Questions and Answers
The following questions and answers give a basic overview of the topic. Links are provided to articles with further information.
If you have suggestions for further questions please email info@durbanreview.org
What are women's rights?
Women's rights are simply human rights for women. All women have the right to life, liberty and property, to live free of discrimination and violence, to self-determination and full participation in social, political and cultural life.
Are women's rights different to men's right?
Women are vulnerable to different human rights abuses from men. Some examples of these abuses include:
- Physical abuse including violence against women by their husbands, brothers and fathers.
- Sexual abuse including rape and prostitution
- Being forced into marriage not of their own choosing
- Slavery, unequal labor conditions, unequal pay and discrimination in the workplace
- Not being represented in the political process, through being formally or informally
- Unequal treatment before the law
- Restrictions on movement, dress and personal freedoms
How does the UN Charter of Universal Human Rights accommodate for women's rights?
The charter reaffirms the equal rights of men and women to promote social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom. The charter in article 16 specifically entitles men and women to equal rights to marriage, during marriage and at its dissolution. It states that marriage shall be entered into only with the free and full consent of the intending spouses.
What is the feminist movement?
The feminist or women's movement began in the 1960s to give women equal rights with men. The movement has achieved equal pay and conditions, maternity leave, changes in marriage and divorce laws and action on violence in the home in many countries. But there are still examples of inequalities in these societies and there are many places where women's lives have been largely untouched by the changes of western societies.
Other articles on discrimination against women
For related articles, visit the discrimination against women section of Durban Review or select from the articles below. Other anti-racism themes, conference details, and news are available from the Durban Review home page.
- Questions and Answers
A series of questions and answers on the topic of discrimination against women - Julie Bindel, Reporting on the Prostitution and Trafficking of Women - A guide for journalists
This is a press pack for journalists with an interest in stories which involve trafficking of women for the purposes of prostitution [External Link] - Malka Marcovich, Guide to the UN Convention on Supression of People Trafficking
Guide to the UN Convention of 2 December 1949 for the Suppression of the Traffic in Persons and of the Exploitation of the Prostitution of Others.
