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An essay on universal declaration of human rights
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The debate over human rights rages on throughout the world, with the United Nations playing a critical role in the debate. That organization has largely been the group in charge of dictating to various nations what they can and cannot do in the human rights realm. Specifically, there have been a number of different international standards passed on how countries are to treat their women. Saudi Arabia has long been held up as an example of a culture that has not complied with these international human rights norms. They still largely discriminate against women in many ways, holding them out of business and making them answer to men before they can do most anything, including travel. Saudi Arabia has, however, provided education to its women, a strange contradiction to the country’s norms on the issue. It is clear that Saudi Arabia is a hold-out, but what is less clear is why. Through exploration of the country’s culture, one finds that a number of critical social and cultural factors keep Saudi Arabia from fulfilling its human rights duty in regard to women. INCORPORTAE THE QUESTION AND WHY IS IT WORTHY OF INVESTIGATION Universal Declaration of Human Rights: The general Human Rights principles are laid out in a document presented as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights was implemented for all nations by the United Nations on the December 10th, 1948. Contrary to popular belief, not all of these rights have been implemented in some nations, with a prime example being Saudi Arabia. Human rights are often perceived as limited and constrained to “western normative societies.” To this end, Human Rights Education philosopher Jagdish Gundara claims, “Nor must human rights education be ... ... middle of paper ... ...n given as many opportunities as males in the educational realm. According to the Islamic law in Saudi Arabia, Works Cited Assembly, U. G. (1948). Universal declaration of human rights. Retrieved February, 22, 2010. Cook, R. J. (1989). Reservations to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. Va. J. Int'l L., 30, 643. Dewald, C. (1981). Women and culture in Herodotus' Histories. Women's Studies: An Interdisciplinary Journal, 8(1-2), 93-127. Donnelly, J. (2010). International human rights. ReadHowYouWant. com. Herskovits, M. J. (1972). Cultural relativism; perspectives in cultural pluralism. Renteln, A. D. (2013). International human rights: universalism versus relativism. Quid Pro Books. Steiner, H. J., Alston, P., & Goodman, R. (1996). International human rights in context (p. 1116). Oxford: Clarendon Press.
The Islamic Revolution of 1979 placed an ideological wedge that created an increasingly pervasive rift in gender equality that is now only gradually being successfully challenged and correct upon.
Firstly, gender discrimination is not an exclusive feature of Saudi Arabia, but it is a more outwardly visible problem there. Gender discrimination and male superiority are most visible in Saudi Arabian culture because “inhabitants of the region where the Arabic language predominates are, despite their diversity, bound into a singular cultural unit with a particular gender system” (Tucker VII). If one group of Arabic individuals hold misogynistic views, or thinks that males are the superior gender, it is very likely that other Arabic individuals will as well. Individuals of the Arabic culture, regardless of their location share a particularly conservative and traditional set of moral beliefs the same way Christians from America may share similar beliefs with Christians from Europe. One belief most Saudi’s have in common is their “conservative view toward women” (Al-Mannai 82). Middle Eastern individuals know what behaviors to expect from each gender, and what each gender should and should not do. An effect of holding such a belief is that a man’s role in Saudi Arabia tends to be one of dominance and power; the male is the ruler ...
Trofin, Liliana and Madalina Tomescu. “Women’s Rights in the Middle East”. Contemporary Readings in Law and Social Justice Vol. 2(1). 1948-9137 (2010): 152-157.
Before any legislation could be implemented, a definition of human rights had to be compiled and accepted. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) was approved in 1948 by th...
"Universal Declaration of Human Rights." Amnesty International USA - Protect Human Rights. 19 May 2009 .
Women’s rights in the Middle East are being restricted, therefore there are many different reactions. Some people were in favor of women having equal rights while there are some who are against women to have the same rights. Since before times, many countries in the Middle East have been taking women for granted and minimized their rights by telling them they can't do something or selling them as if they were prized. When women were treated as prizes it was a practice in Afghanistan called Ba’ad that used women as the compensation, for example a story of a girl named Sakina. She was a consolation prize so that her brother could marry a woman and the Jirga system told her she had to marry a 80 year old guy when she was like 18. This tells me
Education is for boys as well because they are the husbands who will lead the communities. This time, the women want to choose their husbands, go to school, don’t want to be cut anymore, make their decisions for themselves, to be involved in politics and to be equal.
There seems to be a question of what resources are given to women in the Middle East and North Africa for them to have social change and be given the rights that they declare. Based upon their age, sexual orientation, class, religion, ethnicity, and race this identifies someone’s social status which results in the ge...
Middle Eastern women need to stand up for their rights and get educated to reverse the notion that they are servants and properties of their men. Furthermore, they need to rise up to their potentials and prove beyond doubt that they are equal to men. This practice would lead the path for future generations to follow and protect the inalienable rights of women. Finally, these women need to break the cycle of oppression by addressing these deeply rooted beliefs, gaining the tools to fight back, and joining forces to make lifelong changes.
The place of women in Saudi society is determined by a deeply conservative culture, vindicated by a narrow interpretation of religion, and enforced by law. That place it would appear is at home, subservient to and legally dependant on their male guardian. Saudi society suffers from pervasive segregation along gender lines and women's freedom of movement is impeded, forcing them to rely on male chaperons.
The Women of the Middle East have played substantial roles for their corresponding countries since the advent of colonialism in the region. Middle Eastern women have worked in all types of fields including medicine, education, agriculture, government, private sector, and even defense. They have kept roofs over their family’s heads while their husbands were away in wars, or even in foreign countries to work in jobs that they could not find in their own countries. The roles of women in the countries of Yemen and Oman are no exception, but while they still find ways to contribute to their country, they care constantly stereotyped, discriminated, and ridiculed by men who are known and unknown to them. This paper will discuss the individual contributions of the women living in Yemen and Oman, and will discuss in further state laws and cultural norms that are affecting the women living in these countries today.
On December 10th in 1948, the general assembly adopted a Universal Declaration of Human Rights. This declaration, although not legally binding, created “a common standard of achievement of all people and all nations…to promote respect for those rights and freedoms” (Goodhart, 379). However, many cultures assert that the human rights policies outlined in the declaration undermine cultural beliefs and practices. This assertion makes the search for universal human rights very difficult to achieve. I would like to focus on articles 3, 14 and 25 to address how these articles could be modified to incorporate cultural differences, without completely undermining the search for human rights practices.
The doctrine of human rights were created to protect every single human regardless of race, gender, sex, nationality, sexual orientation and other differences. It is based on human dignity and the belief that no one has the right to take this away from another human being. The doctrine states that every ‘man’ has inalienable rights of equality, but is this true? Are human rights universal? Whether human rights are universal has been debated for decades. There have been individuals and even countries that oppose the idea that human rights are for everybody. This argument shall be investigated in this essay, by: exploring definitions and history on human rights, debating on whether it is universal while providing examples and background information while supporting my hypothesis that human rights should be based on particular cultural values and finally drawing a conclusion.
If we want to maintain our self-esteem and honor then we should not keep away our female children from higher realization of our society and Islamic norms and values. (Editorial, 2012)
“Women’s human security rights in the Arab world: on nobody's agenda.” 50.50 Inclusive Democracy, 2 Dec. 2013. Web. 16 Mar. 2014.