<< back to table of contents

Comment: Two Steps Forward, One Step Back (by Kaitlyn M.A. Schultz)

Over the last century, women have been able to achieve relative equality with men, equality in the work place, as well as ownership of land and our own possessions. Over the years, we as women have taken for granted the hard work and years of perseverance it took for us to get where we are today. Having accepted and become so comfortable in the world that our ancestors struggled so hard for, has it allowed us to no longer strive for further equality? Have we become so used to our cookie cutter world that we no longer see the point in trying to make a difference for the equality of women in different situations than ourselves?

Until the 20th century most women had no rights, they were viewed as possessions owned by their fathers, and later by their husbands. Women were not allowed to own property; all they had was what their husbands and fathers equipped them with. Today in many countries this is no longer true: women are considered equal to men, and work along side them rather than beneath them.

As scary as it is to believe, in some countries such pre-20th century customs still occur. Millions of women live in conditions of deprivation, having their fundamental human rights abused simply because they are women. For countries that are in times of conflict such as Sierra Leone, Kosovo, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Afghanistan, and Rwanda, women are used as weapons of war, and are manipulated through rape and physical abuse. These war tactics are used in the hopes that women will flee their homes in fear of the reoccurrence of the torture that they have already suffered. In other cases, male soldiers will brutally rape them, and then kill them. The women that survive such horrendous treatment usually suffer from psychological trauma, permanent physical injury, and long-term health risks, especially HIV/AIDS. Countries such as Pakistan, South Africa, Peru, Russia, and Uzbekistan have astounding percentages of abused women. The countries’ governments refuse to intervene, and in doing so allow for inequality to continue.

Although as North American women, we feel that we have reached equality, we have to get to the point where we can realize that different women are in different situations. We have to come to terms with the fact that we live in a world where in some countries women do not even have the most basic rights - they do not even have the right to control what happens to their own bodies. Governments in some countries do not protect women: some are forced to marry and have sex with men they do not desire. They face dangerous physical abuse in their home life, and also have an increased risk of HIV and AIDS.

Even the end of a war does not put an end to the discrimination women may face. Women will not only be dealt discrimination and sexual violence in refugee camps, but also in reconstruction programs, as well as violence when trying to return home. In Afghanistan, women of many different backgrounds have been known to restrict their activities in their community in the hopes of not becoming targets even after the Taliban had fallen. Furthermore, Afghan women living outside of Kabul are being denied the power to take part in the reconstruction of their country, and face serious threats to their safety on a day to day basis. Most of the women live in fear of being abducted and physically violated, barely leaving their homes. They give up any opportunity to work and attend school because they fear the results of their choices.

The type of discrimination women face varies from region to region, but it does occur, and in most cases, a woman’s legal rights are determined by what her husband will give her. In some countries women who marry outside of their nationality will have their national rights taken away or limited because of the race or nationality of their husband. As well, some countries deny children the ability to accept their mothers’ nationalities because it is believed that women cannot pass on this characteristic. These citizens without citizenships are denied the most basic of rights, such as civil, political, economic, social, and cultural rights.

The women who have faced such turmoil have come to expect what is some women’s greatest fear. Women in societies, that have equal rights see what these beautiful, intelligent women face, and cannot help but think “I’m glad that’s not me.” But then, given a moment to come to terms with what they see, they look close and realize they are women - they are people just like us. Nationality and religion do not matter: all we see is someone of the same race, The Human Race. We come to realize that these women empower us to want to make a difference. How can we not help?

That is what groups like Women’s Rights Division is focused on. WRD is a group of women’s rights activists who use human rights law to promote respect for women’s rights around the world. Through collaboration with local non-government organizations, they try to hold governments responsible for the abuse women face. WRD was founded in 1990 as a women’s rights project for Human Rights Watch. Over the past 14 years, they have been trying to improve the responsiveness to the international human rights system to what women face, merely because they are women. Much of what they do includes documenting the sexual violence that occurs in armed conflict.

On August 26th, many nations will celebrate Women’s Equality Day. This day should be used to look at how hard women of the past fought to give women what they have today. We should take the time to look at other women, and strive to help them get to where we are now. If you wish to get involved, you can email Human Rights Watch at wrd@hrw.org. As the saying goes “two steps forward, one step back” - it might take us a while to reach international gender equality, but nothing will change if we do not take those two steps forward and try.

Sources

Crenshaw, Albert B and Bill Brubaker. “Companies Gain a Death Benefit.” Washington Post. 30 May 2002. 4 August 2004. <http://www.washingtonpost.com/
ac2/wp-dyn?pagename=article&node=&contentId=A30037-2002May29&notFound=true>.

Etzioni, Amitai. “’Peasant Insurance’ a corporate shame.” The Communitarian Network. 4 August 2004. <http://www.gwu.edu/~ccps/etzioni/B413.html>.

Weston, Liz Pulliam. “Does Your Boss Want You Dead?” MSN. 4 August 2004. <http://moneycentral.msn.com/content/Insurance/P64954.asp>.

<< back to table of contents