New European Convention Defines “Gender” as Social Construct
Image via Wikipedia The 47 Member States of the Council of Europe are close to finalizing a new convention that defines “gender” as a social construct , rather than as a distinction grounded in biology. According to the new Council of Europe convention on eliminating violence against women, gender “shall mean the socially constructed roles, behaviors, activities and attributes that a given society considers appropriate for women and men.” Even though “gender” has appeared in other documents, no binding definition of the word has ever been accepted by Council of Europe members. This draft Convention would be the first international treaty to add a sociological component of gender to the universally understood biological context. Luca Volontè, a member of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, told the Friday Fax, “The ideological thrust of many movements and lobbies linked to the ideology of ‘gender’ has ruined the text of a convention that could be very important. D