Advantages and Disadvantages of Women’s Rights
Women rights refer to those rights that encourage a situation of social and legal equality of women with men. They are the entitlements and rights that have been claimed for girls and women throughout the world. Women rights were the foundation for the women rights movement in the 19th Century and the feminist movements in the 20th Century. In many countries of the world, women rights have been institutionalized and are reinforced by customs, behavior and law. In other countries, women rights are ignored and even suppressed. Women’s rights are essential human rights and are preserved by the United Nations for all humans for over 70 years now. Women’s rights include the right to own property, earn equal and fair wages, to vote, freedom from violence, slavery and discrimination in any form.
As it is said that women’s rights are human rights and so, women have an entitlement to all rights by virtue of being human. However, in almost all parts of the world women and girls are continually denied their rights simply because of their gender. Campaigning for the rights of women is not only about providing opportunities to individual girls and women. It also entails shifting how countries and communities engage women and girls. It requires a change in policies, winning peoples minds and hearts and financing organizations and movements that support gender parity.
The History of Women’s Rights
Achieving equality between men and women and eradicating discriminations against women in all forms constitutes the fundamental human rights and values for the United Nations. For us to be able to formulate appropriate strategies for the eradication of discrimination against women and girls, we must first have a good understanding of the different ways in which women are discriminated against.
The women’s rights agenda has been a top priority for the United Nations and it has achieved great progress to secure women’s rights throughout the world in the past decades. However, due to the dynamics in the women rights issues, essential gaps remain. Women are now facing discrimination in new forms such as discrimination based on age, religion, ethnicity, health status, marital status, education, nationality, ethnicity, disability and socioeconomic status.
Part of the objectives UN’s charter, adopted in 1945, was to endorse the belief in the essential human rights, and human value of all persons and provide for equal rights for both men and women. In the first article of the charter, the most important roles of the UN is to inspire reverence for important rights and freedoms without the consideration of one’s sex, race, religion and language. The UN implemented the human rights declaration in 1948 and emphasized the equal privilege of equal rights to all people.
After adopting the human rights declaration, the UNHCR drafted two agreements about human rights including the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights; and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. The two agreements and other human rights treaties are legally binding in nations that have ratified them. The covenants prohibit any form of discrimination and ensure equality for all.
The covenant on both political and civils rights safeguards the right to life, equality of all people before the law, freedom from slavery, freedom from torture, the right to security and liberty, freedom of movement, thought, conscience and religion among other rights. The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights safeguards the right to good living standard, right to education, health; rights to child protection, marriage, maternity; rights reacted to science and culture; and the right to work among other rights.
The UN member countries adopted the pronouncement that was aimed at eradicating gender inequality and it explains that gender disparity is a serious crime against humanity. It calls upon countries to abolish all discriminative laws, cultures, practices and regulations and ensure proper security of the rights of all people.
In Africa, the OAU implemented the African charter on human rights in 1981. The second article of the charter prohibits discriminations of women. In article 18, the charter spells the obligations of African countries in ensuring the eradication gender disparity and safeguard the rights of women and girls as declared in the international conventions and declarations. The United States’ Charter on the Organization of the US includes a provision that prohibits gender disparity together with the American Convention on Human Rights.
Global Commitments to Women’s Rights
Gender parity has been a subject of discussion in major international conferences and conventions. In 1975, the year dedicated as the international year for women, the conference to commemorate the international year of women was held in Mexico City. The conference resulted in the implementation of the world’s action plan that nominated the year between 1975 and 1985 to be the UN decade for Women.
The Vienna Declaration and Program of Action.
In 1993, Vienna hosted a world’s human rights conference. The conference aimed to evaluate human rights machinery staus that were working during that time. Under the title “Women’s Rights are Human Rights”, international activists on human rights advocated for inclusions of the gender parity as an agenda in the United Nations. This included issues revolving around the violence against women. The conference successfully adopted the declaration in Vienna and the action program that explained the importance of women’s rights.
Millennium Development Goals
The United Nations approved eight development goals to be realized by 2015. The goals include reducing maternal mortality rate and gender parity and women empowerment. The millennium development goals have ensured international support to the most daunting problems throughout the world. The third goal suggests that gender parity and empowerment of women should be realized by 2015. The fifth goal is about reducing the maternal mortality rate by 75 per cent.
Advantages of Women’s Rights
The first importance of gender equality is that it prevent violence against girls and women. Gender disparity is the main cause of ferocity against women. Gender-based violence is driven by four main factors, including toleration of violence against women, men’s habit of controlling the decision making in society and their limitation to the independence of women, the establishment of rigid gender stereotypes and roles against women and the male relations that accentuate disrespect and aggression towards people of the female gender. Ensuring gender equality is the best way of eradicating violence against women.
Secondly, gender equality is a basic human right for all people and women’s right ensures equality for all persons irrespective of their gender. Every person has a role to play to promote equal rights for all genders. We can promote the rights of women by adhering to the principles of the international treaties that advocates for the eradication of different forms of discernment against women. Women’s rights preserve the fundamental rights of all humans as expressed in the Bill of Rights. Another importance of women’s rights is that it promotes economic growth. Nations that have included women in the national labour force have realized to improve economic growth compared to the countries that have not. According to the World Bank, a one per cent increase the number of women in the labour force results to three per cent growth in GDP. Economic growth results in increased job opportunities, improvement in social services and better development for all.
There are better economies, healthy and less violent citizens in countries with a majority of educated women. Research evidence has proved that educating girls and women has a direct bearing on the economies of countries. Educated girls ensure a higher number of the skilled labour force since educated mothers know the value of education and would ensure the education of all of their children. This, therefore, means that educating girls is the sure way of investing in the future of a nation’s labour force and economy. Apart from the economic value, research has shown that an increase in girls’ education results in a 5-10 per cent reduction in infant mortality rate. It also reduces poverty levels among families since educated women have fewer children in marriages
Women’s rights have contributed to the development and growth of businesses. Business organization run by women have reported high levels of workers motivation and productivity than the ones run by men. Even though many researchers have contested the reasons for this outcome, a poll conducted by Gallup showed that workers led by women managers reported a six per cent engagement rate compared to those led by male managers. Other research works have also indicated that women leaders are more asserting and interact with their employees more than their male counterparts. This motivates workers and results in higher productivity.
Research has also shown that women are better investors and more likely to make sound financial investments than their male counterparts. In a seven-year study, it was found that women managed investment businesses and single female investments performed better than male-led businesses in terms of stock picking.
In the first world economies, women have more college degrees and averagely have higher IQ compared to men. This implies that bridging the gap between female and male business and political leaders may result in a higher number of educated people. Currently, the US there are more male than female CEOs. However, women have proved to be business assets as leaders, investors and managers. Also, Women’s rights ensure good health and safety in communities. Equal societies are more cohesive and this reduces the rate of violence and antisocial characters within communities. People living in countries with high gender equality are friendlier to each other. This ensures peaceful coexistence and healthier wellbeing.
Disadvantages of Women’s Rights
Even though gender equality has promoted equal rights for all irrespective of gender, some studies have shown that it is slowly resulting in gender disparity. One of such areas affected by gender equality in education. Over the years, women rights activists have advocated for the provision of more education opportunities for females at the expense of the males. Gender equality in education is within an arm’s length in secondary school across the world. With increased campaigns for girls education, there is currently enrolling of an almost equal number of boys and girls in schools. Statistics from the UNESCO’s Global Education Monitoring report shows that there are 100 boys for every 98 girls registered for high school studies.
From far, these figures show gender equality in education. Closer analysis the figures indicates a different image: Secondary school enrollment across all genders is only equal in about a half of the countries of the world. In fact, there are two gaps hidden in the general look of equality. For some countries, there is a higher number of boys registered in secondary schools than girls. In other countries, boys are increasingly getting disadvantaged, with most of them dropping out of school while the girls continue with their studies. Girls’ education has increased in countries in North Africa and Asia. According to the United Nations, there was an enrollment of 40 girls per 100 boys in these countries in 1993. This is higher compared to the enrollment rate of fewer than 80 girls per 100 boys recorded 25 years before this.
Overall, it is estimated that only half of the countries of the world are closer to achieving gender parity in school enrolments. In as many as half of the countries of the world, either boys or girls are disadvantaged. For example, in many countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, a higher number of boys than girls are missing out on education. In countries such as Honduras, for example, 65 boys per 100 girls attend school.
Girls’ school enrollment is low in low-income economies while boys are worse off in high and middle-income economies. Boys pay the price for school systems in high and middle-income economies that disengages them and propagates. In such environments, boys feel they should be out of school working. There are also higher chances of boy ending in violent school environments and may suffer violence from teachers and as a result, drop out of school. The result of this is a disparity in skills, for example, in most Western Asia and North Africa countries, girls are a reading grade ahead of boys by the fourth grade.
Another notable disadvantage of women’s rights is the increased competition between female and male genders. The women empowerment and feminist movements have increasingly pushed for more women to take up traditionally male roles in leadership and family affairs. This has had serious negative impacts on institutions such as marriage. An empowered woman is educated and more likely to secure high-end jobs in management and political leadership. This makes them more or less equal to their male counterparts.
Such women are also more likely to demand equal rights in relationship and marriage affairs, and this has not gone so well with many male chauvinists. Recently, many family disagreements and breakups have been attributed to women empowerment. Many women, today, are running away from their traditional role as homemakers and are increasingly demanding equal contribution of men in handling domestic chores and child upbringing. The increased desire for independence among women has pushed some of them out of marriages and could be the reason the high number of divorce cases reported the past decade.
In conclusion, a society built on the principles of gender equality and respects for human rights irrespective of gender in more prosperous than one that is not. Gender equality is responsible for many successes amongst members of the society such as improved economic growth, social protection and welfare of members of both genders. True equality shall only exist when girls and women are given full access to their rights including rights to equal pay, right to property ownership, freedom from violence, right to education and right to rights to sexual and maternal health. Our economies will be more transformed with more women taking up peacekeeping and leadership roles. All these will earn women the freedom to self-determination we are all entitled to.