Regina Tavares da Silva is a Portuguese politician, feminist, historical researcher and an international expert on women's rights. She has chaired several women's organizations, both Portuguese and international. She is arguably best known for her insistence that
women's equality
Gender equality, also known as sexual equality or equality of the sexes, is the state of equal ease of access to resources and opportunities regardless of gender, including economic participation and decision-making; and the state of valuing d ...
should not be treated as a social issue but as a requirement of both democracy and
human rights
Human rights are Morality, moral principles or Social norm, normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for ce ...
.
Early life and studies
Born in
Vila de Rei
Vila de Rei (; "Royal City") is a municipality in the district of Castelo Branco in Portugal. The population in 2011 was 3,452,Portalegre, then moving to
Leiria
Leiria (; cel-x-proto, ɸlāryo) is a city and municipality in the Central Region of Portugal. It is the 2nd largest city in that same region, with a municipality population of 128,640 (as of 2021) in an area of . It is the seat of its own distr ...
when her father, a roads engineer, was transferred. In 1952, when she was almost 14 the family took up residence in the Portuguese capital of
Lisbon
Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Grande Lisboa, Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administr ...
. She first went to the D. Filipa de Lencastre High School. This school was opened just after the '' Estado Novo'' dictatorship had seized power in Portugal in 1926, with one of its policies being to end co-education in the country, and was the fourth girls-only High School in the country and the second in Lisbon. At the age of 15 she moved to a school with more of an Arts orientation, before going to the
University of Lisbon
The University of Lisbon (ULisboa; pt, Universidade de Lisboa, ) is a public research university in Lisbon, and the largest university in Portugal. It was founded in 2013, from the merger of two previous public universities located in Lisbon, th ...
, where she obtained a degree in German and English Literature, in 1960. By this time, she had already met
Maria de Lourdes Pintasilgo
Maria de Lourdes Ruivo da Silva de Matos Pintasilgo (; 18 January 1930 – 10 July 2004) was a Portuguese chemical engineer and politician. She was the first and to date only woman to serve as Prime Minister of Portugal, and the second woman to ...
who would later become, albeit briefly, the first female prime minister of Portugal. Pintasilgo introduced her to the ''Juventude Universitária Católica Feminina'' (Female Catholic University Youth -JUCF) and Tavares da Silva became involved in its work, being Secretary-General, Vice-President and President-General.
In 1962, she obtained a
Fulbright scholarship
The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States Cultural Exchange Programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people of ...
Loveland, Ohio
Loveland is a city in Hamilton, Clermont, and Warren counties in the southwestern part of the U.S. state of Ohio. Considered part of the Greater Cincinnati area, Loveland is located near exit 52 off Interstate 275, about northeast of the Cinc ...
. 1963 was an important year for the Women's Movement in the US as it is when
Betty Friedan
Betty Friedan ( February 4, 1921 – February 4, 2006) was an American feminist writer and activist. A leading figure in the women's movement in the United States, her 1963 book ''The Feminine Mystique'' is often credited with sparking the se ...
's book ''
The Feminine Mystique
''The Feminine Mystique'' is a book by Betty Friedan, widely credited with sparking second-wave feminism in the United States. First published by W. W. Norton on February 19, 1963, ''The Feminine Mystique'' became a bestseller, initially selling ...
'' was published, which is often credited with sparking the second wave of American feminism in the 20th century. Also in that year, a Presidential Commission created by
John F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK and the nickname Jack, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 until his assassination ...
published a report on the situation of women, which showed that discrimination based on sex was widespread in American society.
Back in Lisbon, Tavares da Silva spent two years as a teacher, before going to the
University of Cambridge
, mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts.
Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge.
, established =
, other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...
in the United Kingdom between 1965 and 1967, obtaining a Diploma in English Studies with a thesis on
A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man
''A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man'' is the first novel of Irish writer James Joyce. A ''Künstlerroman'' written in a modernist style, it traces the religious and intellectual awakening of young Stephen Dedalus, Joyce's fictional alter ...
by
James Joyce
James Augustine Aloysius Joyce (2 February 1882 – 13 January 1941) was an Irish novelist, poet, and literary critic. He contributed to the modernist avant-garde movement and is regarded as one of the most influential and important writers of ...
. After this she was invited by Cambridge to pursue a PhD but chose to return to Portugal and get married. She, her three daughters and her husband moved to
Coimbra
Coimbra (, also , , or ) is a city and a municipality in Portugal. The population of the municipality at the 2011 census was 143,397, in an area of .
The fourth-largest urban area in Portugal after Lisbon, Porto Metropolitan Area, Porto, and Bra ...
in 1972 where he was appointed Professor of Chemical Engineering, and stayed there until 1975.
Involvement in Government Commissions on Women
At the invitation of Lourdes Pintasilgo she worked at the Commission for Social Policy on Women, which had been created in September 1973, commuting between Coimbra and Lisbon. After the
Carnation Revolution
The Carnation Revolution ( pt, Revolução dos Cravos), also known as the 25 April ( pt, 25 de Abril, links=no), was a military coup by left-leaning military officers that overthrew the authoritarian Estado Novo regime on 25 April 1974 in Lisbo ...
in April 1974 that overthrew the ''Estado Novo'', the family returned to Lisbon in 1975 and Tavares da Silva continued to work at the commission, then renamed the Commission of the Female Condition (CCF). That year had been declared by the United Nations as the
International Women's Year
International Women's Year (IWY) was the name given to 1975 by the United Nations. Since that year March 8 has been celebrated as International Women's Day, and the United Nations Decade for Women, from 1976 to 1985, was also established.
Hist ...
and Pintasilgo appointed Tavares da Silva to be in charge of its preparation in Portugal. The first World Conference on Women was held in June 1975 in
Mexico City
Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley o ...
on the theme of "Equality, Development and Peace" and Tavares da Silva represented Portugal together with four others including Maria Alzira Lemos. Standing in for Pintasilgo, who was unable to attend at the last minute, and with little experience of public speaking, Tavares da Silva delivered Portugal's address to the Plenary of 3000 people. She would also participate in the Second World Conference on Women in
Copenhagen
Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...
in 1980.
Women's Documentation Centre and research
Participation in the Mexico City conference also gave Tavares da Silva the opportunity to build up a collection of publications that she would use to establish the CCF Documentation Centre on women and equality. She took courses in
Documentation science
Documentation science is the study of the recording and retrieval of information. Documentation science gradually developed into the broader field of information science.
Paul Otlet (1868–1944) and Henri La Fontaine (1854–1943), both Belgia ...
in Lisbon and at the
University of Edinburgh
The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...
, and visited several documentation centres to learn techniques. She also carried out a search in Portugal for old books and documents, which continue to provide an important research source. In addition, she embarked on a project to record memories of women involved in the women's movement at the beginning of the 20th Century. These were published in the CCF Bulletin and as a book.
In 1983, the CCF held a Seminar on Studies on Women, at the
Gulbenkian Foundation
The Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation ( pt, Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian), commonly referred to simply as the Gulbenkian Foundation, is a Portuguese institution dedicated to the promotion of the arts, philanthropy, science, and education. One of ...
in Lisbon. Tavares da Silva organized an Exhibition of Portuguese Books on Women. The XVII European Exhibition of Art, Science and Culture of the
Council of Europe
The Council of Europe (CoE; french: Conseil de l'Europe, ) is an international organisation founded in the wake of World War II to uphold European Convention on Human Rights, human rights, democracy and the Law in Europe, rule of law in Europe. ...
was held in Lisbon in 1983. Noting the absence of reference to women in the various exhibits, she researched female participation in the
Portuguese Discoveries
Portuguese maritime exploration resulted in the numerous territories and maritime routes recorded by the Portuguese as a result of their intensive maritime journeys during the 15th and 16th centuries. Portuguese sailors were at the vanguard of Eu ...
in the 15th and 16th centuries. This led to the publication of four articles that were eventually combined as one publication. A decade later, in November 1994, more than 600 researchers would visit Lisbon to participate in a conference entitled “The Female Face of Portuguese Expansion”.
Council of Europe
From 1984, Tavares da Silva represented Portugal on the Council of Europe Committee on the Female Condition (CEEG), later to become the Chair of the Steering Committee for Equality between Women and Men (CDEG). She was Chair of the CEEG in 1987-88 and the CDEG in 1992–93. One of her proposals in these roles was that women's equality should be a component of the Council of Europe's human rights activities, rather than of its social activities. This approach was adopted by the
World Conference on Human Rights
The World Conference on Human Rights was held by the United Nations in Vienna, Austria, on 14 to 25 June 1993. It was the first human rights conference held since the end of the Cold War. The main result of the conference was the Vienna Declarati ...
, held in
Vienna
en, Viennese
, iso_code = AT-9
, registration_plate = W
, postal_code_type = Postal code
, postal_code =
, timezone = CET
, utc_offset = +1
, timezone_DST ...
in 1993, in which she participated. In 1986, she was asked to become President of CCF, a position she held until 1992. From the outset of her new responsibility she proposed changing the name of the CCF from "Commission on the Condition of Women" to "Commission for the Equality and Rights of Women". It took until May 1991 for her to achieve this. In 1991 she was a founding member of the Portuguese Women's Studies Association (APEM) and in 1993 she was a founding member of the Portuguese Alliance for Parity Democracy (ADP).
Work in other countries
In July 1980, Portugal had ratified the convention on the "Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women" (CEDAW). As president of the CCF, Tavares da Silva was responsible for preparing and presenting Portugal's compliance report. On the strength of this she was asked by the UN's
Division for the Advancement of Women
The United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women, also known as UN Women, is a United Nations entity working for gender equality and the empowerment of women. UN Women advocates for the rights of women and girls, and focu ...
(DAW), to work with countries that needed advice on preparing their report and she made several visits to Eastern and Central European countries between 1994 and 1998 for this purpose. This collaboration would lead to her election to the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women in 2000, where she served until 2008.
Until 2008, she continued to undertake missions for CEDAW, including to
Malaysia
Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...
,
Haiti
Haiti (; ht, Ayiti ; French: ), officially the Republic of Haiti (); ) and formerly known as Hayti, is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and ...
,
South Korea
South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...
, and
Timor-Leste
East Timor (), also known as Timor-Leste (), officially the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, is an island country in Southeast Asia. It comprises the eastern half of the island of Timor, the exclave of Oecusse on the island's north-weste ...
. Within the scope of the European Union, she also participated in 2011–2012 in the Experts' Forum of the
European Institute for Gender Equality
The European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE) is a European Union-initiated body dedicated exclusively to gender equality. In accordance to Regulation (EC) the institute was founded on 20 December 2006. The staff of the institute was recruit ...
(EIGE). She was included in the calendar produced by EIGE under the "Women Inspiring Europe" project in 2012.
Beijing
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Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...
. Tavares da Silva did not attend but played an important role in preparatory discussions. A member of the Southern European Women's Association (AFEM), she was elected Secretary-General in 1997, serving for two years. In 1999, she produced the first Portuguese bibliography of papers on women, with the title ''A Mulher: Bibliografia Portuguesa Anotada'', (The Woman: Annotated Portuguese Bibliography). In 2000, during the Portuguese presidency of the European Union, she was asked by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to coordinate participation in the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) and in the preparatory process for the Special Session of the
United Nations General Assembly
The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA or GA; french: link=no, Assemblée générale, AG) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN), serving as the main deliberative, policymaking, and representative organ of the UN. Curr ...
, to evaluate progress in the five years since the IV World Conference on Women.
in 2003 Tavares da Silva was tasked, with a Cuban colleague on CEDAW, to carry out an investigation following a complaint lodged with CEDAW on the situation in
Ciudad Juárez
Ciudad Juárez ( ; ''Juarez City''. ) is the most populous city in the Mexican state of Chihuahua. It is commonly referred to as Juárez and was known as El Paso del Norte (''The Pass of the North'') until 1888. Juárez is the seat of the Ju ...
, Mexico, involving the abduction, murder and disappearance of around 400 women and girls, without any action being taken. After the investigation, carried out on the spot, she presented the findings to the UN in January 2005. She considered this experience, together with an investigation into the rape of Muslim women in
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and H ...
that she had carried out in 1993, to be the most disturbing of her life.
Awards
* On June 10, 1995, Tavares da Silva was awarded the
Order of Merit
The Order of Merit (french: link=no, Ordre du Mérite) is an order of merit for the Commonwealth realms, recognising distinguished service in the armed forces, science, art, literature, or for the promotion of culture. Established in 1902 by K ...
by the President of the Portuguese Republic.
* The Commission for Constitutional Affairs, Rights, Freedoms and Guarantees of the Assembly of the Republic, within the scope of the “Human Rights Award 2014”, awarded Tavares da Silva one of two gold medals commemorating the 50th anniversary of the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) is an international document adopted by the United Nations General Assembly that enshrines the Human rights, rights and freedoms of all human beings. Drafted by a UN Drafting of the Universal De ...
.
Publications
* ''Carolina Beatriz Ângelo (1877-1911)'' (2nd ed). Lisbon: Commission for Citizenship and Gender Equality, 2013.
* ''A Mulher: Bibliografia Portuguesa Anotada'' (Monographs, 1518–1998), Lisbon, Edições Cosmos, 1999.
* ''Heroínas da Expansão e Descobrimentos''. Lisboa. CCF, 1989. (Cadernos da Condição Feminina, 31).
* ''Feminismo em Portugal na voz das mulheres escritoras do início do século XX'', Lisboa, Comissão da Condição Feminina.
* ''Mulheres portuguesas, vidas e obras celebradas, vidas e obras ignoradas'', Lisboa, CIDM, Ditos & Escritos.
* ''Democracia Paritária - um conceito novo ou um novo olhar sobre a Democracia'', Lisboa, CIDM.
* ''Estudos sobre as Mulheres em Portugal, um olhar sobre o passado'', in Ex- Aequo, nº1, pp. 17–28.