ments. Lesbian-bait- ing is commonplace and even wide- spread, targeting women in public leadership. According to the IGLHRC, there is “a seemingly uni- versal dynamic for most women who dare to assert their leadership and perspectives as public advo- cates: the disparagement and silenc- ing of their identities and political visions through sexuality-based attacks.” . According to Written Out (2005), in “lesbian-baiting,” an indi- vidual, police force, government body, or the media will accuse women, openly or by innuendo, with being “sexually licentious, dan- gerous, immoral, perverted, or a threat to culture, tradition, the fami- ly, and moral codes in general.” The attacks discredit the women, impact their ability to advocate for change, and stifle their freedom of expres- sion. The goal is to force the women to abandon their work and to be silent. When lesbian-baiting suc- ceeds, women cease their efforts at‘ change or abandon issues of sexuali- ty, and sexual and reproductive rights. cont‘d from page 1 Written Out (2005) was released at the Beijing +10 Review on International Women’s Day, March 8, 2005. The Beijing + 10 confer- ence was part of the larger UN annual commission on the status of women meeting. About 3,000 non- governmental organizations and 180 countries were represented. IGLHRC Program Director Susanna Fried said that about 10 govem- ments talked about sexual orienta- tion, and about 20 governments talked about sexuality and reproduc- tive rights. While this may sound miniscule, Fried said it nonetheless represents “a huge step forward from where we have been in the past.” It was not until 1975, at the First World Conference on Women in Mexico City, that there was an “ah-ha” realization on the international scene. It occurred to the United Nations that what hap- pens to women and their children has a profound impact on the well- being of entire nations. And as a result of this shift, as women have become more active, more powerful, or just more desperate to improve their lives and to fight for freedom, oiutinthe -1-vuntai-is ‘« “We can judge the strength of our organizing by the backlash against it.” Susana T. Fried, Director of Programs at IGLHRC, moderated a panel discussion of “Written Out (2005)” in NYC. icks & Stones Lesbian Baiting Around the World these same women are seen as a threat to those individuals and gov- ernments who cannot tolerate change. At each of these interna- tional meetings, progress is noted. 0 Huge gains have been made. More women are literate. More women are visible ‘at high political levels. And each decade also reveals that women are still tremendously vul- nerable. Women are poorer than ever. In Africa, people who live in poverty, the great majority of whom are women, rose by 82 million in the past decade. Violence against women, particularly in areas of con- flict and war, is rampant. At least some of that violence takes the form of lesbian-baiting when women are “too threatening,” “too out-spoken,” or “too independent,” and not con- forming to social expectations and tradition. “Fundamentalist organiza- tion has become stronger and more visible in the past 5 to 10 years," Fried said, “because we are more outspoken in fighting for our rights,” she added. “We can judge the strength of our organizing by the backlash against it.” Written Out (2005) docu- ments baiting incidents from around the world. The attacks can be insidi- ous or explosive, state-sponsored or random. Documented incidents include: legal action used to snuff out a Catholic organization fighting for reproductive rights in Argentina; sexually harassing phone calls; tele- vision coverage of women demon- strating with footage of police assaulting the women edited out before broadcast in Thailand; and use of websites to encourage broad involvement of the right wing to force the dismissal of Patricia Ireland from the YWCA for her “radical, bisexual, cross-dressing, and pro-abortion agenda.” I The report concludes with recommendations for change. The authors place a lot of emphasis onthe responsibility of members of the media to ensure that only real issues are reported and that fabricat- ed and false claims are not given press or air time. They call on police and government to actually protect those they are charged with protect- ing and to not turn a blind eye to attacks on women. The report asks opponents of change to “play fair” and to discuss political disagree- ments on their merits. Finally, the ‘authors’ ask allies to affirm thé'indi- visibility of rights and freedoms, and to stand united in support of all human rights. Fried also said in an inter- view that we need to understand that any ,woman leader in the human rights movement “puts herself at risk of sexuality baiting” that is directly linked to attacks against the LGBT community. “We’re really talking about all human rights for all.” In what might be viewed as a victory for women’s rights organizing, last month the U.S. withdrew its anti-sexual and repro- ductive rights amendment to the Beijing Platform for Action. The U.S. had submitted a controversial amendment to the Draft Declaration of the Beijing +10 proceedings. The suggested language stated that the Beijing Platform and the work of the General Assembly “do not create new international human rights and do not include the right to abortion In spite of U.S. pressure, not a sin- gle member nation broke rank to support the amendment. V Susan McMillan is assistant editor of OITM and lives in Colchester with her partner and a couple of four-footed companions. Lynn MacNicol is a freelance writer who lives in Burlington.