Women rights are the entitlements and the rights that are claimed for women and girls of societies all over the world. In some nations, these rights are supported by law or institutionalized. In other places, they are supported by the local custom and general behavior while in other places the opposite happens; they may be suppressed or just ignored. Some of these rights include; right to vote, right to education, right to bodily integrity and autonomy, right to hold public office, right to own property, right to fair wages and equal pay, right to serve in the military, and right to enter into legal contracts among others.
Nothing has been at the center of the debate on the achievements of the modern civilization than the benefits of this civilization on the welfare of the female gender. Much has been claimed concerning the molestation and discrimination of women based on the gender both in economic, religious and academic world, without forgetting the amount of frustration they face in society due to stereotyping. Some of these prejudices have been going on for centuries under the pretext of culture, with many taboos apparently being introduced to keep women under subjection. It is surprising, however, to realize that many of these women who are affected do not know that what is happening to them is actually not what ought to be happening. Thus, the main question is; what are some of the things that happen to women in society which fall under the banner of violation of women rights and who are the main perpetrators of these vices? The following essay seeks to expand on the above question.
History on women rights
Though there are claims that women have been discriminated against men from time immemorial as concerning the right to own property, this claim is not true in all cultures. It is remarkable that records to exist in different cities in ancient Greece of women who owned land in the cities of Megara and Delphi among others. It should be kept in mind that land was considered the most prestigious private property. For instance, following the protracted war of 4th century BC, Spartan women owned 35 – 40 per cent of all Spartan land and property. Also, in ancient Rome, Fulvia, who was the wife of Mark Antony commanded troops in the roman civil wars and was the first woman to have her face on the roman coins. Indeed, women born in Rome were allowed full citizenship in contrast to their counterparts in Greece who never achieved such status. This shows that although in some cultures women were being mistreated historically, in others they were respected and given full recognition and worth members of the society.
Women and education
Among the African communities, it was a long held belief that women were not entitled to education just because they would get married and do not stay long in the family to help as compared to men who spent all their lives in their mother land. This was also seen in ancient Greece where even Plato and Aristotle used to differ as to whether women were as much entitled to education as men did. Even in some countries in this century, women are still discriminated as is evident in the ratio of women joining institutions of higher learning compared to men. Though some countries have taken drastic measures to remedy the situation, by for instance admitting girls with two points lower than boys, the ratio still remains high. Even the kinds of causes taken by women are still a reserve of the male gender in some countries; for instance engineering. It is still believed that women should take causes in institutions of higher learning that deal with catering, fashion, teaching and hospitality. Indeed, few people have stood to protest this, with the general explanation for the oppression being that women are more adapted to doing these jobs than men.
Commercial sexual exploitation
There is much denial in the society as to the existence of commercial sexual exploitation, but a quick check around you confirms the claim. Women are being used as sexual objects by men or by other women who use them to make money. The number of strip clubs and brothels in cities all over the world are increasing every day and their objective is to get more ‘fresh’ girls who are to be used by rich men out for sexual tourism. Although the women involved are said to do so voluntarily, they are actually forced into this exploitation because of financial constraints. There is a recent case in reported, where a tourist paid local girls to have sex with his pedigree dog! Can this also be said to be a voluntary choice? Is it possible that a normal woman under no pressure can have sex with an animal for fun?
The same crimes are also committed cartels that shoot porn movies while using women who have been cheaply paid. The lame claim that all that is done voluntarily does not hold when small children in the age of teens are also involved in such movies. Research shows many of these women do it because they want to get money to support their families. Some of them are actually single parents who are unable to fend for their children and are forced to look for any ways of getting cash. The question is; is there no other way that society can help such people instead of watching them being exploited?
Domestic abuse and violence
The rights of a woman to equal recognition in the family have always been neglected as reflected in the number of domestic violence cases reported every year. This leaves you wondering how many really happen since statistics do not take account of the unreported cases! Who ever said that a woman ought not to know the ware about of her husband or request to know how family property is being used? And who gave the men the right to physically assault women in cases of disagreement as if there is no other avenue for solving the differences? Whatever the reason for disagreement, the issue of men causing physical harm to women ought not to be the case if women are taken as equal partners in matrimonial matters.
They too are humans, with ability to understand the situation at hand and offer support where necessary instead of being treated as passive beings to be seen and not to be heard. It is intriguing that women are more castigated if they are found to be involved in extramarital affairs compared to the cases of men who have a very weak apology that they are condemned to do it because they are men. This is unfair because the emotional trauma caused to the woman by the straying husband is as much as that caused in a jilted husband. But since the society chooses to turn a blind eye on the issue of men straying in marriage, women still continue suffering. The current increase in the cases of domestic abuse can be completely eliminated if society chooses to end them but will continue if nothing is done
Political discrimination
Although politics has been labeled as a dirty game, women are the ones who are experiencing the more dirty side of that game. It is common to see female aspirants being booed and told to go home and nurse children when they stand up to look for votes. This is unlike the reception male aspirants get, since they are considered genetically programmed for politics and leadership. How many heads of states now in the world are female? Even very senior democracies like the United States have never had female presidents and less than 7 women are heads of states in 2013. Is it that women are not capable of leading nations to development or is it that society is uncomfortable with a powerful woman? Whatever the defense offered for the current un-proportionality in political office holders, it does not satisfy the curiosity and society comes once again under scrutiny as to its contribution to the suffering of the female gender. The cause is discrimination against women.
Women and the media
Despite many agreeing as to the contribution of the media to the general well-being of the society, there are some issues perpetrated by the media that affect women. The stereotyping of women is majorly emphasized by the media as a way of showing the ‘rot’ in society. The pictures of naked women in advertisements and newspaper pages are meant to attract the attention of male potential customers; but are they really for the benefit of those women? Do they seek to emphasize the values of those women? The answer is no. they pictures are used to increase cells for the bourgeoisies who own those media houses and not to advertise the women. Actually, it is those same media houses will later on turn on the subject with such headings as ‘morality has fallen to a new low’ or ‘the emerging evils in society.’
Women and war
With every turn of a century, civilization has always been marked with many wars among different nations claiming power and control in a specific aspect; be it trade, mining or industrialization. In these wars, women have been the unlucky victims caught in chaos they never understand the necessity of. They are the victims of rape, the effects of which haunt them for life never to get a total recovery even from rehabilitation centers. The fact that many women and children are evicted from their homes during war is traumatic given that these women spend all their time wondering on how they can provide food and shelter for the children they are escaping with. These is evident in the war torn democratic republic of Congo and Sieraleon where some women were even murdered by cannibal militias for use in rituals. How can this escape the eyes of ‘the modern world’, wielding civilization as the banner of its achievements when its daughters and mothers are the ones suffering from their selfish desires? If indeed the intention of these wars was not to victimize the women and children of the ‘enemy’ country of faction, why do not they try other more peaceful avenues of solving their political or social differences without subjecting women to such nasty experiences. Whatever the argument brought forward to defend the necessity of war in modern civilization, its effects on women are among the worst as much as women rights violation is concerned.
Conclusion
Much can be said concerning the position of women in the modern society, but it still remains, based on the above argument, that modern women are having their rights violated as much as they used to be in history. These violations are perpetrated by society itself based on the wrong beliefs about women. Human rights groups are being formed in many nations to champion for the rights of women. Laws that protect women from violation of their rights are also continuously being created. The current society has more awareness on the need to respect women as full members of the society. Despite all these efforts, cases of violation of women’s rights are still rampant. Until society chooses to eradicate the issue of gender, women will continue suffering in the so called ‘modern society’.
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