Human rights - Gender madness or a fairer world? Trench warfare at the UN
At the United Nations, battles are being waged on multiple fronts over the rights of women and people with different sexual orientations. Some countries are attempting to strike any reference to the protection of these rights from UN texts.
"I am deeply concerned about the attacks by authoritarian states and religious fundamentalist actors on the painstakingly achieved human rights standards for women and LGBTQI+ persons," says German Ambassador Katharina Stasch to the German Press Agency. "These attacks undermine the principles of equality and human dignity that the United Nations stands for. We must decisively counter these setbacks."
LGBTQI+ stands for Lesbians, Gays, Bisexuals, Transgender, intersex, and queer people who do not identify with the traditional gender roles of man and woman or societal norms around gender and sexuality.
"Unholy Alliance"
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk expresses concern about established rights being challenged. "What we have seen over the years is a sophisticated, very strategic, unholy alliance of various groups. For example, religious fundamentalists of all kinds, populists, and those who sow fear and division," he says. He also criticizes patriarchal and misogynistic attitudes.
The Human Rights Council as a battleground
These battles are currently taking place at the UN Human Rights Council. During negotiations on resolutions, there are night-long disputes over every formulation with a gender reference, according to negotiators and diplomats. With gender, references to the special protection of women or the gender identity of individuals are meant.
As instigators of these discussions, countries of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), particularly Pakistan and Egypt, are known. Diplomats of both countries did not respond to inquiries. Diplomats from some African countries are also mobilizing against gender-related issues, it is reported from Geneva. They suddenly accused Western countries of imposing their values on them colonially.
Missionary organizations from the USA are goading governments into resisting efforts to improve the protection of LGBTQI+, according to diplomats. The Vatican also plays a role in opposing gender-related initiatives. Russia is pushing back to find new alliances in its isolation following its invasion of Ukraine.
Protest letter by the German Ambassador
Even in UN documents that have long been passed without issue, there are now discussions, even in budget or personnel papers, according to diplomats and diplomats. Some fear obedience to UN organizations ahead of time. Botschafterin Stasch and more than 20 colleagues, for example, have protested to the Director-General of the International Labour Organization (ILO), Gilbert Houngbo.
There, a reference to a long-published paper on LGBTQI+ rights at the workplace had been removed silently in June. At the UN in New York, there was also protest against the raising of the rainbow flag, which symbolizes tolerance towards all people who do not see themselves in the traditional role between man and woman.
Pressure also in Germany
Not only at the United Nations, but also in Germany, there is resistance to the topic, according to the umbrella organization ILGA, which advocates for these rights.
Populist and conservative wings of parties went on the offensive against the Gender theme, says ILGA-Spokesperson Julia Ehrt. Embedded in this is the global right-wing shift with the supposed recall of alleged national, cultural values. "This dynamic is alarming. With this, the focus is only being diverted from topics like social justice", she said.
- Volker Türk, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, expressed his concern about the challenge to established human rights, particularly the rights of LGBTQI+ individuals, at a gathering in Geneva.
- German Ambassador Katharina Stasch has voiced her concern about attacks on human rights standards for women and LGBTQI+ individuals at the United Nations, calling it a setback to the principles of equality and human dignity.
- The Human Rights Council has become a battleground for these battles, with night-long disputes over gender references during negotiations on resolutions.
- Countries like Pakistan and Egypt, members of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), are known to be instigators of these discussions, while some African countries have accused Western countries of imposing their values colonially.
- Missionary organizations from the USA are reportedly pressuring governments to resist efforts to improve the protection of LGBTQI+ individuals, and the Vatican is also opposing gender-related initiatives.
- In Germany, there is resistance to the topic of LGBTQI+ rights, according to the umbrella organization ILGA, with populist and conservative wings of parties going on the offensive against the Gender theme.
- At the International Labour Organization (ILO), a reference to a paper on LGBTQI+ rights at the workplace was removed silently in June, prompting a protest letter from German Ambassador Stasch and other diplomats.
