2. The legal defence of women's rights (1945–1970)

Ever since it was created in 1945, the objective of the United Nations has been to guarantee equality amongst all human beings and, more specifically, between men and women. Thus, in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948), the organisation reiterated its commitment to promoting equality amongst people without distinction of their gender. These proclamations sparked intergovernmental actions taken in defence of women.

The Commission on the Status of Women created in 1946 was the first body in the United Nations system devoted to defending the status of women. The purpose of this Commission is to draw up recommendations and reports aimed at guaranteeing the rights of women under equal conditions with men in the political, economic, social, and educational spheres.

However, even before the creation of the UN, at the founding summit of the League of Nations (1919), women met at what could be called the "first parallel forum of NGOs". Over the next two decades, contacts between international non-governmental organisations for women and the League of Nations increased, placing pressure on the government delegations present at several summits on essential issues for women such as health, education, peace-keeping and disarmament, although an adequate legal and institutional framework was lacking [7].

It can be asserted that the earliest participation by women in the non-governmental sphere in drawing up international resolutions, conventions and declarations was in the area of labour rights, through the International Labour Organisation (ILO). The two objectives pursued by the ILO since its creation, in relation to female workers, were to protect their role as mothers and to promote equality between men and women in terms of employment. Both the contents of the conventions and the resolutions issued by the ILO have evolved from mere protection from a health and reproduction perspective, progressing towards the adoption of measures focusing on equal conditions and opportunities in employment [8].

The following conventions were issued during the years spanning from 1919 to 1970: Maternity Protection Convention (1919), Night Work (Women) Convention (1919), Underground Work (Women) Convention (1935), Equal Remuneration Convention (1951), Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention (1958), Vocational Training Convention (1962), Employment Policy Convention (1964) and Workers with Family Responsibilities Convention (1965).

During the course of 1966, two International Human Rights Covenants applicable to both men and women were approved. These were the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. These covenants bolstered the Universal Declaration by developing the rights contained therein, turning them into legal obligations for the governments of the countries that ratified or acceded to them.

There is a greater emphasis on the principle of equality between men and women in these two International Covenants than there is in the Declaration of Human Rights. While gender-based discrimination is mentioned in the Declaration of Human Rights as one of several types of distinctions, such as race or religion, in the International Covenants on Civil and Political Rights and on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, an entire article is devoted to stressing that men and women are equally entitled to these rights. Amongst the rights proclaimed in the first of these covenants, some highlights are the right to marriage above a minimum age, consent by husband and wife and equal rights and responsibilities by both spouses in relation to the marriage, within marriage and in the event of dissolution thereof. The right to vote and to hold public office established in the 1951 Convention on the Political Rights of Women was also reiterated.

The United Nations gradually recognised and expanded the rights of women in the civil, political, economic, educational and labour arenas. The status of women was seen essentially as a legal concern by the UN in its early years. The demands were mainly related to access to education, health services, food, work in decent health and wage conditions, etc. [9]. However, during this first period, the UN failed to consider the causes of the inequality that half the population continued to bear merely because they were women. At that time, their marginalisation in decision-making, lack of power and the established roles for men and women did not find their way into the agenda of the United Nations.

In all fairness, we must mention that some early displays of a different perception of the feminine issue were also seen during this first period, in which women were no longer passive beneficiaries of development or vulnerable individuals with rights to be protected, to become actors in the economic and social development of the nations [10]. Starting in the late 1960s, the international community began to make the substantial change that would be seen in its strategy on issues related to promotion of women, based on their integration in the development processes.
