Paper Example on Women's Rights are Human Rights

Introduction

Hillary Rodham Clinton's 1995 speech at the United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women held in Beijing dubbed "Women Rights Are Human Rights" created a platform for promoting awareness on the need to eliminate the inequalities and discriminations women faced in society. However, more than twenty years later, women continue to face barriers to equality ( ShareAmerica). Despite the excellent speech by Hillary Clinton, women around the world continue to suffer human rights violations across the globe. In fact, most countries have not made the need to achieve equal rights between men and women a priority. Nonetheless, Kabasakal opines that there have been several landmark documents that have consistently established the right of women as human rights (Kabasakal). Therefore, this argumentative paper considers tackling gender inequality as a critical challenge that needs to be given priority by ensuring that reproductive, gender equality and sexual health remain the core focus of leaders across the globe with precise goals and targets.

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Clinton's speech assisted in establishing an unprecedented mobilization of resources and political goodwill since 1995. Her speech focused on critical areas; emphasizing equal rights across gender and empowerment of women to enable them to attain the same status as men within society (Williams). Moreover, Clinton's speech remains a critical pillar for demanding the elimination of gender discrimination that continues to affect communities in the modern period and gave momentum for the urgent need and the probable incentives that will be achievable through enhancing the gender equality (Global Fund for Women). Therefore, it is upon all and sundry to ensure that creating a better world will be possible only when humans recognize women rights as human rights.

The 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights entitles each person to rights and freedoms indicated therein without regard for their gender type. However, this position has been consistently and convincingly refuted by feminist scholars and lawyers. According to Rosie Walters, this Declaration does not represent the case and principles that guide human rights framework. Walters argues that the rights and freedoms provided by the 1948 Declaration primarily seek to protect the males as the heads of households (Walters). Perhaps this position is succinctly echoed by Clinton's message where she stresses that women's rights are human rights. It is consistently evidenced that the Declaration repeatedly addresses "man" and "his" rights. Besides, the declaration clearly outlines that it discusses the public realm by protecting family intrusion by outsiders (Walters). This is particularly described in Article 12 of the Declaration which protects against arbitrary interference with the family, privacy or any attack to the reputation of an individual.

The speech echoes this as the ultimate example of dichotomy which considers women's lives to as private affairs of men and does not concern states. Despite the evolution of human rights into invariably three stages (generations), they typically revolve around experiences of male life; they do not correspond to the risks faced by women ( ShareAmerica). Across the globe, most risks women face are in their homes. As a result, addressing economic, political and public rights is not their priority. However, the Declaration perceives the problems women face in the homes as too generic and thus not specific to women, which ostensibly means the laws promote the existing gender bias (United Nations Human Rights). Scholars argue that there are distinctive rights which are women's and are also human rights; thus requiring humanity not to be seen only in the perspective of men.

Nonetheless, the cultural relativists have consistently challenged the universality of human rights. According to the relativists, it is impossible to recognize people's culture and right to self-determination in the case where most of the aspects of their culture violate numerous human rights. The fact that most of the contemporary societies are patriarchal, there is an inevitable conflict with the promotion of women's rights. Besides, women's rights also conflict with numerous hierarchical structures and religious norms in nearly all countries across the globe (Global Fund for Women). Therefore, societies that strictly adhere to cultural relativism are not likely to recognize women's rights as human rights. In such communities, empirical evidence shows that leaders and even the general public will jeopardize and undermine international human rights organizations that strive to promote women's rights to preserve their culture.

There is a critical correlation between human rights and culture. Therefore, considering the patriarchy in society, recognition of women's rights as human rights require a transformation of the material foundations of civilization. Humans should transform their cultures to enable compliance with the standards of international human rights, which necessarily need an evolution of human rights advocacy (United Nations Human Rights). The concerned stakeholders must analyze cultural norms to determine their conformity to the principles of human rights, acknowledge the diverse interpretations from cultural and religious viewpoints and demand for clarity about reservations by parties that represent states in conventions with clear information about the mode and timeframe for eliminating them (Kabasakal). Achieving gender equality and recognition of women's rights as human rights require that nations and representatives of the international community for human rights to break away and shun cultures that tolerate discrimination against women as a way of respecting differences.

It is possible to counter the reservations and arguments presented by relativists by pointing out at the demands for change of traditions and customs by the international human rights and stressing that religious norms are open to interpretation. Besides, the international human rights community should require state parties promoting gender discrimination on the grounds of religion and culture to explain and specify such claims and elaborate the measures and programs they are pursuing to ensure their elimination (Kabasakal). Although some egalitarian nations can reject such moves, the international community for human rights should remain persistent to ensure that humanity achieves gender equality.

Conclusion

Careful consideration of the evidence provided in this paper shows that women's rights are fundamental human rights for every living person as provided by the United Nations in the 1948 Declaration (United Nations Human Rights). Although most countries are focusing on attaining gender balance as a way of showing their commitment to realizing equal rights for both men and women, experts warn that this should not be the primary objective. According to them, achieving a transformative change is only possible when intensified campaign on gender equality succeeds in reshaping habits, norms, and social policy. It is, therefore, necessary for governments to engage activists in identifying various ways of fostering security and safety for women and girls (ShareAmerica). Grass root activities should also focus on changing people's behavior and embracing gender equality as a concept that would enhance a progressive and civilized society. Global Fund for Women attributes the steps that aim for least resistance to widespread gender inequality in society (Global Fund for Women). Therefore, it is necessary for drastic measures to be taken to integrate women in each aspect of society as a means for ensuring that women's rights become human rights.

Works Cited

ShareAmerica. "'Women's Rights Are Human Rights' ." ShareAmerica (November, 2016). https://share.america.gov/womens-rights-are-human-rights/.

Global Fund for Women. "Women's Human Rights." Global Fund for Women (2018). https://www.globalfundforwomen.org/womens-human-rights/#.Wyx0mqczbIU.

Kabasakal, Zehra F. "Women's Rights as Human Rights - The Promotion of Human Rights as a Counter-Culture." Magazine of the United Nations (April 2008). https://unchronicle.un.org/article/womens-rights-human-rights.

United Nations Human Rights. "Women's Rights are Human Rights." United Nations Human Rights (2014): 1-117.

Walters, Rosie. "Are Women's Rights Human Rights?" E-International Relations (2013). http://www.e-ir.info/2013/07/20/are-womens-rights-human-rights/.

Williams, Chris. "Women's Rights Are Human Rights, Period." (May 2017). https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/womens-rights-are-human-rights-period_us_58be9780e4b0abcb02ce21ef.