human rights and gender discrimination

1. GENDER AND HUMAN
RIGHTS
Submitted by: Aysha Zubaid
Neha Imtiaz
Fatima Karim
MCM Bs 4th
University of Gujrat

3. HUMAN RIGHTS
 Human rights are moral principles that set out
certain standards of human behavior, and are
regularly protected as legal rights in national
and international law.
 They are "commonly understood as inalienable
fundamental rights to which a person is inherently
entitled simply because she or he is a human
being.“
 Human rights are thus conceived
as universal (applicable everywhere) and
egalitarian (the same for everyone).

4. UDHR
 The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR)
is a declaration adopted by the United Nations General
Assembly on 10 December 1948 at the Paris.
The Declaration arose directly from the experience of
the Second World War and represents the first global
expression of rights to which all human beings are
inherently entitled.
 The Declaration consists of thirty articles which have
been elaborated in subsequent international treaties,
regional human rights instruments, national
constitutions, and other laws. The International Bill of
Human Rights consists of the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights, the International Covenant on Economic,
Social and Cultural Rights, and the International
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and its two
Optional Protocols.

6. CONTINUE…..
 Right to life
 Right to property
 Right to reputation
 Political rights
 Economic rights
 Civil rights
 No discrimination

7. SIGNIFICANCE OF UDHR
 The Guinness Book of Records describes the Declaration as
the world's "Most Translated Document".
 Eleanor Roosevelt supported the adoption of
the Declaration as a declaration rather than as a treaty
because she believed that it would have the same kind of
influence on global society as the United States Declaration of
Independence had within the United States. In this, she
proved to be correct. Even though it is not legally binding,
the Declaration has been adopted in or has influenced most
national constitutions since 1948.
 It has also served as the foundation for a growing number of
national laws, international laws, and treaties, as well as for a
growing number of regional, national, and sub-national
institutions protecting and promoting human rights

8. CONTINUE…..
 While not legally binding, the (UDHR) has inspired
several other pieces of international legislation
regulating specific aspects of human rights, such
as:
 the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment
of the Crime of Genocide (1951)
 the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of
Racial Discrimination (1969)
 the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of
Discrimination Against Women (1981)
 the Convention against Torture (1984)
 the Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989)

9. CRITICISM ON UDHR
 There are many conflicting points in UDHR but the
prominent one on which our presentation is based,
is by feminists.
 American feminist Catharine MacKinnon has asked
the question “are women considered human?",
focusing in part on the use of male-centric terms
such as brotherhood in Article 1 and himself and his
family in Article 23 which arose the gender issue in
UDHR.

10. CONTINUE….
 Article 1.
 All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.
They are endowed with reason and conscience and should
act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.
 Article 23.
 (1) Everyone has the right to work, to free choice of
employment, to just and favorable conditions of work and to
protection against unemployment.
 (2) Everyone, without any discrimination, has the right to equal
pay for equal work.
 (3) Everyone who works has the right to just and favorable
remuneration ensuring for himself and his family an existence
worthy of human dignity, and supplemented, if necessary, by
other means of social protection.
 (4) Everyone has the right to form and to join trade unions for
the protection of his interests.

11. ISSUES??
 Gender based discrimination
 Women rights
 Rights of homosexuals
 Sexual rights

12. GENDER BASE DISCRIMINATION
 Despite of all the conventions and the work done on
gender issue Violence against women continues at
breathtaking rates.
 Domestic violence appears to be on the increase as
tensions rise in the global economic crisis. Gender-
based discrimination persists in the workplace, and
in housing, education, disaster relief, political life,
inheritance, health care, access to food, and
countless other areas.

14. CONTINUE…
 In 2008, the United Nations Population Fund
reported that the number of women dying as a
consequence of pregnancy and childbirth is
‘essentially unchanged since the 1980s’.
 Access to justice continues to be hindered by a
range of obstacles, including restrictions in some
countries on freedom of movement, discounting of
evidence given by women, and lack of training of
police, prosecutors, and judges.

15. CONTINUE…
 Religion, tradition, and culture continue to be used
as a shield for violating women's rights, despite
strong and persistent statements adopted by states
in United Nations' fore that they are not a valid
justification for such violations .

16. WOMEN RIGHTS
 Women rights are the rights and entitlements claimed for
women and girls of many societies worldwide. In some
places, these rights are institutionalized or supported by
law, local custom, and behavior, whereas in others they
may be ignored or suppressed.
 Issues commonly associated with notions of women's
rights include, though are not limited to, the right: to
bodily integrity and autonomy; to vote (suffrage); to hold
public office; to work; to fair wages or equal pay; to own
property; to education; to serve in the military or be
conscripted; to enter into legal contracts; and to have
marital or parental rights

18. WORK ON WOMEN RIGHTS
Even after the formation of UDHR following work
have been done on gender equality and rights of
women;
 Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of
Discrimination Against Women
 United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325
 Maputo Protocol
 Rape as an element of the crime of genocide

19. CONVENTION ON THE ELIMINATION OF ALL FORMS
OF DISCRIMINATION AGAINST WOMEN
 The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted in
1948, enshrines "the equal rights of men and women",
and addressed both the equality and equity issues. In
1979, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of
Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) for legal
implementation of the Declaration on the Elimination of
Discrimination against Women. Described as an
international bill of rights for women, it came into force
on 3 September 1981. The UN member states that have
not ratified the convention are Iran, Nauru, Palau,
Somalia, Sudan, Tonga, and the United States.

20. THE CONVENTION DEFINES DISCRIMINATION AGAINST
WOMEN IN THE FOLLOWING TERMS:
 Any distinction, exclusion or restriction made on the basis of
sex which has the effect or purpose of impairing or nullifying
the recognition, enjoyment or exercise by women, irrespective
of their marital status, on a basis of equality of men and
women, of human rights and fundamental freedoms in the
political, economic, social, cultural, civil or any other field.
 It also establishes an agenda of action for putting an end to
sex-based discrimination for which states ratifying the
Convention are required to enshrine gender equality into their
domestic legislation, repeal all discriminatory provisions in
their laws, and enact new provisions to guard against
discrimination against women. They must also establish
tribunals and public institutions to guarantee women effective
protection against discrimination, and take steps to eliminate
all forms of discrimination practiced against women by
individuals, organizations, and enterprises.

22. UNITED NATIONS SECURITY COUNCIL
RESOLUTION 1325
 On 31 October 2000, the United Nations Security
Council unanimously adopted United Nations
Security Council Resolution 1325, the first formal
and legal document from the United Nations
Security Council that requires all states respect
fully international humanitarian
law and international human rights law applicable to
the rights and protection of women and girls during
and after the armed conflicts.

23. MAPUTO PROTOCOL
 The Protocol to the African Charter on Human and
Peoples' Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa,
better known as the Maputo Protocol, was adopted
by the African Union on 11 July 2003 at its second
summit in Maputo, Mozambique. On 25 November
2005, having been ratified by the required 15
member nations of the African Union, the protocol
entered into force. The protocol guarantees
comprehensive rights to women including the right
to take part in the political process, to social and
political equality with men, and to control of
their reproductive health, and an end to female
genital mutilation.

24. RAPE AS AN ELEMENT OF THE CRIME OF
GENOCIDE
 In 1998, the International Criminal Tribunal for
Rwanda established by the United Nations made landmark
decisions that rape is a crime of genocide under international
law. The trial of Jean-Paul Akayesu, the mayor of Taba
Commune in Rwanda, established precedents that rape is an
element of the crime of genocide. The Akayesu judgement
includes the first interpretation and application by an
international court of the 1948 Convention on the Prevention
and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide
 Judge Navanethem Pillay said in a statement after the verdict:
“From time immemorial, rape has been regarded as one of
the spoils of war. Now it will be considered a war crime. We
want to send out a strong message that rape is no longer a
trophy of war.” An estimated 500,000 women were raped
during the 1994 Rwandan Genocide

25. REALITY
 In spite of these international agreements, the denial of women’s basic
human rights is persistent and widespread. For instance:
 Over half a million women continue to die each year from pregnancy and
childbirth-related causes.
 Rates of HIV infection among women are rapidly increasing. Among
those 15-24 years of age, young women now constitute the majority of
those newly infected, in part because of their economic and social
vulnerability.
 Gender-based violence kills and disables as many women between the
ages of 15 and 44 as cancer. More often than not, perpetrators go
unpunished.
 Worldwide, women are twice as likely as men to be illiterate.
 As a consequence of their working conditions and characteristics, a
disproportionate number of women are impoverished in both developing
and developed countries. Despite some progress in women’s wages in
the 1990s, women still earn less than men, even for similar kinds of
work.
 Many of the countries that have ratified CEDAW still have discriminatory
laws governing marriage, land, property and inheritance.

26. ISLAM
 The Qur'an, revealed to Muhammad (S.A.W.W)
over the course of 23 years, provided guidance to
the Islamic community and modified existing
customs in Arab society. From 610 and 661, known
as the early reforms under Islam, the Qur'an
introduced fundamental reforms to customary law
and introduced rights for women in marriage,
divorce, and inheritance.
 While in customary law, inheritance was limited to
male descendants, the Qur'an introduced rules on
inheritance with certain fixed shares being
distributed to designated heirs, first to the nearest
female relatives and then the nearest male
relatives.

29. RESPECT FOR THE CHASTITY OF WOMEN
 A Muslim cannot outrage a woman under any
circumstances.
All promiscuous relations are forbidden In Islam
irrespective of the condition and status of the
Women, even she is willing to do so .
 “do not approach(the boundary of) adultery.” Quran.
 There is no concept of such law in West.

30. RIGHTS OF NON COMBATANTS
 Islam has first drawn a line of distinction between
combatants and non-combatants of the enemy
country. the non combatants are women, children ,
old and disables.
 The instructions of Holy Prophet(S.A.W.W) are as
follow;
 “do not kill any old person, child or woman.”

31. CAIRO DECLARATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS
 The CDHRI adopted by the member states of
the ECO in 1990, provides an overview on the Islamic
perspective on human rights, and affirms Islamic law
(Shari'ah) as its sole source. CDHRI declares its
purpose to be "general guidance for Member States [of
the OIC] in the Field of human rights". This declaration is
usually seen as an Islamic response to the post-World
War II United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human
Rights (UDHR) of 1948. However, even these more
limited rights are mostly ignored or patchily
implemented. In particular, the Cairo Declaration does
little to assure the rights of religious minorities in Islamic
dominated countries. Changing religion to leave Islam is
defined as apostasy and may be punished severely.

33. SEXUAL RIGHTS

34. SEXUAL RIGHTS
 Before UDHR sexual rights were only used by men.
 Sexual rights embrace human rights that are already
recognized in national laws, international human rights
documents and other consensus statements. They
include the right of all persons, free of coercion,
discrimination and violence, to:
 the highest attainable standard of sexual health,
including access to sexual and reproductive health care
services;
 seek, receive and impart information related to sexuality;
 sexuality education;
 respect for bodily integrity;

35.  choose their partner;
 decide to be sexually active or not;
 consensual sexual relations;
 consensual marriage;
 decide whether or not, and when, to have children;
and
 pursue a satisfying, safe and pleasurable sexual
life.
 The responsible exercise of human rights requires
that all persons respect the rights of others.

37. RIGHTS OF HOMOSEXUALS
 Strictly forbidden in Islam and Islamic states.
 Same-sex conduct is still criminalized in 77
countries, and it carries the death penalty in seven
states.

38. LGBT(LAWS AFFECTING LESBIAN, GAY, BISEXUAL,
AND TRANSGENDER )RIGHTS BY COUNTRY OR
TERRITORY
 In 2011, the United Nations Human Rights Council passed its
first resolution recognizing LGBT rights, which was followed
up with a report from the UN Human Rights Commission
documenting violations of the rights of LGBT people,
including hate crime, criminalization of homosexuality,
and discrimination. Following up on the report, the UN Human
Rights Commission urged all countries which had not yet
done so to enact laws protecting basic LGBT rights.
 LGBT rights are considered human rights and civil
rights. LGBT rights laws include, but are not limited to, the
following:
 allowing of men who have sex with men to donate blood,
 government recognition of same-sex relationships (such as
via same-sex marriage or civil unions),

39. CONTINUE…
 allowing of LGBT adoption,
 anti-bullying legislation and student non-discrimination laws to
protect LGBT children and/or students,
 immigration equality laws,
 anti-discrimination laws for employment and housing,
 hate crime laws providing enhanced criminal penalties for
prejudice-motivated violence against LGBT people,
 equal access to assisted reproductive technology
 access to sex reassignment surgery and hormone replacement
therapy
 legal recognition and accommodation of reassigned gender,
 and laws related to sexual orientation and military service.
 Anti-LGBT laws include, but are not limited to, the
following: sodomy laws penalizing consensual same-sex sexual
activity with fines, jail terms, or the death penalty, anti-
'lesbianism' laws, and higher ages of consent for same-sex
activity.

40. Thank you