THE GARDA CHART
For the promotion and the defence of women dignity, in the family, in motherhood, at the work place, in the world of entertainment and in the media.
The Presidents of Associations working in favour of the respect of life and of the dignity of the person in Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Holland, Czech Republic and Switzerland, and who subscribe to the initiatives of the European Movement for the Defence of Life and Human Dignity, at the conclusion of their annual working conference at Garda, near Verona, from 9th to 13th of October 2003
ON THE BASIS OF THE ASSUMPTIONS:
- that women play an important and sometimes decisive role, either in the development or in the degradation of the society;
- that, on the basis of their attitude to motherhood, women have an exact and specific responsibility in giving life, a responsibility which, however, they share with men, whom they cannot and must not exclude;
- that, unfortunately, a certain culture tends to turn women into “objects” and to consider them mainly according to their physical appearance or their work ability;
CONSIDERED:
- that, in spite of the recognition of the dignity of all members of the human family without regard to the differences of sex, as stated in the General Declaration of Human Rights of 1948, there are still forms of discrimination against women which offend their dignity - both in the laws of certain countries and in everyday widespread behaviours;
- that, for example, the laws which allow abortion as a solution to problems which may be caused by a pregnancy, instead of making provision for suitable economic and psychological support of life, de facto restrict the women freedom and offend their dignity, so that they are forced to damage seriously their body and their mind through the suppression - against nature - of the human being in their numb;
- that even those laws which allow and simplify the procedure of divorce, even when they, according to their wording, put men and women on an equal footing, often penalise women and children;
- that the use of the female body, through surrogate motherhood and the extraction and utilisation of ovocytes (which are exclusively female cells) is a cause of abuses in the field of research and reproduction (cloning), which is incompatible with human dignity;
REALIZED with satisfaction,
1. that the draft of the “European Constitution“, which is being presently discussed by Heads of State and Prime Ministers, establishes the Union in primis on the basis of human dignity;
2. that the same draft does in effect foresee a chart of the fundamental rights of the Union, which affirms that “human dignity is inviolable and must be respected”;
REQUEST:
that in the Constitution itself or in an European skeleton law (a law providing guidelines), the importance of the women dignity, in the family, in motherhood, at the work place, in entertainment and in the media be underlined;
URGE:
Governments, National and European members of parliament, the media, intellectuals, politicians, the Churches, voluntary organisations, those who influence public opinion, unions and entrepreneurs, each in their own field and according to opportunities, that they
1) promote respect for laws which guarantee women dignity and protection from any kind of violence, coercion or exploitation;
2) study educational programmes, underlining the respect for women;
3) promote more intensive education to motherhood, and to the respect for life from the moment of conception, furnishing information about conception, about the natural methods so as to prevent abortions;
4) promote the culture of heterosexual unions, marriage and family, emphasising thereby the differing biological, psychological and spiritual aspects specific of men and women, in order to control the increasing tendency towards de facto unions, divorce and the falling birth-rate;
5) use their influence to guarantee that women have a true freedom of decision which allows them to practise their profession or be involved in public life (by means of tax concessions, interest-free loans, maternal leave, children’s education allowances, play schools) without having to sacrifice their principal role as mothers;
6) combat prostitution and sexual abuses with all possible means, as well as the use of contents and images in the mass-media which degrade love, offend modesty and incite to sexual violence;
7) promote cultural and diplomatic initiatives in those countries where women are regarded as being subservient to men, without civil and moral rights;
URGE WOMEN, that they:
1) increase their knowledge of their biological, psychological and spiritual particularities so that they may be more aware of their role in society, to be played in conditions of equality and mutual respect between men and women;
2) become aware in particular of the importance of motherhood, of the family, and of the central role of women in it, which is both irreplaceable and not to be left;
3) become aware: a) that they carry within themselves the germ-cell of human life (the ovocyte); b) that, considering the development of all techniques aiming at artificial procreation, they must very decisively reject all proposals to remove ovocytes from their bodies, also if we talk of combating sterility; c) that the use of germ-cells for reproduction or for scientific purposes does not respect the dignity of women in their role as mothers; d) that it is their own duty – and not of another woman or of a machine – to carry their fertilised ovocyte to term;
4) make every effort to ensure that their personal dignity is respected, and that they respect themselves, without allowing themselves to be influenced by ideologies, fashions or advertisements which, exalting their bodies, demean their intelligence and their spirit;
5) avoid letting inviolable individual freedom and the justified demand for equality in law and opportunities degenerate into mere egoistical behaviours, not considering the duties incumbent on every person towards himself, in the family and in the society;
COMMIT THEMSELVES
within the bounds of their possibilities and with cultural initiatives to obtain the respect of women dignity in all fields, and that in particular their role in the family, in motherhood, in the practice of their professions, at the work place, in advertising, in the entertainment business and in the media is valued.
