Comments and discussion

In your analysis of Hillary Clinton’s speech “Women's Rights are Human Rights”, you should consider discussing the statements and claims that are most interesting or controversial.

For example, at the time of the speech, some of the most controversial statements were those alluding to the issues of China banning Chinese women’s access to the conference and to China’s one child-policy: “…when women are denied the right to plan their own families, and that includes being forced to have abortions or being sterilized against their will.” (ll. 181-183); “It is indefensible that many women in nongovernmental organizations who wished to participate in this conference have not been able to attend -- or have been prohibited from fully taking part.” (ll. 191-195)

These statements were viewed as a courageous gesture, considering that the conference was held in China and could have easily led to a diplomatic conflict. At that time, Communist China was still very closed off to the outside world. Therefore, allowing Chinese women to take part at the conference was considered a threat to ...