Begum Shaista Ikramullah, delegate of Pakistan to the UN Third Committee, in the General Assembly Hall in December 1956, New York /UN Photo
A diplomat and feminist leader, Minerva was instrumental in arguing for the inclusion of "the equality of men and women" in the preamble. Together with other Latin American women such as Bertha Lutz of Brazil and Isabel de Vidal of Uruguay, Minerva had also played a crucial role in advocating for the inclusion of women's rights and non-discrimination based on gender in the UN Charter.
Pakistan's Begum Shaista, delegate to the Third Committee in 1948, championed the inclusion of Article 16 on equal rights in marriage, which she saw as a way to combat child marriage and forced marriage. She also advocated for emphasis on freedom, equality and choice in the declaration.
Hansa's argument on the usage of an inclusive language was extended by many other female members of the UN.
Bodil Begtrup of Denmark advocated for the UDHR to refer to "all" or "everyone" as the holders of the rights, rather than "all men" while Marie-Helene Lefaucheux of France successfully advocated for a mention of non-discrimination based on sex to be included in Article 2.
Evdokia Uralova of the erstwhile Soviet Byelorussia strongly argued for equal pay for women. Thanks to her, Article 23 states that “Everyone, without any discrimination, has the right to equal pay for equal work.” Together with Fryderyka Kalinowska of Poland and Elizaveta Popova of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, she also stressed the rights of persons in Non-Self-Governing Territories.
West and the rest
The author, however, suggested that even the female delegates were divided on several issues with an evidently clear split between the Western and non-Western members.
"A female delegate from the US, for example, said they against the equal rights amendment because they were afraid that protective legislation of women would be sacrificed if you had emancipation of women and if you treat women as [you would treat] men," Rebecca said.
Also, "some Western countries felt that we do not need to mention 'women' because 'women' are included in the wording 'man,'" she added.
"Women members from other countries, especially from Latin America, India and Pakistan, fiercely countered this contention by arguing that we need to mention women explicitly in the text because otherwise it might be interpreted in some countries as not being inclusive of women's rights," Rebecca elucidated.
"It was really fascinating to see how these women from other countries, especially, newly-independent countries such as India and Pakistan, who played prominent roles in the independence movement of their countries taking part in demonstrations on the streets, contributed significantly to the UDHR," she added, citing that both Hansa and Begum Shaista were members of the panels that drafted the first constitutions of their respective countries.
Meanwhile, another Indian delegate to the Third Committee in 1948, Lakshmi Menon, opposed the concept of “colonial relativism” that sought to deny human rights to people in countries under colonial rule. If women, and people under colonial rule, were not explicitly mentioned in the Universal Declaration, they would not be considered included in “everyone,” she argued.
"To have these very strong advocates of women's rights and human rights against colonialism at the UN table when the UDHR was being drafted is something that is truly historical," said Rebecca, adding that "it is very inspirational to learn about these women and the prominent role they played in politics and legislation at an international level."
It is also worth mentioning that at a time of increasing East-West tensions, Eleanor Roosevelt used her enormous prestige and credibility to steer the drafting process toward its successful completion for which she was posthumously awarded the United Nations Human Rights Prize in 1968.
Moved by Rebecca's book, the UN has chosen to pay a special tribute to this distinguished group of women in the lead up to the Human Rights Day. The UN on its official website has created a special page on "Women who shaped UDHR" detailing the contribution of this distinguished group of women from around the world who have contributed phenomenally to the narrative on human rights.
By Abhishek G Bhaya
