The year was 1946. American and allied planes droned over Berlin, carrying not bombs but food, as humanitarian efforts continued to save the vanquished Germans from starvation. Weary statesmen named Truman, Stalin and Churchill had recently met in the city of Yalta to plan the postwar western world.

In this sober, exhausted yet hopeful time, a group of men and women first met and established a group known as the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women. For thirty-three years, women and men from all over the planet discussed, debated and defined what would finally come to be the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women-CEDAW. CEDAW was finally adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on December 18, 1979.

What is the aim of CEDAW? Most simply put, "To modify the social and cultural patterns of conduct of men and women, with a view to achieving the elimination of prejudices and customs and all other practices which are based on the idea of the inferiority or the superiority of either of the sexes or on stereotyped roles for men and women." And, "To ensure that family education includes a proper understanding of maternity as a social function and the recognition of the common responsibility of men and women in the upbringing and development of their children, it being understood that the interest of the children is the primordial consideration in all cases." Finally, "States parties shall take all appropriate measures, including legislation, to suppress all forms of traffic in women and exploitation of prostitution of women."

The convention document consists of a preamble and thirty articles. The first sixteen articles set out the aims of the convention; the remaining fourteen articles describe the process for achieving these aims, including the creation of a committee to review the reports of signatories and "make suggestions and general recommendations." States may sign the Convention with the intent of "achieving the full realization of the right recognized in the present Convention." Any of the signatories may request a revision, which would be voted upon by the General Assembly. Any of the States may make a "reservation," meaning that the state will not accept certain articles at the time of ratification. The Committee has no means of directly forcing a state to comply with its suggestions or recommendations.

CEDAW has been signed by 169 countries. A broad spectrum of organizations have also endorsed it, including the Presbyterian Church (USA), the Lutheran World Federation, Haddasah, World Young Women's Christian Association, the American Humanist Association, the Coalition Against Trafficking in Women, the League of Women Voters (USA), and many others. In July, 2002, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, in a vote of 12 to 7, sent CEDAW to the full Senate for ratification. All of the Committee's Democratic Senators and two Republicans, Lincoln Chaffee and Gordon Smith, voted in favor.

While no explicit or specific criticism of CEDAW has yet been made by the First Presidency of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, some "general authorities" of the church and high-profile Mormon activists have. Some of the most visible "non-governmental organizations" (NGOs) are headquartered at Brigham Young University. The World Family Policy Center operate out of the David Kennedy Law Center of the university, with LDS funding. For this reason, the expressed opinions of the directors of these organizations could be seen as representative of the church's position.

Professor Richard Wilkins of the J. Reuben Clark Law School at BYU is the most measured and thoughtful of the voices. Wilkins became a legend among the Mormons when he unexpectedly ("miraculously" claim some supporters) was given a large audience at the Habitat II UN Conference in Istanbul, Turkey. Wilkins claims that the only text he used in preparing his talk was the LDS church's The Family: A Proclamation to the World. Wilkins' primary concerns regarding CEDAW, and the other UN conferences referring to the family are that they may influence domestic laws, could undermine national sovereignty and do not reflect democratic debate.

Kathryn Balmforth is much more negative regarding CEDAW. An attorney and a mother, she addresses cultural issues head on in an extreme, flamboyant style. She refers often to "the radical feminists, population control ideologues, and homosexual rights activists who make up the anti-family movement." The "anti-family movement," according to Balmforth, aims to "eliminate all opposition and force all countries and cultures to conform to their radical vision."

Bruce Hafen, member of the First Quorum of Seventy of the LDS church, has been President of Ricks College and Dean of the Clark Law School at BYU. Hafen presided as provost over BYU during the years when the university was under fire for academic freedom issues and the controversial firing or purging of feminist scholars. Hafen is a frequent contributor to First Things, a neoconservative magazine promoting on the further integration of religion and American society. Hafen has described the UN as "a very undemocratic forum that is far from the world's homes and families."

These outspoken Latter-day saints are to be found on the op-ed pages of major newspapers and magazines, on websites and widely distributed emails. But the views that they articulate are also backed by the tremendous political and economic power of the LDS Church. Under the guise of addressing "moral issues," the LDS Church was instrumental in stopping the national passage of the Equal Rights Amendment; the defeat of initiatives permitting expanded rights for gays and lesbians, including same-sex marriage. By influencing the activities of the United Nations, the LDS Church can shape the policies of nations all over the world.

In 1995, after years of bad press regarding the firing of academic feminists and excommunications of intellectuals, the LDS church hired Edelman Worldwide, a high-powered public relations firm, to recast the church's image. Soon thereafter the church changed its logo and issued The Family: A Proclamation to the World. The Proclamation has become indispensable to Mormons in discussions regarding the family.

The Family: CEDAW does not define the family. CEDAW, however, refers to the need to strengthen the family, and "the great contribution of women to the welfare of the family and to the development of society, so far not fully recognized, the social significance of maternity and the role of both parents in the family in the upbringing of children." Ironically, the LDS document most quoted on the family-the Proclamation-does not define the family, but only defines marriage. As Jennifer Butler, of Ecumenical Women 2000+ explains, "The Women's Convention ...strengthens families by advancing the status of women. When women have civil and political rights, access to education, health care and employment, they are better able to care for themselves and their children."

Definition of Marriage. CEDAW states that women shall have "the same right to enter into marriage" as men, but does not address the definition of marriage. The Proclamation does, however, stating that "marriage between a man and a woman is ordained of God" and that "God has commanded that the sacred powers of procreation are to be employed only between man and woman, lawfully wedded as husband and wife."

This definition of marriage is of special interest when placed in a historical and theological context. Leaders of the LDS church began to practice polygyny (a man married to more than one woman) as a sacred principle, beginning with the church's founder, Joseph Smith. The practice was publicly disavowed in 1890, but subsequent investigation by federal officials demonstrated that 'plural marriages' were secretly and illegally performed for at least 15 years afterward. After a "second Manifesto," the church stopped the practice and began excommunicating church members who entered into such marriages. The practice of "sealing" multiple wives to husbands, however, continues to the present day. These posthumous marriages are clearly polygynous in nature, in contradiction to the Proclamation.

Reproductive Rights. CEDAW urges states to ensure "on a basis of equality of men and women, access to health care services, including those related to family planning." Kathryn Balmforth is suspicious of this language. Referring to a recent conference, she stated (parentheses hers): "Anti-family NGOs were up to their usual antics, proposing language supportive of 'reproductive health services' (abortion), 'diverse family norms' (homosexual families), and portraying the traditional family as a harmful entity from which children should be protected." The LDS church's position on family planning, however, is that it is up to the individual family. According to the 1998 Church Handbook of Instructions, "The decision as to how many children to have and when to have them is extremely intimate and private and should be left between the couple and the Lord. Church members should not judge one another in this matter."

While the Proclamation states that "We declare the means by which mortal life is created to be divinely appointed," church authorities do not excommunicate church members who have abortions, particularly in cases of the usual 'rape, incest, or to preserve the health of the mother.' The advocacy of high profile LDS figures (Senator Orrin Hatch, philanthropist Jon Huntsman) for stem-cell research clearly indicates that this is a theological and moral gray area for the church.

Gay/Lesbian Issues. There is no mention in CEDAW of homosexuality, gay or lesbian issues. Female sexuality is not addressed, although female health concerns are. There are elements of the Mormon activist media, however, which publish sensational and erroneous stories of liberal UN activists in which feminists are linked with the pedophile North American Man-Boy Love Association (according to Kathryn Balmforth in The Family Reporter) or it is even claimed that they "provide sex-education for teens which promote abortion, homosexuality, and even sex with animals" (Kathy Wall, Meridian Magazine).

National Sovereignty. Professor Wilkins addresses the concerns of those who fear the United States coming under United Nations control:

"We have grown accustomed to federal lawmakers in Washington, D.C. imposing their will upon local decision makers. Unless the current direction of the UN is altered, we will also become accustomed to international lawmakers having the same impact.

"CEDAW…could embody the most advanced and intelligent approach to gender relations ever devised by civilized society. The point is that, even if they are, those principles have been adopted and implemented without the democratic debates and procedures devised by this civilized society for any set of norms that purports to call itself 'law.'"

The irony of Wilkins' position is that he admits using, as his primary text in evaluating UN family and feminist concepts, the LDS Proclamation to the World. The Proclamation was not reached at through any democratic means, and is manifestly religious in nature, proclaimed by the "First Presidency and the Council of the Twelve Apostles"-not a democratic body, but a theocratic organization without even female representatives. The Proclamation features elements of LDS theology (such as the concept of "divine parents") which are not held in common with other Christians, let alone represents the views of all religious or secular entities-yet this would become the standard for promotion throughout the world?

Theology and Human Rights: A Mormon Dilemma. In 1978, the LDS church reversed its stand prohibiting African-American males from holding the priesthood. The practice was clearly an instance of racial discrimination. Although church founder Joseph Smith had ordained at least one black man, such ordinations were prohibited from the founder's death in 1844 until the presidency of Spencer W. Kimball. Explanations were various. At first, blacks were claimed to bear the mark of Cain, conveyed through the lineage of Ham, in accordance with Old Testament interpretations; but in the twentieth century the most common justification was that an entire race of people had been 'less valiant' in the pre-existent state, failing to take sides in the "War in Heaven" between the forces of Jehovah and those of Satan. Secular commentators consider the 'second-class' status of blacks to have been an accommodation to social pressures in the pre-civil war United States. This example demonstrates an inclination of the church leadership to give theological explanations for discriminatory practices. While church leaders denied that they were racist, they nevertheless perpetuated what was clearly a racist, discriminatory practice.

The Proclamation to the World describes fathers and mothers as "equal partners," but also states that "By divine design, fathers are to preside over their families in love and righteousness and are responsible to provide the necessities of life and protection for their families. Mothers are primarily responsible for the nurture of their children." While "circumstances may necessitate individual adaptation," the Proclamation makes clear a divinely ordained 'division of labor.' While this division of labor may be "divine" to the Latter-day Saints, it is not the consensus of all religious traditions, as demonstrated by the religious signatories.

Stone Her! the Amina Lawal Story. According to Kathryn Balmforth of the World Family Policy Center, "The CEDAW Committee's hostility to religion is open and explicit. Religion and culture are routinely identified as the primary obstacles to women's rights….The Committee even explicitly instructed one Islamic country that it should reinterpret the Koran in ways that were considered 'permissible' by the Committee."

As of this writing, in Nigeria, a mother named Amina Lawal is under sentence to be stoned to death for having extramarital sex. The sentence was handed down by a Sharia appellate judge, who has justified the punishment from the Quran and the Hadith of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and various other organizations are seeking mercy for Lawal. Her sentence will not be carried out until 2004, so that she can finish suckling her baby daughter, Wasila. Then, she will be buried to the waist and stoned by the members of her village. The father of the child was released for lack of evidence. Under Sharia law, for him to be convicted requires that he must confess or four other men must testify that they witnessed the offender's act.

Nigeria is a signatory to CEDAW, and obviously not living up to their commitments to the convention. But at least, with CEDAW, there may be international pressures and sanctions brought to bear against such horrific injustice. The LDS church, though it claims a "heavenly mother" in its theology, will not permit public discussion of her by members without the threat of excommunication. Hopefully the church will permit discussion of the terrible abuses against the Amina Lawals, of the victims of female genital mutilation and sex trafficking, rather than focusing on the distortions and fabrications of right-wing extremists. Senator Gordon Smith of Oregon is a Latter-day Saint and a supporter of CEDAW-and he is listening, at least.

• Two thirds of the world's illiterate adults are women;
• More boys than girls attend school;
• Three fifths of those who live on less than one dollar a day are women;
• Women's health concerns are often ignored;
• 585,000 women-one every minute-die each year from causes related to pregnancy, often because they lack access to reproductive health care;
• Women are under-represented in positions of power in every country;
• Hundreds of thousands of women and children are forced to work as prostitutes and sex trafficking is on the rise in nearly every region of the world.

The church will not be aligned with the Christian right as a political action group. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints limits its involvement in politics to issues the church deems to have religious or moral implications, such as abortion or same-sex marriage. For everything else, the political process is fine as it is.

-- Elder Bruce Hafen
First Quorum of the Seventy
Salt Lake Tribune, November 17, 1999