Women's International Democratic Federation
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The Women's International Democratic Federation (WIDF) is an international
women's rights Women's rights are the rights and Entitlement (fair division), entitlements claimed for women and girls worldwide. They formed the basis for the women's rights movement in the 19th century and the feminist movements during the 20th and 21st c ...
organization. Established in 1945, it was most active during the
Cold War The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...
when, according to historian Francisca de Haan, it was "the largest and probably most influential international women's organization of the post-1945 era". Following the
dissolution of the Soviet Union The Soviet Union was formally dissolved as a sovereign state and subject of international law on 26 December 1991 by Declaration No. 142-N of the Soviet of the Republics of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union. Declaration No. 142-Н of ...
in 1991, its headquarters were moved from Berlin to Paris. In 2002, with the election of Márcia Campos as president, the office relocated to
Brasília Brasília ( ; ) is the capital city, capital of Brazil and Federal District (Brazil), Federal District. Located in the Brazilian highlands in the country's Central-West Region, Brazil, Central-West region, it was founded by President Juscelino ...
. Subsequently, in 2007 the WIDF secretariat was located in
São Paulo São Paulo (; ; Portuguese for 'Paul the Apostle, Saint Paul') is the capital of the São Paulo (state), state of São Paulo, as well as the List of cities in Brazil by population, most populous city in Brazil, the List of largest cities in the ...
. Since 2016, the president has been Lorena Peña of El Salvador and the world headquarters has been located in
San Salvador San Salvador () is the Capital city, capital and the largest city of El Salvador and its San Salvador Department, eponymous department. It is the country's largest agglomeration, serving as the country's political, cultural, educational and fin ...
. The WIDF's magazine, ''Women of the Whole World,'' was published in six languages: Arabic, English, French, German, Russian, and Spanish. WIDF was founded in Paris in 1945 as an
anti-fascist Anti-fascism is a political movement in opposition to fascist ideologies, groups and individuals. Beginning in European countries in the 1920s, it was at its most significant shortly before and during World War II, where the Axis powers were op ...
organization with the intent of engaging women in efforts to prevent war and to combat the racist and sexist ideology of fascist regimes. At its organizing conference, Eugénie Cotton was elected as president and the organization's goals were defined as promoting active participation in the fight against
fascism Fascism ( ) is a far-right, authoritarian, and ultranationalist political ideology and movement. It is characterized by a dictatorial leader, centralized autocracy, militarism, forcible suppression of opposition, belief in a natural social hie ...
and in favor of
world peace World peace is the concept of an ideal state of peace within and among all people and nations on Earth. Different cultures, religions, philosophies, and organizations have varying concepts on how such a state would come about. Various relig ...
, in protecting public health with particular focus on child welfare, in improving the status of women's rights, and in building internationalist friendships among women. During the Cold War era, WIDF was described in recovered FBI files as
Communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...
-leaning and pro-
Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
. The international day for protection of children, observed since 1950 in many countries as
Children's Day Children's Day is a commemorative date celebrated annually in honour of children, whose date of observance varies by country. In 1925, International Children's Day was first proclaimed in Geneva during the World Conference on Child Welfare. Sin ...
on 1 June, was established on the initiative of a WIDF campaign held in 1949. In 1951, the organization was banned by French authorities and relocated to
East Berlin East Berlin (; ) was the partially recognised capital city, capital of East Germany (GDR) from 1949 to 1990. From 1945, it was the Allied occupation zones in Germany, Soviet occupation sector of Berlin. The American, British, and French se ...
. Other international women's organizations became concerned that WIDF would use appeals to rally participation in women's rights and motherhood as propaganda to increase anti-American sentiment and promote communism. At various points in its history, the WIDF enjoyed
consultative status The consultative status is a phrase that has been in use since the establishment of the United Nations and is used within the UN community to refer to "Non-governmental organizations (Non-governmental organisation, NGOs) in Consultative Status with ...
with the Economic and Social Council (
ECOSOC The United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) is one of six principal organs of the United Nations, responsible for coordinating the economic and social fields of the organization, specifically in regards to the fifteen specialized ...
) of the United Nations. It was as a result of proposals from WIDF representatives on the
Commission on the Status of Women The Commission on the Status of Women (CSW or UNCSW) is a functional commission of the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), one of the United Nations System#Six principal organs, principal organs of the United Nations. CSW has bee ...
(CSW) that the United Nations declared 1975 as
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. History ...
.


History


Background

From the beginnings of
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
left-leaning women who were
communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...
, liberal, or
socialist Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...
were active in the fight against fascism and the spread of the racist and sexist ideology of
Nazism Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During Hitler's rise to power, it was fre ...
. During the war, many of the activists, who were primarily aristocrats and intellectuals, took part in
anti-fascist Anti-fascism is a political movement in opposition to fascist ideologies, groups and individuals. Beginning in European countries in the 1920s, it was at its most significant shortly before and during World War II, where the Axis powers were op ...
conferences throughout Europe, and began to develop a transnational framework for social and political policies that would prevent future conflicts. Eugénie Cotton attended a meeting of the (Union of French Women) in 1944, which sparked the idea for forming the Women International Democratic Federation. Subsequently, she attended a celebration of
International Women's Day International Women's Day (IWD) is celebrated on 8 March, commemorating women's fight for equality and liberation along with the women's rights movement. International Women's Day gives focus to issues such as gender equality, reproductive righ ...
in London in 1945 where she met with a group of women from Belgium, China, France, Italy, the
Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
, Spain, the United Kingdom, and
Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...
. Although the war had ended only six months earlier in Europe and was still continuing in Asia, consensus was reached to form an International Initiative Committee and host an international congress to bring left-leaning women together. Sponsors of the event were the and the Soviet Women's Anti-Fascist Committee. WIDF's internal sources about its origin are vague in regard to the political affiliations of the founders, focusing instead on their involvement in resistance and anti-fascist movements during and immediately following the war, and their intent to establish an organization which was open to all progressive women.


Founding of the WIDF

The congress was held between 26 and 30 November 1945 at the Palais de la Mutualité in Paris. As a result, 850 delegates from 40 countries, representing 181 women's organizations, attended the founding meeting of the Women's International Democratic Federation. Cotton was elected president of WIDF and served in that capacity until her death in 1967. The organizational goals were defined as promoting active participation in the fight against
fascism Fascism ( ) is a far-right, authoritarian, and ultranationalist political ideology and movement. It is characterized by a dictatorial leader, centralized autocracy, militarism, forcible suppression of opposition, belief in a natural social hie ...
and in favor of
world peace World peace is the concept of an ideal state of peace within and among all people and nations on Earth. Different cultures, religions, philosophies, and organizations have varying concepts on how such a state would come about. Various relig ...
, in protecting public health with particular focus on child welfare, in improving the status of women's rights, and in building internationalist friendships among women. The delegates adopted an International Charter of Women, which aimed at creating global standards protecting women's rights and opportunities as citizens, mothers, and workers. They also had numerous debates about the voting system to be used; the naming of the organization, replacing the original wording using "anti-fascist" with "democratic"; and whether WIDF would have any authority to control member organizations. The delegates ultimately decided to host triennial congresses with votes on issues based on the size of the population that each national delegation represented. The executive council, made up of a delegate from each member country, was to meet every year. The secretariat was composed of a secretary general and four staff members, who would carry out the management of the federation's business, with the exception of bookkeeping, which was assigned to a three-member commission. Among the founding members were Elizabeth Acland Allen (UK), Cécile Brunschvicg (France), Tsola Dragoycheva (Bulgaria), Dolores Ibárruri (Spain),
Ana Pauker Ana Pauker (born Hannah Rabinsohn; 13 February 1893 – 3 June 1960) was a Romanian communist leader and served as the country's List of Romanian Foreign Ministers, foreign minister in the late 1940s and early 1950s. Ana Pauker became the world' ...
(Romania), Kata Pejnović (Yugoslavia), Nina Popova (Russia), Rada Todorova (Bulgaria); Jessie Street (Australia), and Marie-Claude Vaillant-Couturier (France), Among the women sending congratulations and support for the founding of WDIF were Clementine Churchill, wife of the British Prime Minister;
Eleanor Roosevelt Anna Eleanor Roosevelt ( ; October 11, 1884November 7, 1962) was an American political figure, diplomat, and activist. She was the longest-serving First Lady of the United States, first lady of the United States, during her husband Franklin D ...
,
First Lady of the United States First Lady of the United States (FLOTUS) is a title typically held by the wife of the president of the United States, concurrent with the president's term in office. Although the first lady's role has never been Code of law, codified or offici ...
, and Isie Smuts, wife of the Prime Minister of the
Union of South Africa The Union of South Africa (; , ) was the historical predecessor to the present-day South Africa, Republic of South Africa. It came into existence on 31 May 1910 with the unification of the British Cape Colony, Cape, Colony of Natal, Natal, Tra ...
. Gabrielle Duchêne, a vice president of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF), and Margery Corbett Ashby, president of the International Alliance of Women, attended the congress. Ashby later wrote to her husband that failure to organize women in the
Near East The Near East () is a transcontinental region around the Eastern Mediterranean encompassing the historical Fertile Crescent, the Levant, Anatolia, Egypt, Mesopotamia, and coastal areas of the Arabian Peninsula. The term was invented in the 20th ...
would result in the communist women's dominance there.


Rivalry with other international organizations

After the founding of the WIDF, an intense rivalry developed between the three major international women's groups – the International Alliance of Women, the
International Council of Women The International Council of Women (ICW) is a women's organization working across national boundaries for the common cause of advocating women's rights, human rights for women. In March and April 1888, women leaders came together in Washington D.C ...
, and the WIDF. Both the International Alliance of Women and the International Council of Women claimed to be apolitical, but according to historian Francisca de Haan, the leading scholar on the WIDF, they "used imperialist notions of western superiority to support their claims for women's rights". Both organizations condoned colonial and imperial systems and stressed the importance of democracy in achieving fundamental human rights such as freedom of
conscience A conscience is a Cognition, cognitive process that elicits emotion and rational associations based on an individual's ethics, moral philosophy or value system. Conscience is not an elicited emotion or thought produced by associations based on i ...
, press, and speech. Their members were typically conservative, upper-class,
Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...
women from Europe, or places such as Australia, Canada, and the United States, where large numbers of Europeans had settled. After World War I, the International Council of Women and International Alliance of Women actively recruited affiliates in Latin America, the Middle East, Asia, and Africa, but the leadership tended to be from Europe and the United States, the congresses were held primarily in Europe, and the official languages of the groups were English, French, and German. To resolve women's issues, the International Alliance of Women and the International Council of Women fostered interaction with ruling elites. For example, the International Council of Women and the WILPF, created in 1915 by members of the International Alliance of Women and other elite women's groups, approached peace activism by urging heads of nations towards pacifism and avoidance of war through diplomatic channels and improved understanding of cultural differences. Fears of
red-baiting Red-baiting, also known as ''reductio ad Stalinum'' () and red-tagging ( in the Philippines), is an intention to discredit the validity of a political opponent and the opponent's logical argument by accusing, denouncing, attacking, or persecuting ...
prevented Western organizations like the WILPF from criticizing colonial systems and exploitation until the 1960s. Publications such as International Alliance of Women member Adele Schreiber-Krieger's ''Journey towards Freedom'' (1955) emphasized the role of western women in assisting women from the "third world" in eliminating prevalent customs like
child marriage Child marriage is a practice involving a marriage or domestic partnership, formal or informal, that includes an individual under 18 and an adult or other child.* * * * Research has found that child marriages have many long-term negative co ...
,
foot binding Foot binding (), or footbinding, was the Chinese custom of breaking and tightly binding the feet of young girls to change their shape and size. Feet altered by foot binding were known as lotus feet and the shoes made for them were known as lotus ...
, seclusion, veiling, and widow sacrifice, without evaluating how western systems impacted colonized women or crediting women of the
Global South Global North and Global South are terms that denote a method of grouping countries based on their defining characteristics with regard to socioeconomics and politics. According to UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD), the Global South broadly com ...
or the
Eastern world The Eastern world, also known as the East or historically the Orient, is an umbrella term for various cultures or social structures, nations and philosophical systems, which vary depending on the context. It most often includes Asia, the ...
for their own efforts in asserting their agency. WIDF regarded peace as a prerequisite for fighting against fascism and obtaining rights for women and children. Unlike the pacifist western feminist groups, WIDF members did not see peace as the avoidance or absence of war; rather, they viewed it as the achievement of social justice and the cessation of oppression and exploitation. The organization strongly supported decolonization and national independence movements, and was active in the
anti-war movement An anti-war movement is a social movement in opposition to one or more nations' decision to start or carry on an armed conflict. The term ''anti-war'' can also refer to pacifism, which is the opposition to all use of military force during con ...
pushing for peace in Africa and Asia. WIDF organized its activities directly with its women members, bypassing government officials. It was typical for the organization to send letters to members urging action and protest over government policies. For example, the organization rallied Frenchwomen to have their sons refuse to participate in colonial wars, and urged American women to protest the use of germ warfare in Korea. Between its congresses, WIDF also organized large conferences to address peace, motherhood, and women's issues. WIDF's membership and leadership included women from throughout the world. Although primarily held in Europe, its conferences were also held in Asia, and Latin America. It was an explicitly anti-racist organization, whose members were working-class. For example, at its founding, the WIDF board established a vice presidency post for a Chinese delegate, which was filled by Cai Chang in 1948. The executive council that year consisted of members from Algeria, Argentina, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, China, Finland, France, Greece, Hungary, India, Italy, Korea, Norway, Poland, Romania, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United States, USSR, and Yugoslavia. Egyptian feminist Saiza Nabarawi, who was a vice president of the International Alliance of Women, attended WIDF's 1952 Vienna Congress and was asked by the board of the IAW to choose which organization she preferred. She resigned from the International Alliance of Women's board and became a vice president of WIDF in 1953. WIDF's monthly magazine, which became a quarterly publication in 1966, ''Women of the Whole World,'' was produced in six languages – Arabic, English, French, German, Russian, and Spanish from 1946 to 1990.


Early activism (1945–1950)

The US affiliate of the WIDF, the Congress of American Women formed in 1946, along the lines of the popular front. Although the Congress of American Women declared itself to be independent of political alliance, the Communist Party publicly endorsed the organization upon its founding. That same year, the ( Indonesian Women's Congress, Kowani) formed and joined the WIDF because of its support for decolonization. WIDF members participated in a fact-finding mission in 1946 through
Latin America Latin America is the cultural region of the Americas where Romance languages are predominantly spoken, primarily Spanish language, Spanish and Portuguese language, Portuguese. Latin America is defined according to cultural identity, not geogr ...
, visiting Argentina, Brazil, Chile, and Uruguay, to build networks and learn about the issues women faced there. They collected reports from women in India and Algeria to evaluate how the lack of development programs led to poverty and how economic policies and customs systemically exploited agricultural workers. In 1947, WIDF was granted consultative status category B for the
United Nations Economic and Social Council The United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) is one of six principal organs of the United Nations, responsible for coordinating the economic and social fields of the organization, specifically in regards to the fifteen specialized ...
(ECOSOC) and its
Commission on the Status of Women The Commission on the Status of Women (CSW or UNCSW) is a functional commission of the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), one of the United Nations System#Six principal organs, principal organs of the United Nations. CSW has bee ...
(CSW). To assess the conditions of women living under British colonial rule in Asia in 1948 another WIDF delegation toured
British Burma British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and cultur ...
,
British Malaya The term "British Malaya" (; ) loosely describes a set of states on the Malay Peninsula and the island of Singapore that were brought under British Empire, British hegemony or control between the late 18th and the mid-20th century. Unlike the ...
, and the
Dominion of India The Dominion of India, officially the Union of India, * * was an independent dominion in the British Commonwealth of Nations existing between 15 August 1947 and 26 January 1950. Until its Indian independence movement, independence, India had be ...
. A similar trip, which was scheduled to evaluate the
Dutch East Indies The Dutch East Indies, also known as the Netherlands East Indies (; ), was a Dutch Empire, Dutch colony with territory mostly comprising the modern state of Indonesia, which Proclamation of Indonesian Independence, declared independence on 17 Au ...
and
French Indochina French Indochina (previously spelled as French Indo-China), officially known as the Indochinese Union and after 1941 as the Indochinese Federation, was a group of French dependent territories in Southeast Asia from 1887 to 1954. It was initial ...
, had to be canceled because Dutch and French authorities refused to grant visas to the WIDF members. The observers compiled their report ''The Women of Asia and Africa'', in preparation for a conference planned for 1948 to be held in
Calcutta Kolkata, also known as Calcutta (List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern ba ...
(now Kolkata), in honor of India's independence from the United Kingdom. The report detailed the need to reach out to rural women, whether they were peasants, owned land, or were refugees; and to confront gendered policies that created inadequate health care, food, and wages for women or subjected them to trafficking and cultural practices that impeded their safety and security. It also focused on informing activists in the West about the issues associated with imperialism, under-development and the violence colonial wars caused for other women. Immediately following India's independence, its Prime Minister
Jawaharlal Nehru Jawaharlal Nehru (14 November 1889 – 27 May 1964) was an Indian anti-colonial nationalist, secular humanist, social democrat, and statesman who was a central figure in India during the middle of the 20th century. Nehru was a pr ...
began implementing policies to silence dissent, imprisoning or driving activists and communists underground. Neither land reforms to protect peasants and rural women nor changes to hiring and wage systems to produce job and income stability were implemented. WIDF activists recognized that there was no difference between the struggle against colonial administrations or newly created governments, meaning that their demands for a realignment of power hierarchies to include working- and middle-class women would not be supported. To that end, the conference was rescheduled to be held in 1949 in Peiking (now Beijing). It was the first anti-imperialist and pan-Asian women's conference bringing together women from Africa and Asia. That year, WIDF also led a campaign to establish
Children's Day Children's Day is a commemorative date celebrated annually in honour of children, whose date of observance varies by country. In 1925, International Children's Day was first proclaimed in Geneva during the World Conference on Child Welfare. Sin ...
, an international day dedicated to protection of children, as an annual observance on 1 June. The United States had not endorsed a policy of containing communism until after the communists came to power in 1949 at the end of the
Chinese Civil War The Chinese Civil War was fought between the Kuomintang-led Nationalist government, government of the Republic of China (1912–1949), Republic of China and the forces of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Armed conflict continued intermitt ...
. US focus was on Europe, and specifically the Soviet actions in Berlin. Thoughts by both
superpower Superpower describes a sovereign state or supranational union that holds a dominant position characterized by the ability to Sphere of influence, exert influence and Power projection, project power on a global scale. This is done through the comb ...
s that China would become a Soviet ally caused the cold war to heat up. The Congress of American Women was targeted by the Committee on Un-American Activities of the
United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...
(HUAC) in 1949 due to the support it had been given by the Communist Party. The committee described WIDF as being a
communist front A communist front (or a mass organization in communist parlance) is a political organization identified as a front organization, allied with or under the effective control of a communist party, the Communist International or other communist organ ...
using feminism as a guise to lure women to join the organization and concluded that the organization was a wing of Soviet propaganda mechanisms which used a peace campaign to promote disarmament and foster the communist take-over of democratic nations. The Indonesian group Kowani withdrew from WIDF in 1949 because of objections by some of its affiliates to the organization's ties to socialism, but the following year, another Indonesian organization, Gerwis (later renamed Gerwani), affiliated with WIDF. The Congress of American Women disbanded in 1950 because of the negative reactions to the HUAC report.


Cold War changes (1951–1990)

Twenty-one WIDF activists from Africa, the Americas, Asia, and Europe spent twelve days evaluating the conditions on the Korean peninsula during the
war War is an armed conflict between the armed forces of states, or between governmental forces and armed groups that are organized under a certain command structure and have the capacity to sustain military operations, or between such organi ...
in May 1951,. The investigation was focused on
North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders China and Russia to the north at the Yalu River, Yalu (Amnok) an ...
and attempted to objectively evaluate government claims of civilian casualties. Among the delegates were Nora Rodd (chair, Canada), (vice chair, China), Ida Bachmann (vice chair, Denmark), Trees Sunito Heyligers (secretary, Netherlands), Abassia Fodil (Algeria), Monica Felton (Britain), Kate Fleron (Denmark), Candelaria Rodríguez (Cuba), Hilde Cahn (East Germany), Eva Priester (Austria), and Lilly Wächter (West Germany), among others. They wrote a report, ''We Accuse'', which was translated into Chinese, Korean, English, German, and Spanish, and described the bombing raids carried out by the
United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...
and
war crimes A war crime is a violation of the laws of war that gives rise to individual criminal responsibility for actions by combatants in action, such as intentionally killing civilians or intentionally killing prisoners of war, torture, taking hos ...
committed by the United Nations Forces. WIDF's report caused apprehension on the part of the US government about public opinion of its Korean activities, and specific concern within the
United States Department of State The United States Department of State (DOS), or simply the State Department, is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy of the United State ...
and the
United States Women's Bureau The United States Women's Bureau (WB) is an agency of the United States government within the United States Department of Labor. The Women's Bureau works to create parity for women in the labor force by conducting research and policy analysis, to ...
about accusations of germ warfare, which were picked up and investigated by the
International Association of Democratic Lawyers International Association of Democratic Lawyers (IADL) is an international organization of left-wing and progressive jurists' associations with sections and members in 50 countries and territories. Along with facilitating contact and exchange of v ...
. The US government sought to red-bait the authors, and the CIA covertly funded the Committee of Correspondence to work against WIDF. Women United for United Nations, a group of 30 women's organizations established in 1947 to disseminate information about the activities of the UN, prepared a critique of the WIDF report, which the Department of State widely disseminated through
Radio Free Asia Radio Free Asia (RFA) is a news service that publishes online news, information, commentary and broadcasts radio programs for its audiences in Asia. The service, which provides editorially independent reporting, has the stated mission of pro ...
and
Radio Free Europe Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) is a media organization broadcasting news and analyses in 27 languages to 23 countries across Eastern Europe, Central Asia, the Caucasus, and the Middle East. Headquartered in Prague since 1995, RFE/RL ...
. Women United also sent their report to women's organizations and major newspapers like ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' and ''
The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...
''. Delegation members thereafter faced arrest and interrogation for treason upon returning home. Several of the WIDF delegates were terminated from their workplaces and imprisoned, but none waivered in their belief that the report was factual. Rodríguez and another Cuban WIDF activist, Edith García Buchaca, led a campaign advocating prevention of Cuban troops from participating in the war and were successful in changing public opinion, which had previously favored Cuban participation. The United States, with support from Britain, led a successful crusade in 1954 to strip WIDF of its consultative status for the United Nations, largely because of its anti-colonial work and exposé on Korea. French authorities banned WIDF in 1951 after its activists launched a campaign against French aggression in Vietnam and urged French women to refuse to allow their sons to participate in the war. The organization relocated to
East Berlin East Berlin (; ) was the partially recognised capital city, capital of East Germany (GDR) from 1949 to 1990. From 1945, it was the Allied occupation zones in Germany, Soviet occupation sector of Berlin. The American, British, and French se ...
where it began to strengthen its ties to the Soviet Union. Held in 1953 in Copenhagen, the third congress attracted 613 delegates from 67 countries. Among the nearly 2,000 attendants were over 1,300 guests and observers. The Indonesian delegation, led by Soerastri Karma Trimurti and a number of other members of Gerwani, included women from the Minahasa Women's Union, (Democratic Women) and (Women of the People) organizations. The focus of the congress was fostering peace in light of on-going conflicts like the Korean War and the war to end French rule in Vietnam. Resolutions were adopted at the congress to support an immediate end to both wars and to publish a Declaration on the Rights of Women. The declaration included provisions for the right to work, maternity leave, and equal pay for women; creation of child care and kindergarten centers for working women; protection of the civil and educational rights of women and children; support for
women's suffrage Women's suffrage is the women's rights, right of women to Suffrage, vote in elections. Several instances occurred in recent centuries where women were selectively given, then stripped of, the right to vote. In Sweden, conditional women's suffra ...
and the right to political representation; equal rights with men in owning property and protecting peasant women's land ownership; and the right for women to freely associate and participate in organizations. Throughout the following decades, WIDF continued to host world-wide conferences, including the 1952 Conference in Defense of Children held in Vienna, the 1955 World Congress of Mothers hosted in
Lausanne Lausanne ( , ; ; ) is the capital and largest List of towns in Switzerland, city of the Swiss French-speaking Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Vaud, in Switzerland. It is a hilly city situated on the shores of Lake Geneva, about halfway bet ...
, 1959 Women of Latin America Conference held in
Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile (), is the capital and largest city of Chile and one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is located in the country's central valley and is the center of the Santiago Metropolitan Regi ...
, Chile, the 1960 Copenhagen celebration of WIDF's 50th anniversary, and the 1961 Afro-Asian Women's Conference of Cairo. The organization published documents, such as (''For the Defense of Human Rights''), to reiterate their position that human rights included women's rights. The WIDF would not be readmitted as a consultant body to the United Nations until 1967, when newly independent former colonies pressed for a restoration of its status. In 1969, US-USSR relations entered a period of
détente ''Détente'' ( , ; for, fr, , relaxation, paren=left, ) is the relaxation of strained relations, especially political ones, through verbal communication. The diplomacy term originates from around 1912, when France and Germany tried unsucces ...
, and that year, WIDF was elevated to Consultative Status A. The improvement in relationships, between the United States, USSR, and resumption of US relations with China in 1972, allowed nations in the Global South, which had become the majority of members of the United Nations, to assert their power and oppose policies of the superpowers, leading to a broader focus on women's issues by the organization. At the WIDF council meeting in East Berlin in 1971, preliminary discussions took place about hosting a year for women. The Committee of the Bulgarian Women's Movement hosted the WIDF council meeting in Sofia in 1972 and first proposed the idea of a UN-sponsored international women's conference for 1975. WIDF activists (Iran) and Hertta Kuusinen (Finland) promoted the idea within the Commission on the Status of Women. WIDF members of the ( National Council of Hungarian Women) and ( National Council of Romanian Women) promoted the idea in ''Women of the Whole World''. When the WIDF raised the suggestion for
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. History ...
to the Commission on the Status of Women, it did not gain traction because of WIDF's observer status. Undeterred, the WIDF drafted a proposal, which was presented to the commission by Romanian official representative Florica Andrei, a member of the National Council of Romanian Women, a WIDF affiliate. After the proposal was seconded by Helvi Sipilä, the Finnish representative of the commission, it was passed by the commission and presented to the
UN General Assembly The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA or GA; , AGNU or AG) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN), serving as its main deliberative, policymaking, and representative organ. Currently in its 79th session, its powers, ...
, which adopted a resolution in December 1972 to honor women with International Women's Year in 1975; however, it did not approve hosting a conference. WIDF activists made their own plans to host their organization's 30th anniversary congress in East Berlin in October 1975. Patricia Hutar, a US representative to the Commission on the Status of Women, suggested that the commission revisit the idea of a conference in 1974 to avoid the appearance that only communist women were supporting the initiative. The UN General Assembly approved hosting what would be the World Conference on Women of July 1975 in
Mexico City Mexico City is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Mexico, largest city of Mexico, as well as the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North America. It is one of the most important cultural and finan ...
, but authorized no funds for the event. Individuals and affiliated organizations of the WIDF participated in both the UN Conference and the WIDF Congress. The Mexico City Conference spawned the United Nations Decade for Women, establishing calls to draft the
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women The Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) is an international treaty adopted in 1979 by the United Nations General Assembly. Described as an international bill of rights for women, it was instituted ...
(CEDAW), and host follow-up World Conferences on Women in
1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a United States grain embargo against the Soviet Union, grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning Sys ...
and
1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a n ...
. WIDF members were involved in both of the conferences and the proposal for CEDAW. The WIDF Congress was attended by women from 43 African nations, 33 Asian countries, 29 European states; the remaining 33 countries were represented by delegates from the Americas, Australia, and New Zealand. In 1976, the WIDF sponsored an international conference in Sofia, ''Women in Agriculture'', focused on educational training and developing cooperative farms in the Global South. The organization co-initiated the drive for
UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...
to recognize 1979 as the International Year of the Child. In 1980, the WIDF worked to establish a second United Nations International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women (INSTRAW) center in Sofia to focus on training women from Africa, Asia, and the Middle East for leadership positions in the socio-political-economic fight for their rights. The WIDF also established similar development courses for Latin American women which were hosted at a facility in Havana. These courses continued through 1985, leading up to the UN's Third World Conference on the status of women, known as the Nairobi Conference. WIDF activists also visited the war-torn
Palestinian territories The occupied Palestinian territories, also referred to as the Palestinian territories, consist of the West Bank (including East Jerusalem) and the Gaza Strip—two regions of the former Mandate for Palestine, British Mandate for Palestine ...
and
Western Sahara Western Sahara is a territorial dispute, disputed territory in Maghreb, North-western Africa. It has a surface area of . Approximately 30% of the territory () is controlled by the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR); the remaining 70% is ...
. According to Regina Marques, a member of the WIDF board of directors in 2021, the organization was honored as a United Nations Messenger of Peace in 1986 by
Javier Pérez de Cuéllar Javier Felipe Ricardo Pérez de Cuéllar de la Guerra ( , ; 19 January 1920 – 4 March 2020) was a Peruvian diplomat and politician who served as the fifth secretary-general of the United Nations from 1982 to 1991. He later served as prime min ...
,
Secretary-General of the United Nations The secretary-general of the United Nations (UNSG or UNSECGEN) is the chief administrative officer of the United Nations and head of the United Nations Secretariat, one of the United Nations System#Six principal organs, six principal organs of ...
.


Reorganization and current status (1991–present)

Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, the WIDF headquarters moved from Berlin to Paris. The federation was reorganized in 1994 under the leadership of Sylvie Jan. At the 1995 World Conference on Women, many WIDF activists from Eastern Europe explained that their organizations had been dissolved and their voices had been silenced. In 2002, when Brazilian member Márcia Campos was elected president, the office relocated to
Brasília Brasília ( ; ) is the capital city, capital of Brazil and Federal District (Brazil), Federal District. Located in the Brazilian highlands in the country's Central-West Region, Brazil, Central-West region, it was founded by President Juscelino ...
, and in 2007 the WIDF's secretariat was located in
São Paulo São Paulo (; ; Portuguese for 'Paul the Apostle, Saint Paul') is the capital of the São Paulo (state), state of São Paulo, as well as the List of cities in Brazil by population, most populous city in Brazil, the List of largest cities in the ...
. Campos was succeeded by Salvadoran Lorena Peña after her election at the 2016 WIDF Congress of
Bogotá Bogotá (, also , , ), officially Bogotá, Distrito Capital, abbreviated Bogotá, D.C., and formerly known as Santa Fe de Bogotá (; ) during the Spanish Imperial period and between 1991 and 2000, is the capital city, capital and largest city ...
, and the worldwide headquarters moved to the Palomo neighborhood of
San Salvador San Salvador () is the Capital city, capital and the largest city of El Salvador and its San Salvador Department, eponymous department. It is the country's largest agglomeration, serving as the country's political, cultural, educational and fin ...
at 23 Calle Poniente & Avenida Las Victorias #123. Peña continued to lead the organization in 2023.


Multilingual names

The Women's International Democratic Federation (WIDF) has a number of non-English names, including: * (FDIM) * (FDIF) * (FDIM) * (IDFF) * (MDFŽ)


Scholarly perception of the organization

According to de Haan, Cold War policies and investigations and repercussions from the investigations of
McCarthyism McCarthyism is a political practice defined by the political repression and persecution of left-wing individuals and a Fear mongering, campaign spreading fear of communist and Soviet influence on American institutions and of Soviet espionage i ...
had long-lasting effects on knowledge about the WIDF and international women's interactions after World War II. Although it was inaugurated in Paris, the WIDF was described by 20th-century scholars as originating behind the
Iron Curtain The Iron Curtain was the political and physical boundary dividing Europe into two separate areas from the end of World War II in 1945 until the end of the Cold War in 1991. On the east side of the Iron Curtain were countries connected to the So ...
. Cold War stereotypes impacted the legacy of the organization, effectively erasing it from the history of international women's movements. When the WIDF was described by scholars or activists, it was depicted as a pro-Soviet, communist front organization, which received both political and financial support from the
USSR The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
. Some of these accounts were based on recovered records of the
FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...
and the House Un-American Activities Committee. Because the official stance of communism was to view feminism as a "bourgeois ideology promoted by upper-class women seeking to advance their own interests at the expense of class solidarity", the perception of the WIDF was that it was not a women's rights organization but rather an organization designed to spread socialist ideology. Historian Celia Donert states that the activists of the WIDF were involved in developing transnational socialist networks and that the political context of party and state ideology impacted how they advocated for women's interests, but that they were focused on resolving women's issues. Focus by scholars on the social and cultural history of the Cold War and increased feminist scholarship on communist women's activism since the
dissolution of the Soviet Union The Soviet Union was formally dissolved as a sovereign state and subject of international law on 26 December 1991 by Declaration No. 142-N of the Soviet of the Republics of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union. Declaration No. 142-Н of ...
have led to a clearer understanding that women's international relationships were more complex and diverse than previously acknowledged. The full history of the WIDF is difficult to ascertain, as there are only partial organizational records from Berlin. Chinese records are not widely available to academics and many records appear to have been lost. De Haan stated that records of the early organization in France remain in private hands; some materials were destroyed, and others moved multiple times. Scholars of the 21st century have subsequently described the WIDF as an active feminist organization advocating for women's rights, and not merely a communist attempt to manipulate women. The WIDF, according to academics like Elisabeth Armstrong and Suzy Kim, played an important role in supporting women's anti-colonial and anti-racist struggles in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. In examining the WIDF's role in the peace movement, Suzy Kim refuted that feminism and pacifism declined during the 1950s, stating that WIDF activists launched their campaign for women's rights and global peace during the Cold War with their anti-war campaign against the conflict in Korea. She also concluded that long before second-wave feminists began promoting intersectional analysis, the WIDF incorporated the principles of evaluating overlapping factors such as class, gender, race, and religion to determine how inequalities were perpetuated globally. Scholar Taewoo Kim made a study of the Korean commission and its report, stating that declassification of military documents and research by South Korean academics, have confirmed that the conditions described by the WIDF commission were true. Omissions in the WIDF report that some of the atrocities committed resulted from the activities of Korean right-wing youth groups were possibly due, according to Kim, to reliance on North Korean interpreters and government manipulation of some of the witnesses. Kim also found the WIDF report significant in that it reveals and documents sexual violence against women during the war. De Haan called the WIDF "the largest and probably most influential international women's organization of the post-1945 era", an assessment which was seconded by Taewoo Kim.


Congresses and executive board

* 1st, Founding Congress, 1945, 26 November – 1 December, Paris – President Eugénie Cotton (France), Vice presidents – Dolores Ibárruri (Spain), Nina Popova (USSR), and Gene Weltfish (US). * 2nd, 1948, 1–16 December, Budapest – President Eugénie Cotton (France), Vice presidents – Cai Chang (China), Dolores Ibárruri (Spain), Nina Popova (USSR), and Gene Weltfish (US). * 3rd, 1953, 5–10 June, Copenhagen – President Eugénie Cotton (France), Vice presidents – (
Hungarian People's Republic The Hungarian People's Republic (HPR) was a landlocked country in Central Europe from its formation on 20 August 1949 until the establishment of the current Hungary, Republic of Hungary on 23 October 1989. It was a professed Communist_state# ...
), Andrea Andreen (Sweden), Cai Chang (China), Monica Felton (UK), Dolores Ibárruri (Spain), Funmilayo Ransome Kuti (
Colonial Nigeria Colonial Nigeria was ruled by the British Empire from the mid-nineteenth century until 1st of October 1960 when Nigeria achieved independence. Britain Lagos Treaty of Cession, annexed Lagos Colony, Lagos in 1861 and established the Oil River ...
),
Rita Montagnana Rita Montagnana (6 January 1895 – 18 July 1979) was an Italian politician. She was elected to the Constituent Assembly in 1946 as one of the first group of women parliamentarians in Italy. Biography Montagnana was born into a Jewish family in ...
(Italy), Saiza Nabarawi (Egypt), Nina Popova (Russia), and Lilly Wächter (
West Germany West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...
). * 4th, 1958, 1–5 June, Vienna – President Eugénie Cotton (France). * 5th, 1963, Moscow – President Eugénie Cotton (France). Cotton died in 1967, and was succeeded by Hertta Kuusinen. * 6th, 1969, 14–17 June, Helsinki – President Hertta Kuusinen (Finland). Kuusinen died in 1974, and was succeeded by Freda Brown. * 7th, 1975, 20–24 October, East Berlin – President Freda Brown (Australia), Vice presidents – Aruna Asaf Ali (India), Fathia Bettahar (Algeria), Vilma Espín de Castro (Cuba), Fanny Edelman (Argentina), Fuki Kushida (Japan), Valentina Nikolayeva-Tereshkova (USSR), Gisèle Théret (France), and Ilse Thiele (East Germany). * 8th, 1981, 8–13 October, Prague – President Freda Brown (Australia). * 9th, 1987, 23–27 June, Moscow – President Freda Brown (Australia). Brown's presidency ended in 1991. * 10th, 1991, 30–31 March – 1 April, Sheffield, UK – President Fatima Ahmed Ibrahim (Sudan). Ibrahim was succeeded in 1994 by Sylvie Jan of France. * 11th, 1994, 28–30 April, Le Blanc-Mesnil, France – President Sylvie Jan (France). * 12th, 1998, 19–21 November, Bobigny, France – President Sylvie Jan (France). * 13th, 2002, November, Beirut, Lebanon – President Márcia Campos (Brazil). * 14th, 2007, 9–13 April, Caracas, Venezuela – President Márcia Campos (Brazil). * 15th, 2012, 8–12 April, Brasília, Brazil – President Márcia Campos (Brazil). * 16th, 2016, 15–18 September, Bogotá, Colombia – President Márcia Campos (Brazil). During the congress, Salvadoran politician Lorena Peña was elected president and installed. * 17th, 2022, 25–30 April, Caracas, Venezuela – President Lorena Peña (El Salvador).


Affiliates (historical and present)


Selected publications

* *
Chinese version


See also

* List of Women's International Democratic Federation people * International Communist Women's Secretariat *
International Socialist Women's Conferences During the period of the Second International several International Socialist Women's Conferences were held by the representatives of the women organizations of the affiliated Socialist parties. The first two were held in conjunction with the main ...
*
Socialist International Women Socialist International Women is the international organization of the women's organizations of the socialist, social democratic and labour parties affiliated to the Socialist International. History The Women's International Council of Social ...


Other post-1945 organizations labelled as communist fronts

*
International Association of Democratic Lawyers International Association of Democratic Lawyers (IADL) is an international organization of left-wing and progressive jurists' associations with sections and members in 50 countries and territories. Along with facilitating contact and exchange of v ...
* International Federation of Resistance Fighters – Association of Anti-Fascists * International Organization of Journalists *
International Union of Students The International Union of Students (IUS) was a worldwide nonpartisan association of university student organizations. The IUS was the umbrella organization for 155 such students' organizations across 112 countries and Territory (administrative ...
* World Federation of Democratic Youth * World Federation of Scientific Workers *
World Federation of Trade Unions The World Federation of Trade Unions (WFTU) is an international federation of trade union, trade unions established on October 3, 1945. Founded in the immediate aftermath of World War Two, the organization built on the pre-war legacy of the Int ...
*
World Peace Council The World Peace Council (WPC) is an international organization created in 1949 by the Cominform and propped up by the Soviet Union. Throughout the Cold War, WPC engaged in propaganda efforts on behalf of the Soviet Union, whereby it criticize ...


Notes


References


Citations


Bibliography

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *


Further reading

*
Report on the Congress of American Women
by the United States Congress
House Committee on Un-American Activities The House Committee on Un-American Activities (HCUA), popularly the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), was an investigative committee of the United States House of Representatives, created in 1938 to investigate alleged disloyalty an ...
(1949), including information about the founding of the WIDF in Paris in 1945.
Resolutions
of the Women's International Democratic Federation at the International Congress of Women, Paris, November–December 1945 – via ASP: Women and Social Movements
The Founding of the Women's International Democratic Federation
in Balakhovskai͡a, L. G. ''Women Today'', Progress Publishers, Moscow (1975) pp. 301–333


External links


Latest version of the WIDF website
(Dec.14, 2012) on the
Wayback Machine The Wayback Machine is a digital archive of the World Wide Web founded by Internet Archive, an American nonprofit organization based in San Francisco, California. Launched for public access in 2001, the service allows users to go "back in ...
. Only available in Portuguese.
Women's International Democratic Federation (WIDF) Records
Sophia Smith Collection The Sophia Smith Collection at Smith College is an internationally recognized repository of manuscripts, photographs, periodicals and other primary sources in women's history. General One of the largest recognized repositories of manuscripts, a ...
, Smith College Special Collections
Women's International Democratic Federation (WIDF) Records
at the International Institute for Social History (IISH) in the Netherlands {{Authority control International women's organizations Communist front organizations Organizations established in 1945 International organisations based in Brazil Women's wings of communist parties Women's International Democratic Federation