Women's Rights Violations
Even though there have been great efforts to gain worldwide women’s rights, there are still many societies that violate these rights. Women and girls are still refused access to education compared to men and boys. Many are forced to get married as children or into forced labour and sex slavery. Therefore it is clear that women’s rights violations come in many forms including socially, economically, politically and militarily.
In developing nations, it is common that women and girls are deprived compared to the opposite gender. This is a social issue as violence against women and girls occurs on a daily basis. According to Human Rights Watch, 1 in 3 women across the world experience violence and that the abuser is usually someone the woman know of. Also, women tend to be limited from participating in economic life and instead have the role of a traditional housewife. Women spend generally twice as much time as men occupying domestic duties. Even if women do work, they often work longer hours and are paid much less than men are. Therefore, women are usually prevented from making big personal decisions in their lives because of these human rights violations and it is important to improve their lives.
Women are also unequal to men in terms of being able to participate in political life. In the world, women occupy only 22% of positions in parliaments. Many nations did not start giving women the right to vote in elections until late 19th century where the first nation in the world to give women the right to vote was New Zealand in 1893. One year later, it was then South Australia’s turn to allow women to vote and run for office. However, even though many countries now allow women to vote and have a political voice, there are still a few countries and regions such as Saudi Arabia and the Vatican City which still haven’t granted women the right to vote. This is a massive issue as women’s rights cannot be fully gained until they allow women to exercise full political rights.
Furthermore, women and girls are always the most affected in military conflict. It is common that women and girls are extremely victimised by sexual violence during war such as rape at the hands of military and rebel forces. As a result many unwanted pregnancies occur. In the armed conflicts in Congo, around 1,100 rapes are being reported monthly with around 36 women and girls raped every single day. This is a major human rights issue which needs to be eliminated so women have proper rights.
