The Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that “Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, etc.” (textbook citation). The right to be free from discrimination based on sex is a very important part of this universal human rights legislation, as it is also outlined in the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESR citation). When this specific portion of these human rights legislations is read, the majority of individuals will think of the rights of women. This is because for much of history, women were not given all the rights and freedoms set forth in universal legislations simply because of their sex, and articles had to be implemented into universal human rights legislations to ensure that this form of discrimination did not happen again. The human rights of women are an extremely important subsection of international human rights. Women have been placed as second-class citizens for much of human history, and although women are not overtly discriminated against in human rights legislations anymore. Women face gender-specific violations of their human rights in society, and governmental bodies often neglect to give women the justice they deserve for the violations they have faced (India rape test article). Much of the time choices are taken away from women and they are easily victimized within society. Every society in the world has faced some sort of gender-specific discrimination at some time in human history, and in some countries the violations of women’s human rights are ongoing and extreme. For this reason, the human rights of women are an extremely important topic, as the struggle to have th... ... middle of paper ... ...ferior” woman (188). Social systems are built around the common belief of the inferiority of women, and these ideologies violate a woman’s human right to live their life free of discrimination. Furthermore, the consequences of these discriminatory ideologies is often violence towards women which also violates a woman’s human right to safety and security. The action of sexual assault violates many of the victim’s human rights, such as their right to safety, and right to be free from inhuman treatment. Since women are often the victims of sexual assault it is more likely that women will face many violations of their human rights within their lifetime. In this way women are systematically and overtly disadvantaged, which results in women facing more violations of their human rights, because of a structure in society that justifies and encourages violence towards women.
In “Four Human Rights Myths” Susan Marks discusses several conceptions (or misconceptions according to her) about human rights. She begins her paper with a case study of the 2011 London riots and how distinctively different is their coverage by the British prime minister and two scholars.
Through the article “Saving Amina” the writer Alison M. Jaggar has tried to address the issue that when it comes to violation of rights of women only culture cannot be blamed as root cause rather there are other factors as well. She has tried to identify those factors by raising following issues:
Women’s participation in school or the workplace are negatively affected because of the fear of violence, and many long-term health consequences arise from physical and sexual abuse. Heartbreakingly, a woman in South Africa has a “greater chance of being raped than she has of learning to read” (Tracy 6). In the patriarchal society of China, infants or fetuses face death simply for being born female (Tracy 18). After reading the reported incidences of violence against women, it is nothing but frustrating to hear women not supporting feminism. They do not need feminism because they represent a victory for this movement with the freedom to work alongside men, attend school, and choose their life partners. However, as shown in International Violence Against Women, there are many women and girls begging for a change. This population is the next victory for
Despite the drastic changes made toward the improvement of equal rights there a still many problems that have been overlooked, or simply ignored. According to Mario Osave, (2010) “Thirty years after the adoption of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), many girls and women still do not have equal opportunities to realize rights recognized by law. In many countries, women are not entitled to own property or inherit land. Social exclusion, “honor” killings, female genital mutilation, trafficking, restricted mobility and early marriage among others, deny the right to health to women and girls and increase illness and death throughout the life-course.” (Shah 1)
Sexual violence is one of the ways femininity is subjugated, it also serves as a means to “masculinize” the perpetrator and “feminize” the victim. It is an idea rooted within the fabric of heteronormative familial structures which seek to exploit the labour product of “feminized” bodies without meaningful compensation. This exploitation can be carried further to the idea of a woman's sexuality, which is also exploited and leads to a culture of rape. Furthermore, the law merely acts after a crime has occurred and all preventatory insights
Women's rights are the rights and entitlements claimed for women and girls of many societies worldwide. In some countries these rights are supported by law, local cultures and behaviors, but in others they may be ignored or infringed on. They are considered different from the broader concept of “human rights” because of historical and traditional bias against the rights of women in favor of men. These rights include: the right to vote (also called suffrage), the right to work, the right to have equal pay, the right to own property, the right to education, the right to serve in the military, the right to enter into legal contracts, and the right to have marital, parental and religious rights.
In the majority of undeveloped countries, women are still married off to whoever a higher authority chooses, must stay in the home to clean, and do not have the same amount of legal rights such as voting. It is true that until there is more of an economic development within these least developed countries, women’s rights will expand naturally. In the United States, a developed country, women still do not get the same amount of pay or social standard as men do. For instance, the United States just elected a president that sees women more so as objects than human beings. Therefore, people are going to watch this man and be influenced by the words of disrespect to women and believe it is fair to treat women this way. In society, women are shamed for trying to express themselves. The shaming leads to men being violent with women which can take a turn into rape. Nine out of 10 victims of rape in the United States are women. In conclusion, women have successfully improved their rights as individuals, but have not conquered their rights. In order to conquer their rights and be completely equal, people all around the world that are advocates for women’s rights need to stand up. People must do everything in their power to stand up against their governments. Men and women can do so by being involved with organizations that promote women’s suffrage and create a huge impact on children, men, and
There are so many things wrong with this world and words don’t do it justice. One thing emphasized in this paper is that women are always treated and thought of as a lower class than men. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion by law. There are countless examples of women being discriminated of judged for things that should be completely accepted in society. Although not in all cases, Women are treated and seen as worse than
Since the 19th century, the women's movement has made fantastic strides toward obtaining civil rights for women in America. Woman suffrage has been abolished, and they are no longer viewed as second-class citizens. Unfortunately, the issue of gender inequality still echoes in today's society. The fight to change a society shaped predominately by men continues, and will likely pursue for decades to come. Whether it be social, political, or economic rights, the main idea is equality for all genders, man or woman. In modern society, it seems that such a simple concept should be accepted globally by everyone – so why do women still face the daily toils of demanding the privileges that should available to all? No matter the class of woman, it is likely they will suffer from inequality and stereotypes at some point in their life. We see this in the workplace, where women have been shown to earn less then men. Some women also face the dangers of sexual violence, and are left victimized for such crimes.
Using The Vindication of Women’s Right and The Awakening (which was used in the second feminist movement) each adequately revisit a time of female depravity and discovered liberation. What the feminist movement really reflects is a continuous carom of questions women have never been able to answer or never been able to ask: why are women not equal with men? And why are women sexualized because of men? “…all females are vulnerable, socialised to be compliant and paralysed to offer any resistance” Women do not chose to be these vulnerable, untouchable creatures that men cannot understand; they are instead perceived that way. “Sexual assault is an extension of the current legal, social, economic and political systems in which we live which manifest and reinforce male dominance over women and
The dehumanization of women is a struggle that the female population has been subjected to for even longer than the earliest recorded history. Women have been made into scapegoats throughout our history that has fortified this ignorance of why women shouldn’t be treated as equals. The ideas that have been established (and are still constantly being created) have been reinforced by religions, governments and the policies/laws, cultures, and even commonly other women and are continuing an internalized oppression upon women. The conversation of equality for women is often hijacked by erroneous thinking that this is a problem of the past. They also have played a role in the suppression of women’s rights and still play a major role in prevention of actual equality.
As the realization of women as an exploited group increases, the similarity of their position to that of racial and ethnic groups becomes more apparent. Women are born into their sexual identity and are easily distinguished by physical and cultural characteristics. In addition, women now identify that they are all sufferers of an ideology (sexism) that tries to justify their inferior treatment.
Lockwood, Bert B. (2006). Women's Rights: A Human Rights Quarterly Reader. The Johns Hopkins University Press. ISBN 978-0-8018-8374-3.
In many countries around the world women still find themselves limited from education, employment, health care, political influences, wage equality, and rights solely due to their gender. Whereby, violence against women is regarded as unfair treatment towards women and it reflects the inequality which still exists in our society today between genders. However the invention of modern feminism has been the naming and exposure of the violence women endure. Modern feminism would argue that violence against women is not just related to men in power, nor that women enjoy violence and domination, and or that victim of abuse invited the violence on themselves but rather rape and any other act of violence against women is a social and societal, historic and cultural, and economical issue that is rooted in the relationship of power and dominance between men and women which is infused in a patriarchy society.
Rights have been and continue to be violated across the world on both massive and miniscule scales. With rights violations being a constant issue, it is necessary, although it may be difficult, to determine which violations are human rights violations. Two aspects are crucial in this process: universality and paramountcy. Although practicability is also set forth as a criterion by Maurice Cranston, it is not as crucial when determining which acts violate human rights, or when they came into existence. This is due to the fact that when trying to distinguish between rights and human rights, almost all rights, not just specifically human rights, can, in some way, be practicable. For this reason, practicability, for the purpose of this essay, is