Today, November 29th is International Woman Human Rights Defenders Day. It is a day to draw attention to the very important work that women around the world are doing to ensure that women’s rights are human rights.
Ensuring the rights, health and well-being of women is to ensure the future of humanity. For decades, international policies protecting the rights of women have been promised, but a global scan of the lives of women around the world today show a vast majority trapped in lives filled with suffering and pain. A global context of racism, classism and sexism work together to create 3 primary barriers that prevent women and their children from living healthy and happy lives: 1) War -perpetuated by a military-industrial complex 2) Poverty -perpetuated by corporate greed and globalization and 3) Violence against women -perpetuated by patriarchal legal systems and decision-makers who protect the status quo.
Rape and sexual violence have long been associated with war and armed-conflict. In the Democratic Republic of Congo alone, an estimated 1,100 rapes are reported each month – that’s an average of 36 women and girls raped each day! It is estimated that during the conflict in Bosnia in the early 1990’s, up to 200,000 women were raped.
Abject poverty can be blamed for the booming business of human trafficking of women and children for slavery or sex work at an estimated USD $32 billion a year, rivaling the economies of some small countries. Dowry murders, honour killings, the prevalence of HIV-AIDS, breast pressing, female genital mutilation, traumatic gynecologic fistula caused by early sexual abuse of girls, female infanticide and a lack of health care (especially reproductive health care) for women result in the staggering truth that in our world today, among women aged 15 to 44, acts of violence cause more death and disability than cancer, malaria, traffic accidents and war combined.
Today, on International Woman Human Rights Defenders Day, we recognize the courage of women and the organisations that work tirelessly to address these issues with the goal of achieving human rights and equality for all women. Women such as Tawakkol Karman, journalist and President of the NGO Women Journalists without Chains who has long campaigned against human rights violations in Yemen. This October, three days after Karman received notification of being awarded the Nobel Peace prize for her efforts to advance the rights of women in Yemen, she and fellow women activists rallying against the government, were forced to endure the pelting of stones thrown by pro-government thugs. For more information on Women Human Rights Defenders, please visit the Woman Human Rights Defenders International Coalition.
How can you make a difference and be a human rights defender?
1) Recognize inequality and encourage change
2) End the abuse of power by those who inflict suffering on those most vulnerable in our communities and around the world by demanding human rights for all women and children.
3) Support women and children to empower themselves and to take control over their own bodies, wages and lives
4) Advocate for ending violence, poverty, homelessness and the oppression of women and children
5) Volunteer your talents or make a donation to an organisation that is working to improve the quality of life for women and children
“…the full and complete development of a country, the welfare of the world and the cause of peace require the maximum participation of women on equal terms with men in all fields.” ~1979 Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) ratified by 180 nation/states around the world
