Human Rights

1. Human Rights Presented by: HallahElbeleidy Gina Nobile Cara Tharpe Naina Gupta Raymond Garcia

2. What are Human Rights? The basic rights and freedoms to which all humans are entitled, often held to include the right to life and liberty, freedom of thought and expression, and equality before the law.

3. The General Assembly of the United Nations adopted and proclaimed UDHR • Signed December 10, 1948 • Common standard of achievement for all peoples and nations

4. Criticisms of UDHR • Perceived failure to take into account the cultural and religious context of non-Western countries • A secular understanding of the Judeo-Christian tradition, which cannot be implemented by Muslims without trespassing the Islamic law

5. Islamic Viewpoint • God has intended different functions for men and women based on fundamental differences in their nature • To deny these differences is unjust • Need to distinguish between “equality”, which Islam affirms for both men and women, and “identicalness”, which it rejects

6. Response to UDHR • Formation of The Cairo Declaration on Human Rights in Islam adopted and Issued at the Nineteenth Islamic Conference of Foreign Ministers in Cairo  on 5 August 1990 • 45 member countries, including Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, and Iran

7. UDHR: Marriage Article 16  (1) Men and women of full age, without any limitation due to race, nationality or religion, have the right to marry and to found a family. They are entitled to equal rights as to marriage, during marriage and at its dissolution. (2) Marriage shall be entered into only with the free and full consent of the intending spouses. (3) The family is the natural and fundamental group unit of society and is entitled to protection by society and the State.

8. Cairo Declaration of Human Rights in Islam: Marriage Article 5(a)     The family is the foundation of society, and marriage is the basis of its formation.  Men and women have the right to marriage, and no restrictions stemming from race, colour or nationality shall prevent them from enjoying this right. (b)     Society and the State shall remove all obstacles to marriage and shall facilitate marital procedure.  They shall ensure family protection and welfare. Article 6 (a)     Woman is equal to man in human dignity, and has rights to enjoy as well as duties to perform; she has her own civil entity and financial independence, and the right to retain her name and lineage. (b)     The husband is responsible for the support and welfare of the family. Question #1: In article 5 (a), what important factor in marriage is deliberately missing? Question #2: Does article 6 exhibit equality for men and women?

9. Equality or Identicalness? Is the necessary conclusion that each of them should have rights equivalent to the other, so that there should be no privilege or preference of either of them, or is it necessary that the rights of man and women, besides having equivalence and parity, should also be exactly the same, and that there should be no division whatsoever of work and duty.

10. Reproductive Rights

11. Roe vs. Wade (1973) • Prior to the case, abortions were permitted in certain states but banned in others. The court ruled in 1973 that, anywhere in the U.S.: • a woman and her doctor may freely decide to terminate a pregnancy during the first trimester • state governments can restrict abortion access after the first trimester with laws intended to protect the woman's health • abortions after fetal viability must be available if the woman's health or life are at risk; state governments can prohibit other abortions.

12. United States •  At this time in the United States abortions are legal. However, for teenagers under the age of 18, the laws on abortions differ from state to state. • Alabama: The Law: Requires that one of your parents give permission for your abortion. 
Judicial Bypass – Yes • California: You do not need parent permission to have an abortion • New Jersey: You do not need parent permission to have an abortion • Pennsylvania: The Law: Requires that one of your parents give permission for your abortion. 
Judicial Bypass – Yes.

13. Abortion in Africa • About 25 percent of the world's population lives in countries where abortion is prohibited or permitted only to save a woman's life, while 61 percent live in countries where abortion is allowed without restriction or for a broad range of reasons. • An estimated 92% of women of child bearing age in Africa live in countries with restrictive abortion laws • Abortion is illegal in most of Africa. It is the second-leading cause of death among women admitted to hospitals in Ethiopia, its Health Ministry has said. It is the cause of 13 percent of maternal deaths at hospitals in Nigeria

14. Abortion in Africa • Abortions are not permitted for any reason in 14 African countries. • In 9 countries, it is generally allowed to save the life of the woman (2 of these countries also allow it in rape cases/incest). • 17 other countries permit abortion to preserve a woman’s physical health. • Between 1997 and 2009, Benin, Chad, Guinea, Mali, Niger, Swaziland & Togo slightly expanded their grounds on legality for abortion.

15. Kenya • At present, termination of pregnancy is outlawed in the East African country, except in instances where a woman’s life is in danger. • Due to a lack of contraception, and education, especially in sexual education, these women face a high number of unwanted pregnancies. • Locality of clinics make it nearly impossible for abortions to be attained.

16. Relevance to Feminism • “No, we are not ready and willing at any time. Not with any partner. We do not owe children to society. Motherhood is not our duty” (contemporary UK feminism). • Women should have the right to their own body. • Majority of the laws both in Kenya, and United States are composed and enforced by men. • Having the ability to decide whether or not a woman wants the child.

17. "My Body, My Choice" -- NOW (National Organization for Women)

20. Discussion Question At what point in the pregnancy, if any, do you feel a woman should have the right to an abortion?

21. Female Genital Mutilation

22. What is FGM? Dangerous procedure involving the removal of either part or all of female genitalia Often performed in unsanitary conditions Broken glass, tin can lids, blunt knives, scissors, and razors No anesthesia / antibiotics / access to medical treatment Legs are bound for 2 months, immobilizing the woman while her wound heals

23. Types of FGM • Type I a – removal of clitoral hood or prepuce only • Type I b – removal of the clitoris with the prepuce • Type II – partial or total removal of the clitoris and the labia minora • Type III – infibulation - narrowing of the vaginal orifice with creation of a covering seal by cutting and repositioning the labia minora and/or the labia majora, with or without excision of the clitoris

24. Statistics • An estimated 135 million girls and women have been a victim of FGM • Two million girls a year are at risk – approximately 6,000 a day • 51% of those circumcised had the procedure before the age of one • 85% of those circumcised had the procedure before the age of 15

25. Why is FGM Practiced? • To stifle female sexuality • Believed to inspire submissiveness in young women • Removes the part of a woman that resembles a penis • Purity • Beautifies women

26. Banning of Female Genital Mutilation FGM is banned in many African countries. Out of the 28 practicing countries, 26 have ratified the CEDAW However this does not stop FGM. Corrupt and overrun police force Cultural traditions hold strong Female practitioners gain power and money in patriarchal societies through FGM

27. The UN Declaration on the Elimination of Violence Against Women recognizes that violence against women not only deprives them of their civil and political rights, but also their social and economic rights, saying that, "the underlying structural consequences of these forms of gender-based violence help to maintain women in their subordinate roles, contribute to their low level of participation and to their lower level of education, skills, and work opportunities." The Declaration provides that states should not invoke any custom, tradition, or religious consideration to avoid their obligation to eliminate violence against women, and that they must exhibit due diligence in investigating and imposing penalties for violence, and establishing effective protective measures.

28. How to Stop FGM • Grassroots Organizations • More effective law enforcement • UNFPA and similar culturally sensitive programs • Finding alternative sources of income to former practitioners • Safe houses for victims and runaways

29. What is Human Trafficking? SLAVERY

30. It happens when someone is tricked or kidnapped or coerced, and then taken into slavery. The modern-day slave trade is the process of enslaving a person.

31. After drug dealing, human trafficking is tied with the illegal arms trade as the fastest growing and second largest criminal industry in the world.

32. Victims of Trafficking are exploited for commercial sex or labor purposes.

33. Approximately 800,000to900,000victims annually trafficked across international borders worldwide Between 18,000 and 20,000victims are trafficked into United States annually.

34. More than half of victims trafficked into United States are children.

35. How Are Victims Trafficked?

36. Coercion. Victims are threatened into performing acts at the risk of serious harm or physical restraint of a loved one.

37. Collateral. Young Afghani girls are put up by the family collateral for poppy seeds to grow opium. After their virginity is taken, they are often sold.

38. Fraud. Victims are deceived and offered employment, marriage, or a better life.

39. Force. Victims are raped, beaten, confined, and drugged.

40. 9.5 billion dollars have been made off the bodies of young girls and women in sex trafficking.

41. Slavery can be passed down through families. If the family is unable to repay the illegal debt, it is passed down from generation to generation, creating hereditary enslavement

42. People are trafficked all over the world, But trafficking is a domestic issue as well. http://slaverymap.org/

43. Why is this a feminist issue? Women and children make up the largest proportion of people trafficked. In 30% of countries, women make up a large portion of traffickers. Why do you think this is? Women are being wronged in every way possible. Lack of freedom Loss of all control over money Mental and physical damage No sexual gratification Violence Isolation Spread of STD’s and HIV/AIDS

44. What do youbelieve feminist organizations can do globally and domestically to help?

45. Women and Healthcare/Malnutrition

46. HYSTERIA Since ancient times women considered to be suffering from hysteria would sometimes undergo a "pelvic massage" — manual stimulation of the genitals by the doctor until the patient experienced "hysterical paroxysm" (orgasm) The word Hysteria stems from the Greek word for Uterus; hystera, this “disease” comes the notion that hysteria was particular to women due to disturbances of the uterus

48. Access to Health Care A national survey of women on their health finds that a substantial percentage of women cannot afford to go to the doctor or get prescriptions filled. Many women seek to extenuate their ill health with their inability to pay for medical related services A major issue in health care is the lack of preventative care and the illness based focus .

49. Availability for Treatment For some conditions, the disparities are growing, despite new technologies and other advances that have been made in recent years. For example, about one black woman in four over 55 years of age has diabetes. The prevalence of diabetes is at least two to four times as high among black, Hispanic, American Indian, and Asian Pacific Islander women as it is among white women. Breast cancer mortality has been declining among U.S. women since 1990, but the decline has been much greater among white women than black women. Although breast cancer death rates are falling, the incidence of new breast cancers continues to rise. Blacks and poor people are much more likely than whites and more affluent people to die from cancer. In addition, high blood pressure, lupus, and HIV/AIDS disproportionately affect women of color.

50. Health of Minority Women Life expectancy for women of all races has nearly doubled over the past 100 years , from 48 in 1900 to 79.5 in 2000, yet minority women continue to lag about 5 years behind white women in life expectancy. For example, white women could expect to live to age 80 compared with 74.5 for black women.