‘I thought feminists were pro-woman, not angry, hurt people
whose logic I can’t understand’

By Cathrina Keet
The Interim

A battle over women’s rights was fought at the United Nation Headquarters in New York. My concept of justice, democracy, and reality was shattered during the portion of the Beijing+5 PrepCom which I recently attended.

I expected the United Nations to attack violence against women, hunger, war disease, and a lack of education, water, and medicine. Instead I witnessed an attack on the traditional family and any religion which believes that motherhood is a wonderful thing, and contraceptives and abortion are detrimental to society.

I thought that feminists were pro-woman, not angry, hurt people whose logic I can’t understand. They want me to believe that gender is socially constructed and should be no more significant than the colour of my eyes.

One girl at the conference was complaining about a big family in Africa, so I mentioned Natural Family Planning, and she responded “Oh, that’s too confusing. We can’t teach that to the kids.”

At the only caucus meeting I went to that the chairperson did not ignore my hand, I stood up and exclaimed, “I don’t understand … I mean, if you have sex, the risks are [sexually-transmitted diseases] and pregnancy. If you don’t have sex, there are no risks.” Francis Kissling, president of “Catholics For Free Choice,” replied sharply, “Well, obviously you don’t know anything about sex.”

Rape is a horribly devastating crime and I was shocked that the United Nations’ solution to this terrible problem is basically contraception and abortion. I pray that the United Nations will stop ignoring the causes of the problems that women struggle with, and will work instead to improve education, eliminate war and disease and find ways to feed and protect women.

The “poor” countries are forced to accept the “rich” countries’ anti-family agenda in exchange for the financial aid they desperately need. World Youth Alliance helped the “poor” countries at the PrepCom voice their opposition. Because of disagreements during negotiations, the radical feminists’ agenda was not pushed through and the document is yet to be completed.

In response to the presence of members of the pro-family organization REAL Women of Canada, feminists at the conference wore buttons reading “FAKE Women,” FAKE being an acronym for “Feminists Alive and Kicking for Equality.” The war against the family at the UN is not over but we will fight the FAKE women and the countries who are more interested in money and manipulation than in caring for women.