Women from the early ages have faced various discrimination in society and they are never given equal rights to the male gender. The efforts to achieve substantive equality depicts that women are denied access to many important aspects of life and the male gender is considered superior to the female gender. This paper focuses on the women’s right which includes social and cultural rights which must be guaranteed to them so that they live normal lives. In most cases, women re hitting hard by situations due to their inferior nature have given to them by society. Women’s rights explain the importance of treating women in an equal manner with men and showing that they have the capacity to participate in social, economy mic and political matters the same way as men (1987). Women’s rights advocate for the dignity of a woman and it is also an international movement that tries to improve the status of a woman. There are movements that advocate for women’s rights the world and therefore this paper will focus on issues addressed by the movements in relation to woman’s rights. Discrimination against women remains the biggest problem and feminists are fighting against such discriminations to restore the dignity of women. Professions such as law and medicine could not accommodate women and universities together with other higher learning institutions denied women admission.
History of Women’s Rights
The woman began fighting for their rights centuries ago and they have tried with all means to gin some equal rights and opportunities as men in a fundamentally male-dominated society. It is evident that women started fighting for their rights and gained momentum from the eighteenth century and it can also be traced back from the Renaissance. Moreover, the most irreversible and decisive transformation of women status came with the industrial revolution. It is during this time that feminist fought for the educational rights of girls and women and the achievement was that women were given access to education at all levels. Additionally, women’s activism led to the establishment of secondary schools for girls that had the equal quality to those of the boys. Creation of girl’s schools was a turning point to the increased enrolment of young women into secondary schools and in higher education levels. The increased population of learned women intensified women’s activism and women began to be identified in many fields including sciences and literature. An international council of women was established where 66 American and 8 Europeans women attended the convention that was held in Washington in the year 1888. Women’s Strikes broke out in Vienna in 1 may 1893 and many other social movements planned to strike and fight for women’s rights. The movements fought for political rights such as the right to vote and women carried out a major voting rights campaign in the United States and the United Kingdom. As a result, women were granted the right to vote in various nations. For instance, Australia granted women the right to vote in 1902, New Zealand in 1893, Norway in 1913 and Finland in the year 1906. There are many reasons that led to the formation of women movements as depicted by Stanton who was a Women’s right activist. According to Stanton, women were denied the right to vote and therefore they were considered dead in the eyes of law. Additionally, women had no right to own property even if they were married and therefore they remained dependent on men. Moreover, child custody and divorced oppressed women and favor men and women had no rights related to the two issues. It is worth to note that women were locked out of presentable occupations and they were paid only a fraction of what men earned. In 1917, women were guaranteed the right to vote and the women movement lost its relevance at that time. The modern movement gained momentum during the first and the Second World War when women wanted to demonstrate their patriotism by joining the workforce to help men win the war. During the World War II, some women enjoyed the benefit of working in factories and joining national services and hence they remained in the service eve after the war ended. They enjoyed working away from home where their role was taking care of children and monitoring home activities. In the 1960s, modern feminist re-energized and formed a movement that fought against women discrimination such as; sexism in advertising, violence against women, and wage discrimination against women. In the nineteenth century, the movement fought to achieve educational opportunities, equal wages, employment, right to own property and suffrage (Lorber, 2005).
Importance of women’s rights to women
According to Lorber (2005), twentieth-century feminism is changed by more understanding of gender equality. Lorber explains that women are fighting many battles and challenges ranging from political, social and political challenges. Fighting for women’s rights, therefore, means helping women solve their challenges in society today. For a long time, society has been male-dominated and women power has been limited by beliefs, cultural practices and sources of power. Moreover, fighting for Women’s Rights Bridge the gap created by gender inequality
Education
Education attainment by women means gaining earning potential by women. As a matter of fact, the modern economy can only accommodate learned people who have acquired the skills needed to do a specific job. Women’s right has led to improved access to education by women and hence making them instrumental in economic activities. Education attainment by women has contributed to the growth of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of many countries the world and hence this is a great advantage to the world. Additionally, educating women encourages the growth of creativity and innovation because they contribute to decision making in society.
A gender pay gap is one of the issues fought against by the women’s rights and a gender division of labor. Lorber (2005) emphasize that The United Nations released a report in 1980 that showed women do two third of the work in the world but they own only 1% of the world’s property. A curious paradox is depicted in workplaces of industrialized countries because companies that embrace diversity and promotion of women in leadership shows a higher level of financial performance (Frantz, 2007). Surprisingly, women earn less than men in this companies. Studies show that the pay gap between men and women arise during the first job negotiation and the highest percentage ask higher salaries compared to women. Fighting for women rights is simply stating a standard salary that all employed women would be entitled to and this help women to get good salaries as their male counterparts. De Vita (2008) argues that women are denied access to informal networks and other
Decision makers and therefore women who run sole proprietorships are no mentored like men who are in personal business. Fighting for equality, therefore, gives women an opportunity to access valuable economic information for the purposes of growth and expansion.
Women’s rights also fight for reproductive rights that women have the power of arbitration of the number of siblings to bare. Women have the right to access family planning education and they must be guided on how to use contraceptives effectively. Contraceptives must be available to all women regardless of their social class so that they can control their rate of giving birth. Feminists fight for the right of women access to sex education, contraceptives, and other educational initiatives to reduce the rates of unwanted pregnancies and abortion cases. In relation to this grievances, feminists argue that women must access inexpensive contraceptives, excellent birthing services, abortions if desired and paid medical leaves.
The Concept of Women’s Rights in Different Countries of the World.
Women’s rights in Canada
The Canadian society recognizes the important role that women play in their society. Women in Canada plays a vital role in education and supporting their families and thus they require protection. The laws of Canada restricts women from running offices despite the fact that they can vote in four provinces. Additionally, women cannot vote anywhere in Canada provincially or federally. The state of women’s rights in Canada from 1900 was wanting because the law stated that women lose their right to own property when they gate married and anything under their ownership transfers to the man they get married to and all her wealth pass to the husband (Smith, 1996). Clearly, this is unethical and inhumane and action is needed to rectify the laws that deny women right to own property. It is important to note that this law is not applicable to Nova Scotia, British Columbia, Ontario, and Brunswick. Divorce laws in Canada encourage abusive marriages because women who are abused in their marriages receive little support from the courts of law and therefore men are justified to abuse their wives because no punishment awaits them on the side of the law. Moreover, women in Canada participate in economic activities but they secure lower paying jobs compared to men. The average income of a woman in Canada is allegedly half the income of a man in the same country. To solve this problem, Women in Canada volunteer to organize political and charity rallies to fight for their rights and they also form social groups to tackle issues such as prostitution, child welfare, cultural and ethnic purity.
Women’s rights in France
France diplomats formulated an international strategy to control gender equality in a time span of five years starting from 2018- 2022. The main aim of the strategy is to reinforce the effectiveness and coherence of “gender” actions in its outreach initiative and the development of assistance policies. Moreover, the strategy aims at improving the situation and state of women around the world. The foundation of France’s strategy is the fact that girls and women are mostly the first to be affected by conflict, poverty and climate change. Sexual violence subjects women and girls to slavery and they become primary victims of war. Therefore, France is in the forefront of fighting for Women’s rights in the world.
How women’s rights affect students
Women’s rights protect female students who are equally subjected to effects of gender inequality. Female students get educated to secure jobs and run offices in future and therefore fighting for women’s rights paves way for the success of female students. Women’s rights also discourage sexual abuse in schools or in any other social setup. Women’s rights also guarantee female students opportunities to secure good jobs in the society after acquiring the required skills.
The impact of Social Work field to women’s rights
By definition, Social work is a discipline that enhances social functionality among groups, individuals, families, and communities. Social work is therefore directly influential to women’s rights because it fights for the wellbeing of all people in society. Women contribute a good percentage of the world’s population and therefore social work is inferential in addressing matters affecting women in society. Social workers help women living in poverty and they also help women who are victims of domestic violence. Social workers advocates for women rights and they protect women against sexual harassment and violence based on gender inequality.
Effects of current policies on women’s rights boost the efforts of activists including feminists to in the fight against women discrimination. There are policies in the world that empower women to participate in economic activities. There are laws designed to address the issue of gender inequality. Equal Pay Act of 1963 is used in the United States by “Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) to enforce federal laws that prohibit discriminating job applicants based on race, gender, religion, color, and age. Therefore, Women’s rights activists use the legal bases of the whole issue to fight against discrimination of women.
The issue of student’s biases while choosing this topic is characterized by feminism developing in me. Additionally, witnessing women discrimination in the social setup stimulates the urge to look for a solution to the problem facing women in modern society.
Conclusion
Women’s rights are also human rights that the society need to protect. Women and girls are major victims of war, conflict, diseases, and discrimination and therefore there is a need to fight for their rights. Gender inequality has been a major problem in the world that calls for attention from all relevant bodies to participate in eradicating discrimination. Women play a vital role in the growth of the world economy and therefore women’s rights must be observed with greater seriousness. Social work as a discipline supports the war against social injustices including sexual violence, harassment in the workplace and
References
Bunch, C. (1990). Women's rights as human rights: Toward a revision of human rights. Hum. Rights. Q., 12, 486.
Frantz, K. (2007). The female nature: A woman’s destiny? Humanist, 67(4), 4-6.
Lorber, J. (2005). Gender inequality: Feminist theories and politics. Roxbury Publishing Company: Los Angeles.
Murphy, E., & Graff, E.J. (2005). The wage gap: Why women are still paid less than men.
Rupp, L. J., & Taylor, V. A. (1987). Survival in the Doldrums the American Women's Rights Movement, 1945 to the 1960s.
Smith, P. (1996). Feminism and the Third Republic Women's Political and Civil Rights in France, 1918-1945.
Duchen, C. (2003). Women's rights and women's lives in France 1944-1968. Routledge.
