The Rights of Women

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• In the last century, women have made substantial
  gains in claiming their rights

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• However, the struggle for equality continues.

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What are the Rights of Women?
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• All women have the right to
• Safety and Security
• Protection and Due Process
• Non-Discrimination
• Work
• Education
• Health
• Housing
• Political Participation

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• Key documents that define the rights of women
• The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948)
• The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of
  Discrimination Against Women (1979) (CEDAW)
• The Declaration on the Elimination of Violence
  Against Women (1993) (DEVAW)
• The Beijing Declaration (1995)

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• Government Obligations
• Respect Governments must not deprive any woman
  of her rights under domestic and international
  law and must refrain from taking retrogressive
  measures that are incompatible with the rights of
  women.
• Protect Governments must take measures to
  prevent individuals or third parties, such as
  employers or civil society organizations, from
  interfering in any way with the realization of
  the rights of women
• Fulfill Governments must adopt necessary
  measures and create an enabling environment such
  that all women can enjoy their full rights.
• Non-discrimination Governments must work to
  prevent discriminatory outcomes due to class,
  race, gender, language, or other factors, in
  order to ensure equity in the fulfillment of the
  rights of women.

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• Government Obligations Cont.
• Take Steps Governments must take steps, to the
  maximum of their available resources, to work
  progressively toward ensuring the rights of all
  women.
• Meet Minimum Core Governments must ensure the
  satisfaction of the minimal, but essential,
  standards laid out in the UDHR and immediately
  address extreme situations of abuse.
• Protect the Most Vulnerable Governments must
  actively reach out to the most frequently
  marginalized and excluded women, who face the
  greatest barriers in realizing their rights.
• Monitor and Report Governments must monitor and
  report on their fulfillment of the rights of
  women and ensure accountability for their actions
  and inactions.

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• Does the U.S. Recognize the Rights of Women?

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The U.S. recognizes the basic rights of all human
beings, including women.

• The U.S. has signed The Universal Declaration of
  Human Rights (UDHR)
• Everyone is entitled to all the rights and
  freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without
  distinction of any kind, such as race, colour,
  sex, language, religion, political or other
  opinion, national or social origin, property,
  birth or other status. (Article 2, UDHR)
• The U.S. has ratified the International Covenant
  on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR)
• The States Parties to the present Covenant
  undertake to ensure the equal right of men and
  women to the enjoyment of all civil and political
  rights set forth in the present Covenant.
  (Article 3, ICCPR)

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• The U.S. Constitution also recognizes the Rights
  of Women

• 14th Amendment Equal Protection Clause
• No state shall ... deny to any person within
  its jurisdiction the equal protection of the
  laws". (U.S. Constitution, Amendment 14)
• The 19th Amendment Right to Vote
• The right of the citizens of the United States
  to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the
  United States or by any State on account of
  sex.. (U.S. Constitution, Amendment 19)

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The U.S. has not ratified the major treaty
recognizing the rights of women

• The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of
  Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW)

The U.S. is the only industrialized country that
has not ratified the treaty.
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• Does the U.S.
• Adequately
• Protect the Rights of Women?

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• We ask justice, we ask equality, we ask that all
  the civil and political rights that belong to
  citizens of the United States, be guaranteed to
  us and our daughters forever.
• Susan B. Anthony,
• Declaration of Rights for
  Women, July 1876

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Safety and Security
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All Women Have a Right to

• SAFETY AND SECURITY
• The right to life, liberty, and security of
  person.1
• The right to be free from violence within the
  family2 and to protection from exploitation and
  abuse.3

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Safety and Security

• Battering is the number one cause of injury to
  women in the U.S.4
• Domestic violence is a leading cause of
  homelessness among women.5
• Up to 50,000 women and children are trafficked
  into the U.S. each year from other countries.6

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Equal Protection
and Due Process
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All Women Have a Right to
EQUAL PROTECTION AND DUE PROCESS The right to be
treated equally under the law and be protected by
the law without discrimination.7
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Equal Protection and Due Process

• Battered immigrant women face many barriers to
  protection from violence, including language,
  culture and immigration status.8
• Women in prison are not adequately protected, and
  experience rape, sexual assault, and groping
  during searches.9
• Incarcerated women face threats to their health
  and families through policies such as shackling
  during childbirth.10

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Non-Discrimination
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All Women Have a Right to
NON-DISCRIMINATION The right to live free from
personal and institutional discrimination based
on ones sex.11
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Non-Discrimination

• Congress has failed to pass a comprehensive
  statutory ban on sex discrimination comparable to
  the bans on other forms of discrimination.
• Women face outright discrimination in the
  military. Women are excluded from certain
  positions, and therefore have trouble ascending
  to leadership roles.12

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Work
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All Women Have a Right to
WORK

• including
• equal pay for equal work
• equal employment opportunities
• policies that ensure women do not lose
  employment, seniority, or benefits due to
  pregnancy.13

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Work

• Full-time working women still make only 77.8
  cents for every dollar earned by men.14
• Women are also more likely to work part-time or
  to hold minimum wage jobs, which limits their
  access to benefits.15
• A lack of family support policies forces women to
  face a tradeoff between good care for their
  children and equal career opportunities.16

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Education
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• Of all the civil rights for which the world has
  struggled and fought for 5,000 years, the right
  to learn is undoubtedly the most fundamental...
• W.E.B. DuBois

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All Women Have a Right to
EDUCATION Equal access to and equal opportunity
in all forms and aspects of education regardless
of sex.17
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Education

• Women hold only 24 percent of full professor
  positions in the U.S.18
• In engineering and science, the numbers are even
  worse, ranging from 3 to 15.4 percent.19
• Among Division I schools in 2000, spending on
  mens athletics was nearly double what was spent
  on womens sports.20

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Health
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"It is my aspiration that health finally will be
seen not as a blessing to be wished for, but as a
human right to be fought for."
United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan
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All Women Have a Right to
HEALTH

• The right to the highest attainable level of
  physical and mental health
• Equal access to health services, including family
  planning and reproductive health.21

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Health

• Women pay a higher percentage of out-of-pocket
  costs than men and are more likely to avoid
  receiving needed care because of cost.22
• In nine states, insurance companies can refuse
  coverage to victims of domestic violence.23
• Women receive different standards of care. As a
  result, women who have a heart attack are more
  likely to die or have a second heart attack than
  men.24

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Housing
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All Women Have a Right to
HOUSING
Access to affordable, secure, and stable housing,
with special attention to women living in poverty
and female heads of household.25
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Housing

• 37 of U.S. cities cite domestic violence as the
  primary cause of homelessness.26
• Unjust zero-tolerance policies allow landlords
  to evict victims of domestic violence.27
• The lack of affordable housing adversely affects
  women and their families as women make up the
  majority of minimum wage workers and tend to be
  the sole wage earners in single-parent families.28

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Political Participation
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• Women belong in the house and the Senate.
• Author Unknown

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All Women Have a Right to
POLITICAL PARTICIPATION
The right to vote, to stand for election, to be
involved in formulating government policy and to
actively participate in political life.30
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Political Participation

• No woman has ever held either of the two highest
  offices in the United States, President or Vice
  President.
• Women currently hold only 16.8 of Congressional
  seats, a record high percentage.31

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Graph by Lane Kenworthy29
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Womens Rights Resources

• American Civil Liberties Union (www.aclu.org/women
  srights/)
• Amnesty International USA (http//www.amnestyusa.o
  rg/)
• Human Rights Watch (http//www.hrw.org/)
• National Organization for Women
  (http//www.now.org/)
• National Womens Law Center (http//www.nwlc.org/)
  
• Office on Violence Against Women - United States
  Justice Department (http//www.ovw.usdoj.gov/)
• OWL National (http//www.owl-national.org/)
• StopVAW (http//www.stopvaw.org/)
• The White House Project (http//www.thewhitehousep
  roject.org/)
• Women Matter (http//www.womenmatter.org/)
• Womens Law (http//www.womenslaw.org/)
• The Younger Womens Task Force (http//www.ywtf.or
  g/)
• YWCA (http//www.ywca.org/)

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Image Sources

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• Man and Woman on Scale. Accessed March 2009
  http//www.wethewomen.org/images/women-power_18.jp
  g
• Men Only. Accessed February 2009.
  http//custom-essay.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/20
  08/05/124.png
• Men Working. Accessed February 2009.
  http//neatorama.cachefly.net/images/2008-07/men-w
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• Percentage of men and women in poverty by
  race/ethnicity. Accessed February 2009.
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• Votes for Women. Accessed February 2009.
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• Womens Share in Parliament. Accessed February
  2009. http//lanekenworthy.files.wordpress.com/200
  8/11/leadingtheway-figure1-version2.png

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