Hillary Clinton: 'NO TURNING BACK'-“women’s rights are human rights,”

Hillary Clinton: 'NO TURNING BACK'-“women’s rights are human rights,”

Hillary Clinton: It’s Time to ‘Shape Our Destinies’
by Eleanor Clift Mar 10, 2012 5:27 PM EST
Taking on extremists both abroad and at home who would marginalize women, the secretary of State called for an “audacious” fight at the Women in the World Summit. By Eleanor Clift

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As secretary of State, Clinton has made the issue of girls and women worldwide a cornerstone of U.S. foreign policy. “It’s not just the right thing to do, it is a strategic imperative,” she said. She wondered aloud “why extremists are always focusing on women—the reason is a mystery to me,” but it’s the same the world over, no matter what the ideology. “They all want to somehow control … the decisions we make about our own body. It’s hard to believe even here at home we have to stand up for women’s rights and reject efforts to marginalize any one of us.”

It was a rare jab at the political opposition at home as Clinton stressed that America must set an example for the world. She dubbed this the “age of participation,” and applauded the power that women have to “shape our destinies in ways previous generations couldn’t imagine.”

“Women with help from their friends can make a difference,” she declared, ending the conference on the note that there are big challenges ahead, and women need to be as “fearless … committed …. and audacious” as the leaders and activists who made presentations over the two-and-a-half day summit. “So let’s go for it, and make it happen,” Clinton exhorted to a standing ovation. Almost 20 years ago, when she declared “women’s rights are human rights,” Clinton laid down the foundation for what she has helped make a global movement. There is still very far to go but there is no turning back, and that in itself is progress.

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http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/03/10/hillary-clinton-it-s-time-to-shape-our-destinies.html