Human Rights

Women's Rights

Human Rights and Women's Rights...

4 problems:

It remains undisputed that the international human rights provisions of today do not exclude women. On the contrary: the law that no person is to be discriminated against for reason of gender has been an essential component of UN declarations since the very beginning. Just as controversial however is that today and everywhere in the world women are discriminated against and restricted in their human rights, even in the most significant and most basic of rights, the right to life and bodily integrity. Feminists criticise the concept of human rights. They are very strongly oriented to the western civil society and above all the problems of male family heads.

1) Violence against Women as a Private Matter?

The first grave problem is the separation of two spheres that occur in nearly all societies today: "public" and "private". Traditionally, woman are associated with the "private" sphere, while men are associated with the "public" sphere. The protection of privacy has been constituted as an important human right. But what is also as important is to limit the violence and potential for the influence of state power, which serves in many states to view human rights violation on women as a private problem, in which one should not and does not want to become involved. Violence against women takes place mainly in the "private sphere".

2) Violence against Women by Private Individuals...

The second problem concerns the direction that human rights take for protecting the individual from direct attacks by the state. The protection of private persons or non-state organisation was not planned for initially. A special feature of the violation of the human rights of women is that mostly it is not carried out by state, but by private persons, who act in the knowledge that they will not be persecuted by the state. Women's rights violations of this nature are often tolerated by the state.

3) Specific Human Rights Violations against Women...

The third problem is embodied in the fact that the human rights concept to-date was not very open to human rights violations on women. Firstly there are human rights violations against women that are the same as those against men, for instance, when women are persecuted by the state for their political views, their race or their religion. This come into the sights of national and international organisations. There are also human rights violations that are specific to women, such as when belonging to the female sex leads to a worsening of their situation, for instance rape and sexual torture in prisons and refugee camps. Over and above this there are still human rights violations that affect women alone, for instance, abortion of female foetuses or violence in marriages.

4) The Problem of Cultural Traditions...

The fourth problem comprises the century-old, deeply rooted tradition of women's rights violations in many countries. The proscription of such traditions frequently calls forth the resistance of the population. It is only possible to pursue long-term measures against this which affect all areas of the lives of people. Many non-western governments continually refer to the fact that an understanding of human rights is characterised by the west and cannot be transferred to their culture. For instance when the "equality" of women and men is incompatible with their culture. They plead for what is referred to as "equality" coupled with the acceptance of fundamental differences. This initial argumentation was frequently tolerated and even accepted by representatives and organisations from the west under the viewpoint of "tolerance". However it needs to be observed here that argumentation of this kind mostly serves to justify serious human rights violations, which do not represent popular culture but the expression of a repressive system of sovereignty (for instance in Algeria or Afghanistan). Often these defensive, highly praised cultural identities and traditions are constructed artificially initially in order to divert attention away from socio-economic inequalities and asymmetric relationships of power.

Neglect of Women's Rights...

The problems referred to are very closely related and resulted in human rights violations on women not being recognised as such until the beginning of the 90s. Such "women's rights violations" were, for instance, dealt with in special committees at the United Nations, which were structurally isolated and furnished with too little financial means, or were considered part of the socio-economic sector. Even human rights organisations rich in influence such as Amnesty International or Human Rights Watch gave specific problems relating to women's problems little attention due to their individual orientation to civil and political human rights.
As a consequence, for instance, sexual attacks in armed conflicts or in war were denied the status of human rights violations. They were dispatched as "private matters" or "extraordinary events", - the offenders had not acted in an official capacity but as private individuals, which as a result fell under national jurisdiction.

Criticism of the Human Rights Concept from the Viewpoint of Women...

Since the end of the 80s human and women rights activists have been criticising the existing human rights concept and demanding its enhancement in the sense of women's rights. Initially, additional provisions against the discrimination of women were to be introduced into international agreements. This was designed to place women in the same position as men - with the same rights and opportunities. Since so long as women's rights are not included in international conventions in their own right, many states do not feel obliged to punish violations.

Many feminists are attempting to make international human rights standards useful to women by extending actual legal provisions to women's rights violations. As a result, for instance, forced prostitution can be considered as "slavery", domestic violence and rape as "torture". Others are attempting to dissolve the limitations of the "legality of international responsibility". If male violent offenders can continue to reckon with the approbation of state organs, the state, in its function as controlling force, which is to provide for effective laws to protect the lives of all its citizens, is certainly to be made responsible for the extent and specific quality of gender-related violence. In addition the prime position of classical civil and political rights in contrast to social and economic rights is criticised by many feminists and a plea made for these to be balanced out. In face of the deep social enrooting of the social subordination of women, social and economic rights would be of particular importance to women.
Most feminists fundamentally recognise the paradigm of human rights. They postulate the dignity and integrity of the individual and his/her autonomy and the right of self-determination. Only securing this idea by way of appropriate laws can ensure that the bodily well-being and life of a women is not determined against. The universal character of women's rights as human rights also needs to be continuously defended against relativistic arguments, such as those of the Islamic states.