Women's rights

Main

Women's rights are the fundamental human rights that belong to every female, regardless of race, ethnicity, nationality, age, religion, or any other status. These rights include living free from discrimination and violence, enjoying the highest standard of physical and mental well-being, access to education, property ownership, voting, and earning fair wages. The fight for women's rights, often referred to as feminism, has been ongoing for centuries. Despite progress, women worldwide still face child marriage, trafficking, forced labor, sex slavery, lack of education access and political participation. Some are trapped in conflicts involving rape as a weapon of war. For example, in some countries, women are not allowed to drive, vote, or even leave the house without a male relative.

Terms

• Child Marriage: A formal marriage or informal union where one or both parties are under 18 years of age. E.g., a 15-year-old girl being married off to an older man.

• Discrimination: Unjust or prejudicial treatment of different categories of people, especially on the grounds of race, age, sex, or disability. E.g., denying women promotions at work due to their gender.

• Forced Labor: Any work or service performed involuntarily under threat of penalty. E.g., women being forced to work in factories or as domestic servants.

• Sex Slavery: The exploitation of women and girls, against their will, for the purposes of forced sex work. E.g., kidnapping women and forcing them into prostitution.

• Suffrage: The right to vote in political elections. E.g., women were granted suffrage in the United States in 1920.

• Trafficking: The illegal trade of human beings for the purposes of commercial sexual exploitation or forced labor. E.g., luring women with false promises of jobs and then forcing them into sex work.

Analogy

Imagine a world where people with blue eyes were given more rights and opportunities than those with brown eyes. Blue-eyed people could go to the best schools, get the highest-paying jobs, and make all the important decisions in society. Meanwhile, brown-eyed people were denied education, forced into low-wage work, and had no say in the laws that governed them. This would be a clear injustice, as eye color has no bearing on a person's abilities or worth. Similarly, denying women equal rights and opportunities based on their gender is a fundamental injustice that holds back individuals and society as a whole.

Misconception

Many people believe that women's rights mean that women want to be superior to men. This is not the case. The goal of women's rights is to ensure that women have the same opportunities and freedoms as men, not to put women above men. For example, some people might think that hiring quotas favoring women are a form of reverse discrimination against men. However, these measures are put in place to address the historical and systemic barriers women have faced in the workplace, not to give women an unfair advantage.

History

1. 1792: Mary Wollstonecraft publishes "A Vindication of the Rights of Woman," arguing for women's right to education.

2. 1840: The World Anti-Slavery Convention in London denies women the right to fully participate, leading to the formation of the women's rights movement in the United States.

3. 1848: The first women's rights convention is held in Seneca Falls, New York.

4. 1893: New Zealand becomes the first country to grant women the right to vote.

5. 1960s-1970s: The women's liberation movement gains momentum, fighting for issues such as reproductive rights, workplace equality, and an end to sexual violence.

6. 1995: The Fourth World Conference on Women is held in Beijing, resulting in the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, a comprehensive plan for advancing women's rights.

7. 2017-Present: The #MeToo movement goes viral, drawing attention to the widespread prevalence of sexual harassment and assault and advocating for accountability and change. Women's March events are held around the world, protesting issues such as gender inequality, racial injustice, and violence against women.

How to Use It

1. Speak up when you witness discrimination or harassment against women, whether in the workplace, at school, or in social situations. For example, if you hear a colleague making sexist jokes, calmly explain why their behavior is inappropriate and hurtful.

2. Support women-owned businesses and organizations that promote gender equality. This can be as simple as choosing to shop at a women-owned store or donating to a charity that provides education for girls in developing countries.

3. Educate yourself and others about women's rights issues. Read books, attend workshops, and engage in discussions with friends and family. Encourage your children, both boys and girls, to pursue their dreams without limiting them based on gender stereotypes.

Facts

• Women make up 49.6% of the world's population but only own 1% of the world's wealth.

• Women spend about 2.5 times more time on unpaid care and domestic work than men do.

• Globally, 750 million women and girls were married before the age of 18.

• Only 24.3% of all national parliamentarians were women as of February 2019, a slow increase from 11.3% in 1995.

• One in three women worldwide have experienced physical and/or sexual violence at some point in their lives.