[...] [Narrator:] Inhistory and legend, the laws which first shapedhuman beings into societies were held to bedivine in origin. To Moses on a mountaintopwas given a code of behavior for his and future generations. To Muhammad in thedesert, the truth was revealed and recordedfor a widening world. And in other lands, otherpriests and prophets received anddisseminated the word. But in time, law and divinitysuffered an uneasy separation. The Magna Carta signifiedthat hencefoward men would make codes for men to live by. The great letter altered therelationships between governors and governed throughout theWestern world unto this day. [Music playing] There have beenmen whose strength made their codes uniquelyimposible on those who were subject to them. [...] And there was a bill of rightswhose authors were spokesmen for a whole new nation. Curiously in all this, therewas small acknowledgment that half of humankindis, after all, woman. [Music playing] [A Question of Justice] [Women with translation earpieces seated in conference room] [Gavel banging] [Keys MacManus:] Welcome to this firstinter-hemispheric conference for women lawyerson law, population, and the status of women. We feel it is aninterrelated subject, and we hope that at theend of the four days that you're here that we'll havesome positive thoughts to carry back to our individualcountries and perhaps some unified thoughts tocarry to other women lawyers and to other lawyers. We have adopted as themotto of the conference "that law is the historyof the mixing of codes." We hope that most ofthe major speakers [Translator in booth] will note the influenceof other codes than the one which is theprimary source of their law. [Narrator:] 60 women lawyers andlegislators from 38 countries met at Airlie Foundation, a non-profit educational foundation near Washington,to consider their options. Speakers came from theirown distinguished ranks. [Harriet Pilpel:] What Ihope will be the dominant... [Narrator:] Harriet Pilpelof the United States. [Harriet Pilpel:] ...legalsystems, which all of you represent from differentcorners of the world. I hope that thedominant mood will be one of daring and courage. I'm not mentioning intelligence,because that's self-evident. Daring and couragehave not usually been a characteristic ofthe legal profession, which has been dominated by men. [Laughter by a man in the audience] In the United States of Americaand many other countries, women lawyers, far more thantheir male counterparts, have played an important partin overcoming legal barriers to freedom ofchoice, as to when, and whether to have a child. [Narrator:] They proposed toexamine five legal systems, that of the United States,Continental Law, Commonwealth, Islamic, and Latin American law. [Ann, co-chairperson:][Speaking French] [Narrator:] As co-chairperson ofthe conference, Ann [?] of France, outlinedthe responsibilities of the variouspanels, and herself, spoke for ContinentalLaw, and the vast changes it has seen in the past decade. [Ann:] [Speaking French] [...] [Narrator:] Until recently,France was the least amiable of legal climates for a woman. But within the last few years, the French woman hasacquired strong legal status and protection fromdiscrimination, and above all, the freedom of choice about whenand whether to have a child. Across the Mediterranean,where France built miniatures of herselfalong the Fertile Crescent, as in Tunisia andLebanon, and bequeathed a formal legal system reforms would be slower. Forhere, other codes prevail. This is the domainof Islamic law. [Laure Moghaizel:][Speaking French] [Narrator:] But as LaureMoghaizel of Lebanon told her audience, Islamic law,once thought to be immutable, is changing. To conform,not only to revealed truth, but to discovered reality. Stephanie Ansa of Ghana. [Stephanie Ansa:] Ladies andgentlemen, Commonwealth Law is a rather ambiguousterm, but in the context of the theme forthis conference, I wish to restrict its meaningto that system of law generally applicable to Britain and itspresent or former dependencies. Each Commonwealth nationhas either a Constitution, or as in the case ofBritain, certain laws which constitute itsfundamental law, upon which all other laws are based. These fundamental laws guaranteethe liberty of the individual, but also recognize the familyas the basic unit of society. [Narrator:] Two themesrecurred again and again: the family as the centralconsideration, and change in the status of womenas at least possible. [Mehrangiz Manouchehrian:][Non-English speech] [Narrator:] One who has madethat change dramatic is Mehrangiz Manouchehrian. Who left abrilliant career in the Iranian government towork for her country women and all women. She spoke on humanrights in Iran with a daring and courage,which the speakers had been asked to demonstrate. [Mehrangiz Manouchehrian:][Speaking Farsi] [Narrator:] Iran isa burgeoning nation, whose every material goalseems possible of attainment. It enjoys a leadershippublicly dedicated to universal prosperity,strength, health, literacy. [Mehrangiz Manouchehrian:][Speaking Farsi] Moreover, it traces itshistory back, proudly, through 6,000 years. And yet, as MadameManouchehrian pointed out, present civil lawsays that a husband has the right to slay anadulterous wife and her lover. Clearly, there isroom for change, and change has been promised. [Mehrangiz Manouchehrian:][Speaking Farsi] [Speaker 1:] It isby reason of the... [Narrator:] The working panelsessions examined, in depth, laws pertaining tothe status of women. [Speaker 1:] ...that therehave been many laws. [Narrator:] NaniSoewondo, of Indonesia, led the panel on legalbarriers to freedom of choice. Others studied legalproblems involved with delivery of familyplanning services and the role of womenlawyers as agents of change. [Nani Soewondo:][Non-English speech] [Narrator:] Discussionwas free and frank, for these panelswere shaping what would be the finalrecommendations of the conference for actionby their colleagues worldwide. [Speaker 2:] Sterilizations... [Narrator:] Occasionally,even the men were heard from, as this observer, from Iran. [Speaker 2:] It is opento male and female. The only thing, Ithink, for the practice is that, forcivilization of woman, the consent of thehusband is required. For male sterilization,however, the problem is different, and notmany of our countrymen, male, will consent tosterilization very easily. However, it's picking up also. It's starting. [Fade to black] [Two women walking on a path] [Narrator:] It is one thingto read in the morning paper that the status of womenin a particular country is nearer the 12thcentury than the 20th. It is something else to heara woman of that country, on the way to breakfaston a Virginia morning, tell you what she plansto do about that status when she returns home. [Women walking on path] By the second day theywere, more or less adjusted to the tasksand to each other. [Birgitte Linner:] TheSwedish government... [Narrator:] BirgitteLinner spoke for Sweden. [Birgitta Linner:] ...and promotenew attitudes arising out of a public debate and publicopinion, and economic, social, and medical research. And to implement the new ideas. As examples, now we haveparental leave, not only maternity leave, butparental leave, since 1974. You could call it baby leavefor both fathers and mothers. They can decide, themselves,who will want to stay home. Yeah. [Laughter] Because why shouldn'tthey have a chance to decide that themselves? It's for sevenmonths after birth, together with a child, both. [Tunisian speaker:][Speaking French] [Narrator:] From Tunisia, [?] came another aspect of theMiddle Eastern woman's story, based on thesituation which exists when a nation'spresident, has himself, given a mandate for change. "The Greeks asked Solon the Wise,what is the best Constitution?" "He replied, first tellme for what people, and in what period of history." [Tunisian speaker:][Speaking French] [Narrator:] In other words,in this struggle, there are no absolutes, savethe conviction that laws must change as times change. [Irene Cortez:] Anexamination of other laws, such as those in marriage,family relations... [Narrator:] Irene Cortezof the Philippines. [Irene Cortez:] Theneed for change, if these laws wereto be consistent, with a policy to contain arunaway population growth. Thus, the Civil code provisionsfixing the minimum age of marriage at 16 for the maleand 14 for the female. Together with the obligation for mutualsupport among relatives, account for earlymarriages between parties still unable to supportthemselves, much less a family. Some issues werefound to be on time... [Narrator:] Her nationhas a somewhat anomalous legal history. Rooted in ancientoceanic traditions, then under strongly RomanCatholic Spanish control for more than threecenturies. Then half a century of United States influence. Finally, a return toits own multifaceted patterns, an interestingproblem in law, population, and the status of women. Among the mostvaluable contributions were those from the legaland legislative luminaries of Latin America. The women of that continenthave compressed ages of progress into two decades. Maria MaldonadoCastro, of Venezuela, spoke of an elementtoo often neglected, the financial aspects ofchange and population programs, budgeting forachieving social ends. [Aerial view of Venezuela] Venezuela is one ofthe more developed of the developing countries,with a healthy respect for industrial progressand a willingness to support programs to keepthat progress from exacting too high a price. [Venezuela downtown fade to the meeting] Arriving at this place andtime, against almost insuperable odds, was a lovely,ancient lady who had been a familyplanning advocate and a disciple of MargaretSanger more than 50 years ago. Shidzue Kato of Japan. [Shidzue Kato:] To ourladies and friends. I was introduced as a lawyer,but, in fact, I am not a lawyer, but a lawmaker. [Tense laughter] The reason... [Applause] the reason I wasn'tto become a lawyer, because when I was young,in my girlhood days, my government didn't allow anygirl to enter the university, so that's why Ididn't have a chance to study in the university. Now, this is my greatpleasure and honor to be given anopportunity to express my views on this subject... [Narrator:] In Japan, womenhave won total status as human beings only recently. A difference of condition markedby more than distance in miles, was reported by Mira[?] of Yugoslavia. [Mira:] Of particularimportance, for the Yugoslav woman, isthe newly created legislation on family planning orbirth control in our 1974 Constitution. We believe that family planningis an individual right and not only the givenrights of parents. The norm's intentionis to protect the woman from eventual dependenceupon the decision and attitude of her spouse. Earlier, questions ofabortion and contraception, only involved the woman andher emancipated attitudes and a gynecologist. Gradually, the idea of theimportance of family planning spread with respectto the interest of the child and society. Today, family planningis not understood as a position determiningthe number of children, but rather is a needfor humanizing person-to-person relations. We think parents shouldbe aware of the laws of biologicalreproduction in order to give a wanted child the richest emotional life possible. [...] [Narrator:] Dialoguescontinued informally between the sessions. [Romy Medeiros Da Fonseca:][Speaking Portuguese] [Narrator:] Romy Medeirosda Fonseca of Brazil, said, "As a Brazilian, Ithink this conference will impel me to work harder for thecondition of my country women. We will all returnhome convinced there is only one road for womenif they want true emancipation and that is throughfamily planning." [Stephanie Daly:] The womenthat we hear, at the moment, are the articulate women, thewomen who have been educated... [Narrator:] StephanieDaly of Trinidad. [Stephanie Daly:] avery small minority And they tend to preserve thestatus that they have achieved. They talk about the other womenwho work at these, sort of, subsistence levels,but they don't strive to attain as much forthem as they do for themselves. And I think that that's stilla very, very big problem. It's no use to awoman with no money and no opportunity to getmoney and a shortage of food, to be told that she hasthe right to vote if she... simply she is notconcerned with that. She isn't in a positionto be concerned. [Harriet Pilpel:] Ina very real sense, you have to makeprogress through people, through particular persons. And this kind ofcongress makes it possible for womenfrom one country to get to know women from agreat many other countries. For example, Franceis very far ahead in the field of thestatus of women's rights, and we heard a greatdeal about that today, with the result that I thinkall the other delegates, Western European, Asia,African, Latin America, have got some ideas, which,eventually, will take root in their own country. [Ann:] Of course,it's very difficult, because the problemsare extremely specific in each country. And what is true forFrance, for instance, is absolutely wrongfor Africa or Asia. But another positivepart of this conference, is we are workingbetween lawyers, and belonging tothe same profession, we understand each othermuch better, you see. [Speaker 3:] We are talkingabout different systems of law, and how the women inall these countries which are participating,solve the problem of improving the status of women. [Speaker 4:] Womenall over the world have great responsibilities,both inside and outside the home. Dr. Aggrey, a famousGhanaian educationist, said that when you educate aman, you educate an individual. If you educate a woman,you educate a whole nation. [Speaker 5:] Educatewomen of all the world, because througheducation, you can go to any part of the world. You can teach the womanhow to help the family, how to know their rights, howto do everything in the future. [Ann:] So, I think themost important thing is to educate women first, andwhen they are able to understand a certain number of notions... well, of course, they willcome to family planning, because they willunderstand that in the interest ofthe whole family and of the children,are spacings the birth, and not having so manychildren, and, so on. [Speaker 6:] I canadd perhaps, also, that if she can plan herfamily, she can also better plan her work, her career. It's easier. When she has the burden ofchildren, she doesn't expect... it's more difficult. And,also, for the employer, he can always think that womenwill become pregnant every year and at every time. So, it's important, even forrights for equal work, and... [Speaker 7:] That's why it's... [Speaker 6:] human rights. [Speaker 7:] That's whyit's the first right, and all of the rightsare founded on that one. [Speaker 4:] Populationproblems are related with therights of women, because women are theoriginators of family. And you cannot leave usout, whatever you do. [Dissolve to the meeting] [Narrator:] Thelawyer as catalyst, was the subject of the lastspeaker, Raquel Moch de Martinez of Mexico. [Raquel Moch De Martinez:][Speaking Spanish] [Narrator:] On the first dayof International Women's year, a new article inMexico's Constitution went into effect saying, notonly that men and women are equal before the law,but defining its position on population in theseunmistakable terms. All persons havethe right to decide in a free, responsible,and informed manner, on the number ofchildren they will have and the intervals between them. [...] So, the hard task ofreaching agreement on the recommendations began. [Aziza Hussein:] Inorder that a woman be a person, able to contributeto, and to benefit from, social progressand development, she must enjoy equalitywith men in law and in fact, in all fields. [Narrator:] Aziza Hussein, of Egypt, spoke the key wordsof the introduction. [Aziza Hussein:] Andthe principles... [Narrator:] If this bodywere to present a united front to the world,valiant decisions would have to be made. [Aziza Hussein:] Therefore,needs to be carefully studied in every country. So, that gaps innational legislations may be identified, where legalreforms may be urgently needed. [Woman looking at her notes] [Speaker 8:] [Speaking Spanish] [Translator in booth] [Narrator:] In the end,agreement was close to unanimous on a series of recommendationsfor the legal routes toward improvement ofthe status of women. For giving to them,as they're due, rights which men of allnations take for granted. They formed and statedmany vital points. That grounds for divorceshall be the same for men and for women. That parentalobligations and rights shall be shared equallybetween father and mother. That women shall have the sameinheritance rights as men. That each person shallhave equal opportunity of remunerative work andequal rights as to salary, fringe benefits, and workingconditions for equal work. That steps shall be takento eliminate polygamy, where it still exists legally. That there shall beno legal barriers to the distribution ofinformation, education, and services in connection withsafe and acceptable methods of contraception. [Participant with her hand raised] That all personsshall have the right to freely choose the numberand spacing of their children. In sum, they weresimple guidelines to goals which were all,with effort and sincerity and compassion, attainable. [Fade to black] [Women outdoors talking] On the closing night, theylaid aside their conflicts and their workingclothes for a reception at the home of Dr. Murdock Head,director of Airlie Foundation, himself a lawyer. [Cocktail piano music playing] Few of these women,perhaps none of them, has surrendered eitherfemininity or ties to home and family. They are visiblereassurance to the men who still fear the possibleconsequences of giving them an equal role in life. [Large wide-shot view of gathering] [Murdock Head:] Asa lawyer, I think it is most significant thatwe not only have lawyers who are interested in the study and motivation ofpopulation interest. [Translating in Spanish] But particularly, lawyerswho are also women. [Translating in Spanish] And I feel that it isimportant for those of you who are active in your communitiesand in your countries, and particularly, those ofyou who are professionals, to enter into this, the mostimportant problem of our time. [Crowd shot] [Narrator:] Not part ofthe problem, but possibly part of the solution. [...] [Fade to black] [Photo alblum] They had some vivid memories totake home from this conference. There had been a crowded dayin Washington, exhilarating, even for those whoregard some other capital as a center of the world. They encountered suchveteran senators, as Humphrey and Javits,and perhaps best of all, their young host,Senator Kennedy, was responsible for enteringtheir recommendations in the Congressional Record,giving historic substance to their collective ideals. [Congressional Record document] [Aziza Hussein:] Inorder that a woman be a person, able to contributeto, and to benefit from social progressand development, she must enjoy equalitywith men in law and in fact, in all things. [Narrator:] Sigmund Freud onceasked a desperate question, perhaps for all men. What do women want? In heaven's name,what do they want? [Rapid montage of meeting participants] Justice, Dr. Freud, justice. [Classical music playing] [Zoom out from scales of justice] [...] [An Airlie Production] [Executive producer: Murdock Head, M.D.] [Writer, Editor: Miriam Bucher] [Photography: Robert Fennell, Paul Noonan, William Livingston] [Sound: Michael Barrett] [Produced for the: Inter-American Dialogue Center] [Fade out video and music] [...]