State University – Higher School of Economics
Department ofPolitic AnalysisandPublic Policy
1st year of Master Program
Human Rights in Globalizing World
Description of the problem
“Violation of woman’s rights”
Kolosova Natella
643 group
Moscow 2010
Introduction
The society is dissimilar and is divided on different groups. The simplest division is gender, in other words sex identity. During a long period of time in the society had been formed the accurate overview about social roles and status of man and woman. In postmodern time the questions concerned with gender distinction are among of current importance. The role of man and woman are undergoing a change in social and political life. Nowadays modern woman presses towards to take man’s stand, i.e. she breaks traditional concept and becomes more independent and significant not only in domestic sphere. Today’s woman dominates in such spheres as healthy, education, upbringing, also we can observe woman in systems of trade, culture, social services. Furthermore there is a tendency of increasing women in the political parties and non-government organization. Woman begins to participate in political decision-making. It’s all set in new conditions in the world and in the human’s mind.
Nowadays the image of modern woman is follow: assured successful, shining beauty and health. The three waves of feminism in XX century did their part. Woman gained completely equality of rights on a level with man. Despite it, our world has been going on patriarchal. And there are a lot of places in the world, where gender equality doesn’t prevail.
Despite notable global progress, fundamental issuesof gender discriminationexisting throughoutcenturies, remain. Violation of woman’s rights has its own history. During many centuries in different countries and epochs woman and girl were unguarded level of society. Women and girls suffer from violence both in peacetime, and in wartime — from the state, society and,as a rule, from relatives.Today on the earth as before exist some percent of women, which keep on testing century violence, oppression, isolation, violent illiteracy and discrimination.And even in civilized countries woman can’t feel herself safety.
But there is no doubt that in developing countries, in countries of Third world woman’s position demands special analysis, control and interference. For my mind, such countries are the centres of mass violations of human rights.
The main issues in the network of violation of woman right are:
Impossibility of education
Violence against women is a public health problem
Social discrimination of woman
Sexual and domestic violence
Infanticide and sex-selective abortion
Woman labor
Women in the conditions of military conflicts
Slave trade of woman and girls
Inequality begins from the birth
In developing countries genderinequality begins from the birth. It is a great disparity to born boy or girl. As a rule, in most developing societies a family is happier if they have son, boy means insurance, especially it concern poor families. And daughter, quite the contrary, it is only additional expense. In some parts of India, it's traditional to greet a family with a newborn girl by saying, “The servant of your household has been born”[1].
Instead to go school, girl in such countries has to leave at home and do household. And house work in countries of Third world in the main differs from our house duties. For girls it is hard physical labor. She must carries heavy buckets of water, cleans house, cooks meal, take care of younger’s, and we can continue this list for a long. The main idea is that these girls suffer from unjust inequality that formed in the developing countries, where rights of woman mean nothing.
One of the only ways to change such situation is to give an opportunity to get education to woman. “Educated women are essential to ending gender bias, starting by reducing the poverty that makes discrimination even worse in the developing world. The most basic skills in literacy and arithmetic open up opportunities for better-paying jobs for women”[2]. And even frequently this extent can be confronted by difficulties. According to the participant of the Canadian branch of campaign for the rights of women «Amnesty International» Cheryl Hotchkiss, it isn't enough only to build schools to solve a problem of equal formation.
«The woman, wishing to get education, faces weight of various problems», — she speaks. «Formation can be free and accessible, but parents won't send the daughters to school if them can steal and rape»[3].
Where to be a woman is worst of all?
“Discrimination against girls and women in the developing world is a devastating reality. It results in millions of individual tragedies, which add up to lost potential for entire countries. Studies show there is a direct link between a country's attitude toward women and its progress socially and economically. The status of women is central to the health of a society. If one part suffers, so does the whole”[4]. As a rule, the worst and insufferable position of woman is in the poorest and captured by conflicts countries. Difficulties are so extended thatit is inconvenient to allocate the worst placefor women in the world. In some researches of this problem are estimated by quality of life, in others — health indicators. Groups on protection of human rights specify in the countries wheretake place so rough infringements of human rights, that even murder is possible.
To be a woman is bad in such countries as:
Afghanistan: on the average, the Afghani woman life till 45 years is for one year less, than the Afghani man. After prolong years of war and religious reprisals, the overwhelming majority of women are illiterate. More than half of all brides have not reached age of 16 yearsyet. And each half an hour one woman dies during delivery. 87 % of women recognize that suffer from domestic violence. On the other hand in streets it appears more than one million widows, frequently, compelled to be engaged in prostitution. Afghanistan — the unique country, where level of suicides of women higher, than level of suicides of men.
Democratic Republic Congo: during wartime in the east part of DRC women were on a front line. Rapes are so frequent and cruel that inspectors of the United Nations name their unprecedented. One victimsperish, others catch a HIV and leavealone with the children. Without having neither money, nor transport, nor communications, women can't escape.
Iraq: invasion of the USA into Iraq on purpose to "release" the country from Saddam Hussein plunged women in a hell of sectarian violence. Literacy level — once the higher among the Arabian countries, has fallen today to the lowest mark because families are afraid to send girls in school, being afraid that them can steal and rape. Women, who worked earlier, are at home. More than one million women has been moved from the houses, and millions not in a condition to earn to itself on livelihood.
Sudan: in spite of the fact that women of Sudan have received some improvements thanks to reformist laws, position of women of Darfur (the West of Sudan) only has worsened. Abductions, rapes and the violent evictions occurring for about 2003, have destroyed lives more than one million women. Sudanese insurgents use regular rapes as the demographic weapon, and to achieve justice to victims of these rapes it is almost impossible.On the statistics
70 % of victims of recent conflicts weren't participants of operations, and the majority was made by women and children.
Ten thousand women and girls have suffered from rapes and other forms of sexual violence from the crisis beginning in Darfur in 2003.
According to Amnesty International, zero persons have been condemned for these atrocities in Darfur[5].
Nepal: early marriages and childbirth exhaust badly eating women of the country, and one of 24 perishes during pregnancy or during delivery. Not married daughters can be sold even before come of age. If the widow receives a nickname “bokshi” that means “witch”, it faces extremely cruel treatment and discrimination.
In Saudi Arabia rich with oil with women address as with lifelong dependents under guardianship of the relative of the man. The deprived rights to drive the car or publicly to communicate with men, they conduct strictly limited life, suffering from severe punishments[6].
And it is not a complete list of countries where men don’t reckon with woman and her rights. Here we can also mention Pakistan, Somali, Mali, and Guatemala and so on. The general director of World Health Organization Margaret Chan said that “While the potential of women admits at the international level, it will not be realized until living conditions in the countries and communities will improve, and sometimes cardinal changes frequently are required. There are too many difficult factors which have taken roots in public and cultural norms which continue to be an obstacle in a way of women and girls to realization of own potential and reception of benefit from social progress”[7].
International laws
The situation with violence and discrimination concerning woman and girls are regulating by several international treaties, conventions and laws. The main problem is that not all countries signed or ratified such documents, and it is a stumbling block for regulating position of woman in such countries.
The Universal Convention of Human Rights, adopted in 1943, proclaim “the equal rights to men and women”. In 1979 by the UN General Assembly was approved Convention on the elimination of all forms of discrimination against women. It is a bill of women’s rights. Convention proclaims:
To enshrine gender equality into domestic legislation
To repeal all discriminatory provisions in nationallaws
To enact new provisions to guard against discrimination against women
To establish tribunals and public institutions to guarantee women effective protection against discrimination
To take steps to eliminate all forms of discrimination practiced against women by individuals, organizations, and enterprises[8].
For today the situation concerning ratification is the follow:
• 185 states ratified the Convention on liquidation of all forms of discrimination concerning women.
• 62 states have made reservations concerning its some positions.
• 9 states haven't signed the Convention.
• 1 state – the USA – has signed, but didn't ratify the Convention.
In 2003 was signed the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa, better known as the Maputo Protocol. ThisProtocol guarantees comprehensiverights to women including
-the right to take part in the political process,
-to social and political equality with men,
-to control of theirreproductive health,
-to female genital multination[9].
This protocol was signed by 45 countries of Africa. From they have ratified 28 countries. And 5 African countries neither ratified nor signed at all. Those countries which signed or ratified have their reservations to several paragraphs and articles in the Protocol.
Conclusion
The violence concerning women isn't limited by frameworks of any concrete political or economic system. It exists in any country and doesn't recognize borders of material well-being, race and culture. Domination structures, on which the violence is based, are deeply implanted in a society. Experience or violence threats everywhere interfere with women to the full to carry out the human rights and to use them.
In the network of this actual woman problem a great number of woman non-government organizations united to resist the problem of discrimination of woman and girls. Today we can supervise their campaigns and the results. There are many achievements, as considerable changes in system of laws, the politics and practice, the world community recognize the hidden problem of violence against woman in developing countries, and etc.
Bibliography
- Amnesty International Report 2007 //
- “Discrimination of Woman: 10 worst countries” //
- Julie Mullins“Gender Discrimination: Why is it still so bad and what can you do about it” //
- “Violence against women”an international, interdisciplinary journal //
- Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Women’s rights //
- Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Convention on the elimination of all forms of discrimination against women //
- Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Maputo Protocol //
- World Health Organization //
1
[1]Julie Mullins“Gender Discrimination: Why is it still so bad and what can you do about it” //
[2]Julie Mullins“Gender Discrimination: Why is it still so bad and what can you do about it” //
[3] “Discrimination of Woman: 10 worst countries”//
[4]Julie Mullins“Gender Discrimination: Why is it still so bad and what can you do about it”
[5]According to the Amnesty International Report 2007
[6]Material were took from “Discrimination of Woman: 10 worst countries” //
[7]World Health Organization //
[8]Wikipedia Convention on the elimination of all forms of discrimination against women //
[9]Wikipedia Maputo Protocol //