The reproductive and sexual health and rights of women became a central theme in the united nation’s Cairo Conference held in 1994 that marked a new understanding among world bodies that population and development are inextricably linked, and that women’s empowerment is the key to both. For the first time, the reproductive and sexual health and rights of women became a central element in an international agreement on population and development. In this context, it can be said that reproductive health and women’s rights are mutually linked with each other. The ability to make free and informed choices in reproductive life, including those involving child bearing, underpins self – determination in all other areas of women’s life. Because these …show more content…
Reproductive processes are far from being mere biological events. They cannot be seen in isolation from social reality and are an important factor in the reproduction of patriarchal relations. The term “Patriarchy’ is used here to refer to male domination, to the power relationships by which men dominate women, and to characterize the system, where by women are kept subordinate in a number of ways” . Kamala Bhasin builds on Sylvia Walby’s definition. Walby had pointed out that it is important to understand patriarchy as ‘a system of social structures and practices in which men dominate, oppress and exploit women’. This helps us to reject the notion of biological determination or the notion that every individual man is always in a dominant position and every women in the subordinate. Linked to this system is the ideology that men are superior to women, that women are and should be controlled by men and that women are part of men’s …show more content…
The application of NRT to majority of women is a problematic since they are socially constrained, illiterate and do not have control over their own bodies. So NRTs are sought in which women become passive acceptors/users of methods. Women’s participation itself is minimized. Feminists have shown interconnectedness of spheres of production and reproduction and the necessity to transform both for the emancipation as well as human emancipation. Reproductive scientists, population controllers and policy makers seem to have concentrated mainly on transforming biological reproduction, to make it resemble the production process even more. NRTs have helped women in contraception and unwanted pregnancy but they have not changed unequal gender
In the early 1900s, women’s health was non-existent. It was not taught in school, it was never spoken about in the media, and many women themselves had no knowledge about reproductive health. During this time it was common to see women with ten, fifteen, even twenty pregnancies throughout their lives. Men and women both were often unaware on how to plan or prevent a pregnancy and birth control was pronounced illegal. Consequently, this was also a period of high childbirth mortality, as well as a time where many women were dying due to self-induced or “back-alley” abortions.
Reproductive justice is a term for allowing women to have the right to choose in family planning. Women should be able to choose when to get pregnant or not. One of the problems that arise from this topic is abortion. People who are pro-life do not allow abortion for pregnant women, while people who are pro-choice believe that women should have a right to choose for abortion. In pro-life paradigms, fetus is a life, therefore, abortion should be criminalized.
The UN and governments must adopt and enforce laws and policies that allow all women to control their fertility, their health and their lives. International human-rights norms recognize that reproductive rights violations often stem from, as well as reinforce, discrimination, poverty and violence. International human-rights treaties make clear that
The organization had completed a list of Native women’s reproductive rights, thus providing specific principles they believe are fundamental for every woman. Such as number 10 which states “The right to stop coerced sterilization” (Smith, 105). For Native women, their ability to give birth to the next generation of their people is continuously seen as an obstacle in obtaining their land and resources in the eyes of the government. Unfortunately, that involved unwilling sterilization of a large percentage of child bearing aged women, thus diminishing the population.
In her pilgrimage to fight for women’s rights, activist Margaret Sanger created a speech on a severely controversial topic not only during her time period, but during our present time period as well. While many firmly disagreed with her and still do, she did bring to light a major disparity between sexes and social classes. By vocalizing her qualms with the rights of women, mainly in the middle and lower classes, to decide for themselves if they wish to have children or not. By voicing her opinions in an extremely misogynistic era she made herself a totem in women’s history. Women do have a right to decide for themselves if they wish to have children or not.
DBQ Communism and Women’s Rights Adelaida Urrea In the twentieth century, communist movements encouraged the involvement of women to their societies, depending on them for the development of modern societies based primarily on equality. Therefore women started to gain political equality and economic power through the different opportunities given by the Communist Party that allowed them to incorporate as respectable members in society. Nevertheless, at the beginning of the 20th century, there was still certain discrimination against women, who have always been associated with a submissive position; however communist leaders understood the importance of giving women public recognition in order to improve their rights, change these past
She questions society’s actions to boost the clarity of why pro-choice is beneficial to the advancement of the “century of the
With almost half the nation divided among their views, abortion remains one of the most controversial topics in our society. Since Roe v. Wade, our views in society as well as following court cases have been progressing toward the woman’s right to choose. The precedent set by Roe v. Wade made the Supreme Court acknowledge that it cannot rule specifically when life begins and it also affirms that it is the woman’s right to have an abortion under the 14th Amendment. In the 1st Amendment, the Establishment Clause forbids the government from passing laws “which aid one religion, aid all religions, or prefer one religion over another”. Many Christian pro-lifers use their religious beliefs to dispute when life begins.
Women’s rights have been a long struggle in America’s legal system, as well as in the religious world, for many decades and women continue to have challenges, concerns, and struggles today. Fighting for what is best for their bodies such as a woman’s right to contraceptives to control whether she will get pregnant or not was not ideal for religious and personal reasons but would find a worthy advocate in a woman who would dedicate her life for women’s reproductive rights. The right for a woman to have an abortion became a legal battle that went all the way to the Supreme Courts in a very well-known case. It has always been a double standard in what was right and wrong, moral or immoral, towards women than men. A man was looked at with respect
To further women’s rights activists’ demands, Sanger explains the relationship between birth control and freedom. Sanger does this by writing, “She gains food and clothing and shelter, at least, without submitting to the charity of her companion, but the earning of her own living does not give her the development of her inner sex
In 1960, the first birth control pill was put on the market. This was the first time a woman’s reproductive health was in her own control. Ever since the 1900’s women have been fighting for the right to their own reproductive rights (“The Fight for Reproductive Rights”). With the upcoming presidential election the right to obtain birth control and other contraceptives for women could be jeopardized, and taken out of the control of the woman. Thus, the history of birth control, the statistics of how it affects today’s society, why women should have the ability to obtain it easily, and how if outlawed it would not only hurt women, but also the economy are all important topics in the women’s rights movement and very relevant in modern day society.
To initiate, the implementation of gender equality laws will help conclude unequal treatment towards women and create opportunities for women to refuse unsafe work and treatments. Also, without the right to make individual choices for body, women 's prosperity, well-being, and potential in society are restricted and gender inequality is therefore perpetuated. According to the academic article, Sexual Health’s Women’s Rights, “120 million girls worldwide have experienced forced intercourse” (Ngcuka) activities against their own individual soul. Many women are suffering from forced physical and sexual violence because of the limited laws and regulations that allow women to refuse unsafe treatments and practices. According to reports, the “ 32
The issue of women’s rights and how different societies and cultures deal with it had been on the table for many centuries. In the United States of America during the 1800s, women began to move toward and demand getting equal rights as men, they decided to speak up and fight for their stolen rights. In the 1960s, continued working toward their goal, women broadened their activities through the women’s rights movement which aimed to help them in gaining their right to receive education, occupy the same jobs that were once titled only for men, and get an access to leadership positions. The women’s rights movement has a great impact on women today, although it started a long time ago, but it did not stop and women are reaping their fruit today,
A patriarchy is a system where men dominate, and women are marginalized. The patriarchy can be traced to Aristotle’s writings in Ancient Greece, where he spoke of women as subordinates of men. Aristotle was also dependent on dualism (dividing reality into different spheres). In the case of men and women, men were seen as the rational and women, the emotional. These labels lead to sexist behavior and thus oppression of women, because they were seen as less than men.
According to the famous sociologists Sylvia Walby, patriarchy is “a system of social structure and practices in which men dominate, oppress and exploit women”. Women’s exploitation is an age old cultural phenomenon of Indian society. The system of patriarchy finds its validity and sanction in our religious beliefs, whether it is Hindu, Muslim or any other religion. For instance, as per ancient Hindu law giver Manu, “Women are supposed to be in the custody of their father when they are children, they must be under the custody of their husband when married and under the custody of her son in old age or as widows.