Права женщин — это права и льготы, заявленные для женщин и девочек во всем мире. Они легли в основу движения за права женщин в 19 веке и феминистских движений в 20 и 21 веках. В некоторых странах эти права институционализированы или поддерживаются законом, местными обычаями и поведением, тогда как в других они игнорируются и подавляются. Они отличаются от более широких представлений о правах человека утверждениями о неотъемлемой исторической и традиционной предвзятости против осуществления прав женщинами и девочками в пользу мужчин и мальчиков. [1]
Вопросы, обычно связанные с представлениями о правах женщин, включают право на физическую неприкосновенность и автономию , право быть свободным от сексуального насилия , право голоса , право занимать государственные должности, право заключать юридические договоры, право иметь равные права в семейном праве , право на труд , право на справедливую заработную плату или равную оплату труда , право на репродуктивные права , право владеть имуществом и право на образование . [2]
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Женщины в древнем Шумере могли покупать, владеть, продавать и наследовать имущество. [3] Они могли заниматься торговлей, [3] и давать показания в суде в качестве свидетелей. [3] Тем не менее, их мужья могли развестись с ними за незначительные нарушения, [3] а разведенный муж мог легко жениться на другой женщине, при условии, что его первая жена не родила ему потомства. [3] Женские божества, такие как Инанна , широко почитались. [4] : 182 Аккадская поэтесса Энхедуанна , жрица Инанны и дочь Саргона , является самым ранним известным поэтом, чье имя было записано. [5] Древние вавилонские своды законов разрешали мужу разводиться со своей женой при любых обстоятельствах, [4] : 140 но для этого он должен был вернуть все ее имущество и иногда заплатить ей штраф. [4] : 140 Большинство законов запрещали женщине просить мужа о разводе и применяли те же наказания к женщине, просящей развод, что и к женщине, пойманной на месте преступления . [ 4] : 140 Однако некоторые вавилонские и ассирийские законы предоставляли женщинам такое же право на развод, как и мужчинам, требуя от них уплаты такого же штрафа. [4] : 140 Большинство восточно-семитских божеств были мужчинами. [4] : 179
В Древнем Египте женщины пользовались теми же правами по закону, что и мужчины, однако законные права зависели от социального класса . Земельная собственность передавалась по женской линии от матери к дочери, и женщины имели право управлять своей собственностью. Женщины в Древнем Египте могли покупать, продавать, быть партнерами в юридических контрактах , быть исполнителями завещаний и свидетелями юридических документов, возбуждать судебные иски и усыновлять детей. [6]
Женщины в ранний ведический период [7] пользовались равным статусом с мужчинами во всех аспектах жизни. [8] Работы древнеиндийских грамматистов, таких как Патанджали и Катьяяна, предполагают, что женщины были образованы в ранний ведический период. [9] [10] Стихи Ригведы предполагают, что женщины выходили замуж в зрелом возрасте и, вероятно, были свободны выбирать себе мужей в практике, называемой сваямвар , или в отношениях с проживанием, называемых браком гандхарва . [11]
Хотя большинство женщин не имели политических и равных прав в городах-государствах Древней Греции, они пользовались определенной свободой передвижения вплоть до архаической эпохи . [12] Также существуют записи о женщинах в древних Дельфах , Гортине , Фессалии , Мегаре и Спарте , владевших землей, самой престижной формой частной собственности в то время. [13] Однако после архаической эпохи законодатели начали принимать законы, обеспечивающие гендерную сегрегацию, что привело к сокращению прав женщин. [12]
Женщины в классических Афинах не имели юридического статуса и считались частью oikos, возглавляемой мужчиной kyrios . До замужества женщины находились под опекой своего отца или другого родственника-мужчины. После замужества муж становился kyrios женщины . Поскольку женщинам было запрещено вести судебные разбирательства, kyrios делал это от их имени. [14] Афинские женщины могли приобретать права на имущество только через подарки, приданое и наследование, хотя ее kyrios имел право распоряжаться имуществом женщины. [15] Афинские женщины могли заключать только контракты стоимостью меньше стоимости « медимноса ячменя» (меры зерна), что позволяло женщинам заниматься мелкой торговлей. [14] Женщины были исключены из древней афинской демократии , как в принципе, так и на практике. Рабы могли стать афинскими гражданами после освобождения, но ни одна женщина никогда не получала гражданство в древних Афинах. [16]
В классических Афинах женщинам также запрещалось становиться поэтами, учеными, политиками или художниками. [17] В эллинистический период в Афинах философ Аристотель считал, что женщины приносят беспорядок и зло, поэтому лучше всего держать женщин отдельно от остального общества. Это разделение подразумевало проживание в комнате, называемой гинаикеон , при этом они должны были выполнять обязанности по дому и иметь очень мало контактов с мужским миром. Это также было сделано для того, чтобы жены имели только законных детей от своих мужей. Афинские женщины получали мало образования, за исключением домашнего обучения основным навыкам, таким как прядение, ткачество, кулинария и некоторые знания о деньгах. [17]
Хотя спартанские женщины были формально исключены из военной и политической жизни, они пользовались значительным статусом как матери спартанских воинов. Поскольку мужчины занимались военной деятельностью, женщины брали на себя ответственность за управление поместьями. После затяжных войн в 4 веке до н. э. спартанские женщины владели примерно от 35% до 40% всей спартанской земли и имущества. [18] [19] К эллинистическому периоду некоторые из самых богатых спартанцев были женщинами. [20] Спартанские женщины контролировали свою собственную собственность, а также собственность родственников-мужчин, которые были в армии. [18] Девочки, как и мальчики, получали образование. [18] [21] Но, несмотря на относительно большую свободу передвижения спартанских женщин, их роль в политике была такой же, как и у афинских женщин. [17]
Платон признавал, что расширение гражданских и политических прав женщин существенно изменит природу домохозяйства и государства. [22] Аристотель , которого учил Платон, отрицал, что женщины были рабами или объектами собственности, утверждая, что «природа провела различие между женщиной и рабыней», но он считал жен «покупаемыми». Он утверждал, что основная экономическая деятельность женщин заключается в сохранении домашнего имущества, созданного мужчинами. По словам Аристотеля, труд женщин не добавляет никакой ценности, потому что «искусство ведения домашнего хозяйства не тождественно искусству получения богатства, поскольку одно использует материал, который предоставляет другое». [23]
Вопреки взглядам Платона, философы-стоики утверждали равенство полов, поскольку половое неравенство, по их мнению, противоречило законам природы. [24] При этом они следовали за киниками , которые утверждали, что мужчины и женщины должны носить одинаковую одежду и получать одинаковое образование. Они также рассматривали брак как моральное товарищество между равными, а не как биологическую или социальную необходимость, и практиковали эти взгляды в своей жизни, а также в своих учениях. Стоики переняли взгляды киников и добавили их к своим собственным теориям человеческой природы, тем самым поставив свой сексуальный эгалитаризм на прочную философскую основу. [24]
Римское право, похожее на афинское право, было создано мужчинами в пользу мужчин. [25] Женщины не имели публичного голоса и общественной роли, что только улучшилось после 1-го века до н. э. по 6-й век до н. э. [26] Свободнорожденные женщины Древнего Рима были гражданами , которые пользовались правовыми привилегиями и защитой, которые не распространялись на неграждан или рабов . Римское общество , однако, было патриархальным , и женщины не могли голосовать, занимать государственные должности или служить в армии. [27] Женщины из высших классов оказывали политическое влияние через брак и материнство. Во времена Римской республики матери братьев Гракхов и Юлия Цезаря были отмечены как образцовые женщины, которые продвигали карьеры своих сыновей. В период империи женщины из семьи императора могли приобрести значительную политическую власть и регулярно изображались в официальном искусстве и на монетах. [28]
Центральным ядром римского общества был pater familias или глава семьи мужского пола, который осуществлял свою власть над всеми своими детьми, слугами и женой. [25] Девочки имели равные права наследования с мальчиками, если их отец умирал, не оставив завещания. [29] Подобно афинским женщинам, у римских женщин был опекун или, как его называли, «наставник», который управлял и контролировал всю ее деятельность. [25] Эта опека ограничивала женскую активность, но к первому веку до шестого века до н. э. опека стала очень смягченной, и женщины были допущены к участию в более общественных ролях, таких как владение и управление имуществом или выполнение функций муниципальных покровителей гладиаторских игр и других развлекательных мероприятий . [25] Государство поощряло деторождение. К 27–14 годам до н. э. ius tritium liberorum («законное право на троих детей») предоставлял символические почести и юридические привилегии женщине, родившей троих детей, и освобождал ее от любой мужской опеки. [30]
В ранний период Римской республики невеста переходила из-под контроля отца в «руку» (manus) мужа. Затем она становилась подвластной potestas мужа , хотя и в меньшей степени, чем их дети. [31] Эта архаичная форма брака manus была в значительной степени оставлена ко времени Юлия Цезаря , когда женщина оставалась под властью отца по закону, даже когда она переезжала в дом мужа. Такое положение было одним из факторов независимости, которой пользовались римские женщины. [32]
Хотя женщины должны были отвечать перед своими отцами в юридических вопросах, они были свободны от его прямого контроля в своей повседневной жизни, [33] и их мужья не имели юридической власти над ними. [34] Когда отец женщины умирал, она становилась юридически эмансипированной ( sui iuris ) . Замужняя женщина сохраняла право собственности на любое имущество, которое она приносила в брак. [35] Девочки имели равные права наследования с мальчиками, если их отец умирал, не оставив завещания. [29] Согласно классическому римскому праву , муж не имел права физически оскорблять свою жену или принуждать ее к сексу. [36] Избиение жены было достаточным основанием для развода или других юридических действий против мужа. [37]
Благодаря своему правовому статусу граждан и степени, в которой они могли стать эмансипированными, женщины в Древнем Риме могли владеть имуществом, заключать контракты и заниматься бизнесом. [38] Некоторые приобретали и распоряжались значительными состояниями и упоминаются в надписях как благотворители, финансировавшие крупные общественные работы. [39] Римские женщины могли появляться в суде и выступать в качестве истцов, хотя обычно их представлял мужчина. [40] Их одновременно презирали как слишком невежественных и слабоумных, чтобы заниматься юридической практикой, и как слишком активных и влиятельных в юридических вопросах, что привело к указу, который ограничивал женщин ведением дел от своего имени, а не от имени других. [41] Но даже после того, как это ограничение было введено, есть многочисленные примеры того, как женщины принимали обоснованные меры в юридических вопросах, включая диктовку юридической стратегии своим адвокатам-мужчинам. [42]
Римское право признавало изнасилование преступлением, в котором жертва не несла никакой вины [43] и преступлением, караемым смертной казнью. [44] Изнасилование женщины считалось посягательством на честь ее семьи и отца, и жертвы изнасилования стыдились за то, что позволили бросить тень на честь ее отца. [25] По закону изнасилование могло быть совершено только в отношении гражданина с хорошим положением. Изнасилование рабыни могло преследоваться только как нанесение ущерба имуществу ее хозяина. [45]
Первый римский император Август оформил свое восхождение к единоличной власти как возвращение к традиционной морали и попытался регулировать поведение женщин посредством морального законодательства . Прелюбодеяние , которое было частным семейным делом в эпоху Республики, было криминализировано [46] и в широком смысле определялось как незаконный половой акт ( stuprum ) , который произошел между мужчиной-гражданином и замужней женщиной или между замужней женщиной и любым мужчиной, кроме ее мужа. Таким образом, замужняя женщина могла заниматься сексом только со своим мужем, но женатый мужчина не совершал прелюбодеяния, когда занимался сексом с проституткой, рабыней или лицом маргинализированного статуса ( infamis ) . [47] Большинство проституток в Древнем Риме были рабынями, хотя некоторые рабыни были защищены от принудительной проституции пунктом в их договоре купли-продажи. [48] Свободная женщина, работавшая проституткой или артисткой, теряла свое социальное положение и становилась infamis , «бесчестной»; Сделав свое тело доступным для общественности, она фактически отказалась от своего права на защиту от сексуального насилия или физического насилия. [49]
Стоическая философия повлияла на развитие римского права. Стоики эпохи империи, такие как Сенека и Мусоний Руф, разработали теории справедливых отношений . Хотя они и не выступали за равенство в обществе или по закону, они считали, что природа дает мужчинам и женщинам равные возможности для добродетели и равные обязательства поступать добродетельно, и что поэтому мужчины и женщины имеют равную потребность в философском образовании. [24] Считается, что эти философские тенденции среди правящей элиты помогли улучшить положение женщин в империи. [50] В Риме не было системы государственного образования, и образование было доступно только тем, кто мог за него заплатить. Дочери сенаторов и всадников , по-видимому, регулярно получали начальное образование (в возрасте от 7 до 12 лет). [51] Независимо от пола, мало кто получал образование выше этого уровня. Девочки из скромного происхождения могли обучаться, чтобы помогать в семейном бизнесе или приобретать навыки грамотности, которые позволяли им работать писцами и секретарями. [52] Женщина, которая достигла наибольшей известности в древнем мире за свою ученость, была Гипатия Александрийская , которая преподавала продвинутые курсы молодым людям и консультировала римского префекта Египта по вопросам политики. Ее влияние привело ее к конфликту с епископом Александрии Кириллом , который, возможно, был замешан в ее насильственной смерти в 415 году от рук христианской толпы. [53]
Поскольку византийское право по сути основывалось на римском праве, правовой статус женщин существенно не изменился по сравнению с практикой VI века. Но традиционное ограничение женщин в общественной жизни, а также враждебность по отношению к независимым женщинам все еще продолжались. [55] Большее влияние греческой культуры способствовало строгому отношению к женским ролям как к домашним, а не публичным. [55] Также наблюдалась растущая тенденция среди женщин, которые не были проститутками, рабынями или артистками, полностью закрывать лицо. [55] Как и в предыдущем римском праве, женщины не могли быть юридическими свидетелями, занимать административные должности или управлять банковским делом, но они все еще могли наследовать имущество и владеть землей. [55]
Как правило, влияние церкви было направлено на отмену ограничений, налагаемых старым законом на безбрачие и бездетность, на расширение возможностей для вступления в исповедуемую религиозную жизнь и на надлежащее обеспечение жены. Церковь также поддерживала политическую власть тех, кто был дружелюбен к духовенству. Назначение матерей и бабушек в качестве воспитателей было санкционировано Юстинианом.
Ограничения на браки сенаторов и других мужчин высокого ранга с женщинами низкого ранга были расширены Константином , но были почти полностью сняты Юстинианом . Вторые браки не поощрялись, особенно путем введения законного условия, что право вдовы на имущество должно прекратиться при повторном браке, а Львиные конституции в конце IX века сделали третьи браки наказуемыми. Те же конституции сделали благословение священника необходимой частью церемонии бракосочетания. [56]
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Женщины на протяжении всего исторического и древнего Китая считались низшими и имели подчиненный правовой статус, основанный на конфуцианском праве . [57] В императорском Китае « Три послушания » поощряли дочерей подчиняться своим отцам, жен — подчиняться своим мужьям, а вдов — подчиняться своим сыновьям. Женщины не могли наследовать бизнес или богатство [57] , а мужчины должны были усыновить сына для таких финансовых целей. [57] Поздний императорский закон также включал семь различных типов разводов. Жену могли выгнать, если она не могла родить сына, совершила прелюбодеяние, не слушалась своих свекровей, говорила неприлично, воровала, была подвержена приступам ревности или страдала от неизлечимой или отвратительной болезни или расстройства. [57] Но были и ограничения для мужа — например, он не мог развестись, если она посещала места траура своих свекровей, если у нее не было семьи, к которой можно было бы вернуться, или если семья мужа была бедной, а с тех пор стала богаче. [57]
Конфуцианское мышление низводило женщин в Китае до подчиненных ролей, а бинтование ног делало их домохозяйками. [58] Около 45% китайских женщин имели бинтованные ноги в 19 веке. Для высших классов этот показатель составлял почти 100%. В 1912 году китайское правительство приказало прекратить бинтование ног. Бинтование ног включало изменение структуры костей, так что длина ног составляла всего около четырех дюймов. Связанные ноги вызывали трудности в движении, тем самым значительно ограничивая деятельность женщин.
Из-за общественного обычая, что мужчины и женщины не должны находиться рядом друг с другом, женщины Китая неохотно лечились у мужчин-врачей западной медицины. Это привело к огромной потребности в женщинах-врачах западной медицины в Китае. Таким образом, женщина-миссионер Мэри Х. Фултон (1854–1927) [59] была отправлена Советом иностранных миссий пресвитерианской церкви (США) для основания первого медицинского колледжа для женщин в Китае. Известный как Медицинский колледж Хакетта для женщин (夏葛女子醫學院), [60] [61] колледж был открыт в Гуанчжоу, Китай, благодаря большому пожертвованию Эдварда А. К. Хакетта (1851–1916) из Индианы, США. Колледж был нацелен на распространение христианства и современной медицины, а также на повышение социального статуса китайских женщин. [62] [63]
Во времена Китайской Республики (1912–49) и более ранних китайских правительств женщин законно покупали и продавали в рабство под видом домашней прислуги. Эти женщины были известны как Муй Цай . Жизнь Муй Цай была описана американской феминисткой Агнес Смедли в ее книге «Портреты китайских женщин в революции» . [64]
Однако в 1949 году Китайская Республика была свергнута коммунистическими партизанами во главе с Мао Цзэдуном , и в том же году была основана Китайская Народная Республика . В мае 1950 года Китайская Народная Республика приняла Новый закон о браке , чтобы бороться с продажей женщин в рабство. Он запретил брак по доверенности и сделал брак законным при условии согласия обоих партнеров. Новый закон о браке повысил законный возраст вступления в брак до 20 лет для мужчин и до 18 лет для женщин. Это было неотъемлемой частью реформы земель в сельской местности, поскольку женщины больше не могли законно продаваться землевладельцам. Официальный лозунг был: «Мужчины и женщины равны; каждый стоит своей (или ее) соли». [65]
Как до, так и во время библейских времен, роли женщин в обществе были строго ограничены. [66] Тем не менее, в Библии женщины изображены как имеющие право представлять себя в суде, [67] : 56–62 возможность заключать контракты, [67] : 63–67 и права покупать, владеть, продавать и наследовать имущество. [67] : 63–80 Библия гарантирует женщинам право на секс со своими мужьями [68] [69] и предписывает мужьям кормить и одевать своих жен. [68] [69] Нарушение этих ветхозаветных прав полигамным мужчиной давало женщине основания для развода: [68] [69] «Если он женится на другой, то не должен лишать первую пищи, одежды и супружеских прав; если он не даст ей этих трех вещей, то она должна уйти на свободу, без всякого платежа» (Исход 21:10–11).
Коран , который, как верят мусульмане, был открыт Мухаммеду в течение 23 лет, дал руководство исламскому сообществу и изменил существующие обычаи в арабском обществе . [70] Коран предписывает ограниченные права для женщин в браке , разводе и наследовании . Обеспечивая, что жена, а не ее семья, будет получать приданое от мужа, которым она может распоряжаться как своей личной собственностью, Коран сделал женщин законной стороной брачного контракта . [71]
В то время как в обычном праве наследование часто ограничивалось потомками мужского пола, Коран включал правила о наследовании с определенными фиксированными долями, распределяемыми между назначенными наследниками, сначала ближайшими родственницами женского пола, а затем ближайшими родственниками мужского пола. [72] По словам Аннемари Шиммель , «по сравнению с доисламским положением женщин, исламское законодательство означало огромный прогресс; женщина имеет право, по крайней мере, в соответствии с буквой закона , распоряжаться богатством, которое она принесла в семью или заработала своим собственным трудом». [73]
Для арабских женщин ислам включал запрет на убийство новорожденных девочек и признание полноты личности женщины. [74] Женщины, как правило, получали больше прав, чем женщины в доисламской Аравии [75] [76] и средневековой Европе . [77] В других культурах женщинам не предоставлялся такой правовой статус до тех пор, пока столетия спустя. [78] По словам профессора Уильяма Монтгомери Уотта , если рассматривать Мухаммеда в таком историческом контексте, «можно рассматривать его как фигуру, которая свидетельствовала в пользу прав женщин». [79]
Права женщин защищались еще ранней средневековой христианской церковью: одно из первых официальных правовых положений о правах жен было обнародовано собором в Адже в 506 году, который в каноне XVI установил, что если молодой женатый мужчина желает быть рукоположенным, ему требуется согласие его жены. [80]
Английская церковь и культура в Средние века считали женщин слабыми, иррациональными, уязвимыми для искушений и постоянно нуждающимися в контроле. [81] [ нужен лучший источник ] Это отразилось на христианской культуре в Англии через историю Адама и Евы , где Ева поддалась искушениям сатаны и заставила Адама съесть яблоко. Это убеждение основывалось на учении Святого Павла о том, что боль при родах была наказанием за этот поступок, который привел к изгнанию человечества из Эдемского сада. [81] Неполноценность женщин также появляется во многих средневековых произведениях; например, теолог 1200 года нашей эры Жак де Витри (который был скорее сочувствующим женщинам, чем другим) подчеркивал женское послушание своим мужчинам и описывал женщин как скользких, слабых, ненадежных, коварных, лживых и упрямых. [81] Церковь также продвигала Деву Марию как образец для подражания для женщин, чтобы они были невинны в своей сексуальности, были замужем за мужем и в конечном итоге стали матерью. Это было основной целью, изложенной как в культурном, так и в религиозном плане по всей средневековой Европе. [81] Изнасилование также рассматривалось в средневековой Англии как преступление против отца или мужа и нарушение их защиты и опеки над женщинами, за которыми они присматривали в домашнем хозяйстве. [81] Идентичность женщин в Средние века также передавалась через их отношения с мужчинами, с которыми они общались, например, «его дочь» или «жена такого-то». [81] Несмотря на все это, Церковь по-прежнему подчеркивала важность любви и взаимного консультирования в браке и запрещала любую форму развода, чтобы у жены был кто-то, кто заботился бы о ней.
В целом в Европе в Средние века женщины были ниже мужчин по правовому статусу. [82] На протяжении всей средневековой Европы женщины подвергались давлению, чтобы не посещать суды и оставлять все юридические дела своим мужьям. В правовой системе женщины считались собственностью мужчин, поэтому любая угроза или нанесение им вреда были обязанностью их опекунов-мужчин. [82]
В ирландском законодательстве женщинам запрещалось выступать в качестве свидетелей в судах. [82] В валлийском законодательстве показания женщин могли быть приняты в отношении других женщин, но не против мужчин, но валлийские законы, в частности Законы Хайвела Дда , также отражали ответственность мужчин за выплату алиментов на детей, рожденных вне брака, что давало женщинам право требовать законную выплату. [83] Во Франции показания женщин должны были подтверждаться другими свидетельствами, иначе они не принимались. [82] Хотя ожидалось, что женщины не будут посещать суды, это, однако, не всегда было так. Иногда, независимо от ожиданий, женщины участвовали и посещали судебные разбирательства и заседания суда. Но женщины не могли выступать в качестве судей в судах, быть адвокатами или членами присяжных или обвинять другого человека в уголовном преступлении, если только это не было убийством ее мужа. [84] По большей части, лучшее, что могла сделать женщина в средневековых судах, — это наблюдать за происходящим судебным разбирательством.
Шведское законодательство защищало женщин от власти мужей, передавая власть их родственникам-мужчинам. [85] Имущество и земля жены также не могли быть взяты мужем без согласия ее семьи, но и жена не могла этого сделать. [85] Это означало, что женщина не могла передать свое имущество мужу без согласия своей семьи или родственников. По шведскому законодательству женщина также получала только половину того, что ее брат наследовал. [85] Несмотря на эти правовые проблемы, Швеция во многом опережала и намного превосходила в своем отношении к женщинам большинство европейских стран.
Средневековые браки среди элиты заключались таким образом, чтобы отвечать интересам семьи в целом. [82] Теоретически женщина должна была дать согласие, прежде чем брак состоялся, и Церковь поощряла, чтобы это согласие было выражено в настоящем времени, а не в будущем. [82] Брак также мог состояться где угодно, и минимальный возраст для девочек составлял 12 лет, а для мальчиков — 14 лет. [82]
Ставка вергильда предполагает, что женщины в этих обществах ценились в основном за их репродуктивные цели. Вергильд женщины был вдвое больше, чем у мужчины с тем же статусом в алеманских и баварских правовых кодексах. [86] Между тем, вергильд женщины был втрое больше, чем у мужчины с тем же статусом в салических и респуарийских правовых кодексах для женщин детородного возраста, который составлял от 12 до 40 лет. [86] Один из самых германских кодексов ломбардской традиции узаконивал, что женщины находятся под контролем мужчины -мундоальда , который составлял ее отца, мужа, старшего сына или, в конечном счете, короля в качестве крайней меры, если у нее не было родственников мужского пола. [86] Женщине требовалось разрешение своего мундольда для управления имуществом, но она все еще могла владеть своими землями и товарами. Определенные области с вестготскими законами о наследовании до 7-го века были благоприятными для женщин, в то время как все остальные законы не были. [86] До христианизации Европы было мало возможностей для согласия женщин на брак, и брак через покупку (или Kaufehe ) был фактически гражданской нормой, в отличие от альтернативного брака через захват (или Raubehe ). [86] Однако христианство медленно достигало других балтийских и скандинавских регионов, и оно достигло только короля Харальда Синезубого из Дании в 950 году нашей эры. [86] Те, кто жил по норвежским и исландским законам, использовали браки для заключения союзов или создания мира, обычно без голоса или согласия женщин. [86] Однако право на развод было разрешено женщинам, которые подвергались физическому насилию, но защита от вреда не предоставлялась тем, кого называли «несчастными» женщинами, такими как нищие, слуги и рабыни. Секс с ними с применением силы или без согласия обычно не имел никаких юридических последствий или наказания. [86]
В эпоху викингов женщины имели относительно свободный статус в скандинавских странах Швеции, Дании и Норвегии, что отражено в исландских законах Грагаса и норвежских законах Фростатинга и законах Гулатинга . [87] Тетя по отцовской линии, племянница по отцовской линии и внучка по отцовской линии, называемые одалквинна , имели право наследовать имущество умершего мужчины. [87] При отсутствии родственников мужского пола незамужняя женщина без сына могла, кроме того, унаследовать не только имущество, но и положение главы семьи от умершего отца или брата. Женщина с таким статусом называлась рингквинна , и она пользовалась всеми правами, предоставленными главе семейного клана, такими как право требовать и получать штрафы за убийство члена семьи, если только она не выходила замуж, в результате чего ее права передавались ее мужу. [87]
После 20 лет незамужняя женщина, называемая maer и mey , достигала совершеннолетия, имела право выбирать место своего жительства и считалась самостоятельной личностью перед законом. [87] Исключением из ее независимости было право выбирать партнера по браку, поскольку браки обычно устраивались кланом. [88] Вдовы пользовались тем же независимым статусом, что и незамужние женщины. Женщины имели религиозный авторитет и были активными жрицами ( gydja ) и оракулами ( sejdkvinna ); [89] в искусстве как поэты ( skalder ) [89] и мастера рун ; и как торговки и знахарки. [89] Они также могли быть активными в военной службе: истории о девах-щитницах не подтверждены, но некоторые археологические находки, такие как женщина-викинг из Бирки, могут указывать на то, что по крайней мере некоторые женщины в военной службе существовали. Замужняя женщина могла развестись со своим мужем и снова выйти замуж. [90]
Также для свободной женщины было социально приемлемым сожительствовать с мужчиной и иметь от него детей, не выходя за него замуж, даже если этот мужчина был женат; женщину в таком положении называли frilla . [90] Не делалось различий между детьми, рожденными в браке или вне его: и те, и другие имели право наследовать имущество после своих родителей, и не было «законных» или «незаконных» детей. [90] Эти свободы постепенно исчезли после введения христианства, и с конца 13-го века они больше не упоминаются. [91] В христианское Средневековье средневековое скандинавское право применяло разные законы в зависимости от местного закона графства, что означало, что статус женщины мог варьироваться в зависимости от того, в каком графстве она жила.
В XVI и XVII веках прошли многочисленные судебные процессы над ведьмами , в результате которых были казнены тысячи людей по всей Европе, из которых 75–95 % были женщинами (в зависимости от времени и места). [92] Казни в основном проводились в немецкоязычных странах, и в XV веке термин «колдовство» определенно рассматривался как что-то женское, в отличие от предыдущих лет. [92] Известные руководства по колдовству, такие как Malleus Maleficarum и Summis Desiderantes, изображали ведьм как дьявольских заговорщиц, которые поклонялись Сатане и были в основном женщинами. Культура и искусство того времени изображали этих ведьм как соблазнительных и злых, еще больше разжигая моральную панику в сочетании с риторикой Церкви. [92]
Происхождение мифа о женщинах-«ведьмах» восходит к римским мифическим ночным существам, известным как Strix, которые, как считалось, появлялись и исчезали таинственным образом ночью. [92] Многие также считали, что они были женщинами, преображенными своими сверхъестественными силами. [92] Сам этот римский миф, как полагают, происходит от еврейского шаббата, в котором описывались несверхъестественные женщины, которые подозрительно уходили и быстро возвращались домой ночью. [92] Авторы Malleus Maleficarum убедительно установили связь между колдовством и женщинами, провозгласив большую вероятность того, что женщины будут пристраститься к «злу». [93] Авторы и инквизиторы Генрих Крамер и Якоб Шпренгерх оправдывали эти убеждения, утверждая, что женщины обладают большей доверчивостью, впечатлительностью, слабым умом, слабым телом, импульсивностью и плотской натурой, которые являются недостатками, восприимчивыми к «злому» поведению и колдовству. [93] Такого рода верования в то время могли отправить женщин-отшельниц или нищенок на суд только за то, что они предлагали лекарства или травяные лекарства. [93] Этот набор развитых мифов в конечном итоге привел к судебным процессам над ведьмами в 16–17 веках, в ходе которых тысячи женщин были сожжены на костре. [92]
К 1500 году Европа разделилась на два типа светского права. [94] Одним из них было обычное право, преобладавшее в северной Франции, Англии и Скандинавии, а другим — римское писаное право, преобладавшее в южной Франции, Италии, Испании и Португалии. [94]
Обычаи больше благоприятствовали мужчинам, чем женщинам. [94] Например, наследование среди элиты в Италии, Англии, Скандинавии и Франции передавалось старшему наследнику мужского пола. Во всех регионах законы также давали мужчинам существенную власть над жизнью, имуществом и телом их жен. [94] Однако были некоторые улучшения для женщин по сравнению с древним обычаем; например, они могли наследовать в отсутствие своих братьев, заниматься определенными видами деятельности без своих мужей, а вдовы могли получать приданое. [94]
В областях, где действовали римские письменные законы, женщины находились под мужской опекой в вопросах, связанных с имуществом и правом: отцы присматривали за дочерьми, мужья — за женами, а дяди или родственники-мужчины — за вдовами. [94]
По всей Европе правовой статус женщин зависел от их семейного положения, в то время как сам брак был самым большим фактором ограничения женской автономии. [94] Обычаи, законы и практика не только ограничивали права и свободы женщин, но и не позволяли одиноким или овдовевшим женщинам занимать государственные должности под предлогом того, что они могут когда-нибудь выйти замуж. [94]
According to English Common Law, which developed from the 12th century onward, all property which a wife held at the time of marriage became a possession of her husband. Eventually, English courts forbade a husband's transferring property without the consent of his wife, but he still retained the right to manage it and to receive the money which it produced. French married women suffered from restrictions on their legal capacity which were removed only in 1965.[95] In the 16th century, the Reformation in Europe allowed more women to add their voices, including the English writers Jane Anger, Aemilia Lanyer, and the prophetess Anna Trapnell. English and American Quakers believed that men and women were equal. Many Quaker women were preachers.[96] Despite relatively greater freedom for Anglo-Saxon women, until the mid-19th century, writers largely assumed that a patriarchal order was a natural order that had always existed.[97] This perception was not seriously challenged until the 18th century when Jesuit missionaries found matrilineality in native North American peoples.[98]
The philosopher John Locke opposed marital inequality and the mistreatment of women during this time.[99] He was well known for advocating for marital equality among the sexes in his work during the 17th century. According to a study published in the American Journal of Social Issues & Humanities, the condition for women during Locke's time were as quote:[99]
Other philosophers have also made statements regarding women's rights during this time. For example, Thomas Paine wrote in An Occasional Letter on the Female Sex 1775 where he states (as quote) :[100]
"If we take a survey of ages and of countries, we shall find the women, almost without exception... adored and oppressed... they are ... robbed of freedom of will by the laws...Yet such, I am sorry to say, is the lot of women over the whole earth. Man with regard to them, has been either an insensible husband or an oppressor."[100]
A paternal society can find prefer to make women's rights a man's duty, for instance under English common law husbands had to maintain their wives. This duty was abolished in 2010.[101][102]
Starting in the late 18th century, and throughout the 19th century, rights, as a concept and claim, gained increasing political, social, and philosophical importance in Europe. Movements emerged which demanded freedom of religion, the abolition of slavery, rights for women, rights for those who did not own property, and universal suffrage.[104] In the late 18th century the question of women's rights became central to political debates in both France and Britain. At the time some of the greatest thinkers of the Enlightenment, who defended democratic principles of equality and challenged notions that a privileged few should rule over the vast majority of the population, believed that these principles should be applied only to their own gender and their own race. The philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau, for example, thought that it was the order of nature for women to obey men. He wrote "Women do wrong to complain of the inequality of man-made laws" and claimed that "when she tries to usurp our rights, she is our inferior".[105]
In 1754, Dorothea Erxleben became the first German woman receiving a M.D. (University of Halle)[106]
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In 1791 the French playwright and political activist Olympe de Gouges published the Declaration of the Rights of Woman and of the Female Citizen,[112] modelled on the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen of 1789. The Declaration is ironic in formulation and exposes the failure of the French Revolution, which had been devoted to equality. It states that: "This revolution will only take effect when all women become fully aware of their deplorable condition, and of the rights they have lost in society". The Declaration of the Rights of Woman and the Female Citizen follows the seventeen articles of the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen point for point and has been described by Camille Naish as "almost a parody... of the original document". The first article of the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen proclaims that "Men are born and remain free and equal in rights. Social distinctions may be based only on common utility." The first article of the Declaration of the Rights of Woman and of the Female Citizen replied: "Woman is born free and remains equal to man in rights. Social distinctions may only be based on common utility". De Gouges expands the sixth article of the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, which declared the rights of citizens to take part in the formation of law, to:
All citizens including women are equally admissible to all public dignities, offices and employments, according to their capacity, and with no other distinction than that of their virtues and talents.
De Gouges also draws attention to the fact that under French law women were fully punishable, yet denied equal rights.[113]She was subsequently sent to the guillotine.
Mary Wollstonecraft, a British writer and philosopher, published A Vindication of the Rights of Woman in 1792, arguing that it was the education and upbringing of women that created limited expectations.[114][115] Wollstonecraft attacked gender oppression, pressing for equal educational opportunities, and demanded "justice!" and "rights to humanity" for all.[116] Wollstonecraft, along with her British contemporaries Damaris Cudworth and Catharine Macaulay, started to use the language of rights in relation to women, arguing that women should have greater opportunity because like men, they were moral and rational beings.[117]Mary Robinson wrote in a similar vein in "A Letter to the Women of England, on the Injustice of Mental Subordination.", 1799.
In his 1869 essay "The Subjection of Women" the English philosopher and political theorist John Stuart Mill described the situation for women in Britain as follows:
We are continually told that civilization and Christianity have restored to the woman her just rights. Meanwhile, the wife is the actual bondservant of her husband; no less so, as far as the legal obligation goes, than slaves commonly so called.
Then a member of parliament, Mill argued that women deserve the right to vote, though his proposal to replace the term "man" with "person" in the second Reform Bill of 1867 was greeted with laughter in the House of Commons and defeated by 76 to 196 votes. His arguments won little support amongst contemporaries[118] but his attempt to amend the reform bill generated greater attention for the issue of women's suffrage in Britain.[119] Initially only one of several women's rights campaigns, suffrage became the primary cause of the British women's movement at the beginning of the 20th century.[120] At the time, the ability to vote was restricted to wealthy property owners within British jurisdictions. This arrangement implicitly excluded women as property law and marriage law gave men ownership rights at marriage or inheritance until the 19th century. Although male suffrage broadened during the century, women were explicitly prohibited from voting nationally and locally in the 1830s by the Reform Act 1832 and the Municipal Corporations Act 1835.[121] Millicent Fawcett and Emmeline Pankhurst led the public campaign on women's suffrage and in 1918 a bill was passed allowing women over the age of 30 to vote.[121]
By the 1860s, the economic sexual politics of middle-class women in Britain and its neighboring Western European countries was guided by factors such as the evolution of 19th century consumer culture, including the emergence of the department store, and Separate spheres. In Come Buy, Come Buy: Shopping and the Culture of Consumption in Victorian Women's Writing, Krista Lysack's literary analysis of 19th-century contemporary literature claims through her resources' reflection of common contemporary norms, "Victorian femininity as characterized by self-renunciation and the regulation of appetite."[122]
While women, particularly those in the middle class, obtained modest control of daily household expenses and had the ability to leave the house, attend social events, and shop for personal and household items in the various department stores developing in late 19th century Europe, Europe's socioeconomic climate pervaded the ideology that women were not in complete control over their urges to spend (assuming) their husband or father's wages. As a result, many advertisements for socially 'feminine' goods revolved around upward social progression, exoticisms from the Orient, and added efficiency for household roles women were deemed responsible for, such as cleaning, childcare, and cooking.[122][123]
By law and custom, Muscovite Russia was a patriarchal society that subordinated women to men, and the young to their elders. Peter the Great relaxed the second custom, but not the subordination of women.[124] A decree of 1722 explicitly forbade any forced marriages by requiring both bride and groom to consent, while parental permission still remained a requirement. But during Peter's reign, only the man could get rid of his wife by putting her in a nunnery.[124]
In terms of laws, there were double standards for women. Adulterous wives were sentenced to forced labor, while men who murdered their wives were merely flogged.[124] After the death of Peter the Great, laws and customs pertaining to men's marital authority over their wives increased.[124] In 1782, civil law reinforced women's responsibility to obey their husbands.[124] By 1832, the Digest of laws changed this obligation into "unlimited obedience".[124]
In the 18th century, the Russian orthodox church further got its authority over marriage and banned priests from granting divorce, even for severely abused wives.[124] By 1818, the Russian senate had also forbade the separation of married couples.[124]
During World War I, caring for children was increasingly difficult for women, many of whom could not support themselves, and whose husbands had died or were fighting in the war. Many women had to give up their children to children's homes infamous for abuse and neglect. These children's homes were unofficially dubbed as "angel factories". After the October Revolution, the Bolsheviks shut down an infamous angel factory known as the 'Nikolaev Institute' situated near the Moika Canal. The Bolsheviks then replaced the Nikolaev Institute with a modern maternity home called the 'Palace for Mothers and Babies'. This maternity home was used by the Bolsheviks as a model for future maternity hospitals. The countess who ran the old Institute was moved to a side wing, however she spread rumours that the Bolsheviks had removed sacred pictures, and that the nurses were promiscuous with sailors. The maternity hospital was burnt down hours before it was scheduled to open, and the countess was suspected of being responsible.[125]
Russian women had restrictions in owning property until the mid 18th century.[124] Women's rights had improved after the rise of the Soviet Union under the Bolsheviks.[124]
Under the Bolsheviks, Russia became the first country in human history to provide free abortions to women in state-run hospitals.[126]
Women's rights activism in Canada during the 19th and early 20th centuries focused on increasing women's role in public life, with goals including women's suffrage, increased property rights, increased access to education, and recognition of women as "persons" under the law.[127] The Famous Five were five Canadian women – Emily Murphy, Irene Marryat Parlby, Nellie Mooney McClung, Louise Crummy McKinney and Henrietta Muir Edwards – who, in 1927, asked the Supreme Court of Canada to answer the question, "Does the word 'Persons' in Section 24 of the British North America Act, 1867, include female persons?" in the case Edwards v. Canada (Attorney General).[128] After Canada's Supreme Court summarized its unanimous decision that women are not such "persons", the judgment was appealed and overturned in 1929 by the British Judicial Committee of the Imperial Privy Council, at that time the court of last resort for Canada within the British Empire and Commonwealth.[129]
The Women's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) was established in 1873 and championed women's rights, including advocating for prostitutes and for women's suffrage.[130] Under the leadership of Frances Willard, "the WCTU became the largest women's organization of its day and is now the oldest continuing women's organization in the United States."[131]
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The extent to which women could participate in Japanese society has varied over time and social classes. In the 8th century, Japan had women emperors, and in the 12th century (Heian period) women in Japan occupied a relatively high status, although still subordinated to men. From the late Edo period, the status of women declined. In the 17th century, the "Onna Daigaku", or "Learning for Women", by Confucianist author Kaibara Ekken, spelled out expectations for Japanese women, lowering significantly their status.[132]During the Meiji period, industrialization and urbanization reduced the authority of fathers and husbands, but at the same time the Meiji Civil Code of 1898 denied women legal rights and subjugated them to the will of household heads.[133]
From the mid-20th century the status of women improved greatly. Although Japan is often considered a very conservative country, it was in fact earlier than many European countries in giving women legal rights in the 20th century, as the 1947 Constitution of Japan provided a legal framework favorable to the advancement of women's equality in Japan. Japan for instance enacted women's suffrage in 1946, earlier than several European countries such as Switzerland (1971 at federal level; 1990 on local issues in the canton of Appenzell Innerrhoden), Portugal (1976 on equal terms with men, with restrictions since 1931), San Marino in 1959, Monaco in 1962, Andorra in 1970, and Liechtenstein in 1984.[134][135]
Central Asian cultures largely remain patriarchal, however, since the fall of the former Soviet Union, the secular societies of the region have become more progressive to women's roles outside the traditional construct of being wholly subservient to men.[136] In Mongolia, more women than men complete school and are higher earners as result.[137] The UN Development Programme notes "significant progress" in gender equality in Kazakhstan but discrimination persists.[138] Marriage by abduction remains a serious problem in this region; the practice of bride kidnapping is prevalent in Kyrgyzstan,[139] Kazakhstan,[140] Turkmenistan,[141] and Karakalpakstan, an autonomous region of Uzbekistan.[142]
The history of women's rights in Australia is a contradictory one: while Australia led the world in women's suffrage rights in the 19th century, it has been very slow in recognizing women's professional rights – it was not until 1966 that its marriage bar was removed.[143] On the other hand, reforms which allowed women both to vote and stand for office in South Australia in the late 19th century were a cornerstone for women's political rights in other parts of the world. In this regard, Australia differs from other cultures, in that women's suffrage in Australia was one of the earliest objectives of the feminist movement there (beginning with South Australia and Western Australia) unlike other cultures, such as Eastern European cultures, where at the turn of the 20th century the feminist movement focused on labour rights, access to professions and education, rather than political rights. To this day, Australia has a quite low percentage of women in business executive roles compared to other countries with equivalent corporate structures.[144]
Employment rights for women include non-discriminatory access of women to jobs and equal pay. The rights of women and men to have equal pay and equal benefits for equal work were openly denied by the British Hong Kong Government up to the early 1970s. Leslie Wah-Leung Chung (鍾華亮, 1917–2009), President of the Hong Kong Chinese Civil Servants' Association 香港政府華員會[145] (1965–68), contributed to the establishment of equal pay for men and women, including the right for married women to be permanent employees. Before this, the job status of a woman changed from permanent employee to temporary employee once she was married, thus losing the pension benefit. Some of them even lost their jobs. Since nurses were mostly women, this improvement of the rights of married women meant much to the nursing profession.[62][146][147][148][149][150][151] In some European countries, married women could not work without the consent of their husbands until a few decades ago, for example in France until 1965[152][153] and in Spain until 1975.[154] In addition, marriage bars, a practice adopted from the late 19th century to the 1970s across many countries, including Austria, Australia, Ireland, Canada, and Switzerland, restricted married women from employment in many professions.[155][156]
A key issue towards insuring gender equality in the workplace is the respecting of maternity rights and reproductive rights of women.[157] Maternity leave (and paternity leave in some countries) and parental leave are temporary periods of absence from employment granted immediately before and after childbirth in order to support the mother's full recovery and grant time to care for the baby.[158]Different countries have different rules regarding maternity leave, paternity leave and parental leave. In the European Union (EU) the policies vary significantly by country, but the EU members must abide by the minimum standards of the Pregnant Workers Directive and Work–Life Balance Directive.[159]
During the 19th century, some women began to ask for, demand, and then agitate and demonstrate for the right to vote – the right to participate in their government and its law-making.[160] Other women opposed suffrage, like Helen Kendrick Johnson, who argued in the 1897 pamphlet Woman and the Republic that women could achieve legal and economic equality without having the vote.[161] The ideals of women's suffrage developed alongside that of universal suffrage and today women's suffrage is considered a right (under the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women). During the 19th century, the right to vote was gradually extended in many countries, and women started to campaign for their right to vote. In 1893 New Zealand became the first country to give women the right to vote on a national level. Australia gave women the right to vote in 1902.[119]
A number of Nordic countries gave women the right to vote in the early 20th century – Finland (1906), Norway (1913), Denmark and Iceland (1915). With the end of the First World War many other countries followed – the Netherlands (1917), Austria, Azerbaijan,[162] Canada, Czechoslovakia, Georgia, Poland and Sweden (1918), Germany and Luxembourg (1919), Turkey (1934), and the United States (1920).[163] Late adopters in Europe were Greece in 1952, Switzerland (1971 at federal level; 1959–1991 on local issues at canton level), Portugal (1976 on equal terms with men, with restrictions since 1931) as well as the microstates of San Marino in 1959, Monaco in 1962, Andorra in 1970, and Liechtenstein in 1984.[134][135]
In Canada, most provinces enacted women's suffrage between 1917 and 1919, late adopters being Prince Edward Island in 1922, Newfoundland in 1925 and Quebec in 1940.[164]
In Latin America some countries gave women the right to vote in the first half of the 20th century – Ecuador (1929), Brazil (1932), El Salvador (1939), Dominican Republic (1942), Guatemala (1956) and Argentina (1946). In India, under colonial rule, universal suffrage was granted in 1935. Other Asian countries gave women the right to vote in the mid-20th century – Japan (1945), China (1947) and Indonesia (1955). In Africa, women generally got the right to vote along with men through universal suffrage – Liberia (1947), Uganda (1958) and Nigeria (1960). In many countries in the Middle East universal suffrage was acquired after World War II, although in others, such as Kuwait, suffrage is very limited.[119] On 16 May 2005, the Parliament of Kuwait extended suffrage to women by a 35–23 vote.[165]
During the 19th century some women, such as Ernestine Rose, Paulina Wright Davis, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Harriet Beecher Stowe, in the United States and Britain began to challenge laws that denied them the right to their property once they married. Under the common law doctrine of coverture husbands gained control of their wives' real estate and wages. Beginning in the 1840s, state legislatures in the United States[166] and the British Parliament[167] began passing statutes that protected women's property from their husbands and their husbands' creditors. These laws were known as the Married Women's Property Acts.[168] Courts in the 19th-century United States also continued to require privy examinations of married women who sold their property. A privy examination was a practice in which a married woman who wished to sell her property had to be separately examined by a judge or justice of the peace outside of the presence of her husband and asked if her husband was pressuring her into signing the document.[169] Property rights for women continued to be restricted in many European countries until legal reforms of the 1960-70s. For example, in West Germany, the law pertaining to rural farm succession favored male heirs until 1963.[170] In the US, Head and master laws, which gave sole control of marital property to the husband, were common until a few decades ago. The Supreme Court, in Kirchberg v. Feenstra (1981), declared such laws unconstitutional.
Freedom of movement is an essential right, recognized by international instruments, including Article 15 (4) of CEDAW.[171] Nevertheless, in many regions of the world, women have this right severely restricted, in law or in practice. For instance, in some countries women may not leave the home without a male guardian,[172] or without the consent of the husband – for example the personal law of Yemen states that a wife must obey her husband and must not get out of the home without his consent.[173] Even in countries which do not have legal restrictions, women's movement may be prevented in practice by social and religious norms such as purdah. Laws restricting women from travelling existed until relatively recently in some Western countries: until 1983, in Australia the passport application of a married woman had to be authorized by her husband.[174]
Several Middle Eastern countries also follow the male guardianship system in the modern era, where women are required to seek permission from the male family member for several things, including traveling to other nations. In August 2019, Saudi Arabia ended its male guardianship laws, allowing women to travel by themselves.[175]
Various practices have been used historically to restrict women's freedom of movement, such as foot binding, the custom of applying painfully tight binding to the feet of young Chinese girls, which was common between the 10th and 20th centuries.
Women's freedom of movement may be restricted by laws, but it may also be restricted by attitudes towards women in public spaces. In areas where it is not socially accepted for women to leave the home, women who are outside may face abuse such as insults, sexual harassment and violence. Many of the restrictions on women's freedom of movement are framed as measures to "protect" women.[176]
The lack of legal knowledge among many women, especially in developing countries, is a major obstacle to the improvement of women's situation. International bodies, such as the United Nations, have stated that the obligation of states does not only consist in passing relevant laws, but also in informing women about the existence of such laws, in order to enable them to seek justice and realize in practice their rights. Therefore, states must popularize the laws, and explain them clearly to the public, in order to prevent ignorance, or misconceptions originating in popular myths, about the laws. The United Nations Development Programme states that, in order to advance gender justice, "Women must know their rights and be able to access legal systems",[177] and the 1993 UN Declaration on the Elimination of Violence Against Women states at Art. 4 (d) [...] "States should also inform women of their rights in seeking redress through such mechanisms".[178]
The United Nations Working Group on business and human rights (WGBHR) has stated that discrimination against women has historically been rooted in patriarchal social norms and power structures.[179] Women's rights movements focus on ending discrimination against women. In this regard, the definition of discrimination itself is important. According to the jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), the right to freedom from discrimination includes not only the obligation of states to treat in the same way persons who are in analogous situations, but also the obligation to treat in a different way persons who are in different situations.[180] In this regard, equity, not just "equality" is important. Therefore, states must sometimes differentiate between women and men – through for example offering maternity leave or other legal protections surrounding pregnancy and childbirth (to take into account the biological realities of reproduction), or through acknowledging a specific historical context. For example, acts of violence committed by men against women do not happen in a vacuum, but are part of a social context: in Opuz v Turkey, the ECHR defined violence against women as a form of discrimination against women;[181][182] this is also the position of the Istanbul Convention which at Article 3 states that "violence against women" is understood as a violation of human rights and a form of discrimination against women [...]".[183]
There are different views on where it is appropriate to differentiate between women and men, and one view is that the act of sexual intercourse is an act where this difference must be acknowledged, both due to the increased physical risks for the woman,[184] and due to the historical context of women being systematically subjected to forced sexual intercourse while in a socially subordinated position (particularly within marriage and during war).[185] States must also differentiate with regard to healthcare by ensuring that women's health – particularly with regard to reproductive health such as pregnancy and childbirth – is not neglected. According to the World Health Organization, "Discrimination in health care settings takes many forms and is often manifested when an individual or group is denied access to health care services that are otherwise available to others. It can also occur through denial of services that are only needed by certain groups, such as women."[186] The refusal of states to acknowledge the specific needs of women, such as the necessity of specific policies like the strong investment of states in reducing maternal mortality can be a form of discrimination. In this regard treating women and men similarly does not work because certain biological aspects such as menstruation, pregnancy, labor, childbirth, and breastfeeding, as well as certain medical conditions, only affect women. The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women stipulates in its General recommendation No. 35 on gender based violence against women, updating general recommendation No. 19 that states should "Examine gender neutral laws and policies to ensure that they do not create or perpetuate existing inequalities and repeal or modify them if they do so". (paragraph 32).[187] Another example of gender neutral policy which harms women is that where medication tested in medical trials only on men is also used on women assuming that there are no biological differences.[188]
Health is defined by the World Health Organization as "a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity".[191] Women's health refers to the health of women, which differs from that of men in many unique ways.
Women's health is severely impaired in some parts of the world, due to factors such as inequality, confinement of women to the home, indifference of medical workers, lack of autonomy of women, and lack of financial resources of women.[192][186] Discrimination against women occurs also through denial of medical services that are only needed by women.[186] Violations of women's right to health may result in maternal death, accounting for more than 300,000 deaths per year, most of them in developing countries.[193] Certain traditional practices, such as female genital mutilation, also affect women's health.[194] Worldwide, young women and adolescent girls are the population most affected by HIV/AIDS.[195]
There are also historical cases of medical abuse of women, notably the 19th century policy of wrongful confinement of women into insane asylums, often at the request of husbands and male relatives.[196] A notable activist against such practices was Elizabeth Packard, who was wrongfully committed in 1860 by her husband, and filed a lawsuit and won thereafter, highlighted the issue of wrongful involuntary commitment.[197] Another activist was investigative journalist Nellie Bly, who went undercover in 1887, at an asylum in New York City, to expose the terrible conditions that mental patients at the time had to deal with.
The right to education is a universal entitlement to education.[198] The Convention Against Discrimination in Education prohibits discrimination in education, with discrimination being defined as "any distinction, exclusion, limitation or preference which, being based on race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, economic condition or birth, has the purpose or effect of nullifying or impairing equality of treatment in education".[199]The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights states at Article 3 that "The States Parties to the present Covenant undertake to ensure the equal right of men and women to the enjoyment of all economic, social and cultural rights set forth in the present Covenant", with Article 13 recognizing "the right of everyone to education".[200]
Access to education for women remains limited in some parts of the world. Almost two-thirds of the world's illiterate adults are women.[201]
While women's right to access to academic education is recognized as very important, it is increasingly recognized that academic education must be supplemented with education on human rights, non-discrimination, ethics and gender equality, in order for social advancement to be possible. This was pointed out by Zeid bin Ra'ad, the current United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, who stressed the importance of human rights education for all children: "What good was it to humanity that Josef Mengele had advanced degrees in medicine and anthropology, given that he was capable of committing the most inhuman crimes? Eight of the 15 people who planned The Holocaust at Wannsee in 1942 held PhDs. They shone academically, and yet they were profoundly toxic to the world. Radovan Karadžić was a trained psychiatrist. Pol Pot studied radio electronics in Paris. Does this matter, when neither of them showed the smallest shred of ethics and understanding?"[202] There has been increased attention given in recent decades to the raising of student awareness to the importance of gender equality.[203]
Reproductive rights are legal rights and freedoms relating to reproduction and reproductive health. Reproductive rights were endorsed by the twenty-year Cairo Programme of Action which was adopted in 1994 at the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) in Cairo, and by the Beijing Declaration and Beijing Platform for Action in 1995.
In the 1870s feminists advanced the concept of voluntary motherhood as a political critique of involuntary motherhood[204] and expressing a desire for women's emancipation.[205] Advocates for voluntary motherhood disapproved of contraception, arguing that women should only engage in sex for the purpose of procreation[206] and advocated for periodic or permanent abstinence.[207]
Reproductive rights represent a broad concept, that may include some or all of the following rights: the right to legal or safe abortion, the right to control one's reproductive functions, the right to access quality reproductive healthcare, and the right to education and access in order to make reproductive choices free from coercion, discrimination, and violence.[208] Reproductive rights may also be understood to include education about contraception and sexually transmitted infections.[209][210][208][211] Reproductive rights are often defined to include freedom from female genital mutilation (FGM), and forced abortion and forced sterilization.[209][210][208][211] The Istanbul Convention recognizes these two rights at Article 38 – Female genital mutilation and Article 39 – Forced abortion and forced sterilisation.[212]
Reproductive rights are understood as rights of both men and women, but are most frequently advanced as women's rights.[210]
In the 1960s, reproductive rights activists promoted women's right to bodily autonomy, with these social movements leading to the gain of legal access to contraception and abortion during the next decades in many countries.[213]
In the early 20th century birth control was advanced as alternative to the then fashionable terms family limitation and voluntary motherhood.[215][216] The phrase "birth control" entered the English language in 1914 and was popularised by Margaret Sanger,[215][216] who was mainly active in the US but had gained an international reputation by the 1930s. The British birth control campaigner Marie Stopes made contraception acceptable in Britain during the 1920s by framing it in scientific terms. Stopes assisted emerging birth control movements in a number of British colonies.[217] The birth control movement advocated for contraception so as to permit sexual intercourse as desired without the risk of pregnancy.[207] By emphasizing control, the birth control movement argued that women should have control over their reproduction, an idea that aligned closely to the theme of the feminist movement. Slogans such as "control over our own bodies" criticised male domination and demanded women's liberation, a connotation that is absent from the family planning, population control and eugenics movements.[218] In the 1960s and 1970s the birth control movement advocated for the legalisation of abortion and large-scale education campaigns about contraception by governments.[219] In the 1980s birth control and population control organisations co-operated in demanding rights to contraception and abortion, with an increasing emphasis on "choice".[218]
Birth control has become a major theme in United States politics. Reproductive issues are cited as examples of women's powerlessness to exercise their rights.[220] The societal acceptance of birth control required the separation of sex from procreation, making birth control a highly controversial subject in the 20th century.[219] Birth control in the United States has become an arena for conflict between liberal and conservative values, raising questions about family, personal freedom, state intervention, religion in politics, sexual morality and social welfare.[220] Reproductive rights, that is, rights relating to sexual reproduction and reproductive health,[209] were first discussed as a subset of human rights at the United Nation's 1968 International Conference on Human Rights.[210]
Women's reproductive rights may be understood as including the right to easy access to a safe and legal abortion. Abortion laws vary from a full prohibition (the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Malta, Nicaragua, the Vatican)[221] to countries such as Canada, where there are no legal restrictions. In many countries where abortion is permitted by law, women may only have limited access to safe abortion services. In some countries, abortion is permitted only to save the pregnant woman's life, or if the pregnancy resulted from rape or incest.[222]There are also countries where the law is liberal, but in practice it is very difficult to have an abortion, due to most doctors being conscientious objectors.[223][224] The fact that in some countries where abortion is legal it is de facto very difficult to have access to one is controversial; the UN in its 2017 resolution on Intensification of efforts to prevent and eliminate all forms of violence against women and girls: domestic violence urged states to guarantee access to "safe abortion where such services are permitted by national law".[225]
The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women considers the criminalization of abortion a "violations of women's sexual and reproductive health and rights" and a form of "gender based violence"; paragraph 18 of its General recommendation No. 35 on gender based violence against women, updating general recommendation No. 19 states that: "Violations of women's sexual and reproductive health and rights, such as forced sterilizations, forced abortion, forced pregnancy, criminalisation of abortion, denial or delay of safe abortion and post abortion care, forced continuation of pregnancy, abuse and mistreatment of women and girls seeking sexual and reproductive health information, goods and services, are forms of gender based violence that, depending on the circumstances, may amount to torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment."[187] The same General Recommendation also urges countries at paragraph 31 to [...] In particular, repeal: a) Provisions that allow, tolerate or condone forms of gender based violence against women, including [...] legislation that criminalises abortion".[187]
According to Human Rights Watch, "Abortion is a highly emotional subject and one that excites deeply held opinions. However, equitable access to safe abortion services is first and foremost a human right. Where abortion is safe and legal, no one is forced to have one. Where abortion is illegal and unsafe, women are forced to carry unwanted pregnancies to term or suffer serious health consequences and even death. Approximately 13% of maternal deaths worldwide are attributable to unsafe abortion—between 68,000 and 78,000 deaths annually."[226] According to Human Rights Watch, "the denial of a pregnant woman's right to make an independent decision regarding abortion violates or poses a threat to a wide range of human rights."[227][228] African American women are five times more likely to have an abortion than a white woman.[229]
The Catholic Church and many other Christian faiths, particularly those considered the Christian right, and most Orthodox Jews regard abortion not as a right, but as a moral evil and a mortal sin.[230]
Russia was the first country to legalise abortions and offer free medical care in state hospitals to do so. After the October Revolution, the Women's wing of the Bolshevik Party (the Zhenotdel) persuaded the Bolsheviks to legalise abortion (as a 'temporary measure'). The Bolsheviks legalised abortion in November 1920. This was the first time in world history that women had won the right to free abortions in state hospitals.[126]
The abuse of women during childbirth is a recently identified global problem and a basic violation of a woman's rights.[231][232] Abuse during childbirth is the neglect, physical abuse and lack of respect during childbirth. This treatment is regarded as a violation of woman's rights. It also has the effect of preventing women from seeking pre-natal care and using other health care services.
Child marriage is a practice which is widespread across the world, and is often connected to poverty and gender inequality. Child marriage endangers the reproductive health of young girls, leading to an increased risk of complications in pregnancy or childbirth. Such complications are a leading cause of death among girls in developing countries.[233][234][235]
Forced pregnancy is the practice of forcing a woman or girl to become pregnant, often as part of a forced marriage, including by means of bride kidnapping, through rape (including marital rape, war rape and genocidal rape) or as part of a program of breeding slaves (see Slave breeding in the United States). It is a form of reproductive coercion, was common historically, and still occurs in parts of the world. In the 20th century, state-mandated forced marriage with the aim of increasing the population was practiced by some authoritarian governments, notably during the Khmer Rouge regime in Cambodia, which systematically forced people into marriages ordering them to have children, in order to increase the population and continue the revolution.[236] Forced pregnancy is strongly connected to the custom of bride price.[237]
Violence against women is, collectively, violent acts that are primarily or exclusively committed against women. The UN Declaration on the Elimination of Violence Against Women states, "violence against women is a manifestation of historically unequal power relations between men and women" and "violence against women is one of the crucial social mechanisms by which women are forced into a subordinate position compared with men."[178] The Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence, also known as the Istanbul Convention, provides the following definition of violence against women: "violence against women" is understood as a violation of human rights and a form of discrimination against women and shall mean all acts of gender-based violence that result in, or are likely to result in, physical, sexual, psychological or economic harm or suffering to women, including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or in private life".[238] Violence against women may be perpetrated by individuals, by groups, or by the State. It may occur in private or in public. Violence against women may be sexual violence, physical violence, psychological violence, or socioeconomic violence. Some forms of violence against women have long cultural traditions: honor killings, dowry violence, female genital mutilation. Violence against women is considered by the World Health Organization "a major public health problem and a violation of women's human rights."[239]
Under male-dominated family law, women had few, if any, rights, being under the control of the husband or male relatives. Legal concepts that existed throughout the centuries, such as coverture, marital power, Head and Master laws, kept women under the strict control of their husbands. Restrictions from marriage laws also extended to public life, such as marriage bars. Practices such as dowry, bride price or bride service were, and still are to this day in some parts of the world, very common. Some countries continue to require to this day a male guardian for women, without whom women cannot exercise civil rights. Other harmful practices include marriage of young girls, often to much older men.[234]
In many legal systems, the husband had complete power over the family; for example, in Franco's Spain, although women's role was defined as that of a homemaker who had to largely avoid the public sphere in order to take care of the children, the legal rights over the children belonged to the father; until 1970 the husband could give a family's child to adoption without the consent of his wife.[240] Until 1975, women in Spain needed their husband's permission (referred to as permiso marital) for many activities, including employment, traveling away from home, and property ownership.[241] Switzerland was one of the last European countries to establish gender equality in marriage: married women's rights were severely restricted until 1988, when legal reforms providing gender equality in marriage, abolishing the legal authority of the husband, came into force (these reforms had been approved in 1985 by voters in a referendum, who narrowly voted in favor with 54.7% of voters approving).[242][243][244][245]
Another area of interest for feminists has been adultery laws, due to the extreme legal and social differences between the way female and male adultery was treated in criminal law and family law in many cultures, with the former being subjected to severe punishments, up to the death penalty, and violent repression such as honor killings, while the latter was often tolerated, even encouraged as a symbol of male social status. In Europe, this was especially true in Southern Europe, and honor killings were also historically common in this region, and "there have been acts of 'honour' killings within living memory within Mediterranean countries such as Italy and Greece."[246] The tradition in French culture for upper-class men to have mistresses, coupled with the toleration for crimes of passion (French: crime passionnel) committed against unfaithful wives illustrates these norms, which were also supported by the French Penal Code of 1810 (which provided for leniency for husbands who killed their wives caught committing adultery, but not for wives who killed their husbands under similar circumstances, and which treated female and male adultery differently,[247] which remained in force until 1975). Similar norms existed in Spain[248] (crimes of passion until 1963,[249] and adultery – defined differently for women and men – until 1978).[250]
In the subsequent decades women's rights again became an important issue in the English-speaking world. By the 1960s the movement was called "feminism" or "women's liberation." Reformers wanted the same pay as men, equal rights in law, and the freedom to plan their families or not have children at all. Their efforts were met with mixed results.[254]
The International Council of Women (ICW) was the first women's organization to work across national boundaries for the common cause of advocating human rights for women. In March and April 1888, women leaders came together in Washington, D.C., with 80 speakers and 49 delegates representing 53 women's organizations from 9 countries: Canada, the United States, Ireland, India, England, Finland, Denmark, France and Norway. Women from professional organizations, trade unions, arts groups and benevolent societies participate. National Councils are affiliated with the ICW and thus make themselves heard at the international level. In 1904, the ICW met in Berlin, Germany.[255] The ICW worked with the League of Nations during the 1920s and the United Nations post-World War II. Today the ICW holds Consultative Status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council, the highest accreditation an NGO can achieve at the United Nations. Currently, it is composed of 70 countries and has a headquarters in Lasaunne, Switzerland. International meetings are held every three years.
In the UK, a public groundswell of opinion in favour of legal equality had gained pace, partly through the extensive employment of women in what were traditional male roles during both world wars. By the 1960s the legislative process was being readied, tracing through MP Willie Hamilton's select committee report, his equal pay for equal work bill,[256] the creation of a Sex Discrimination Board, Lady Sear's draft sex anti-discrimination bill, a government Green Paper of 1973, until 1975 when the first British Sex Discrimination Act, an Equal Pay Act, and an Equal Opportunities Commission came into force.[257][258] With encouragement from the UK government, the other countries of the EEC soon followed suit with an agreement to ensure that discrimination laws would be phased out across the European Community.
In the US, the National Organization for Women (NOW) was created in 1966 with the purpose of bringing about equality for all women. NOW was one important group that fought for the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA). This amendment stated that "equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any state on account of sex."[259] But there was disagreement on how the proposed amendment would be understood. Supporters believed it would guarantee women equal treatment. But critics feared it might deny women the right to be financially supported by their husbands. The amendment died in 1982 because not enough states had ratified it. ERAs have been included in subsequent Congresses, but have still failed to be ratified.[260]
Women for Women International (WfWI) is a nonprofit humanitarian organization that provides practical and moral support to women survivors of war. WfWI helps such women rebuild their lives after war's devastation through a year-long tiered program that begins with direct financial aid and emotional counseling and includes life skills (e.g., literacy, numeracy) training if necessary, rights awareness education, health education, job skills training and small business development. The organization was co-founded in 1993 by Zainab Salbi, an Iraqi American who is herself a survivor of the Iran–Iraq War, and Salbi's then-husband Amjad Atallah. Since June 2012, WfWI has been led by Afshan Khan, a long-time former executive with UNICEF who became WfWI's first new CEO since founder Zainab Salbi stepped down to devote more time to her writing and lecturing.[261]
The National Council of Women of Canada (Conseil national des femmes du Canada), is a Canadian advocacy organization based in Ottawa aimed at improving conditions for women, families, and communities. A federation of nationally organized societies of men and women and local and provincial councils of women, it is the Canadian member of the International Council of Women (ICW). The council has concerned itself in areas including women's suffrage, immigration, health care, education, mass media, the environment, and many others.[262] Formed on 27 October 1857 in Toronto, Ontario, it is one of the oldest advocacy organizations in the country.[263]
The Association for the Protection and Defense of Women's Rights in Saudi Arabia is a Saudi Non-governmental organization founded to provide activism for women's rights. It was founded by Wajeha al-Huwaider and Fawzia Al-Uyyouni, and grew out of a 2007 movement to gain women the right to drive. The association is not officially licensed by the government of Saudi Arabia, and has been warned not to mount demonstrations.[264] In a 2007 interview, al-Huwaider described the goals: "The association will consist of a number of leagues, with each league pursuing a different issue or right... representation for women in shari'a courts; setting a [minimum] age for girls' marriages; allowing women to take care of their own affairs in government agencies and allowing them to enter government buildings; protecting women from domestic violence, such as physical or verbal violence, or keeping her from studies, work, or marriage, or forcing her to divorce..."[265]
In Ukraine, FEMEN was founded in 2008. The organisation is internationally known for its topless protests against sex tourists, international marriage agencies, sexism and other social, national and international social illnesses. FEMEN has sympathisers groups in many European countries through social media.
In 1946 the United Nations established a Commission on the Status of Women.[266][267] Originally as the Section on the Status of Women, Human Rights Division, Department of Social Affairs, and now part of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). Since 1975 the UN has held a series of world conferences on women's issues, starting with the World Conference of the International Women's Year in Mexico City. These conferences created an international forum for women's rights, but also illustrated divisions between women of different cultures and the difficulties of attempting to apply principles universally.[268] Four World Conferences have been held, the first in Mexico City (International Women's Year, 1975), the second in Copenhagen (1980) and the third in Nairobi (1985).
At the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing (1995), The Platform for Action was signed. This included a commitment to achieve "gender equality and the empowerment of women".[269][270] The same commitment was reaffirmed by all U.N. member nations at the Millennium Summit in 2000 and was reflected in the Millennium Development Goals to be achieved by 2015.
In 2010, UN Women was founded through the merging of the Division for the Advancement of Women, the International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women, the Office of the Special Adviser or Gender Issues Advancement of Women and the United Nations Development Fund for Women by General Assembly Resolution 63/311.
Compared to the Western women's rights movements, international women's rights are plagued with different issues. While it is called international women's rights, it is also can be known as third-world feminism. International women's rights deal with issues such as marriage, sexual slavery, forced child marriage, and female genital mutilation. According to the organization, EQUAL MEANS EQUAL, "the United Nations come horrifying statistics: Victims of female genital mutilation – a ritual to remove a young girl's clitoris to ensure her fidelity – number 130 million. Some 60 million girls become 'child brides,' forced to marry, sometimes after being kidnapped and raped".[271] Something that has been created to combat such things is the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women. It was set in place to help against discrimination in education, marriage, sexual violence, and politics. While this does not only pertain to non-western countries, 193 states have ratified it. Some of the countries that have opposed it include Iran, Palau, Somalia, North and South Sudan, Tonga, and the United States.
A 2019 report from the World Bank found that women have full legal rights to men in only six countries: Belgium, Denmark, France, Latvia, Luxembourg and Sweden.[272]
Kurdistani Iraqi women, and Iranian women used this movement, in 2021 and 2022 Iran mainly the motto was used in 8 month of anti government uprising.[273][274][275]
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted in 1948, enshrines "the equal rights of men and women", and addressed both equality and equity issues.[276]In 1979, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) for legal implementation of the Declaration on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women. Described as an international bill of rights for women, it came into force on 3 September 1981. The UN member states that have not ratified the convention are Iran, Palau, Somalia, Sudan, Tonga, and the United States. Niue and the Vatican City, which are non-member states, have also not ratified it.[277] The latest state to become a party to the convention is South Sudan, on 30 April 2015.[278]
The Convention defines discrimination against women in the following terms:
Any distinction, exclusion or restriction made on the basis of sex which has the effect or purpose of impairing or nullifying the recognition, enjoyment or exercise by women, irrespective of their marital status, on a basis of equality of men and women, of human rights and fundamental freedoms in the political, economic, social, cultural, civil or any other field.
It also establishes an agenda of action for putting an end to sex-based discrimination for which states ratifying the convention are required to enshrine gender equality into their domestic legislation, repeal all discriminatory provisions in their laws, and enact new provisions to guard against discrimination against women. They must also establish tribunals and public institutions to guarantee women effective protection against discrimination, and take steps to eliminate all forms of discrimination practiced against women by individuals, organizations, and enterprises.[279]
Article 16 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights enshrines the right of consenting men and women to marry and found a family.[276]
(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.[280]
(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.
Article 16 of CEDAW stipulates that, "1. States Parties shall take all appropriate measures to eliminate discrimination against women in all matters relating to marriage and family relations [...]".[281] Among the rights included are a woman's right to freely and consensually choose her spouse; to have parental rights to her children irrespective of her marital status; the right of a married woman to choose a profession or an occupation, and to have property rights within marriage. In addition to these, "The betrothal and the marriage of a child shall have no legal effect".[281]
Polygamous marriage is a controversial practice, prevalent in some parts of the world. The general recommendations made by the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, state in General Recommendation No. 21, Equality in marriage and family relations: "14.[...] Polygamous marriage contravenes a woman's right to equality with men, and can have such serious emotional and financial consequences for her and her dependents that such marriages ought to be discouraged and prohibited."[282]
Cohabitation of unmarried couples as well as single mothers are common in some parts the world. The Human Rights Committee has stated:[283]
27. In giving effect to recognition of the family in the context of article 23, it is important to accept the concept of the various forms of family, including unmarried couples and their children and single parents and their children and to ensure the equal treatment of women in these contexts (General Comment 19 paragraph 2 last sentence). Single parent families frequently consist of a single woman caring for one or more children, and States parties should describe what measures of support are in place to enable her to discharge her parental functions on the basis of equality with a man in a similar position.
The Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action (VDPA) is a human rights declaration adopted by consensus at the World Conference on Human Rights on 25 June 1993 in Vienna, Austria. This declaration recognizes women's rights as being protected human rights. Paragraph 18 reads:[284]
The human rights of women and of the girl-child are an inalienable, integral and indivisible part of universal human rights. The full and equal participation of women in political, civil, economic, social and cultural life, at the national, regional and international levels, and the eradication of all forms of discrimination on grounds of sex are priority objectives of the international community.
On 31 October 2000, the United Nations Security Council unanimously adopted United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325, the first formal and legal document from the United Nations Security Council that requires all states to fully respect international humanitarian law and international human rights law applicable to the rights and protection of women and girls during and after the armed conflicts.
The Inter-American Convention on the Prevention, Punishment, and Eradication of Violence against Women, better known as the Belém do Pará Convention, was adopted by the Organization of American States on 9 June 1994. As of March 2020, 32 of the 34 or 35 member states of the Organization of American States have either signed and ratified or acceded to the Belém do Pará Convention; only Canada, Cuba and the United States have not.[286][note 1]
The Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa, better known as the Maputo Protocol, was adopted by the African Union on 11 July 2003 at its second summit in Maputo,[287] Mozambique. On 25 November 2005, having been ratified by the required 15 member nations of the African Union, the protocol entered into force.[288] The protocol guarantees comprehensive rights to women including the right to take part in the political process, to social and political equality with men, and to control of their reproductive health, and an end to female genital mutilation.[289]
The Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence, better known as the Istanbul Convention, was adopted by the Council of Europe on 11 May 2011. As of June 2020, the treaty has been signed by 45/47 Council of Europe member states and the European Union; 34 of the signatories have also ratified the convention.[290]
The Declaration on the Elimination of Violence Against Women was adopted by the United Nations in 1993. It defines violence against women as "any act of gender-based violence that results in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual or psychological harm or suffering to women, including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or in private life."[291] This resolution established that women have a right to be free from violence. As a consequence of the resolution, in 1999, the General Assembly declared the day of 25 November to be the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women.
Article 2 of The Declaration on the Elimination of Violence Against Women outlines several forms of violence against women:
Article Two:
Violence against women shall be understood to encompass, but not be limited to, the following:
- (a) Physical, sexual and psychological violence occurring in the family, including battering, sexual abuse of female children in the household, dowry-related violence, marital rape, female genital mutilation and other traditional practices harmful to women, non-spousal violence and violence related to exploitation;
- (b) Physical, sexual and psychological violence occurring within the general community, including rape, sexual abuse, sexual harassment and intimidation at work, in educational institutions and elsewhere, trafficking in women and forced prostitution;
- (c) Physical, sexual and psychological violence perpetrated or condoned by the State, wherever it occurs.
The Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence, also known as the Istanbul Convention, is the first legally binding instrument in Europe in the field of domestic violence and violence against women,[292] and came into force in 2014.[293]Countries which ratify it must ensure that the forms of violence defined in its text are outlawed. In its Preamble, the Convention states that "the realisation of de jure and de facto equality between women and men is a key element in the prevention of violence against women". The convention also provides a definition of domestic violence as "all acts of physical, sexual, psychological or economic violence that occur within the family or domestic unit or between former or current spouses or partners, whether or not the perpetrator shares or has shared the same residence with the victim".[212] Although it is a Convention of the Council of Europe, it is open to accession by any country.[294]
Rape, sometimes called sexual assault, is an assault by a person involving sexual intercourse with or sexual penetration of another person without that person's consent. Rape is generally considered a serious sex crime as well as a civil assault. When part of a widespread and systematic practice, rape and sexual slavery are now recognised as a crime against humanity as well as a war crime. Rape is also now recognised as a form of genocide when committed with the intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a targeted group.
In 1998, the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda established by the United Nations made landmark decisions that rape is a crime of genocide under international law. The trial of Jean-Paul Akayesu, the mayor of Taba Commune in Rwanda, established precedents that rape is an element of the crime of genocide. The Akayesu judgement includes the first interpretation and application by an international court of the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. The Trial Chamber held that rape, which it defined as "a physical invasion of a sexual nature committed on a person under circumstances which are coercive", and sexual assault constitute acts of genocide insofar as they were committed with the intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a targeted group. It found that sexual assault formed an integral part of the process of destroying the Tutsi ethnic group and that the rape was systematic and had been perpetrated against Tutsi women only, manifesting the specific intent required for those acts to constitute genocide.[295]
Judge Navanethem Pillay said in a statement after the verdict: "From time immemorial, rape has been regarded as one of the spoils of war. Now it will be considered a war crime. We want to send out a strong message that rape is no longer a trophy of war."[296] An estimated 500,000 women were raped during the 1994 Rwandan Genocide.[297]
The Rome Statute Explanatory Memorandum, which defines the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court, recognises rape, sexual slavery, enforced prostitution, forced pregnancy, enforced sterilization, "or any other form of sexual violence of comparable gravity" as a crime against humanity if the action is part of a widespread or systematic practice.[298][299] The Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action also condemn systematic rape as well as murder, sexual slavery, and forced pregnancy, as the "violations of the fundamental principles of international human rights and humanitarian law." and require a particularly effective response.[300]
Rape was first recognised as a crime against humanity when the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia issued arrest warrants based on the Geneva Conventions and Violations of the Laws or Customs of War. Specifically, it was recognised that Muslim women in Foca (southeastern Bosnia and Herzegovina) were subjected to systematic and widespread gang rape, torture, and sexual enslavement by Bosnian Serb soldiers, policemen, and members of paramilitary groups after the takeover of the city in April 1992.[301] The indictment was of major legal significance and was the first time that sexual assaults were investigated for the purpose of prosecution under the rubric of torture and enslavement as a crime against humanity.[301] The indictment was confirmed by a 2001 verdict by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia that rape and sexual enslavement are crimes against humanity. This ruling challenged the widespread acceptance of rape and sexual enslavement of women as intrinsic part of war.[302] The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia found three Bosnian Serb men guilty of rape of Bosniak (Bosnian Muslim) women and girls (some as young as 12 and 15 years of age), in Foca, eastern Bosnia and Herzegovina. Furthermore, two of the men were found guilty of the crime against humanity of sexual enslavement for holding women and girls captive in a number of de facto detention centres. Many of the women subsequently disappeared.[302]According to a report by the UN Human Rights Office, published on 28 July 2020, the women who traveled abroad were forcibly returned to North Korea and were subjected to abuse, torture, sexual violence and other violations. North Korea bans citizens from traveling abroad. Those women who were detained for doing so were regularly beaten, tortured, and subjected to forced nudity and invasive body searches. Women have also reported that in case of pregnancy, the prison officials aborted many children by either beating the women or making them do hard labor.[303]
The 1956 Supplementary Convention on the Abolition of Slavery, the Slave Trade, and Institutions and Practices Similar to Slavery defines "institutions and practices similar to slavery" to include:[304]
c) Any institution or practice whereby:
The Istanbul Convention requires countries which ratify it to prohibit forced marriage (Article 37) and to ensure that forced marriages can be easily voided without further victimization (Article 32).[212]
The Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, especially Women and Children (also referred to as the Trafficking Protocol or UN TIP Protocol) is a protocol to the Convention against Transnational Organised Crime. It is one of the three Palermo protocols. Its purpose is defined in Article 2. Statement of purpose as: "(a) To prevent and combat trafficking in persons, paying particular attention to women and children; (b) To protect and assist the victims of such trafficking, with full respect for their human rights; and (c) To promote cooperation among States Parties in order to meet those objectives."[305]
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