ABSTRACT

Who were the non-Western women delegates who took part in the drafting of the United Nations Charter and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) from 1945-1948? Which member states did these women represent, and in what ways did they push for a more inclusive language than "the rights of Man" in the texts? This book provides a gendered historical narrative of human rights from the San Francisco Conference in 1945 to the final vote of the UDHR in the United Nations General Assembly in December 1948. It highlights the contributions by Latin American feminist delegates, and the prominent non-Western female representatives from new member states of the UN.

chapter |7 pages

Introduction

A Counter Narrative to Earlier Research

chapter 1|11 pages

The San Francisco Conference

A Call to All Women

chapter 2|21 pages

A Charter Signed by Women?

chapter 3|23 pages

The United Nations 1946

Will Women Have a Say?

chapter 4|11 pages

The Commission on Human Rights

Or the ‘Rights of Man’?

chapter 5|12 pages

The Commission on the Status of Women

On Sisterhood

chapter 6|14 pages

A Lack of Acknowledgment

‘Men’ Trumps ‘All Human Beings’

chapter 8|16 pages

The Third Committee

Rights in the Private Realm

chapter 9|18 pages

The Socialist Dissent

A Surprising Support for Women?

chapter |5 pages

Epilogue

On Female Representation in the United Nations