Summary

This lecture, co-sponsored by Women Living Under Muslim Laws (WLUML) and Women's Learning Partnership (WLP) in partnership with several other feminist organizations, and co-hosted by McGill University’s Center for Human Rights and Legal Pluralism, is a conversation with renowned feminist Charlotte Bunch on navigating the current era of global backlash against women's rights. 

Keynote speaker Charlotte Bunch is a Professor Emerita in Women’s and Gender Studies at Rutgers University and founder of the Center for Women’s Global Leadership. A longtime activist in feminist, LGBTQ+, and human rights movements, Bunch has played a pivotal role in shaping the global agenda on gender equality, particularly within the United Nations. Her work includes helping to organize the Beijing NGO Forum during the UN’s 4th World Conference on Women in 1995, and she has received numerous awards for her contributions to human rights. 

In her presentation, Bunch discusses strategies for sustaining activism in the face of backlash, comparing modern challenges with those she experienced early in her career in the 1980s. She addresses the evolution of human rights at the UN, to include women’s rights, Indigenous rights, and racial minorities rights. She reflects on feminism’s role in opening space for individuals to assert control over their bodies and confront cultural norms around violence. She also critiques the lack of focus on violence against women in the 1979 Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) and explores the contradictions in the UN's 1325 Women, Peace, and Security Resolution. Throughout her talk, Bunch urges feminists to remember their impact, even in times of backlash, and to keep pushing for progress. 

On the importance of driving meaningful change during moments of backlash, Bunch emphasizes the need for transformational leadership that is collaborative, inclusive, and intersectional. Reflecting on her own experience as a feminist leader, she stresses the importance of mentorship, while also highlighting how older generations can learn from younger women, particularly in terms of technology, and stresses the need for mutual learning across generations. 

Her presentation is followed by a Q&A session covering a range of topics, including the purpose of the UN, the power of language, inspiring future leaders, the erosion of institutions that once supported gender equality, and the importance of collective care.

Runtime: [01:29:44]

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