1985 to 1995: a decade of power and progress for women?

As preparations are being made for the Fourth Women's Conference in September 1995, the conference documents reflect a more pessimistic state of mind than that which was evident during the last women's conference in 1985. The nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) are also angry with the decision of the Chinese government to house them at a site which is distant from the conference site. This distance will lessen the impact of the NGOs on the conference. The "New World Order" which has followed the end of the Cold War has unleashed untold suffering for women and children who now comprise 80% of the world's refugee population. In some regions of the world, including the Middle East, women have been reduced to being one-dimensional symbols of cultural purity and religious rectitude. In the West, the women's movement has eroded to the point where "feminist" is a "dirty" word. In all arenas, it is power that women lack and power that women need. A new set of questions ranged around women's relationship with power must be asked and answered. In the Arab world, for example, professional women are discovering the "glass ceiling" and seeking ways to break it, and a "women's Tribunal" has gathered the testimonies of women who have suffered violence and humiliation because of dysfunctional cultural beliefs, attitudes, values, and institutions.