ABSTRACT
In 1995, Hillary Rodham Clinton traveled to the United Nations fourth world conference on women in Beijing and delivered a speech that has since been widely acclaimed as among the most important of her tenure as first lady. She argued that criminal behaviors against women must no longer be hidden behind the protective shroud of religion and culture. She demanded universal legal remedies to harmful discriminatory practices long condoned under claims of respect for pluralism. She framed the issue of women's rights as a moral imperative first and foremost, but also as a necessary condition for success in US diplomacy, development, and defense policies, if America's aim is to meet the world's most critical challenges. As the honorary chair of the US delegation, she was then asked to speak. This gave people a platform to make a very strong case on behalf of human rights as women's rights and women's rights as human rights.
