The Commission on the Status of Women concluded its 70th session at United Nations Headquarters in New York after meeting March 9-19. On the final day of the session, March 19, the European Union voted to block a draft resolution from the United States to define men and women according to biological sex.
The U.S. motion referred back to an earlier UN declaration. The Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, adopted unanimously by 189 countries in 1995, was an agenda for women’s empowerment that is now considered the key global policy document on gender equality. At the time it was adopted, the meaning of “woman” was commonly understood to be a biological fact, but this definition has evolved over time in certain circles.
Defining terms
For example, in this address in 2024 in Geneva, it said:
With reference to "gender", the Holy See understands the term to be grounded in the biological sexual identity and difference that is male or female. Regarding the concept of “gender norms” the Holy See does not recognize the idea that gender is socially constructed, rather gender recognizes the objective identity of the human person as born male or female.
Part of the U.S. motion this month, called “Protection of women and girls through appropriate terminology,” included the following call to reaffirm this prior accepted usage:
Reaffirms that the term “gender” as used in the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action and in annex IV to the report of the Fourth World Conference on Women, and in the subsequent reviews and follow-ups to the Conference, is intended to be interpreted and understood as it was according to its ordinary, generally accepted usage, as referring to men and women, and that there is no indication of any new meaning or connotation of the term, different from accepted prior usage…
However, the proposal never came to a vote. Belgium, speaking on behalf of the EU, introduced a “no-action motion,” a procedural tool that blocks debate and prevents a proposal from being considered. The recorded vote to table the motion was 23 in favor to 3 against (Chile, Pakistan, United States), with 17 abstentions.
With its permanent observer status, the Holy See doesn't vote.
The Commission on the Status of Women concluded the session amid lingering concerns over terminology, signaling an erosion of consensus that breaks with the foundational language agreed upon at the historic 1995 Fourth World Conference on Women. This session was the first since 1996 in which the Agreed Conclusions were not adopted by consensus.
Several speakers voiced regret that the Agreed Conclusions had been adopted by a recorded vote, rather than by consensus.
Bethany Kozma, Director of Global Affairs at the Department of Health and Human Services, told Fox News Digital that defining gender by biological sex is important to protect women and girls:
The United States Government will not stand by and watch as malicious forces misuse multilateral organizations to promote their ideologies and social agendas, obstructing nations’ abilities to exercise their national sovereignty. We will always protect women and girls from dangerous gender ideology and affirm biological truth.
Archbishop Gabriele Caccia, now the Pope's nuncio to the United States, but also still the Holy See's permanent observer at the UN, delivered a statement at the 70th Commission on the Status of Women. While he did not address the U.S. motion directly, he affirmed the need for policies rooted in respecting women’s inherent dignity:
Ensuring access to justice for women and girls requires more than just formal legal protections. It also involves addressing the root causes that put them at risk, prevent them from seeking justice and ultimately undermine their God-given human dignity.
