Feminist organisation and the future of women’s human rights: the perspective from Brazil

Abstract

This year, along with the 25th anniversary of CEDAW, women in Brazil have much to celebrate. Indeed, in response to demands from feminist and women’s movements, President Luis Inácio Lula da Silva has established 2004 as Ano da Mulher (Women’s Year). Besides, this past July, as part of the agenda for the year, the Special Bureau of Policies for Women (SPM-Secretaria Especial de Políticas para Mulheres), also created by President Lula and with a cabinet status, held the First National Conference on Policies for Women (I Conferência Nacional de Políticas para Mulheres). Close to two thousand women delegates, chosen by their peers in regional and state conferences, assembled in Brasília to discuss and elaborate the directives for a national plan geared towards gender equity. The entire process mobilized nearly 300,000 women throughout the country, showing not only our ability to articulate diverse interests and demands, but, more importantly, showing also the real potential of feminist organisation to carry them through.