History of the Human Rights: Gender Perspectives

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 24-33
Author(s):  
Geeta Sahare ◽  

Every human being has certain rights to live with dignity and peace and should not be discriminated. However, history of human civilization tells us there have been discrimination on many counts. Otherwise, there won’t have been words like slavery, untouchability, exploitation, patriarchy existing. Women are no exception to discrimination and exploitation. Human rights of women have been violated, they have been deprived of their respect, economic, social and political status and the basic principle of equality (equality with her counterpart, i.e., men). The question of human rights becomes very pertinent when it comes to gender and gender justice. This has given birth to feminist movements. The author here wishes to testify the march of the human rights of women, the journey and the progress made after struggle by all the feminist movements and more importantly the economic and social status of women in the present era. The author has tried to show how the matriarchy in early development of civilization was demolished and how there was a downfall of women after advancement of patriarchy through the personification of power by men inside and outside of the family. In fact, the notions of property and inheritance put an end to the foundations of matriarchy and consequently they were converted to objects belonging to the father, the husband and the family. The author could also find several other reasons, old customs in the patriarchal society for their exploitation and violation of their human rights. Further the role of U.N. and its organs was very vital and important as the problems of women were considered in their social aspect from time to time. Today we find women in all fields of national life: engineers, doctors, pilot, professors, diplomats, artists who have won gold medals in sports, etc. But it took a very long time to finally see women acceding to highest posts in the Parliament. March of human rights of women is progressing constantly as efforts have been made but a lot needs to be done as discriminations, inequalities, injustice and harassment of all kinds will not disappear overnight.

Author(s):  
Lena Dominelli

Women have a lengthy history of fighting their oppression as women and the inequalities associated with this to claim their place on the world stage, in their countries, and within their families. This article focuses on women’s struggles to be recognized as having legitimate concerns about development initiatives at all levels of society and valuable contributions to make to social development. Crucial to their endeavors were: (1) upholding gender equality and insisting that women be included in all deliberations about sustainable development and (2) seeing that their daily life needs, including their human rights, be treated with respect and dignity and their right to and need for education, health, housing, and all other public goods are realized. The role of the United Nations in these endeavors is also considered. Its policies on gender and development, on poverty alleviation strategies—including the Millennium Development Goals and the Sustainable Development Goals—are discussed and critiqued. Women’s rights are human rights, but their realization remains a challenge for policymakers and practitioners everywhere. Social workers have a vital role to play in advocating for gender equality and mobilizing women to take action in support of their right to social justice. Our struggle for equality has a long and courageous history.


2004 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 27
Author(s):  
Bani Syarif Maulana

Islam is a religion which has attempted to elevate the status of women so that there should be no discrimination between women and men from the Islamic perspective. However, in some fiqh texts, which are based on selected Qur'an and hadith, there is discrimination against women. On the other side, gender discourse now becomes an important issue and is used to improve the status of women. This article attempts to explore both the jiqh texts and gender discourse on the models of leadership in a family, especially on the role of women and men in the family and on the sexual relations, from the Islamic perspective.


2016 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 233
Author(s):  
Mahmud Arif

The issue of human rights has prevailed globally although it is can’t denied that historically that issue comes from tradition of the West Liberalism based on individualism standpoint. In fact, freedom and equality as essential part of human rights have not been appreciated yet suitably in the realm of long history of humankind so it was still found the slavery system. Even in the modern time, at several regions, the right of vote consisting of human right has not possessed by the women. There was a accusation from some scholars in the West that Islam is a religion opposing to human rights and gender equality. They argue that Islam has justified any religious violence, has cut religious freedom down, and has tolerated gender unequality. If it is viewed from the basic principle of takhfif wa rahmah (giving easiness and love), such accusation looks obviously problematic, because Islamic tenets normatively appreciate to establish human rights and gender equality. But empirically, religious interpretation often contributes in mainstreaming culture that castrates any religious freedom and gender equality. As one of religious interpretation product, fiqih (Islamic jurisprudence) for instance is claimed to contain many problems relating to religious freedom and gender equality. Such is the case, the reality of our national education. For a long time, in the Indonesian school system there are many factors causing failure of every endeavor for achieving the aim of human right education. This means that such basic priciple must be reactualized in the education system through hard efforts in humanizing education processes and pupil’s potencies.[Isu hak asasi manusia (HAM) telah mencuat sedemikian universal meski tidak bisa dinafikan bahwa dalam sejarahnya isu ini bermula dari tradisi liberalisme Barat yang titik pijaknya individual. Kebebasan dan kesetaraan sebagai elemen penting HAM ternyata belum diapresiasi secara semestinya dalam sejarah panjang pelbagai peradaban sehingga masih ditemukan adanya sistem perbudakan. Bahkan dalam kurun modern ini pun di sebagian wilayah, hak untuk memilih yang menjadi bagian dari hak asasi belum juga dinikmati oleh kaum perempuan. Muncul tuduhan dari sebagian kalangan di Barat bahwa Islam adalah agama anti HAM dan bias gender. Argumen yang dikemukakan, Islam membenarkan tindak kekerasan atasnama agama, memasung kekebasan beragama, dan mentolerir ketidakadilan terhadap perempuan. Diletakkan dalam konteks prinsip dasar takhfif wa raḥmah, tuduhan tersebut nampak problematik, mengingat secara normatif ajaran Islam sangatlah menjunjung tinggi penegakan HAM dan kesetaraan gender. Hanya saja, dalam realitas empirisnya tafsir keagamaan tidak jarang justru ikut andil dalam pembentukan arus besar budaya yang memberangus kebebasan beragama dan ketidakadilan terhadap kaum perempuan. Sebagai salah satu produk tafsir keagamaan, fikih misalnya diakui masih menyimpan banyak persoalan menyangkut kekebasan beragama dan kesetaraan gender. Demikian halnya dengan dunia pendidikan nasional. Selama ini, dalam sistem persekolahan di Indonesia masih banyak ditemukan faktor penyebab kegagalan bagi setiap upaya mencapai tujuan pendidikan HAM. Ini berarti prinsip dasar tersebut perlu diejawantahkan dalam sistem pendidikan melalui upaya memaksimalkan peran humanisasi dan hominisasi pendidikan.]


This volume reframes the debate around Islam and women’s rights within a broader comparative literature. It examines the complex and contingent historical relationships between religion, secularism, democracy, law, and gender equality. Part I addresses the nexus of religion, law, gender, and democracy through different disciplinary perspectives (sociology, anthropology, political science, law). Part II localizes the implementation of this nexus between law, gender, and democracy, and provides contextualized responses to questions raised in Part I. The contributors explore the situation of Muslim women’s rights vis-à-vis human rights to shed light on gender politics in the modernization of the nation and to ponder over the role of Islam in gender inequality across different Muslim countries.


Author(s):  
Janne Rothmar Herrmann

This chapter discusses the right to avoid procreation and the regulation of pregnancy from a European perspective. The legal basis for a right to avoid procreation can be said to fall within the scope of several provisions of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), an instrument that is binding for all European countries. Here, Article 12 of the ECHR gives men and women of marriageable age the right to marry and found a family in accordance with the national laws governing this right. However, Article 12 protects some elements of the right not to procreate, but for couples only. The lack of common European consensus in this area highlights how matters relating to the right to decide on the number and spacing of children touch on aspects that differ from country to country even in what could appear to be a homogenous region. In fact, the cultural, moral, and historical milieus that surround these rights differ considerably with diverse national perceptions of the role of the family, gender equality, religious and moral obligations, and so on.


2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 324-333
Author(s):  
Tobias Kelly

Abstract This short essay offers a broad and necessarily incomplete review of the current state of the human rights struggle against torture and ill-treatment. It sketches four widespread assumptions in that struggle: 1) that torture is an issue of detention and interrogation; 2) that political or security detainees are archetypal victims of torture; 3) that legal reform is one of the best ways to fight torture; and 4) that human rights monitoring helps to stamp out violence. These four assumptions have all played an important role in the history of the human rights fight against torture, but also resulted in limitations in terms of the interventions that are used, the forms of violence that human rights practitioners respond to, and the types of survivors they seek to protect. Taken together, these four assumptions have created challenges for the human rights community in confronting the multiple forms of torture rooted in the deep and widespread inequality experienced by many poor and marginalized groups. The essay ends by pointing to some emerging themes in the fight against torture, such as a focus on inequality, extra-custodial violence, and the role of corruption.


2013 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 155-175 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hou Yuxin

Abstract The Wukan Incident attracted extensive attention both in China and around the world, and has been interpreted from many different perspectives. In both the media and academia, the focus has very much been on the temporal level of the Incident. The political and legal dimensions, as well as the implications of the Incident in terms of human rights have all been pored over. However, what all of these discussions have overlooked is the role played by religious force during the Incident. The village of Wukan has a history of over four hundred years, and is deeply influenced by the religious beliefs of its people. Within both the system of religious beliefs and in everyday life in the village, the divine immortal Zhenxiu Xianweng and the religious rite of casting shengbei have a powerful influence. In times of peace, Xianweng and casting shengbei work to bestow good fortune, wealth and longevity on both the village itself, and the individuals who live there. During the Wukan Incident, they had a harmonizing influence, and helped to unify and protect the people. Looking at the specific roles played by religion throughout the Wukan Incident will not only enable us to develop a more meaningful understanding of the cultural nature and the complexity of the Incident itself, it will also enrich our understanding, on a divine level, of innovations in social management.


2005 ◽  
Vol 22 (1_suppl) ◽  
pp. 45-61 ◽  
Author(s):  
Johan Edman

■ Aims The aim of this article is to investigate the problem formulations – the preconceptions about causes and effects and the possible solutions to the problems of alcohol abuse – that characterized the compulsory institutional care of alcohol abusers in Sweden in the 20th century. The article focuses on problem formulations that actually were practised in the institutions. ■ Methods & Data The main source material is to be found in the archives of four institutionalized care establishments and consists of official reports, correspondence, supply estimates, circulars for consideration and – above all – patient records. From this material you can learn about the institutions' struggle for autonomy, expansion and legitimacy, and also about the clients' characteristics and how the clients were viewed. The study of the archives allows you to form a picture of the problem formulations that affected the activities in the institutions directly, a picture that goes beyond the more abstract expectations preferred by official reports and legislation. ■ Results Within the compulsory institutional care actually carried out, the problem formulations that were stipulated in the gender-neutral legislation and vague regulations became gender-specific and precise. The treatment of alcohol abusers was a class and gender related project, aiming not only at encouraging male diligence and the fulfilling of a man's maintenance obligation but also at female virtuousness and concern for the family. ■ Conclusions The history of alcohol abusers' treatment shows that alcohol itself has been a secondary factor in problem definitions which have let themselves be attached – via perceived links with either cause or effect – to more overarching social issues in Sweden. The concerns of emergent family policy in the 1940s, the developmental optimism and scientistic passions of the 1950s, and the systemically critical protest movements of the 1970s are all clearly reflected in trends within social care services for alcohol abusers – albeit much more often at the level of discourse than of praxis.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
А.Б. Бритаева

В представленной статье на материале произведений Музафера Дзасохова известного современного осетинского писателя, поэта, публициста, переводчика, рассматриваются художественные особенности лирической прозы, а именно, автобиографической повести в осетинской детской литературе. Повесть Весенние звезды (1973) и ее продолжение На берегу Уршдона Барагун (1981) стали началом эпопеи о жизни отдельно взятой семьи, а на их примере всей страны в тяжелые послевоенные годы. В качестве одной из важнейших констант художественного мира писателя рассматривается образ детства. В ходе анализа особое внимание уделяется преобладанию нравственного аспекта, актуализации проблемы регулятивно-воспитательной функции национального этикета, ценностно-нормативных ориентиров осетинской ментальности. С опорой на биографический и историко-генетический методы, основное внимание в исследовании акцентируется на темах послевоенного детства, роли семьи и общества в формировании нравственных ориентиров, в становлении личности, образе матери, теме памяти, а также на художественном осмыслении этих проблем и тем в автобиографических повестях писателя. Типологически воплощение детской темы в творчестве М. Дзасохова во многом опирается на традицию изображения детства в русской автобиографической прозе XX в. В заключительной части сформулированы выводы, отражающие особенности лирической прозы в творчестве М. Дзасохова, обозначено место автобиографических повестей автора в контексте осетинской детской литературы второй половины XX века.Актуальность и научная новизна работы обусловлены недостаточной исследованностью истории и проблем осетинской детской литературы. Результаты исследования могут быть использованы при написании истории осетинской детской литературы. The present article examines the artistic features of lyrical prose, namely, autobiographical story in the Ossetian childrens literature in the works of Muzafer Dzasokhov, a well-known modern Ossetian writer, poet, publicist, translator. The story Spring Stars (1973) and its continuation - On the Bank of Ursdon Baragun ... (1981) marked the beginning of an epic about the life of a family, and via their fates the author shows life of the whole country in the difficult post-war years. The theme of childhood is considered as one of the most important constants of the writers artistic world. In the course of the analysis, special attention is paid to the predominance of the moral aspect, the actualization of the problem of the regulatory and educational function of national etiquette, the value and normative guidelines of the Ossetian mentality. The focus of the study is based on biographical and historical-genetic methods and highlights the themes of post-war childhood, the role of the family and society in the formation of moral guidelines, in the formation of personality, the image of the mother, the theme of memory, as well as on the artistic understanding of these problems and topics in autobiographical novels of the writer. Typologically, the embodiment of the childrens theme in the works of M. Dzasokhov is largely based on the tradition of depicting childhood in Russian autobiographical prose of the XXth century. The formulated conclusions in the final part reflect the peculiarities of lyrical prose in the works of M. Dzasokhov, the place of the authors autobiographical stories is indicated in the context of Ossetian childrens literature of the second half of the XXth century. The relevance and scientific novelty of the work are due to insufficient research on the history and problems of Ossetian childrens literature. The results of the study can be used in writing the history of Ossetian childrens literature.


2021 ◽  

Historians of political thought and international lawyers have both expanded their interest in the formation of the present global order. History, Politics, Law is the first express encounter between the two disciplines, juxtaposing their perspectives on questions of method and substance. The essays throw light on their approaches to the role of politics and the political in the history of the world beyond the single polity. They discuss the contrast between practice and theory as well as the role of conceptual and contextual analyses in both fields. Specific themes raised for both disciplines include statehood, empires and the role of international institutions, as well as the roles of economics, innovation and gender. The result is a vibrant cross-section of contrasts and parallels between the methods and practices of the two disciplines, demonstrating the many ways in which both can learn from each other.


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