International human rights and impact on women rights
| Subject: | 👩🏼🤝👩🏽 Gender Studies |
| Type: | Descriptive Essay |
| Pages: | 11 |
| Word count: | 2798 |
| Topics: | 👫 Gender Discrimination, Feminism, Human Rights, Women Rights |
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In the recent past, there has been some significant gain as far as the women rights are concerned. Most of the advances that have been made in this area are directly tied back to the international human rights regime. Most of the international human right efforts are directed towards the minorities, women, and children (Wetzel, 2016). The agreements made as far as the gender rights are concerned to have resulted in more commitment in countries to observe women rights. However, there are more efforts that ought to be completed in order for the women rights to be attained. The paper discuses lapses in international human rights approach as far as advancing the cause for women is concerned.
The international human rights approach has been able to foster the realization of women’s rights. The global human rights approach has been effective in the attainment of these rights in that there have been important shifts as far as agitation for human rights is concerned. The previous approach was more focused on the advancement of women as well as their empowerment. The quest for women advancement entailed economic development through education, the development of women funds for business and trade and the population policies such as family planning. However, in the recent times, the international community has been focusing on issues of political involvement, health status increases and economic development (Wetzel, 2016). The above change in focus is a pointer towards the increased attention to human rights as far as the international community is concerned.
The international community has also been focusing on the adoption of a right based formulation of the programs. The human rights factions of the United Nations has been developed in line with the cross-cutting nature. The policies of the united nations, as well as those of major nations such as the united states, have been indicating this realization that human rights are central and overarching in nature. This realization has been reflected in the policies touching on women. The united nation has created the office of high commissioner for human rights. The above approach has been reflected in the majority of the United Nations activities such as humanitarian development, humanitarian aid, peacekeeping, and building. Organizations in the United Nations such as UNICEF and UNDP have emphasized on the role of human rights as the precursor of development. The human rights approach has become an integral part of the policies of the different factions of the United Nations and the regional bodies such as the European Union. This indicates that the approach towards human rights all over the globe has assumed a holistic nature (Freeman, 2017).
The holistic nature of the human rights approaches all over the world hinged on the understanding of some developments in the international arena. The first development is hinged on the international human rights law. The human rights law creates a forum on which individuals can call for human rights and their respective violation (Freeman, 2017). The international legal framework has allowed women legal redress after they are denied their rights by the respective nations. Individuals who have been discriminated against based on their sex have been heard by international tribunals. These tribunal decisions have been effective in setting precedent for the regional and domestic legal entities resulting in the development of an effective legal system.
The language used in framing the international law on human rights has also been developed in a manner that contributes towards the articulation of legitimate claims with some moral authority. The former approaches lacked this aspect. The framing of the international law has been specifically developed in a manner that ensures a response in many nations. The language itself becomes a source of impetus for the development of empowerment of women at the lower cadres. The language will ensure that the revolution of thought begins at the grassroots levels. The framing of important international treaties on human rights such as the universal declaration of human rights is all-encompassing such that the individual groups including women will already have the motivation to contribute towards the agitation for their rights. The framing is a major source of legitimacy for the claims of equality and improvement of overall treatment of the individuals (Wetzel, 2016). Some of the aspects covered in the declaration include the right to be treated with dignity and provision of social justice for all. The international human rights documents help in the establishment of foundation on which the human worth is assessed. The realization of the human rights for all groups is presented as an integral consideration.
The development of the international human rights movement has also created responsibilities for the member states in addition to the conference of rights to the individuals. The entitlement of the right holder is substantiated by the duties of the member states to ensure that each person has been accorded the same rights. The member states of the United Nations or any of the parties to international human rights treaties have to work towards meeting the human rights through the establishment of systems that will foster human rights achievement. Nations have been pushed into the development of bodies that aerobe in charge of the development of laws and enforcement. These bodies would have been nonexistent if it was not for the international human rights movement as well as laws (Donnelly & Whelan, 2017). The bodies create laws that are relevant to the development of structures to assist in the attainment of individual women rights as well as those of the minorities and more exposed groups such as children. In the event that the states assume some actions that could be deemed to be in contravention of the human rights, the state can be sanctioned at the international level so that it fulfills the obligation that it has committed itself to (Wetzel, 2016). Due to the international human rights movement, the states have been able to create the environment that is enabling towards the attainment of women rights. The level of the suitability for the advancement of this cause is different in different countries. However, if it was not for the structures, there are some countries in the world that would not have created the enabling environment for women rights realization.
The rights-based approach has been crucial towards the attainment of human rights for women all over the world. The foundations of the human girths perspective can be traced back to the formation of the League of Nations. The real human rights movement has been created based on the universal declaration of human rights (Freeman, 2017). The United Nations has been holding the member states responsible for the development of an environment that will foster human rights.
With the development of the United Nations and signing of the charter, the organization emphasized on the role of equality as the main pillar for the attainment of human rights (Wetzel, 2016). The organization has since been effective in providing the direction on how individual states ought to create enabling an environment for their citizens. With the universal declaration of human rights, the individual antisera supposed to observe equality through the treatment of all people regardless of gender, race, religion or language in an equal manner. The most important addition in the formation of the universal declaration of human rights is drawn from the United Nations charter which states that the scrutiny of any violation of human rights can be conducted by the international organization.
The universal declaration of human rights is the most important aspect as far as women rights are concerned. One of the major statements of the clause is that each individual has to be protected from the freedom of want. This essentially indicates that each person has to have an opportunity to advance himself or herself. Violation of women rights is mainly correlated to the income level. Poor women are more likely to be subjected to subhuman treatment as opposed to the rich women (Wetzel, 2016). With the above declaration, each nation has to come up with efforts to ensure that there is an attainment of the above freedom. In the event that women are empowered to eradicate poverty, they will be more likely to advocate for the recognition of each person’s rights. The freedom from want calls for the conservation of cultural rights, economic empowerment, rights to work, and rights to education and to a certain standard of living. These rights can only be attained if there is a commitment from the countries to enforce them. In the event of non-commitment, the international community can pile pressure on the nations. This has been a major contributor to the advancements that have been attained.
In as much as the universal declaration of human rights is not enforceable by itself, it has been crucial in the development of the bare minimums as far as human and women rights are concerned(Freeman, 2017). It has formed the bulk of the international customary law. The consensus that has been attained on what is customary has resulted in the uplifting of the treatment that women receive. It has also been the basis for future agitation of advancement individual and special interest groups as well as their rights.
The universal declaration of human rights was the premise of future conventions such as the ones against genocide which affects women and children more and the one on the racial declaration. The international covenant on economic, social and cultural rights was also adopted. This treaty was overarching in nature. However, it also had more impact on women. Another convention touched on the civil and political rights. The above conventions have been merged with the universal declaration of human rights resulting in the international bill of rights (Freeman, 2017). The above conventions have been the main premises on which the international law touching on human rights has been developed.
The above standards have been able to illustrate the progress and the expectations as far as a nation and the treatment of its people is concerned. However, there is an understanding that the human rights are to be enforced at the national level. In as much as there are commitments towards the achievement of human rights, the implementation of the conditions to which the nations are parties is dependent on major national issues. These issues define the difference between the envisioned implementation and the outcome that the nations will manifest. One of the issues that define the ability to implement the intentional laws on human rights and the rights of women depends on the domestic jurisprudence.
Women rights and most of the issues that they experience are dependent on the nations. Most of the nations will develop constitutions that cover individual rights and political rights. However, the economic and social development rights are not represented in most of the constitutions (Freeman, 2017). The directive principles or absence of tend to define the implementation of human rights. Courts can also set the judicial precedence’s that will help in framing the individual rights.
The universal declaration of human rights contains the principle of equality of human rights regardless of gender. There is specific emphasis on the need to recognize the rights of women. The convention on the elimination of all discrimination against women comes up with the rights that women are supposed to be accorded. The equality comes across as a self-propagating concept in the international law. The rights of men and women are supposed to enforce each other mutually.
The above foundation has been effective in the provision of the right approach towards each person (Bobbio, 2017). There have been instances when the critical issues such as political participation have been improved with the developments in the international law. Since the declaration, women have enjoyed much inclusion than before. The international human rights have created the foundation for equal access to education, health, and training. The men and women are supposed to have equal responsibilities as far as family life is concerned. The women are also entitled to participate in the public life. The development of the convention on the elimination of discrimination against women resulted in the creation of temporary measures in the nations that are supposed to address the inequalities that have been developed over time between the men and women. The convention also extends the private life of women whereby it calls on the nations to come up with the ways of ensuring that women are not discriminated against in some sphere of life. The lapses in the convention have been addressed in other human rights documents published by regional and global organizations.
The international rights movement has been effective in the development of the standards to be used in understanding the individual human rights. Most of the nations have been effective in developing the right approaches towards the human rights. These approaches are also vital to the individual nations. However, most of the rights have taken time be realized. The international human rights declarations are hindered by the concept of sovereignty. For instance, the international organizations such as the United Nations do not have ways of ensuring that the nations will commit to the women rights. This has been the main reason behind the failure of human rights efforts in some parts of the world. Some of the rights such as the right to education and public participation can be discounted in some parts of the world since the nations have different cultures. The international human rights movement or regime may be defeated by the same standards that it has comet call for. For instance, there is the protection of the cultures. The nations may find it difficult to push for the international rights since they are in contravention of culture(Freeman, 2017). In some nations, the perception of equal participation in the family life may be faulted. For instance, in the Arabic countries, the women are not to be involved income decisions. The call for their involvement is often met with rejection from the women as well as men since this is deemed as a violation of human rights.
Addressing of complexities in the individual member states are also challenging to most of the nations that have signed the universal declaration of human rights and other conventions. Complex relationships cannot be addressed using the approaches that have been outlined in the nations. The economic empowerment may not be attained in one region based on the complexities of culture. Failure to attain this goal often contributes towards the defeat of women rights all over the world. Hence, it is imperative for the member states or signatories to the international conventions to come up with individual interventions that are based on the local culture and understanding(Freeman, 2017). Even when the local governments come with the interventions, there is a perception that the rights are not really being met no matter how much efforts and concessions the nations have to make.
Given the requirement that the nations enforce the human rights, women rights maybe framed in the international law but the reality on the ground is different. Most of the women across the world will have to grapple with the local issues that affect the implementation of some of the international rights (Clapham, 2015). National culture and the local observation of the rule of law will also impact how the women will be able to receive their equality even if it has been enshrined in the laws or the judicial directives. This may mean that the implementation of the international human rights as far as the women are concerned is variable depending on the nations.
The argument for the recognition of the role of the international human rights contribution towards women rights is hinged on the consideration of the alternatives. If there was no international standard as far as treatment of women goes, there would have been some difficulties in the development of the right approaches towards human rights (Buergenthal et al., 2017). It is also likely that the culture would have been more influential in the development of the common approaches towards human rights. The growth of localization and the reception of the international perspectives towards women has resulted in mixing of cultures. Exposition of violations of international human rights has contributed towards the lackluster and earnest adoption of strategies and policies geared towards the improvement of human rights in most nations. Hence, it is correct to assert that the international human rights have been effective in advancing the cause of women rights.
Finally, the realization of the women rights is a process. The adoption of the rights will differ between nations (Arat,2015). However, regardless of the pace of adoption, the international human rights act as guide maps for the nations on the development of the ideal way of dealing with women rights. It is also possible to increase the optimism and legitimacy of some domestic claims for women rights once there is a precedent.
- Arat, Z.F.K., 2015. Feminisms, Women’s Rights, and the UN: Would Achieving Gender Equality Empower Women?. American Political Science Review, 109(4), pp.674-689.
- Bobbio, N., 2017. The age of rights. John Wiley & Sons.
- Buergenthal, T., Shelton, D., Stewart, D. and Vazquez, C., 2017. International human rights in a nutshell. West Academic.
- Clapham, A., 2015. Human rights: a very short introduction. OUP Oxford.
- Donnelly, J., & Whelan, D. J. (2017). International human rights. Hachette UK.
- Freeman, M., 2017. Human rights. John Wiley & Sons.
- Wetzel, J.W., 2016. The world of women: In pursuit of human rights. Springer.
Offered for reference purposes only.