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The real story from Beijing, if we were to listen to the 40,000 women gathered there, is that there are precious few female-friendly spots on earth. In fact, the real story may be something we would rather not hear at all, since it contradicts every cherished Western notion of "progress"--that instead of advancing, women, on average, seem to be losing ground. A study by the Geneva-based Inter-Parliamentary Union finds that the percentage of women elected to national legislatures has dropped worldwide almost 25% in the past seven years. Human Rights Watch reported in August that such traditional abuses as wife beating remain rampant everywhere and usually unpunished, while new problems--like the transnational traffic in female sex slaves--have grown unchecked. There is, as U.S. News & World Report put it last year, a worldwide "war on women."
But it's so easy to downplay the global nature of the problem and focus on just one place. Benazir Bhutto won high praise for using her podium time in Beijing to criticize the Chinese treatment of women. What neither she nor the press mentioned is that in Pakistan, female rape victims are subject to prison sentences for "adultery." Bhutto once promised to end this stunningly malicious practice, but backed off rather than offend the local mullahs.
And it's so easy for Americans to project their own problems onto some distant Other, in this case the perennially "exotic" Orient. The press gushed over Hillary Clinton's "courage" in denouncing Chinese violations of women's rights. But what risk was she facing, other than, perhaps, a curtailment of room service in her Beijing hotel? The politically risky--and truly courageous--thing would have been for Hillary to follow up her criticisms of China with some heartfelt reflections on the situation of women in America, herself included. She might have admitted she comes from the only industrialized nation that has refused to ratify the 16-year-old U.N. treaty on women's rights, a country where an outspoken woman in public life risks constant revilement.
When it comes to women's rights, there is no single "evil empire" that can be isolated and embargoed. Thanks to religious conservatism and official indifference, misogyny is making a comeback everywhere. Which is why the Beijing conference deserves to be treated as something more significant than the latest spot of egg on China's face. "Women of the world--and men of goodwill," should be the message from Beijing, "unite to defend women's rights!"