Womans Human Rights and Violence Against Woman Globally - Research Paper Example

Woman’s human rights and violence against woman globally In the wake of globalization, there have been myriad of movements advocating for women emancipation from the chains of male chauvinism that have dominated the society in the past and in the contemporary society. Today, commendable progress has been made towards liberating women, but more still needs to be done to realize the desired universal gender equity. Why the liberation? The liberation is imperative since there has been evident violation of the fundamental rights of women globally. Their male counterparts have been on the beneficial end, taking advantage of their masculinity to oppress women. The paper will explore how women’s rights have been violated through violence. Before delving into the topic, it is appropriate to define the term human rights. According to TheFreeDictionary, human right refers to any basic freedom to which all human beings are entitled to and whose exercise a government may not interfere. People all over the world are entitled to right to life, right to liberty, freedom of expression, fair trial and right to privacy among others. The rights should be exercised by everyone in the world irrespective of sex, nationality, race religion and other social and physical biases. Many states have ratified one or more human right treaties and therefore are obligated to ensure that the human rights of their citizens are not violated whatsoever. Women all over the world have suffered from gender biasness that is evident in discrimination and violence. What is violence? Violence involves the use of physical or emotional force in order to achieve an objective (Hornby 1332). Violence against women is perpetuated by oppressive societal systems that are biased to women due to their femininity. Violence against women entails any gender biased act that may cause actual or perceived physical, emotional or sexual harm to women. Let us examine violence against women as a form of human rights violation. According to Un.Org, violence affects women globally across all socio-economic and educational classes. Violence is a very serious impediment to women in the participation in societal activities. Violence infringes the right of women to pursue happiness and very detrimental for their competitiveness in the society. There are a variety of violence against women, however, the most conspicuous ones are: domestic hostility, rape, child and forced marriages, and female genital mutilation (Un.Org). Violence against women is a universal problem and all authorities world over should work fervently in condemning and curbing the vice. According to United Nations Human Rights, states are obligated to respect, protect and fulfill human rights as a legal requirement of the international law. . Domestic violence is one of the dominating forms of violence against women in the world. Due to the difference in the physical composition between women and men, women have suffered physical, psychological and cultural hostility from their male counterparts in the home environment. According to Iran-Other Countries Friendship Association Supreme Council Network, domestic violence can be physical, sexual emotional or mental (2). Domestic violence is a common occurrence across all cultures and economies, and it cannot be argued that it is only a problem of the developing countries. Mental abuse is the most common type of domestic violence in Iran; it takes the form of bullying, belittling, threatening, and confining women at home (Iran-Other Countries Friendship Association Supreme Council Network, domestic violence can be physical, sexual emotional or mental 3).The fact that the women are confined at home is very detrimental to their freedom and ability to freely associate with others. Furthermore, women in Iran are belittled and bullied together with being coerced to undertake the bulk part of the burdensome domestic chores. The sad part of this is that, their endeavors in the domestic chores go unrecognized and unappreciated and this is extremely demoralizing. These women are not seen to be engaging in meaningful employment as domestic chores are considered valueless. In an ideal situation the women should be compensated for what they do at home since this form a very fundamental part of human survival; apart from the cooking, washing and the general cleaning, the home can be a very unpleasant place for men. Due to this reason, they should appreciate what the women are doing back at home. Domestic violence in Iran is also expressed in the sexual violations of women’s rights, for example through insisting on the unconventional sexual gratification methods and refusal to use contraceptives, a practice that turns women into more or less child manufacturing machines. Domestic violence against women also takes place in Turkey and is evident in sexual exploitation of women, wife buttering and discrimination against women. During socialization, the men in Turkey are taught to despise and to oppress women, in fact Ilhan documents, that if a man beats a woman then the woman must deserve the same. (6). This means that men have been socialized to be on the right while the women are naturally on the wrong as dictated by this patriarchal society. The most striking and serious form of domestic violence against women that is witnessed in Turkey is honor killing. As the name suggests it involves the termination of life, in this case not the life of a hen but that of a human being. Honor killing is the murder of women whose so called disgraceful behaviors tarnishes the honor of the family (Ilhan 4). Life is very precious and should be protected by all means. This type of killing should be condemned by the strongest possible terms since it is an outright violation of women’s right to life. It is a serious and discriminatory practice that is exercised discriminatorily; does it mean that it is only women who can commit disgraceful acts to the family? If men commit disgraceful acts to the family, they go unscathed but if the same is committed by women then the lethal arm of honor killing wipes them out of the surface of the earth. This practice is barbaric and oppressive to the women and proves that the honor of the family is more precious that the life of women in the family, and by all standards should not be allowed to thrive. Why has this awful practice survived overtime? Ilhan states that, “The socio-economic, cultural and political environments that encourage, support, and protect the perpetrators of honor killings place women in an inferior position” (5). This cruel practice against women is deeply rooted it the culture and traditions of the people of the middle of the Middle East, therefore it cannot he tackled devoid of understanding the culture of the people. It is a perception that gender based violence only occurs in the developing countries. However, this problem cuts across all economies and regions and so England and other developed economies also witness this problem of gender based violence. According to Sen and Kelly, violence against women remains a key factor that undermines full participation of women in the societal issues in the United Kingdom (5). Women violence in England takes the form of domestic violence that can be seen in financial exploitation of women, buttering and sexual assault within the family. The difference between domestic violence in Iran, Turkey and England is that the women’s rights violations that occur in England are often reported and the perpetrators persecuted and punished by the law. However in both Turkey and Iran there is still a lot of fear by the silently suffering women who fail report the cases since the society tends to protect the men who violate women’s rights. This protective nature of these societies to the men is embedded both in the religion and the culture of the people. Women still have to fight vehemently to free themselves from the cruel and biased chains of domestic violence. The authorities in place should also endeavor to empower women through education and economic empowerments to enable them compete fairly with their male counterparts in the society. Violence against women can also be undertaken through rape and sexual assault. Rape and sexual assault refers to the act of forcefully attaining sexual gratification through indecent touching of another’s private parts or the actual intercourse without their consent. Note that rape and sexual harassment do not only happen to women but also to men. However, research indicates that more rape and sexual harassment cases against women are reported. This does not mean that it is only women’s fundamental rights that should be protected, but the same should also be done to men who fall victims of rape and sexual harassment. Ilhan documents that, “violence against women is accepted or tolerated in certain prescribed forms and given contexts in Turkey” (1). Both Iran and Turkey are predominantly patriarchal societies and women often suffer in the hands of men in cases of rape and sexual abuse. This problem is majorly a social and religious perpetuated one, and should be addressed along these lines. In England strict laws and policies have been put in place to ensure that the rights of women are respected and the country is relatively doing better than Turkey and Iran. Despite these laudable efforts to curb the gender based violence against women and girls evidenced in rape and sexual assault cases, the problem still thrives. Sen and Kelly observes that, cultural attitudes that depict women as sexual beings who are available for men’s consumption have been renewed and deepened (16).This means that besides having the stringent laws against rape and other sexual offences, the authorities need to embrace a socio-cultural approach of problem to deal with this derogatory perception that women are sex machines. The sad fact about the legal approach is that, despite reports and trial of rape cases in England, the conviction percentage remains alarmingly low, furthermore numerous cases go unreported (Sen and Kelly16). This is an awkward situation and more efforts need to be taken in order to effectively curtail this menace of rape and sexual assault that majorly occurs against women. Female genital mutilation is also another major form of gender based violence. Female circumcision is fueled by cultural dictates of the society. It is a dehumanizing practice that should be shunned by all means. It is culturally done in crude and unhygienic conditions that have led to the death of many women and girls. Female circumcision as opposed to male circumcision does not have any medical benefits associated with it, and is only done to fulfill the cultural requirements of the society. World health organization estimates that between 85 and 115 women and girls of the world have undergone female circumcision and as such have suffered from the adverse medical effects of the same (Un.Org). This is a tremendously high number, and the practice needs to be controlled by the authorities concerned. Majorly, female genital mutilation cases occur in the Asia and Africa as per the cultural dictates of some of the inhabitants these continents. Un.Org documents that the practice also takes place in America and Europe and the same is found among the immigrants. Many countries all over the world have outlawed the practice due to its brutal nature. In Turkey and Iran, the practice still thrives due to the culture of most Asian countries. However, in England the practice is a rare occurrence and there are strict laws against the same. Furthermore, it is also not their culture and those who practice the same are immigrants. Female genital mutilation is a detrimental practice to the health of women and girls and should be condemned strongly. Culture should not be valued than the precious health of women and girls and a lot of vehement steps should be taken to ensure that the practice stopped. Violence against women also takes the dimension of forced child marriages. The young girls are forced to marry the men who are not their choice. This is done because of economic gains and to fulfill cultural requirements. This demeaning practice to women majorly happens in Africa and Asia. It is sad that the young girls are coerced to marry people that they don’t love. Issues of marriage should be from free will and personal decisions, and the issue of the use of force should not arise. Since forced marriages occur without the consent of both the parties or either of the parties, it exposes women to lifetime torture in marriages that lacks their consents. Early marriage imposed on young girls is harmful since they are not physically and psychologically developed. This causes severe harm to the young girls and the practice should not be condoned. Violence against women is a global problem and authorities of the world have come up with various strategies to curb it. There are numerous dimensions to women violence but the paper has discussed some of them being: domestic violence, rape and sexual assault, child and forced marriages, and female genital mutilation. These practices are derogatory, demeaning dehumanizing to girls and women, and should be discouraged. These practices, and others not discussed thrive in the society due to cultural and social dictates. They amount to gross violation of women’s rights and have been condemned by internationally. Most countries have ratified international treaties and laws to safeguard the rights of women and other vulnerable groups and they should adhere to their commitments. Internal laws against these practices should also be strictly be adhered to. Though such practices occur mostly in the developing countries, they also take place in the developed states like England and more still needs to be done. Note should be taken that also the rights of men are protected to avoid the over protection of women and girl child. Works Cited. Hornby, A.S. Oxford Advanced Learners’ Dictionary of Current English. New York: Oxford University Press, 2000. Ilhan Yildiz. Violence against women in Turkey: Beliefs and Traditions. 2007. Web. 06 May 2012 . http://www.religlaw.org/content/blurb/files/Yildiz%20presentation.pdf Iran-Other Countries Friendship Association Supreme Council Network. Review of violence against women (domestic violence and honour crimes) in Iran in comparison with other countries. 2010. Web. 06 May 2012. http://lib.ohchr.org/HRBodies/UPR/Documents/Session7/IR/IOCFASCN_IRN_UPR_S07_2010_IranOtherCountriesFriendshipAssociationSupremeCouncilNetwork.pdf Sen Puma and Kelly Liz. Violence against Women in the U.K. 2007. Web.06 May 2012. http://www.iwraw-ap.org/resources/pdf/41_shadow_reports/UK_SR_on_VAW.pdf TheFreeDictionary. Human Right. 2012 Web. 06 May 2012 http://www.thefreedictionary.com/human+right United Nations Human Rights. What are Human Rights? 2012. Web. 06 May 2012. http://www.ohchr.org/en/issues/Pages/WhatareHumanRights.aspx UN.ORG. Women and Violence. 1996. Web. 06 May 2012. http://www.un.org/rights/dpi1772e.htm Read More