send delegates.

Beijing + 5: What Can International Conferences Achieve for Women’s Health?

Page 5 of 19

PRINTED FROM OXFORD SCHOLARSHIP ONLINE (oxford.universitypressscholarship.com). (c) Copyright Oxford University Press, 2022. All Rights Reserved. An individual user may print out a PDF of a single chapter of a monograph in OSO for personal use. Subscriber: University of Colorado at Boulder; date: 02 March 2022

The woman cleared her throat into the microphone. Across the room, delegates lifted earphone sets and adjusted them on their heads. “Welcome,” the woman began, “to the United Nations Beijing +5 Conference….” While I listened to the opening remarks, I scanned the crowd. If I turned to the side, I could see into the higher sections, where the NGO participants sat leaning forward, some with their arms resting on the top of the dividing wall. We all had, I presumed, been given a copy of the draft outcome document, put out by the UN’s Division for the Advancement of Women (DAW). DAW had asked all countries to submit an assessment of the past 5 years, describing their accomplishments, problem areas, and future plans of action for improving women’s rights. These assessments were put together to create the Outcome Document for Beijing +5. This document would be the focal point for the entirety of the conference—after the World Women’s (p.101) Conference in Beijing, 1995, DAW had taken suggestions from every country and added them to the old platform, coming up with a draft that would be debated and reworked throughout this conference, ending 5 years later. The specific changes each country had requested—most often, it had looked to me, to be deletions, additions, or simple rewording of phrases or single sentences—had been added in bold type.

I listened dutifully to the rest of the opening speech. Next to me, Aylin tapped her foot and shifted in her seat. I wondered what my codelegates had thought about the draft outcome document; we had not gotten that far in our chatting. Mentally, I recounted the changes in the draft that had been suggested by Turkey: honor crimes, abortion, etc. Most likely these changes were made directly by Cemile and Nuran’s Office of Women’s Status, which would have received the draft from DAW.

The woman at the podium began explaining the details of how the conference would be run. The draft document would be read aloud to the conference room, and each time a change had been suggested, the moderator would pause and open the floor for debate. The country that had suggested the change would speak first, followed by any other country that had input. If there was disagreement, the debate would continue until a consensus had been reached. To complicate things, DAW had allowed for additional changes to be suggested during the conference proceedings. The deadline for submitting these written changes, she announced loudly, was 2 days away. Oral changes, the woman continued, could be suggested by a country at any point during the conference. It dawned on me then that the number of potential changes that could be made —if each country had even more additions or deletions to the document—was staggering.

After the opening session had concluded, the five of us made our way to the cafeteria. Like the hallways, it was dim and poorly lit. We carried small trays of food and situated ourselves at one of the square tables. Around us, I saw that numerous other delegates, mostly middle-aged women in suits and formal attire,

Beijing + 5: What Can International Conferences Achieve for Women’s Health?

Page 6 of 19

PRINTED FROM OXFORD SCHOLARSHIP ONLINE (oxford.universitypressscholarship.com). (c) Copyright Oxford University Press, 2022. All Rights Reserved. An individual user may print out a PDF of a single chapter of a monograph in OSO for personal use. Subscriber: University of Colorado at Boulder; date: 02 March 2022

were doing the same thing. Interspersed were groups of regular UN employees, whom I quickly learned to recognize by the plastic badges hanging around their necks.

Cemile wasted no time. Without touching her sandwich, she moved her tray aside and dug into her briefcase, withdrawing her copy of the outcome document and a legal pad for notes. On one side of me Aylin lit a cigarette, setting the used match in an empty ashtray at the center of the table. I watched as Sevgi followed suit, pulling out a box from her purse and lighting up. She pulled deeply on the filter while she watched Cemile and waited.

Cemile spread the papers out in front of her and looked up. “We need to make a plan as soon as possible, so that we can begin working tonight and tomorrow.” She ran her fingers along the first pages of the draft document, which was divided into 12 subjects: women and poverty, women and violence, women and health, women and the economy, etc. “We should split up the sections based on our specialties, and review them.”

(p.102) Aylin tapped her cigarette on the rim of the ashtray, and spoke up. “I agree.” she said, leaning forward. “We should come up with a list of priorities from each section—those changes that are most important for Turkey to advocate for.”

The smoke from the cigarettes snaked hazily up towards the ceiling. My eyes already felt parched and itchy. Until about a year before, I too, had been a smoker. When I started smoking, it had been a sign of being a liberal woman in Turkey—all of my activist friends were smokers. At the time, it was considered abnormal for women to smoke in public, and my friends and I would intentionally stand on the street and smoke in protest. It was a small form of activism for us. Now, however, I had grown unaccustomed to it, and I blinked as Aylin continued: “We have to act quickly, decide on the changes as soon as possible, in order to give the committee our written suggestions.” At this she stubbed out her cigarette and pulled out her own copy of the platform draft. Cemile frowned.

“Yes,” she said, “but we can submit our changes orally as well, for many of the subjects, during the meetings.” I thought quickly back to the opening speaker’s instructions. It was true, she had specified that new changes could be suggested both orally and in writing.

“If you don’t write your suggestions down formally, they won’t count,” Aylin said, her voice full of authority. “If you want the changes to be taken seriously, you have to write them down. And the deadline being so soon, we should begin tonight.”

Beijing + 5: What Can International Conferences Achieve for Women’s Health?

Page 7 of 19

PRINTED FROM OXFORD SCHOLARSHIP ONLINE (oxford.universitypressscholarship.com). (c) Copyright Oxford University Press, 2022. All Rights Reserved. An individual user may print out a PDF of a single chapter of a monograph in OSO for personal use. Subscriber: University of Colorado at Boulder; date: 02 March 2022

Cemile shook her head. “We have to prioritize, Ms. Aylin. If we write something, we will have to argue for it orally during the meetings. There will be many, many arguments going on. Turkey does not need to participate in all of them, particularly the ones that are not pertinent to our country.”

I looked around the table. Nuran was still reading, and Sevgi sat stonefaced. I felt myself torn between the two sides of the argument. Cemile’s stubbornness reminded me of the attitude typical of Turkish officials and of how much of government seems to work: Don’t poke your nose into things too much, go at the pace that is expected. However, we were dealing with a writing culture, and I understood Aylin’s point about being taken seriously.

At Cemile’s words, Aylin sat up straighter in her seat. “Yes, I understand that,” she said, “but we should still try. No one will listen to an oral intervention, and it’s important that we make a strong statement about Turkey’s position on all the issues.”

Cemile nodded curtly at her. “Of course your ideas on all the issues are important, Ms. Aylin. But we cannot focus on too many things at the same time, and we cannot go to extremes either. Turkey should have a lead role in supporting certain issues, such as reproductive rights, and in including the prevention of honor crimes. My General Directorate is also strongly supporting women’s role in politics, and in relation to the economy. But that’s all. For the rest, we can offer support if we like the idea, and withhold support if we don’t. They are not directly related to us and our problems.” She paused. “We should write, of course, but not on all issues. As the head of the delegation, I feel it is more important to focus on two or three issues that are most important to us.”

(p.103) Aylin opened her mouth to respond, but Cemile cut her off. “Ms. Aylin,” she said, “we are losing time. Prepare as many written statements as you want to. Do you have a laptop?”

At this, Aylin looked, for the first time, hesitant. “No,” she responded.

We decided to use the computer laboratory at the UN the following day, after each reading over the outcome document that evening. We quickly reviewed the 12 sections, then gathered our things to leave. As we cleaned the table, I looked at our trays. Most of the food remained untouched.

That night I read over the document again, paying special attention to the sections on women and health and violence against women. The subsections on reproductive health would be especially contentious. Throughout the section where birth control was mentioned, bold type suggested replacing contraception with family planning. The change had been suggested by the Holy See, the delegation from the Vatican.

Beijing + 5: What Can International Conferences Achieve for Women’s Health?

Page 8 of 19

PRINTED FROM OXFORD SCHOLARSHIP ONLINE (oxford.universitypressscholarship.com). (c) Copyright Oxford University Press, 2022. All Rights Reserved. An individual user may print out a PDF of a single chapter of a monograph in OSO for personal use. Subscriber: University of Colorado at Boulder; date: 02 March 2022

Working in the field, in Turkey, my colleagues and I often used the two terms interchangeably. However, in the politics of population policy, family planning implies that birth control is only for a married male and female couple—not for adolescents and unmarried women. In Turkey, too, this is a difficult issue. Sex within the institution of marriage is celebrated in Islam, but anything outside of wedlock is considered unacceptable. I am constantly aware of this in my professional life: often, when teaching at the university or working in a clinic, I am approached by young, unmarried women seeking contraceptives or treatment for sexually transmitted diseases. Even within marriage, too many Turkish women do not have the means or resources to control the number of their pregnancies. I thought briefly of my sister’s mother-in-law, who, like many women living in rural and Eastern Turkey, was a good example of this. When I met her she was 75 years old and told me “I was like a man, I did not menstruate for 30 years.” A tiny woman from a small village in the east, she had delivered 10 children, 6 of whom survived. She spent 2 or 3 years breast-feeding each child, only to find that she was pregnant again before even restarting her menstrual cycle.

Abortion would be another important topic for Turkey. It has been legal for Turkish women since 1983 and is generally not considered a highly sensitive topic. It is, however, utilized as a method of contraception in place of birth control itself. I was proud that Turkey had been the country responsible for suggesting an important change on this part of the document. The draft platform read that women should have access to “safe, legal abortions in countries where it is not against the law.” Turkey had suggested the deletion of the phrase “those countries where it is not against the law.” Although my efforts as a reproductive health practitioner in Turkey were focused on contraception, my attitude, and the attitude of every colleague I know in Turkey, is that the matter of abortion is for each woman to decide independently. In fact, most educated professionals within Turkey seem to support this, making it appropriate for Turkey to assume a leadership role in advocating for safe and legal abortions in the international arena, such as the Beijing +5 conference. (p.104) I was surprised when I learned that things are very different in the United States, and abortion practitioners are sometimes murdered by those opposing legal abortions.

I carefully wrote out a persuasive argument to be submitted and also a draft of Turkey’s oral argument for the issue’s debate during the meetings. I tried to ignore the butterflies that flapped around in my gut at the thought of reading these arguments out loud in that gigantic room. Crumpled papers littered the floor of my hotel room. Surely we could drum up support for the recommendation of safe abortion practices even in places where it was still forbidden. As a doctor, I knew that despite a country’s legal restrictions, women would still have abortions, and if there were no access to safe ones, they would resort to methods that often caused serious physical illness and death. I had detailed some of these as examples in my argument for the deletion, and I

Beijing + 5: What Can International Conferences Achieve for Women’s Health?

Page 9 of 19

PRINTED FROM OXFORD SCHOLARSHIP ONLINE (oxford.universitypressscholarship.com). (c) Copyright Oxford University Press, 2022. All Rights Reserved. An individual user may print out a PDF of a single chapter of a monograph in OSO for personal use. Subscriber: University of Colorado at Boulder; date: 02 March 2022

fervently hoped that these arguments would bloom to full fruition at the meetings, influencing the other delegates to agree with Turkey.

The last section I reviewed before the meetings began was the section entitled “Violence against Women,” which referred to honor crimes. This change had been suggested by the European Union (EU) delegation, which included Turkey in its regional preparatory meetings because Turkey was a candidate for EU membership. Aylin had attended and had pushed for the EU’s support on including the issue in the platform. The EU had agreed, and in the draft document it had been added in as follows:

Develop, adopt, and fully implement laws and other measures, as appropriate, such as policies and educational programs, to eradicate harmful customary and traditional practices, including female genital mutilation, early and forced marriage, and so-called honor crimes, which are violations of the human rights of women and girls….

Aylin had also taken the important step of making individual connections within the EU, people who would verbally support the inclusion of honor crimes when the issue arose for debate. As I read over this paragraph, I felt unsettled. As the document noted, honor crimes were considered a traditional practice; although I disagreed with it very strongly, I saw it differently than many western theorists seemed to. The western perspective often condemns honor crimes and “other harmful traditional practices” without having an understanding or sense of the tradition involved. I certainly did not approve of honor crimes, but the question for me was more “When does a traditional practice become coercive?” I set the document on my lap and looked out the window, remembering my year of compulsory service after medical school. I went to work in a tiny village and rented a room in an apartment building where there were several other professional women who were also doing their year of service in the same area. One of these women, whose name was Gulsum, had a long-term boyfriend from college with whom she had broken up. They had not seen one another in 3 or 4 years. However, one weekend while I was out of town, he showed up. He professed his love for her and promised marriage. (p.105) She slept with him then, the first time for her. He left, promising to come back, but disappeared. Only later did she find out that he was already married, with a child. Gulsum was devastated. She believed that the situation had been her fault and that she had lost her honor. I don’t think that she will marry for the rest of her life. Furthermore, she can tell no one about her experience. She comes from a traditional family in Eastern Turkey. If she told anyone in her family what had happened, she would put both herself and the man in danger. Depending on the strength of her brother’s reaction, the man could be beaten or killed, and if Gulsum was thought to have consented to the relationship, the same risks applied to her. Certainly, it was important that honor crimes be recognized in the final document, and it seemed that Aylin had done an important service in bolstering support for Turkey’s position. I wondered how the subject would go over during the debates. If honor crimes were to be included, the document would serve as recognition of the problem and as a point of reference for activists to advocate

Beijing + 5: What Can International Conferences Achieve for Women’s Health?

Page 10 of 19

PRINTED FROM OXFORD SCHOLARSHIP ONLINE (oxford.universitypressscholarship.com). (c) Copyright Oxford University Press, 2022. All Rights Reserved. An individual user may print out a PDF of a single chapter of a monograph in OSO for personal use. Subscriber: University of Colorado at Boulder; date: 02 March 2022

from. However, I could not help but wonder if the careful wording was unrelated to actually lowering the incidence of honor crimes. After all, the outcome document would not ensure that the governments of participating countries actually did anything about the issues included.

Within a few days, the debates were in full swing. By the middle of that first week, I had learned that the majority of my time as a delegate would be spent watching and waiting. The experience reminded me of the few baseball games I had attended: nothing of interest happened for long stretches of time and then, suddenly, some excitement. But here, instead of a home run, the excitement came in the form of an especially charged topic.

The session on women and the family exemplified this. For hours, most of the suggested changes had been set with no opposition or debate. Over and over again, when the moderator came to a suggested change in the draft, a delegate from the proposing country, or group of countries—as many nations were organized into groups—would stand and offer one or two sentences on why the change should be approved. The moderator would ask for opposing opinions, and receiving none, would declare the change accepted. This monotony suddenly shifted when, in the early afternoon, the moderator came to a paragraph of two sentences suggested for addition by the delegation from the Vatican, or the Holy See. The text read as follows:

Women play a critical role in the family. The family is the basic unit of society and is a strong force for social cohesion and integration and, as such, should be strengthened. The inadequate support to women and insufficient protection and support to their respective families affect society as a whole and undermine efforts to achieve gender equality. In different cultural, political, and social systems the rights, capabilities, and responsibilities of family members must be respected. Women’s social and economic contributions to the welfare of the family and the social obligation of maternity and paternity continue to be inadequately addressed….

(p.106) The Vatican had suggested these two sentences, which clearly took pains to emphasize the primary importance of the family. This was of no surprise to me; all morning the Vatican had proposed small additions that seemed intent on highlighting women’s role within the family structure as much as possible. After the moderator had finished, the lead delegate from the Vatican raised his hand to ask for the floor. He was a handsome, tall man, who wore a business suit, although the delegates on either side of him were dressed in heavy-looking religious robes. The moderator motioned, and said: “Holy See, you have the floor.”

Beijing + 5: What Can International Conferences Achieve for Women’s Health?

Page 11 of 19

PRINTED FROM OXFORD SCHOLARSHIP ONLINE (oxford.universitypressscholarship.com). (c) Copyright Oxford University Press, 2022. All Rights Reserved. An individual user may print out a PDF of a single chapter of a monograph in OSO for personal use. Subscriber: University of Colorado at Boulder; date: 02 March 2022

He gazed out at the audience before speaking. “We want to add these two sentences, because we believe that women’s role in the family must be emphasized.”

With that, he leaned back in his chair, away from the microphone. I was getting used to there being no in-depth discussion around a suggested change. Arguments both for and against a change were generally kept to one or two sentences, rather than the detailed orations I had expected. Predictable, I thought. But what happened next surprised me. Across the room, a representative from the EU motioned to speak. She was middle-aged and impeccably dressed. The energy in the room shifted noticeably as attention focused on her, and everyone waited.

“While we agree that women’s role in the family is important, we are not here to introduce new language to the document, which this suggestion would be doing.”

I was learning that this was a standard way of opposing an addition to the document—using the phrase new language—because the UN and DAW had clearly expressed, in premeeting informational materials and in the opening sessions, that we were not here to rewrite the Platform for Action, but to amend it in order to best address all women’s needs. I had already, several times, heard a country use this argument to oppose a suggested change. The Holy See delegate looked neither surprised nor disappointed. After asking for permission to speak by again raising his hand, he responded.

“We insist that women’s role in the family be emphasized. We would like to keep it in the document.”

I looked quickly at the EU representative, but she, too, seemed void of any emotion on the matter, despite the stubbornness of the Vatican’s representative. Without hesitation she leaned forward and spoke again.

“Yes, women do play a critical role in the family, and have for thousands of years, but do we really need to put it in this document?”

Titters of laughter could be heard throughout the room. Above us, in the NGO section, there were a few claps. I wondered why, with all the Holy See’s suggestions on strengthening the wording of the section on family that morning, this was the one that the EU was choosing to oppose.

The man leaned forward again.

“We believe that the family, and women’s role in it, must be emphasized. We all live in families, do we not? Is there an opposition to the role of the family at this conference?”

Beijing + 5: What Can International Conferences Achieve for Women’s Health?

Page 12 of 19

PRINTED FROM OXFORD SCHOLARSHIP ONLINE (oxford.universitypressscholarship.com). (c) Copyright Oxford University Press, 2022. All Rights Reserved. An individual user may print out a PDF of a single chapter of a monograph in OSO for personal use. Subscriber: University of Colorado at Boulder; date: 02 March 2022

(p.107) I wondered where this was going. In the front of the room, the moderator, an Indian man from India’s permanent mission to the UN, said nothing but instead seemed to be waiting for a response from the EU.

The woman reached towards her microphone again. “We can accept the addition of these two sentences only if you add ‘various forms of the family exist’ after the phrase ‘In different cultural, political, and social systems.’ We have to respect families in all forms, such as single-parent families or same-sex couples.”

Above me came more claps from the NGOs. I wanted very badly to applaud along with them—the EU had made several suggestions toward recognizing the rights of lesbian women in other sections of the document, and I admired the representative’s decision to use the Vatican’s suggestion in this paragraph as a bargaining spot. I turned towards Cemile at the same time as Aylin, sitting on the other side of her, did.

“We should say something in support, yes?” Aylin asked, leaning forward so that she was sitting on only the edge of her seat.

But Cemile seemed indifferent to the drama that was unfolding in front of us.

“No,” she said, shaking her head slightly. “This doesn’t concern us, Turkey, very much.” Next to her, Nuran nodded her head in agreement.

I could see lines of frustration etched into Aylin’s face, but there was no time for further discussion, because the Holy See delegate was leaning in to speak again. The room was silent as he turned to address the moderator.

“We will accept the addition suggested by the European Union contingent upon the acceptance of our original suggestion.”

The moderator looked toward the section where EU delegates were spread out, but the woman did not motion to speak again. He nodded and made notes on the papers in front of him. Then, in the same steady voice, he began reading the next paragraph….

The debates continued in this manner. They were intensely time-consuming, and one evening, Nuran, who had remained quiet during much of our time together as a group, commented that even DAW had not expected them to progress so slowly. Thus, it was not until a full week of meetings had passed that the section on women and health was finally read. By this time, the meetings were stretching late into the evening hours, and I had witnessed many more stubborn arguments similar to the one between the EU and the Vatican. Some of the most contentious subjects remained unresolved—the moderator, the same man from India, seemed willing to let an argument go back and forth for only so long. A few times, when there seemed to be no resolution in sight, he ended the discussion and left the section to remain in bold brackets on the document,

Beijing + 5: What Can International Conferences Achieve for Women’s Health?

Page 13 of 19

PRINTED FROM OXFORD SCHOLARSHIP ONLINE (oxford.universitypressscholarship.com). (c) Copyright Oxford University Press, 2022. All Rights Reserved. An individual user may print out a PDF of a single chapter of a monograph in OSO for personal use. Subscriber: University of Colorado at Boulder; date: 02 March 2022

which meant that it would be revisited later. However, time was running out before the meetings of the UN’s General Assembly, which would be signing and certifying the document. It was therefore in our best interests to have as many changes decided upon as possible, because if they were left in brackets for a last-minute review, it was probable that they would be addressed hastily or possibly even dismissed.

(p.108) Much to my disappointment, this happened very quickly to Turkey’s suggested change on women’s access to safe and legal abortions. As soon as the suggested addition was read by the moderator, many people raised their hands, wanting to offer both support and opposition. The moderator let the arguments go back and forth for a while, but when it became clear that the potential change would not be accepted or denied easily, because neither side was willing to concede, it was left in brackets. While Aylin and I were angry with this conclusion, Cemile, Nuran, and Sevgi were nonplussed. They had expected such a reaction and had known beforehand that the debate would not get very far. Earlier that week, I had spoken with many other women working in health care, and I was very worried that the Vatican’s suggestion to replace the word contraception with family planning would also remain unresolved.

As the section on women and health continued, I grew increasingly nervous at the approach of this topic. Finally the moderator read the paragraph where the Holy See had inserted the suggestion. It was a spot that Turkey had agreed to speak on; my palms were sweating as I listened to the moderator read over the words: “increased knowledge and use of contraceptive methods as well as increased awareness among men of their responsibility in contraceptive methods and their use….”

At the end of the paragraph he looked up.

“The Holy See has recommended deleting the word contraceptive and replacing it throughout with family planning.”

The tall and handsome man from the Vatican held his hand up. He was speaking for the Holy See on all matters. Earlier in the week, over dinner one night, Nuran had informed me that he was a businessman from California who regularly attended UN meetings on behalf of the Vatican.

“We would like to replace contraception with family planning. We believe that family planning more accurately describes the importance of addressing the health needs of families.”

Across the room, a delegate from SLAC, which stood for Some Latin American Countries, a group of nations that were representing themselves collectively at the meetings, stood up.

Beijing + 5: What Can International Conferences Achieve for Women’s Health?

Page 14 of 19

PRINTED FROM OXFORD SCHOLARSHIP ONLINE (oxford.universitypressscholarship.com). (c) Copyright Oxford University Press, 2022. All Rights Reserved. An individual user may print out a PDF of a single chapter of a monograph in OSO for personal use. Subscriber: University of Colorado at Boulder; date: 02 March 2022

“We oppose this change,” the delegate, a tall woman with dark, bobbed hair, said in a loud voice. “We do not feel that family planning is either specific or inclusive.”

She sat down in her seat. To my left, not far from Turkey’s section, a woman from Uruguay’s delegation stood.

“We support the change. Family planning will highlight the role of the family in matters of procreation.”

While she was talking, Cemile turned toward me and gave me a little nod, indicating that my turn was next. I looked at Nuran, who sat next to her, and she gave me a warm, encouraging smile. I took a deep breath and raised my hand as soon as the woman from Uruguay finished her sentence. The moderator noticed me and said, “Turkey, you have the floor.” Immediately, I could feel all the eyes in the room boring in on me.

(p.109) “Turkey,” I began, hearing my voice waver, “opposes this change. To use family planning instead of contraception implies that contraceptive methods are only for families, and we wish to include young people and people not in families.”

I sank down gratefully in my seat and unclenched my hands, pleased that I had remembered exactly what I had planned to say. Aylin leaned forward in her seat and gave me a thumbs-up sign. Beyond her, the Holy See delegate was again waving his hand.

“We still want family planning included in this section of the document.” He was displaying the same unrelenting stubbornness as before. I looked down at my hands, they were still shaking. Across the conference room, the woman from the EU raised her hand.

“Inserting family planning instead of contraception is akin to adding new language, and we oppose it.”

The representative from SLAC began to hold up her hand again, but at that moment the moderator banged twice on the podium with his wooden gavel. Oh no, I thought. He was going to put the topic in brackets, just as we had feared. The SLAC representative remained holding her hand in midair but did not speak.

But instead of ending the topic, the moderator looked at the SLAC delegate and asked a question.

“Are you opposed to the words family planning, or are you opposed to the deletion of the word contraception?”

Beijing + 5: What Can International Conferences Achieve for Women’s Health?

Page 15 of 19

PRINTED FROM OXFORD SCHOLARSHIP ONLINE (oxford.universitypressscholarship.com). (c) Copyright Oxford University Press, 2022. All Rights Reserved. An individual user may print out a PDF of a single chapter of a monograph in OSO for personal use. Subscriber: University of Colorado at Boulder; date: 02 March 2022

I felt momentarily confused, but the SLAC delegate did not miss a beat in answering him. “We are firmly opposed to the deletion of the word contraception,” she said, loudly and clearly.

The moderator then looked at the section of seats where the Vatican’s delegation sat.

“Can you accept the addition of family planning without the deletion of contraception?” he asked.

Without bothering to raise his hand, the businessman answered “We will accept this.”

The moderator looked out to the rest of the room. “Is there any opposition to this agreement?” he asked, turning his head to address the span of delegates.

I glanced at Cemile, who in turn glanced at Nuran, who shook her head slightly, causing her blond hair to shimmy back and forth. The room was silent and no hands were raised.

“Accepted,” announced the moderator.

As I sat and listened to the next paragraph begin, I felt conflicting emotions on this resolution. On the one hand, contraception would remain in the final document; on the other, the inclusion of family planning still managed to embed the implications I opposed. It was this kind of change that, in retrospect, seemed to weaken the language of the Platform for Action and hence to insist in less certain terms on rights and autonomy for women.

(p.110) I looked across the room and wondered if the SLAC representative felt similarly conflicted. SLAC was, like the delegation representing the EU, one of the few converged groups of countries that were verbally supporting strong language in favor of women’s health rights. Others, such as the G77 group, which included a large number of developing countries and China, were much more focused on issues of economics and finance in the document, and could not agree as a unified group to either support or oppose issues involving women and health. They had remained silent for much of this portion of the debates. In this way, Turkey was lucky—we were not bound to a coalition of countries, and could therefore decide as a small group which individual issues we wanted to speak on.

By the end of the second week, when the conference finally reached the section on women and violence, time was running out. Looking in the bathroom mirror one morning at my hotel, I was not surprised to find heavy bags under my eyes. The DAW had, for the past few days, been holding its meetings for almost 24

Beijing + 5: What Can International Conferences Achieve for Women’s Health?

Page 16 of 19

PRINTED FROM OXFORD SCHOLARSHIP ONLINE (oxford.universitypressscholarship.com). (c) Copyright Oxford University Press, 2022. All Rights Reserved. An individual user may print out a PDF of a single chapter of a monograph in OSO for personal use. Subscriber: University of Colorado at Boulder; date: 02 March 2022

hours a day. More and more frequently, if a topic’s change proved to be highly contested, it was put in brackets for the General Assembly to deal with.

The five of us tried to switch off attending the meetings, allowing each one to retreat for a few hours to sleep. We all went, in rotation, for a few hours to our respective hotels; however, it was very difficult for me to consider missing any of the section on women and violence. I very badly wanted to see that honor crimes would be included in the document. The end of the conference was only a day away, and the General Assembly would convene shortly after. Turkey’s official representative in the General Assembly, a man named Mehmet, who was Turkey’s Minister of Health, had already arrived in New York. The section on women and violence seemed to me one final opportunity to include an issue of high significance for Turkish women in the outcome document.

As I looked around the conference room that morning, it seemed that the other delegates were also feeling the fatigue of the relentless meetings. There was little chatter, a notable difference from the conference’s beginning. Also, delegates seemed at all times to be coming and going—taking turns resting, I assumed, as we were doing.

Aylin, Nuran, Cemile, and I were present when the moderator read the paragraph that would potentially include honor crimes. His voice, I noticed, was an octave or so lower than it had been earlier in the week, and it broke as he read over some of the words. I felt a bit of relief at the knowledge that even he, such a high-level professional, used to this process, was feeling the strain.

We all swiveled our heads towards the EU section when he was done. As the same woman raised her hand, I saw that there were significantly less people in the chairs surrounding her. Even as she was speaking, another delegate scooted in front of her to leave.

“We wish to see the inclusion of so-called honor crimes in this section, because they are an important problem for many women, one that must be prevented.”

(p.111) The moderator looked over the conference room, and quickly asked “Are there any countries opposing this suggestion?”

The tone of his voice suggested that it was a mere formality; he did not expect there to be any arguments. I started to let out my breath in relief, but I had reacted too soon.

From the G77 section, a man stood up. I had not seen him speak previously; however, as the meetings progressed, more and more delegates from individual countries were standing up and speaking on specific issues, despite their allegiance to coalitions. All the procedures and guidelines surrounding this seemed to have dissipated.

Beijing + 5: What Can International Conferences Achieve for Women’s Health?

Page 17 of 19

PRINTED FROM OXFORD SCHOLARSHIP ONLINE (oxford.universitypressscholarship.com). (c) Copyright Oxford University Press, 2022. All Rights Reserved. An individual user may print out a PDF of a single chapter of a monograph in OSO for personal use. Subscriber: University of Colorado at Boulder; date: 02 March 2022

The man wore a suit and had dark eyes and hair. “He is from somewhere in the Middle East,” I thought. My stomach turned over as he spoke.

“We do not think it is necessary to add in honor crimes,” he said, “because it is too localized and specific a problem. Honor crimes are never a problem in my country.”

I felt my jaw drop as he sat down. Next to me, even Cemile and Nuram wore looks of shock. All of us knew that honor crimes, in fact, most certainly were a problem in his country, as the notion of a woman’s honor is hugely important in many Middle Eastern and Muslim countries, not just in Turkey.

While the four of us quickly stuck our heads together, the EU representative spoke from her seat. “We would like to see it included,” she said, but did not add more. The moderator nodded.

“We will put the issue in brackets and move on,” he said.

Cemile listened to the moderator and then turned to us. She spoke to all of us but was looking at Nuran. “At this point, if we argue, he will see it as a confrontation and most likely will not back down.”

Nuran was nodding her head in agreement. “We should wait and speak with Mehmet and see if he can approach the other Muslim countries for support privately, and then succeed in including it in the General Assembly,” she said.

Aylin sighed. Mehmet was the Turkish diplomat of the Permanent Mission of the Republic of Turkey to the UN, which meant that it was his job to oversee all of the UN conferences and represent Turkey. Although he seemed to be a quite courteous and sensitive man personally, I suspected that the women’s conference was not high on his list of priorities. I surmised that Aylin probably felt as I did, which was that although the desire to stand and argue with the G77 man was very strong, Cemile was probably right. Mehmet had worked with the General Assembly for a very long time, and most likely had personal relationships with the representatives of the other Muslim countries. I knew, too, that the man speaking from G77 could very well be opposing the inclusion just out of perceived Western pressure against traditional practices, because the suggestion was made officially by the EU.

And so it was done. I sat through the rest of that day listening to the hurried decisions on women and violence and thought about our delegation’s successes and failures at the conference. The outcomes were not as black and white as I had (p.112) expected; rather, two of our most important topics, abortion and honor crimes, were being left to the General Assembly to decide.

Beijing + 5: What Can International Conferences Achieve for Women’s Health?

Page 18 of 19

PRINTED FROM OXFORD SCHOLARSHIP ONLINE (oxford.universitypressscholarship.com). (c) Copyright Oxford University Press, 2022. All Rights Reserved. An individual user may print out a PDF of a single chapter of a monograph in OSO for personal use. Subscriber: University of Colorado at Boulder; date: 02 March 2022

Later that day, when the meetings had adjourned for a lunch break, our group managed to hold a quick meeting with Mehmet in the hallway. He greeted Cemile and Nuran warmly, obviously familiar with both of them, but frowned as Cemile described what had happened during the honor crimes debate.

“I have been told,” he began in a low voice, “that some of Turkey’s allies in the Middle East are not pleased with our support of issues such as sexual orientation.”

Cemile nodded and seemed unfazed. “Our support, for the most part on these issues, Mr. Mehmet, has been nonverbal.” She paused. “I understand our need to please our allies. And if the issue comes up in any of the remaining debates today, Turkey will not offer an opinion.”

Mehmet nodded, and spoke directly to Cemile. “Good,” he said. “I will see what I can do to speak with the delegate who opposed the inclusion of honor crimes.”

With that, he turned and walked down the hallway, on his way, no doubt, to one of the many meetings he had to attend. The Beijing +5 conference was only one of many of his concerns, therefore it made sense that he was more concerned with maintaining friendly relationships with Turkey’s allies than with holding a brief on any one particular issue.

Mehmet must have been successful in speaking with the other Middle Eastern assembly members, because a few days later, as I was packing my belongings to catch an evening flight back to Ankara, came news that the document would, after all, include honor crimes. I smiled as Cemile, over the hotel phone, filled me in on what had been finalized at the General Assembly meetings. My smile faded, however, as she described what had happened with abortion. Nothing was changed, and the document would continue to read “in countries where it was safe and legal.” The news was similar on a few other key issues which had been put in brackets.

As I set the phone back in its cradle, I thought that the wording on abortion might someday be a good indicator of women’s progress—that things would have drastically changed for the better by the time “in countries where it is safe and legal” could finally be deleted. While I gathered my things, I wondered if such a time would ever really come. During the past few weeks I had felt that the conference was one of the most important things I would ever do, and yet at times I wondered if it mattered at all. I folded my clothing into neat piles and thought of my daughter—would conferences such as Beijing +5 make a significant difference in her life? In what ways would growing up female in Turkey be different for her and her peers than it was for me and mine?

Beijing + 5: What Can International Conferences Achieve for Women’s Health?

Page 19 of 19

PRINTED FROM OXFORD SCHOLARSHIP ONLINE (oxford.universitypressscholarship.com). (c) Copyright Oxford University Press, 2022. All Rights Reserved. An individual user may print out a PDF of a single chapter of a monograph in OSO for personal use. Subscriber: University of Colorado at Boulder; date: 02 March 2022

Access brought to you by: