The U.N. Sent 3 Foreign Women To The U.S. To Assess Gender Equality. They Were Horrified.

[liberal N proud]

The human rights experts concluded that the country falls far behind most others.

A delegation of human rights experts from Poland, the United Kingdom and Costa Rica spent 10 days this month touring the United States so they can prepare a report on the nation's overall treatment of women. The three women, who lead a United Nations working group on discrimination against women, visited Alabama, Texas and Oregon to evaluate a wide range of U.S. policies and attitudes, as well as school, health and prison systems.

The delegates were appalled by the lack of gender equality in America. They found the U.S. to be lagging far behind international human rights standards in a number of areas, including its 23 percent gender pay gap, maternity leave, affordable child care and the treatment of female migrants in detention centers.

The most telling moment of the trip, the women told reporters on Friday, was when they visited an abortion clinic in Alabama and experienced the hostile political climate around women's reproductive rights.

"We were harassed. There were two vigilante men waiting to insult us," said Frances Raday, the delegate from the U.K. The men repeatedly shouted, "You're murdering children!" at them as soon as they neared the clinic, even though Raday said they are clearly past childbearing age.

"It's a kind of terrorism," added Eleonora Zielinska, the delegate from Poland. "To us, it was shocking."


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/foreign-women-assess-us-gender-equality_566ef77de4b0e292150e92f0

[DLevine]

1. Sadly, not surprised by this.

The war on women is in full swing. I'm especially horrified by restrictions on abortion rights.

[AllyCat]

2. Shocking to us as well. But we live it every day.

Affordable child care: how do other nations do it? I don't begrudge day care workers getting paid a living wage for the important work they do, but part time care for our kids only a few days a week was almost $800 a month. Does anyone know if subsidized care is how other reasonable nations do it? We got a small tax credit of a thousand or so a year and could put daycare spending into a pre-tax FSA. That helped a little.

[Starry Messenger]

3. It isn't shocking when you live it.

Interesting who is staying away from the threads on this report.

[seabeyond]

4. Ya, a couple old white men hanging over a brick wall to commence with a shout of shame as our girls

and women enter a building to obtain a legal medical procedure.

Honestly, I was kinda shocked myself. That quickly morphed to appalled.

[prayin4rain]

5. It's ridiculous and depressing. n/t

[anoNY42]

6. Terrorism

""We were harassed. There were two vigilante men waiting to insult us," said Frances Raday, the delegate from the U.K. The men repeatedly shouted, "You're murdering children!" at them as soon as they neared the clinic, even though Raday said they are clearly past childbearing age.

"It's a kind of terrorism," added Eleonora Zielinska, the delegate from Poland. "To us, it was shocking.""



This is a dangerous attitude, equating political speech with terrorism. Wonder what those ladies would have thought of other protesters yelling other slogans?

[Spider Jerusalem]

10. Nope, it's not a dangerous attitude at all, it's 100% accurate.

The OED defines "terrorism" as:

A policy intended to strike with terror those against whom it is adopted; the employment of methods of intimidation; the fact of terrorizing or condition of being terrorized. Also transf. Cf. terrorist 1 b.

Harassment and intimidation are not merely "political speech".

[cyberswede]

12. "a kind" of terrorism

I don't see anyone "equating" anything. Well, except you equating verbal intimidation with "yelling slogans."

[Hekate]

18. They are right, and you are wrong. They simply see what this country refuses to see. nt

[Brickbat]

7. K&R

[Solly Mack]

8. K&R

[951-Riverside]

9. I'd like them to do the same assessment on Saudi Arabia

[Spider Jerusalem]

11. They're not comparing the US to Saudi Arabia, they're comparing it to Europe.

Saudi Arabia is an absolute monarchy. The USA is a liberal democracy. There isn't really any point of meaningful comparison, there.

[Gormy Cuss]

13. They probably have. The likely difference of course is that they wouldn't be shocked. n/t

[cyberswede]

14. Why?

Do you think discrimination here is ok, as long as it's not as bad as it is somewhere else?

[prayin4rain]

17. Saudi Arabia has 10 weeks paid maternity leave, so they'd win on one measure. n/t

[LanternWaste]

19. What specifically leads you to believe the U.N hasn't?

What specifically leads you to believe the U.N hasn't?

[Octafish]

15. ''It's a kind of terrorism.''

Except when sanctioned by the State of Alabama, it's all legal-like.

While they're here, hope the UN finds a moment to to look in on Gov. Don Siegelman.

[smirkymonkey]

16. K&R

What a sad state of affairs. Depressing.