WOMEN’S and girls’ rights are human rights. They cover every aspect of life – health, education, political participation, economic wellbeing and freedom from violence, among many others.
Women and girls are entitled to the full and equal enjoyment of all of their human rights and to be free from all forms of discrimination – this is fundamental to achieving peace and security, and sustainable development.
The Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action Confirms that protection and promotion of human rights is the first responsibility of governments and core to the work of the United Nations. The platform for Action firmly anchors the achievements of gender equality within a human rights framework and makes a clear statement about state responsibility in delivering on the commitments made. The charter of the United Nations guarantees the equal right of women and men.
All major international human rights instruments stipulate ending discrimination against women (CEDAW), described as the women’s international bill of rights.
Yet serious gaps and violations remain in every region of the world today and progress has been unacceptably slow. Particularly for the most marginalized women and girls.
Discrimination is the law persists in many countries. Women do not participate on an equal footing with men in politics. They face blatant discrimination in labour markets and access to economic assets.
The many forms of violence directed explicitly towards women and girls deny them their rights and all too often their lives. Unacceptably high levels of maternal mortality continue in some regions where unpaid care work loads continue to limit women’s enjoyment of their right.
Protection for women’s and girls rights must be embedded in national law and policy firmly anchored in international human rights standards. Equally important is that laws are implemented, such as through ready access to courts and an expectation of a fair hearing. Women and girls need to know their rights and have the power to claim them, social attitudes and stereotypes undercutting gender equality must be challenged and changed.
Through the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, 189 UN member states agreed to take action across these areas. The Declaration makes strong commitments to uphold women’s equal rights and end discrimination. The platform includes women’s human right as one of 12 critical areas of concern. It specifies steps to fully implement all human rights instruments, especially CEDAW, to ensure equality and non-discrimination under the law and in practice, and to achieve legal literacy.
The realization of women’s human right is critical to achieving progress in all areas of concern of the platform for Action.
Nearly 20 years on, these promises have been fulfilled only in part. Women’s and girls human right are more widely understood and championed today. But that needs to be the reality for every woman and every girl.
No discrimination, No violation, No exceptions. Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein is the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and has extensive experience in international diplomacy and the protection of human rights parties to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, and the former President of the UN Security Council.
In this, he discussed achievements and gaps in guaranteeing equal rights for all and stresses the importance and courage of women human right defenders, and the challenges they face. OHCHR will begin a new campaign on Human Right Day, 10 December to galvanize recognition for human right educates. More than 65,000 women and girls are murdered annually. Increasing rates of violence against women have been reported across Latin American.
Particularly as a result of organized crime human trafficking, drug trafficking and the proliferation of small arms.
In response, the UN human right office and UN women have developed a model protocol for the investigation of gender-related killings of women in Latin America. Human rights and fundamental freedoms are the birthright of all human being, their protection and promotion is the first responsibility of governments.
The world conference on human rights reaffirmed the solemn commitment of all states to fulfill their obligation to promote universal respect for and observance and protection of all human rights and fundamental freedoms for all, in accordance with the charter of the Untied Nations, others, and international law. The universal nature of these rights and freedom, is beyond question.
The platform for action reaffirms that all human rights civil, culture, economic, political and social, including the right to development are universal, indivisible, interdependent and interrelated, as expressed in the Vienna Declaration, and programme of action. The full and equal enjoyment of all human rights and fundamental freedoms for the advancement of women.
Government must not only refrain from violating the human rights of all women, but must work actively to promote and protect these rights. Recognition of the importance of the human right of women is reflected in the fact that three quarters of the states members of the United Nations are on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination against women.
In order to protect the human rights of women, it is necessary to avoid, as far as possible, resorting to reservation and to ensure that no reservation is incompatible with the object and purpose of the convention or is otherwise incompatible with international treaty law. Unless the human rights of women, as defined by international human rights instruments are fully recognized and effectively protected, applied, implemented and enforced in national law as well as in national practice in family civil, penal, labour, and commercial codes and administrative rules and regulations, they will exist in name only. Every persons should be entitled to participate in, contribute to and enjoy cultural, economic, political and social development. In many cases women and girls suffer discrimination in the allocation of economic and social resources, this directly violates their economics, social and cultural rights. Many women face additional barriers to the enjoyment of their human rights because of such factors as their race, language, ethnicity, culture, religion, disability or socio economic class or because they are indigenous people, migrants workers, displaced women or refuges. They may also be disadvantaged and marginalized by a general lack of knowledge and recognition of their human rights as well as by the obstacles they meet in gaining access to information and recourse mechanisms in cases of violation of their right. The factors that cause the flight of refugee women, other displaced women in need of international protection and internally displaced women may be different from those affecting men. These women continue of abuses their human rights during and after their flight.
While women are increasingly using the legal system to exercise their rights, in many countries lack of awareness of the existence of these rights is an obstacle that prevents women from fully enjoying their human rights and attaining equality. Experience in many countries has shown that women can be empowered and motivated to assert their rights, regardless of their level of education or socio-economic status. Legal literacy programmes and media strategies have been effective in helping women to understand the link between their rights and other aspects of their lives and in demonstrating that cost effective initiatives can be undertaken to help women obtain those rights. Provision of human rights education is essential for promoting an understanding of the human rights of women, including knowledge of recourse mechanisms to redress violations of their rights. It is necessary for all individuals, especially women in vulnerable circumstances, to have full knowledge of their rights and access to legal recourse against violations of their rights. Women engaged in the defence of human right must be protected.
In addressing the enjoyment of human rights, government and other actors should promote an active and visible policy of mainstreaming a gender perspective in all policies and programmes so that, before decisions are taken, an analysis is made of the effect on women and men respectively. Protecting and promoting women’s human rights is the responsibility of all states.
The High Commissioner for Human Rights recently pledged to be a Geneva Gender Champion committing to advance gender equality in OHCHR and in international fora.
Yet millions of women around the world continue to experience discrimination laws and policies prohibit women from equal access to land, property, and housing. Women are denied their sexual and reproductive health rights. Women human rights defenders are ostracized by the communities and seen as threat to religion, honour or culture women’s crucial role in peace and security is often overlooked, as are the particular risks they face in conflict situations, moreover some groups of women face compounded forms of discrimination due to factors such as their age, ethnicity, disability, or socio-economic status in addition to their gender. Harmful gender stereotypes must be dismantled, so that women are no longer viewed in the light of what women “should” do and are instead seen for who they are: unique individuals, with their own need and desires.
