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HUMAN RIGHTS AND WOMEN

Joy Kirt Sidhu
Himalaya College of Education, Ranwar, Karnal

Abstract

What are the Human Rights of Women? Every woman and girl is entitled to the realization of
all human rights -- civil, political, economic, social and cultural -- on equal terms with men,
free from discrimination. Women and girls also enjoy certain human rights specifically linked
to their status as women. This paper deals with the critical areas identified in this sphere, the
Human Rights at issue, the governments’ obligation and commitment in providing and safe
guarding these human rights.

"Millions of women around the world will be born, live and die, and never know they have
human rights." -- Ivanka Corti, former Chairperson of CEDAW Women's Passport to Dignity

The world has recognized that the human rights of women and of the girl-child are "an
inalienable, integral and indivisible part of universal human rights." Vienna Declaration and
Programme of Action, Para. 18.

Women are guaranteed equal treatment and freedom from discrimination in the most basic
human rights treaties, and women's human rights are the subject of a specific treaty, the
convention on the elimination of all forms of discrimination against women. Far-reaching
governmental commitments to ensuring the human rights of women have been made at each of
the recent world conferences, and women's human rights are central to the unanimously
approved Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action. Governments' Obligations and
Commitments to fundamental human rights of women, organized to reflect the Critical Areas
identified at the Beijing conference are discussed in this paper.

• Women and Poverty

• Education and Training of Women
• Women and Health
• Violence Against Women
• Women and the Economy
• Women in Power and Decision-Making

Women and Poverty

A life of dignity is every person's human right no matter where he or she lives or what his or her
sex, race, or ethnic origin may be. And every woman, man, youth and child has basic needs that
must be met if he or she is to live in dignity. A life of poverty means that basic needs go
unfulfilled, and fundamental human rights are violated. More than 1 billion people live in
poverty around the world, and a great majority of them are women. Women's poverty results in
widespread violations of their human rights. When a woman faces a lack of access to adequate
housing, food, or health care, her human rights are violated. When she lives in an unsafe and
unhealthy environment or lacks access to clean water, she is not enjoying her fundamental
human rights to a life of dignity and to an adequate standard of living. Poverty can also be
caused by violations of human rights, particularly women's human right to non-discrimination.
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The Human Rights at Issue

• The human right to an adequate standard of living, including access to housing, food, clean
water, and basic social services.
• The human right to a healthy and safe environment.
• The human right to primary health care and medical attention in case of illness.
• The human right to freedom from discrimination based on sex, in all aspects of life and work.
• The human right to equal access to education and training.
• The human right to equal access to productive resources, including land and credit.
• The human right to work and receive wages that contribute to an adequate standard of living.
• The human right to equal pay for equal work, and to equality of opportunity in hiring and
promotion.
• The human right to proper consideration of women's reproductive rights and sexuality,
including job security during and after pregnancy, flexible working conditions, and access to
child care.
• The human right to equality within the family and shared responsibilities for children's
upbringing.
• The human right to social security in the event of unemployment, disability, old age, or other
lack of livelihood.
• The human right to be treated with dignity and to freedom from violence and exploitation.
• The human right to full and equal participation in shaping decisions of importance to women,
their families and communities, including decisions relating to poverty eradication and
development.
• The human right to sustainable development.
• The human right to peace.
Governments' Obligations to Ensuring the Human Right to Freedom from Poverty
"Everyone ... is entitled to the realization ... of the economic, social and cultural rights
indispensable for his dignity .... Everyone has the right to work.... Everyone has the right to a
standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including
food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services.... Everyone has the right
to education...." --Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Articles 22, 23, 25, 26.
Governments' Commitments to Ensuring the Human Right to Freedom from Poverty
"We are determined to ... eradicate the persistent and increasing burden of poverty on women by
addressing the structural causes of poverty through changes in economic structures, ensuring
equal access for all women ... as vital development agents, to productive resources, opportunities
and public services...." --Beijing Declaration, para. 26

"More than one billion people in the world today, the great majority of whom are women, live in
unacceptable conditions of poverty.... Women¹s poverty is directly related to the absence of
economic opportunities and autonomy, lack of access to economic resources ... lack of access to
education and support services and their minimal participation in the decision-making
process...." --Beijing Platform for Action, paras. 47 and 51

"We commit ourselves to... eradicating poverty.... We will ... Formulate ... policies ... geared to ...
eradicating absolute poverty by a target date ... specified by each country...; address the root
causes of poverty ... food security, education, ... livelihood,... health ..., shelter...." --Copenhagen
Declaration, Commitment 2
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Education and Training of Women

Every woman, man, youth and child has the human right to education, training and information,
and to other fundamental human rights dependent upon realization of the human right to
education. Equality of access to all levels of education is crucial to empowering women and girls
to participate in economic, social and political life of their societies. Education unlocks a
woman¹s potential, and is accompanied by improvements in health, nutrition, and well-being of
women and their families. Despite widespread agreement that all people have the fundamental
human right to education, 100 million children, at least 60% of them girls, do not have access to
primary education. 960 million adults in the world are illiterate, and more than two-thirds of
them are women. Women and girls continue to face discrimination at all levels of education, a
fact which poses tremendous obstacles to their advancement.
The Human Rights at Issue
• The human right to free and compulsory elementary education and to readily available forms
of secondary and higher education.
• The human right to freedom from discrimination based on sex or any other status in all areas
and levels of education, including access to scholarships and fellowships, and to equal access
to career development, continuing education and vocational training.
• The human right to information about health, nutrition, reproduction and family planning.
• The human right to equality between men and women and to equal partnership in the family
and society. Realization of this human rights depends on eliminating gender-based
stereotypes in education which deny women opportunities for full and equal partnership.
• The human right to work and receive wages that contribute to an adequate standard of living.
• The human right to freedom of thought, conscience, religion and belief.
• The human right to an adequate standard of living.
• The human right to participate in shaping decisions and policies affecting one's community,
at the local, national and international levels.
Governments' Obligations to Ensuring the Human Right to Education
"Everyone has the right to education. [Elementary] education shall be free... compulsory.
Technical and professional education shall be made generally available and higher education
shall be equally accessible to all on the basis of merit.... Education shall be directed to the full
development of the human personality and to the strengthening of respect for human rights.... "
-- Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 26
Governments' Commitments to Ensuring the Human Right to Education
"We are determined to ... Promote people-centred development ... through the provision of basic
education, lifelong education, literacy and training ... for girls and women.... Ensure equal access
to and equal treatment of women and men in education ... and enhance women¹s sexual and
reproductive health as well as education." -- Beijing Declaration, paras. 27 and 30

"We will ... Establish policies ... that enhance the equality of status, welfare and opportunity of
the girl child, especially in regard to ... literacy and education.... We commit ourselves to ...
universal and equitable access to quality education ... making particular efforts to rectify
inequalities relating to social conditions and without distinction as to race, ... gender.... We will:
Formulate ... strategies for the eradication of illiteracy and universalization of ... early childhood
education, primary education and education for the illiterate...; Emphasize lifelong learning by
seeking to improve the quality of education to ensure that people of all ages are provided with
useful knowledge, ... skills ... required to develop their full capacities in health and dignity...."
-- Copenhagen Declaration, Commitments 5 and 6
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"Education is empowerment. It is the key to establishing and reinforcing democracy, to
development which is both sustainable and humane and to peace founded upon mutual respect
and social justice. Indeed, in a world in which creativity and knowledge play an ever greater role,
the right to education is nothing less than the right to participate in the life of the modern
world.... The priority of priorities must ... be the education of women and girls.... There can be no
enduring success in basic education until the gender gap is closed." --Amman Affirmation, 1996
Governments' Obligations to Ensuring the Human Right to Education
"Everyone has the right to education. [Elementary] education shall be free... compulsory.
Technical and professional education shall be made generally available and higher education
shall be equally accessible to all on the basis of merit.... Education shall be directed to the full
development of the human personality and to the strengthening of respect for human rights.... "
-- Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 26

Women and Health

Every woman, man, youth and child has the human right to the highest attainable standard of
physical and mental health. Enjoyment of the human right to health is vital to all aspects of a
person's life and well-being. Many women and girls face serious obstacles to realization of their
human right to health, including inequality of access to health care, food and nutrition, and
customary practices detrimental to their health and well-being. All inequalities relating to health
and practices harmful to women violate their fundamental human rights.
The Human Rights at Issue
• The human right to the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health, including
reproductive and sexual health.
• The human right to equal access to adequate health care and health related services,
regardless of sex, race, or other status.
• The human right to equitable distribution of food.
• The human right to access to safe drinking water and sanitation.
• The human right to an adequate standard of living and adequate housing.
• The human right to a safe and healthy environment.
• The human right to a safe and healthy workplace, and to adequate protection for pregnant
women in work proven to be harmful to them.
• The human right to freedom from discrimination and discriminatory social practices,
including female genital mutilation, prenatal gender selection, and female infanticide.
• The human right to access to information relating to health, including reproductive health and
family planning to enable couples and individuals to decide freely and responsibly all matters
of reproduction and sexuality.
• The human right to equality in marriage, including the equal right of women and men to
decide on the number and spacing of children.
• The human right to access to adequate social services, including access to safe, effective,
affordable and acceptable methods of family planning of their choice, as well as other
methods of their choice for regulation of fertility, and the right of access to appropriate
health-care services that will enable women to go safely through pregnancy and childbirth.
• The human right to privacy.
• The human right to full respect for the inherent dignity of the person.
• The human right to freedom from coercion and violence, sexual exploitation and forced
prostitution.
• The human right of the child to an environment appropriate for physical and mental
development.
Governments' Obligations to Ensuring the Human Right to Health
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"States Parties shall ... ensure to [women] ... access to specific educational information
to help to ensure the health and well-being of families, including information and advice on
family planning.... States Parties shall ... eliminate discrimination against women in ... health
care ... to ensure, on a basis of equality of men and women, access to health care services,
including those related to family planning....; ensure ... appropriate services in connection with
pregnancy.... States Parties shall ... ensure ... that [women in rural areas] ... have access to
adequate health care facilities, including information counseling and services in family
planning...." -- Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women,
Articles 10, 12, and 14

"Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for ... health and well-being of himself
and his family, including food, clothing, housing, medical care and the right to security in the
event of ... sickness, disability.... Motherhood and childhood are entitled to special care and
assistance...." -- Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 25
Governments' Commitments to Ensuring the Human Right to Health
"The explicit recognition ... of the right of all women to control all aspects of their health, in
particular their own fertility, is basic to their empowerment.... We are determined to ... ensure
equal access to and equal treatment of women and men in ... health care and enhance women¹s
sexual and reproductive health as well as Health." -- Beijing Declaration, paras. 17 and 30

"The role of women as primary custodians of family health should be recognized and supported.
Access to basic health care, expanded health education, the availability of simple cost-effective
remedies ... should be provided." -- Cairo Programme of Action, para. 8.6

"We commit ourselves to promoting and attaining the goals of universal and equitable access to
... the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health, and the access of all to primary
health care, making particular efforts to rectify inequalities relating to social conditions and
without distinction as to race, national origin, gender, age or disability...." -- Copenhagen
Declaration, Commitment 6

Violence against Women

Violence against women violates fundamental human rights and is an affront to women's
inherent human dignity. Physical, psychological, and sexual violence against women and girls,
public and private, plagues all societies and classes and poses tremendous obstacles to the
achievement of equality, development and peace. Governments have the obligation not to engage
in any form of violence against women and to prevent violence against women wherever it
occurs.
The Human Rights at Issue
• The human right to life.
• The human right to full respect for human dignity.
• The human right not to be subjected to torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment
or punishment.
• The human right to the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health.
• The human right to freedom from discrimination and violence, public or private, due to any
status, including gender, race, ethnicity or age.
• The human right to full equality between women and men.
• The human right to full equality between women and men in power and decision-making.
• The human right to freedom from sexual abuse, physical abuse, and psychological violence.
• The human right to a workplace free from violence and abuse.
• The human right to freedom from dowry-related violence.
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• The human right to freedom from marital rape.
• The human right to freedom from female genital mutilation and other traditional practices
harmful to women.

• The human right to freedom from all harmful customary practices.

• The human right to freedom from trafficking and forced prostitution.
• The human right to freedom from violence associated with armed conflict, including murder,
systematic rape, sexual slavery, and forced pregnancy.
• The human right to freedom from forced sterilization and forced abortion.
• The human right to freedom from coercive use of contraceptives.
• The human right to freedom from female infanticide.
• The human right to freedom from prenatal sex selection.
• The human right to equal access to justice, equal protection of the law, and effective remedies
for victims of violence.
• The human right to access to services, including physical and mental health services.
Governments' Obligations to Ensuring the Human Right to Freedom from Violence
"All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.... Everyone is entitled to all
rights ... 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.... Everyone has the right to
life, liberty and security of person.... No one shall be held in slavery or servitude; slavery and the
slave trade shall be prohibited in all their forms.... No one shall be subjected to torture or to
cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.... All are equal before the law and are
entitled without any discrimination to equal protection of the law.... Everyone has the right to an
effective remedy ... for acts violating ... fundamental rights.... Men and women ... are entitled to
equal rights as to marriage, during marriage and at its dissolution...." --Universal Declaration of
Human Rights, Articles 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, and 16

"... 'torture' means any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is
intentionally inflicted on a person for such purposes as ... intimidating or coercing him ... or for
any reason based on discrimination of any kind.... Each State Party shall take effective ...
measures to prevent acts of torture in any territory under its jurisdiction.... Each State Party shall
undertake to prevent ... other acts of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment...."
--Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment,
Articles 1, 2, and 16
Governments' Commitments to Ensuring the Human Right to Freedom from Violence:
"Violence against women is an obstacle to the achievement of the objectives of equality,
development and peace. Violence against women both violates and impairs or nullifies the
enjoyment by women of their human rights.... Actions to be taken: ... Condemn violence against
women and refrain from invoking any custom, tradition or religious consideration to avoid their
obligations with respect to its elimination.... Refrain from engaging in violence against women
and exercise due diligence to prevent, investigate and ... punish acts of violence against women,
whether those acts are perpetrated by the State or by private persons.... Provide women who are
subjected to violence with access to the mechanisms of justice and ... to just and effective
remedies for the harm they have suffered...." --Beijing Platform for Action, paras. 112 and 124

"We commit ourselves to promoting full respect for human dignity and to achieving equality and
equity between women and men.... To this end ... we will ... Take effective measures, including
through the enactment and enforcement of laws, and implement policies to combat and eliminate
all forms of discrimination, exploitation, abuse and violence against women and girl children....
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Promote and protect the full and equal enjoyment by women of all human rights and
fundamental freedoms....” -- Copenhagen Declaration, Commitment 5

Women and the Economy

All human beings have the human right to livelihood and work, and human rights norms and
standards guarantee women full equality in all aspects of economic life. Women have the human
right on equal terms with men to dignified, creative and productive labor, free from
discrimination and exploitation, enabling them to live in peace, security, justice and dignity.
The Human Rights at Issue
• The human right to freedom from discrimination based on sex or any other status in all
aspects of economic life, including in hiring and promotion.
• The human right to work and receive wages that contribute to an adequate standard of living.
• The human right to equal pay for equal work.
• The human right to equal access to productive resources, including land, credit, and
technology.
• The human right to freedom of association.
• The human right to adequate, safe working conditions.
• The human right to a clean and safe environment.
• The human right to education and equal access to information, including vocational training.
• The human right to freedom from sexual harassment in the workplace.
• The human right to proper consideration of women's reproductive rights and sexuality, job
security during and after pregnancy, flexible working conditions, and access to child care.
• The human right to protection during pregnancy from work proven to be harmful.
• The human right to equal rights within the family, including shared responsibilities for
children's upbringing.
• The human right to unemployment protection and social security.
• The human right to equal participation in economic decision-making.
Governments' Obligations to Ensuring the Human Right to Work
"No one shall be held in slavery or servitude.... Everyone has the right to freedom of peaceful
assembly and association.... Everyone has the right to work, to free choice of employment, to just
and favourable conditions of work and to protection against unemployment. Everyone, without
any discrimination, has the right to equal pay for equal work. Everyone who works has the right
to just and favourable remuneration ensuring for himself and his family an existence worthy of
human dignity, and supplemented, if necessary, by other means of social protection. Everyone
has the right to form and to join trade unions for the protection of his interests. Everyone has the
right to rest and leisure, including reasonable limitation of working hours.... Everyone has the
right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and his family ...
and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability ... or other lack of
livelihood ...." --Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Articles 4, 20, 23, 24, and 25

"Each Member shall ... ensure the application to all workers of the principle of equal
remuneration for men and women workers for work of equal value." -- ILO Equal Remuneration
Convention (No. 100), Article 2
Governments' Commitments to Ensuring the Human Right to Work
"... labour is not a commodity; freedom of expression and of association are essential to
sustained progress; poverty anywhere constitutes a danger to prosperity everywhere;... All human
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beings, irrespective of race, creed or sex, have the right to pursue both their material
well-being and their spiritual development in conditions of freedom and dignity, of economic
security and equal opportunity.... The attainment of the conditions in which this shall be possible
must constitute the central aim of national and international policy...." -- ILO Declaration of
Philadelphia

"We are determined to ... promote women's economic independence, including employment, by
... ensuring equal access for all women ... to productive resources, opportunities and public
services;... ensure women's equal access to economic resources, including land, credit, science
and technology, vocational training, information, communication and markets, as a means to
further the advancement and ... empowerment of women and girls...." -- Beijing Platform for
Action, paras. 26 and 35

"We commit ourselves to promoting ... full employment as a ... priority of ... economic and social
policies, and to enabling all men and women to attain secure and sustainable livelihoods.... We
will ... put ... creation of employment, ... reduction of unemployment and ... promotion of ...
adequately remunerated employment at the centre of strategies and policies of Governments,
with full respect for workers" rights...." --Copenhagen Declaration, Commitment 3

Women in Power and Decision-Making

Issues of women's empowerment and their full and equal participation in public life are human
rights issues. Human rights norms and standards guarantee women the human rights to non-
discrimination in all aspects of political, economic, and social life, and to full and equal
participation in decision-making and access to power at all levels. At the same time, realization
of the full spectrum of human rights for women depends on women's full and equal participation
in decision-making.
The Human Rights at Issue

The human right to participate on equal terms with men in shaping and implementing decisions
and policies affecting themselves, their families, communities, and societies, at the local, national
and international levels.
• The human right to equal access to public service.
• The human right to equal access to education and information.
• The human right to freedom of expression and opinion.
• The human right to equality between men and women and to full and equal partnership in the
family and society.
Governments' Obligations to Ensuring the Human Right to Full and Equal Participation in
Power and Decision-Making

"Everyone has the right to take part in the government of his country.... Everyone has the right to
equal access to public service in his country...." -- Universal Declaration of Human Rights,
Article 21
Governments' Commitments to Ensuring the Human Right to Full and Equal Participation
in Power and Decision-Making

"Women's empowerment and their full participation on the basis of equality in all spheres of
society, including participation in the decision-making process and access to power, are
fundamental for the achievement of equality, development and peace...." -- Beijing Declaration,
para. 13
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"Environmental issues are best handled with the participation of all concerned
citizens.... Each individual shall have appropriate access to information concerning the
environment ... and the opportunity to participate in decision-making processes....Women have a
vital role in environmental management and development. Their full participation is therefore
essential to achieve sustainable development." -- Rio Declaration, Principles 10 and 20

CONCLUSION
Every injustice that women suffer is a human rights violation. Each of the Critical Areas of
Concern raises issues involving fundamental human rights of women, including human rights to
public and private non-discrimination, freedom from poverty, sustainable economic and social
development, and full and equal participation in power and decision-making. These human rights
have been made explicit in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and widely-ratified
human rights treaties including the International Covenants and CEDAW. They have also been
the subject of far-reaching commitments made by governments at World Conferences in Rio,
Vienna, Cairo, Copenhagen and Istanbul.

Human rights norms and standards could serve as powerful tools in efforts to implement the
Beijing Platform for Action. But if women do not know their human rights, they cannot claim
their human rights. This project, Women's Passport to Dignity, seeks to empower women in their
efforts to implement the Beijing Platform through human rights education.

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