Things to Help Me Act

Abuse of women's rights

“I tried to fight him off, I kicked him, I scratched him, but he was too strong. The tears were streaming down my face as he raped me. It seemed as if it would never stop." A victim of rape.

Submitted 10/11/2005 By zkliko Views 55418 Comments 11 Updated 29/10/2008

Photographer : flickrgrit

What is the issue?

'Women’s rights' is a broad term used to describe a very serious global problem. Millions of women throughout the world are deprived of, or suffer attacks against their fundamental human rights for no reason other than that they are women. These rights include access to food, shelter, health care, education and employment. Women in both developing and developed nations face forms of discrimination, violence, sexual abuse, torture and political oppression. All of these actions stem from a mentality that women are somehow inferior.

What is happening around the world?

Women's rights are abused in many countries around the world and this abuse can take lots of different forms.

In war-torn countries such as Sierra Leone, Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Afghanistan, women are frequently at risk of being raped or sexually abused by soldiers. In 2007, around 4, 500 cases of rape were reported in South Kivu, Congo. Even though sexual violence was outlawed in 2006, action is rarely taken against security forces, and violence against women is coming to be seen as a normal behaviour in society.

Domestic violence against women is a major issue in Pakistan, South Africa, Peru, Russia and Uzbekistan. Governments either refuse to intervene to protect women, or punish their attackers in a haphazard way that also makes women feel culpable for the violence. According to Amnesty International, 1 in 3 women were beaten or sexually abused world wide in 2006.

Women from the Ukraine, Moldova, Nigeria, the Dominican Republic, Burma, and Thailand are at constant risk of being trafficked. This means they are bought and sold like objects and forced to work as prostitutes, often in foreign countries. Local governments have insufficient laws to protect women’s rights and punish traffickers. According to the United Nations, around 700 000 to 4 million women and children are trafficked around the world every year.

Violations of women’s rights can also be more subtle. Many countries have discriminatory employment laws or discriminatory practices of law enforcement. For example, women in Morocco, Jordan, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia face government-sponsored discrimination that makes them unequal before the law and restricts their participation in public life.

What is happening closer to home?

While the issues above might seem too far away and awful to be affecting women in Australia, we still have our own issues to worry about.

Australia has a high rate of sexual assault, in comparison to other developed countries. 57% of Australian women have experienced at least one incident of physical or sexual assault in their life time, according to the 2002-2003 International Violence Against Women survey.
Australia’s legal process for reporting sexual abuse is tough and intimidating. This is one reason why only 10% of Australian women press charges and why the professionals supporting them have criticised the legal system.
The gender pay gap in the full-time labour market is widening. According to the Bureau of Statistics, the average gap between full-time men and women in the private and public sectors is 16% or $9218 a year.

Why is it happening?

Human rights abuses against women and girls take place due to many varied and complex reasons. However, the following is a list of six reasons why certain abuses have and will continue to occur:

Culture: Certain cultural practices can have an enormous impact on women’s rights. Some cultures require women to adhere to strict dress codes and/or social practices. Women are often forbidden to go out unaccompanied, and in countries such as Saudi Arabia it is illegal for a woman to have a driver’s licence. If these codes are broken, women can be physically or publicly punished.
Religion:The impact of religion is similar to that of culture as discussed above. The restrictions on women are often the most powerful in countries where the legal system is linked with the religious institution.
Politics: The political climate of a country or region can affect the state of women’s rights. Political upheaval often means that law enforcement becomes more relaxed and haphazard. Women are left unprotected and vulnerable.
War: Conflict situations can bring about an atmosphere of violence and lawlessness which often has a harmful impact on women.
Oppression: Women throughout the ages have suffered many forms of oppression, which can lead to abuses of their rights. For example, women in certain areas of the world have not had access to good education which denies them the chance to seek proper employment and build an independent future. Oppressive policies also deny women the opportunity to learn what rights they do have.
Discrimination: Women’s rights can be abused when they are discriminated against based on their race, religious beliefs or sexual orientation.

What’s some of the good stuff?

Generally Australian women are healthy and well educated, with rights enforced by the law. In 2008, the federal government finally announced that Australia would be introducing a program of paid maternity leave.
Rwanda has the highest proportion of female politicians anywhere in the world. Women occupy 39 of the 80 seats in national parliament. This is largely because there is a 30% quota for women embedded in the Kenyan constitution.
Counties where employers must pay maternity leave benefits include Iraq, Afghanistan and Zimbabwe. Russia and Laos are two countries where the government provides maternity leave for three to six months.
Taking into account political representation, wages, health and family-friendly policies, Sweden, Finland and Norway are the three countries which come closest to a Utopia for women.

This page was updated by kate elise

How do I know this?

Amnesty International, Amnesty International work on women, http://www.amnesty.org/ailib/intcam/women/2000/ind...

Amnesty International, 2007, ‘Human rights by numbers in 2006’, Human Rights Defender, 4 August, p.5

BBC, 2007, Shock at sex crimes in DR Congo, BBC, http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/6922132.stm

BRISSC, 2007, Politics of rape, BRISSC, http://www.brissc.com.au/resources/for/for_12.html

Chasing the Dream—Youth Faces of the Millennium Development Goals, http://www.chasingdream.org

Clarke, D. 2007, ‘Hungary’s unheard women’, Human Rights Defender, 4 August, p. 20

Duff, E. 2006, ‘Sexual assault survey reveals how legal system fails victims’, Sydney Morning Herald, http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/sexual-assault-survey-reveals-how-legal-system-fails-victims/2006/01/07/1136609986712.html

HREOC, 2007, It’s about time all Australian women have access to paid maternity leave, HREOC, http://www.hreoc.gov.au/media_releases/2007/48_07.html

Human Rights Watch, Women’s Rights, http://hrw.org/women/

Marriner, C. 2005, For women, half is the battle, Sydney Morning Herald, http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2005/03/07/1110160749885.html

MADRE: Demanding Rights, Resources & Results for Women Worldwide, http://www.madre.org

Shah, A 2004, ‘Women’s Rights’, Global issues that affect everyone, http://www.globalissues.org/HumanRights/WomensRigh...

J Ruff-O’Herne 2001, ‘Women Facing War’, Australian Redcross, http://1.redcross.org.au/?fuseaction=NEWSROOM.arch...

Wade, M. 2007, Women lose out in new work regime, smh, http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/women-lose-out-in-new-work-regime/2007/04/06/1175366473980.html

worldrevolution, Sex Trafficking: Facts and Figures, http://www.worldrevolution.org/Projects/Webguide/GuideArticle.asp?ID=1430

Discuss Now

Post Comment 1 | 2 | 3 |

xxRubyliciousxx 27-Jun-2008

I think that the abuse of womens rights is wrong. everybody should be equal. Its not right to abuse anyone no matter who they are, what sex or what they look like. Its wrong and sholdnt be happening.

renata9 13-Mar-2008

Wildeye76, I believe you . These things happen . It does not matter if your a boy or a girl . Children get abused from WOMAN ! Over the last couple of years this sort of thing has been on the news . Woman and men are the abusers. The world can be so backwards in their thinking ! I am a person who has been abused by a woman as a child for many years. It had affected my life for a very long time. Lots of reading Happy Books ! And a lot of self help courses have got me through . It does not go away ! But you deal with life as it comes. I have been through the same feelings as you and have gone through the same thing your going through. There is help out there. Yes I know what its like to search for help and people to look at you and say how can your story be true ???????????????????? When I read your story I thought I was reading about me ! Thanks for being so honest, all those years of treatment , now I know it does happen and im not going crazy ! thank you. I have tears in my eyes !

wildeye76 28-Jan-2008

My name is Chris, Im 31 and I was heavily sexually abused as a child. When I say this too you, you instantly think of some dirty old man doing unspeakable things. But no, it was by a group of four women. When I was a child I was forced to dress in certain things and made to do certain things for four adult women and I was not the only young boy who had this happen to him. Of the other that were effected two of those boys had committed suicide by the age of 21. I have grown up with anxiety issues, never feel safe, suffered bouts of agraphobia and in the last few years have come to terms with the fact that what happaned to me as a child is seriously effecting my life today.
I have tried to report my story to certain organizations but no one seems to take me seriously, no organization will follow through on anything and finding advice and quality assistance is nearly impossible.
I feel because I am a male, that in this society I should "suck it up" and "toughen up" and just go about my buisness.
I feel because I am a male that theres a very tiny amount of places I can turn too that help men and there emotinal situations, and the organizations that are availible are more set up for the perpertrators of crime as opposed to the victims. And even if they do cater for mental health, you have to be visably effected (i.e mentally retarded or have some sort of visible condition, affected intelligence) this is the way we see our sick men in Australia.
I beleive in Equality, I beleive all races and gender should be equal. But just as many there is a lot of women effected by abuse there is just as many men effected by abuse as well.
Men are taught to suppress there emotions growing up, they are taught to "suck it up" and "be a man" and any kind of emotional expression is considered a sign of weakness and doesnt appear consistent with the male perceptive.
I typed in Mens Rights into google this afternoon and the results were all reffering to Womens Rights sites that keep reffering to the fact that men have more rights.
In some instances yes, and some no. I am a man, a man that was heavily sexually abused a a child for many years, and I have no rights, I am not encouraged to speak out and I cant even find a website that details the rights that I have.
I understand Women were treated as less superior back in the past, but I didnt do any of that.
The story I post this under is horrible, and I believe what ever gender you are you get convicted of a crime and get punished accordingly (these men should have been put away for a long time) but to say just because you are born a certain gender then you should be be punished a different way by the law is sexist. Women abuse children too, I am living proof. And from what I have researched cases of Women abusing children are barely ever reported or heard of. And us victims have no where to go and dont get no where near the amount of support a women does.
This isnt equalilty.
Equal rights mean we are equal, it doesnt mean the tides should swing to favor the other side, thats just the opposite side of the sexism coin.

adrienne 17-Jan-2008

Female inequality and abuse is still a major issue facing the world today. This is most evident in poorer nations in South East Asia and some nations in the Middle East. Female empowerment can only be achieved through education in order to improve their stance in society. Education is the key to opportunity and progress.

AllyCat 22-Sep-2007

Shoa:
I think the UN and organisations like Amnesty International try to do things about this.
I think they might even have tried to have some sort of open forum some years ago to establish a document for the Protection of Women's Rights.
However, as it was an open discussion and the UN couldn't restrict demonstraters from coming, it was impossible to properly host the talks beecause of all the disruption from opposing groups.

I guess that despite the fact that there are many out there who do try to change things, they face serious opposition from people who feel threatened themselves, feel that the status quo is being challenged or that women would somehow be favoured over men.

As to whether enough is done? I'd say that we (that is, the world) can ultimately show people the door to a future with protection for the rights of women, but we can't force them through. Within the countries where the abuse of women's rights occurs, it can't just be us that wants to make the change. they have to want it too, which is what makes it so hard in places like Saudi Arabia, etc. where men have a great deal of power over women.

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