Suchergebnisse

This article is based upon the author's presentation at the UN Third Annual World Mental Health Day, the first Day to be devoted to women and mental health. The author argues that the psychosocial conditions commonly shared by women throughout the world result in their universally high rates of mental illness and emotional distress. Solutions are global in origin, based upon a comprehensive personal, social and economic model for the prevention of mental illness and the promotion of mental health.

The assessment of women's concerns from a global perspective, "to look at the world through women's eyes" (the theme of the Fourth International Conference on Women), sheds light on otherwise hidden issues and allows for a clear delineation of problems that are unique to given cultures and those that pervade the lives of women the world over. It opens up a universe of resources for possible solutions to various problems and provides a context in which these problems can be prevented. This article traces the evolution of the international women's movement through the four international conferences on women that have been held since 1975, paying special attention to the fourth conference, held in China in 1995.