Women’s Rights, Sexual and Gender Minorities, On the Front Line When Democracy Falters

11/04/2023

Written by Nolwenn Bigot 

Translated by Manon Picot 

Not long after the Second World War, Simone de Beauvoir already warned us “Never forget that all it takes is a political, economic or religious crisis for women’s rights to be called into question^[1]« N’oubliez jamais qu’il suffira d’une crise politique, économique ou religieuse pour que les droits des femmes soient remis en question ». Simone de Beauvoir, Le Deuxième Sexe, Paris, … Continue reading [loose translation]”. In times of turmoil, crisis or war, women’s rights and, more broadly, the rights of sexual and gender minorities are the first human rights under attack, as illustrated by the near ban on abortion in Viktor Orban’s illiberal Hungary, institutionalized sexism defended by the populist Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil, or the stranglehold of Chinese law on family matters in Hong Kong. Unfortunately, if this statement is not surprising concerning autocratic countries, it raises questions when applied to democracies, even on a smaller scale: leaders can indeed challenge democratic systems in aid of social and political conservatism, largely unfavourable to women and gender minorities.

The scope to which women and sexual and gender minorities can enjoy their rights depends largely on the political regime under which they live. Once an emblem of ‘healthy’ democracies, the rights of women and sexual and gender minorities are now the first ones to be openly questioned and attacked when democracy falters. However, they can also be brandished as a token of respectability, openness, and modernity, in order to hide the authoritarian turn of these same democracies. Since it is under democracy that human rights, and de facto the rights of women and sexual and gender minorities, grow, they have become the symbol of it.

How, for democracies whose governments are turning towards authoritarianism, can the rights of women and sexual and gender minorities be both targets and weapons?

Feminisms and defenders of women’s rights and sexual and gender minorities’ rights targeted because of their values.

Although they do not have a monopoly on it, the purpose of feminist thought is to defend equal rights between genders, and to do so, to promote women’s rights as well as sexual and gender minorities’ rights. When a democracy locks itself into an autocratic exercise of power, defenders of feminism and gender equality become its first targets^[2]Regina Tamés, “Les droits des femmes, boussole pour la démocratie”, Reforma, Novembre 2022, Article en ligne, URL : … Continue reading. It can be explained by the common values defended by the majority of these movements: through their fights for gender equality, a whole approach to power, social relations and authority is called into question and rethought. These feminist movements want to bear a “revolution, [generally] non-violent, for a more inclusive, more open society^[3]« Révolution, [généralement] non violente, pour une société plus inclusive, plus ouverte ». Haut-Commissariat des Nations Unies pour les Droits de l’Homme, “Le retrait de la Türkiye de la … Continue reading [loose translation]”. Whatever the political regime in place, it is the idea of “revolution” that scares people.

At the forefront of pro-democracy demonstrations, we often find women, calling for the respect of democratic rules as much as the recognition of their rights, despite the particular risks to their safety. For example, in 2021, many Thai women demonstrating for the restoration of democracy denounced the harassment and sexual and gender-based violence they faced during the demonstrations^[4]“Thaïlande: des militantes pro-démocratie victimes de harcèlement sexuel”, RFI, février 2021, article en ligne, URL : … Continue reading aimed at asserting their rights as women and citizens.

By promoting the modernisation of the rules of governance, feminist movements seek to create a more participative democracy, more respectful of human rights and to give power to women and sexual and gender minorities. Its defenders thus incur the wrath of some democratic regimes that aim at concentrating power in the hands of a political elite or a few individuals, following autocratic wishes^[5]Marie-Cécile Naves, “Le féminisme, pilier d’une démocratie durable”, IRIS, 20 Avril 2021, Article en ligne, URL : … Continue reading. In that sense, we can note the violent repression carried out by the mullahs^[6]Muslim scholars who exert religious control over political power in Iran. against Iranian women.

The traditionalist argument mobilised to undermine the rights of women and gender and sexual minorities.

Faced with the fragility of the democratic institutions of certain States, such as Israel, Italy, or Hungary,  responding to economic, political or social crises that are shaking them, populist leaders see an opportunity to blame “democracies and human rights^[7]« Démocraties et les droits de l’Homme ».Human Right Watch, “Pologne : L’érosion de l’état de droit nuit aux femmes et aux personnes LGBT”, 15 décembre 2022, Article en ligne, URL : … Continue reading [loose translation]”. In this way, they justify the harm they cause – or intend to cause – to human rights and fundamental freedoms, for the sake of alternative values to universalism, and attack human rights, one right after another, often starting with the rights of women and sexual and gender minorities^[8]Regina Tamés, “Les droits des femmes, boussole pour la démocratie”, Reforma, Novembre 2022, Article en ligne, URL : … Continue reading.

In the time of trouble, the instinctive reaction is to turn to solutions that have worked in the past, and have proved their worth, thinking that they will produce the same effects. This is one of the particularities of populism, which, by oversimplifying a complex situation, claims to remedy it by providing an equally simplistic response^[9]Deleersnijder Henri, “Le populisme : essai de définition”, Populaire et populisme. Paris : CNRS Éditions, 2009, Article en ligne, URL : http://books.openedition.org/editionscnrs/14323. To illustrate that point, facing the “birth crisis” in Europe, rather than tackling the reasons why European women are refusing, postponing, or limiting childbearing, such as wages inequalities, financial difficulties or the climate crisis, the populist response mainly consisted in forcing women to have more children.

Within the framework of gender relations, autocratic regimes generally tend to advocate a return to the traditional distribution of gender roles, in response to the difficulties their States are facing to the detriment of the rights of women and sexual and gender minorities^[10]Claudia de Castro Caldeirinha, “Le populisme et les femmes : quels dangers ?”, Chronique pour Les Grenades – RTBF, Octobre 2022, Chronique en ligne, URL : … Continue reading. In that sense, Viktor Orban’s Hungary is seeking to respond to the challenge posed by immigration to the country and the falling birth rate. These traditional values thus are a compass for the distribution of roles within society: to the men the activities bringing a financial gain, to the women the family-related and parenting activities: giving birth, feeding, caring and educating. Following this logic, there is then no need to guarantee women’s rights and safety in the public space; and cynically it would even be more efficient to reduce their reproductive rights to increase the birth rate^[11]Rachel Knaebel, “Natalité, famille, patrie : comment Viktor Orban renvoie les femmes hongroises au foyer”, BastaMédia, Avril 2019, Article en ligne, URL : … Continue reading. Thus, according to Fabrice Cahen,  researcher at the National Institute for Demographic Studies, “the development of an anti-abortion policy responds, according to a utilitarian and ‘accounting’ natalist logic, to the need to increase the number of births by pragmatical needs^[12]« Le développement d’une politique anti-avortement répond, selon une logique nataliste utilitariste et « comptable », au besoin de se procurer un gain de naissances par des moyens pragmatiques … Continue reading [loose translation]”. Women find themselves confined, literally and figuratively, in a maternal role within the private sphere, with no protection of their rights, while sexual and gender minorities are simply erased from the public sphere^[13]Rachel Knaebel, « Natalité, famille, patrie : comment Viktor Orban renvoie les femmes hongroises au foyer », BastaMédia, Avril 2019, Article en ligne, URL : … Continue reading, a situation also conducive to an increase of violence against them.

The traditional values mobilised by the authorities in power, whether political and/or religious, are often supported by religion. When religion influences political decisions, it is too often women’s bodies, their rights and their place in the public arena that are threatened, as well as democracy.

Indeed, from the conscience clause encouraged by the far-right Italian government to ban voluntary termination of pregnancy in certain southern regions^[14]« En Italie, le recours massif à la clause de conscience fragilise le droit à l’avortement », Courrier international, 28 juin 2022, Article en ligne, URL … Continue reading, to the banning of women from the electoral lists of the ultra-orthodox political parties in Netanyahu’s coalition, there is no shortage of examples. In Israel, most orthodox members of the ruling coalition are currently vehemently opposing the right claimed by women to pray together with men at the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem, despite the fact that the Supreme Court has ruled in favour of this request^[15]Frédéric Métézeau, « En Israël, des femmes chassées du Mur des Lamentations à Jérusalem, parce qu’elles veulent prier comme les hommes », France Info, Novembre 2021, Article en ligne, … Continue reading. 

The gradual erasure of women and sexual and gender minorities in autocratic societies.

The more a democracy embarks on the path of illiberalism^[16]“Illiberal democracy”, a term first used in 1990 by the American political specialist Fareed Zakaria, refers to a regime that is based on respect for elections, but which defies all the other … Continue reading toward an autocratic exercise of power, the more it restricts the representation of women and sexual and gender minorities in civic space and harms human rights and fundamental freedoms^[17]Marie-Cécile Naves, « Le féminisme, pilier d’une démocratie durable », IRIS, 20 Avril 2021, Article en ligne, URL : … Continue reading. These infringements generally concern reproductive rights and gender-based violence, as well as the laws and the institutions protecting them.

Thus, in July 2021, Turkey, amid an authoritarian drift, withdrew itself from the Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence Against Women and Domestic Violence – or the Istanbul Convention. While Turkey’s 20th century was marked by democratic progress and the emancipation of women, the withdrawal of the Istanbul Convention foretells future obstacles to women’s access to justice, and impunity for the perpetrators of violence against women. Turkey illustrates the relevance of the use of the term “backlash” proposed in 1991 by the American feminist author Susan Faludi^[18]Susan Faludi, “Backlash: The Undeclared War Against American Women”, New-York, Crown, 1991. This concept helps to explain the conservative and authoritarian reactions of governments after major social advances, a kind of conservative retreat that mainly concerns women, sexual and gender minorities. In Turkey, women’s status is changing with the national context of political inflexion, characterized by the strong impact of the State of Emergency measures on democratic institutions, the rule of law and fundamental freedoms^[19]Nadine Epstain, Éric Biegala, Franck Ballanger, “ Ces pays dans le monde où les droits des femmes régressent”, France Inter, 6 mars 2020, Article en ligne, URL : … Continue reading.

In Israel, adherence – or not, to the Istanbul Convention is a strong indicator of the country’s political tendencies and its vision of women’s role in society. In January 2022, the country submitted an official demand to join the Council of Europe on preventing and fighting violence against women and domestic violence, but in the face of far-right pressure, ratification of this convention was postponed and is no longer topical^[20]« HaTzionout HaDatit exige du Likud de ne pas adhérer à la Convention d’Istanbul », The Times of Israel, 26 décembre 2022, Article en ligne, URL : … Continue reading.

The weapon of feminism washing: women’s rights held up as a banner to conceal autocratic excesses.

Around the world, several declining democracies, such as India, Brazil or Tunisia, highlight the presence of women in their political institutions in order to modernize their image^[21]« Jusqu’où soutenir Etats autoritaires ou dictatures au nom du féminisme », TV5Monde, Septembre 2014, Article en ligne, URL : … Continue reading and reaffirm their democratic status, while their domestic policies are tending toward authoritarianism^[22]We recognise here the process of “feminist washing”, that comes from the term “pinkwashing”: the aim is to highlight gender and sexual minorities with the aim, for a state or a company, of … Continue reading. This instrumentalization process of the liberalization of women’s rights and the promotion of established female figures to positions of influence is often used by States seeking a respectable situation in international institutions.

Since 11 October 2021, engineer and academic Najla Bouden has been head of the Tunisian government, a first in the country, but also in the Arab world. Campaigner for equality between men and women and a committed protester in favour of democracy during Tunisia’s Arab Spring, her fights seem to clash with the political vision of President Saied, known for his conservative views on women’s rights – he remains opposed to gender equality in inheritance subjects, and Tunisian men are still legally recognized as head of the family. This dichotomy has led Tunisian women’s rights activists to fear that the President is simply using the façade of women’s emancipation to soften the blow of its authoritarian actions^[23]“Women in Tunisia: Has a female prime minister changed Tunisia?”, BBC News, 12 Juillet 2022, URL : https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-62053997.

Brazil presided over by Jair Bolsonaro also illustrates this tendency. While his political program raised fear of a return to political authoritarianism, and despite a presidential campaign in 2018 marked by overt misogyny and machismo, the Brazilian president nonetheless appointed a woman, Damares Alves, as Minister for Human Rights, Family and Women when he came to power^[24]Da Costa, Gustavo Gomes. « Droits LGBTQI+ sous Bolsonaro : revers et résistance », La Revue Nouvelle, vol. 7, no. 7, 2022, pp. 40-46, URL : https://www.cairn.info/revue-nouvelle-2022-7-page-40.htm. It is also worth noting the change in the name of this ministry, as it speaks volumes about the president’s political priorities, from the “Ministry of Human Rights” under the previous government to the “Ministry of Women, racial equality and human rights” within Dilma Rousseff’s administration. This appointment did not prevent his government from supporting bills and projects that are damaging to the rights of women and minorities, such as the amendment of the Penal Code for the determination of “female sex” concerning the crime of femicide, which can exclude from the law transvestite and transgender women, or the step back concerning specific care for transvestite and transgender people^[25]Emma Rinaudo, « La politique d’extrême droite de Jair Bolsonaro au Brésil et ses impacts sur la question du genre », Institut du genre en géopolitique, Novembre 2020, Rapport en ligne, URL … Continue reading.

In India, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s policies are becoming increasingly autocratic, and the ruling nationalist party multiplies its repressive policies, especially against religious minorities^[26]Meyer-Hilfiger Manon, « La difficile situation des musulmans et des chrétiens en Inde », National Geographic, Avril 2022, Article en ligne, URL : … Continue reading. It is in this context that Droupadi Murmu was appointed president in July 2022. While the Indian government is more authoritarian, women within it are given pride of place: in the presidency or in the adoption of legislation aimed at guaranteeing their freedoms, such as at the end of September 2022, when the Supreme Court extended abortion rights to single women. And yet, in fact, Indian women are still particularly victims of violence and discrimination^[27]Oxfam, India Discrimination Report 2022, 15 Septembre 2022. Rapport en ligne, URL : https://www.oxfamindia.org/knowledgehub/workingpaper/india-discrimination-report-2022. Nearly a third of women between 18 and 49 years old experienced physical or sexual violence, according to the Indian Ministry of Health^[28]« L’horrible meurtre de Shraddha Walker met en lumière les violences conjugales dans le pays », Courrier international, 23 novembre 2022, Article en ligne, URL : … Continue reading. As for marital rape, it is not legally recognized, and abortions of female foetuses remain despite the ban on disclosing the sex of the unborn child imposed on practitioners.

In India, the “feminine guarantee” that women represent within political institutions does not guarantee the promotion or effectiveness of their rights. Their presence is often used to conceal the authoritarian drift of the countries from which they come. As the rights of women and sexual and gender minorities can only flourish in democracy, autocracies gamble on the reciprocal: if a political regime values women, even if it fails to guarantee their rights, then it is a democracy^[29]Regina Tamés, « Les droits des femmes, boussole pour la démocratie », Reforma, Novembre 2022, Article en ligne, URL : … Continue reading.

What reaction from the international community?

International instances have no shortage of standards contributing to the protection of women’s rights, such as the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, the Council of Europe conventions on violence against women and action against human trafficking, or the International Labour Organization convention on decent work for domestic workers; but their application is often dependent on the preliminary respect of democratic guarantees by the signatory countries and occurs according to a voluntary basis.

After each new attack on the rights of women and sexual and gender minorities, the international community reacts with emotion, it multiplies declarations and recommendations in favour of their protection. However, when these attacks occur within democracies that are in the throes of autocratic drift, sanctions are hard to come by: the rights of women and gender and sexual minorities are still often considered to be part of a country’s social and national policies, rather than human rights on their own rights^[30]“Les droits des femmes sont des droits de l’Homme”, Haut-commissariat des droits de l’Homme, Publication des Nations Unies, 2014, Publication en ligne, URL : … Continue reading.

To quote this article: Nolwenn Bigot (2023). Women’s Rights, Sexual and Gender Minorities, On the Front Line When Democracy Falters. Gender in Geopolitics Institute. igg-geo.org/?p=13718&lang=en

The statements in this article are the sole responsibility of the author