Women Rights

What are women rights?

These are the claims and rights that are entitled by women and girls in the whole world. They are the freedom and opportunities that women have and especially the chance to be treated equally and being given legal rights as men. A good example of women rights is having an alternative to work at a job outside home.

For many years, most of the movements done by women have fought hard to address the issue of inequality in the society and campaigning to change the whole narrative of laws and demand their rights as respected.

Generally, The Human Rights Council is the main body under United Nations that both protect and promote human rights.

Importance of Women Rights

Across the globe, a large percentage of women and girls are facing discrimination majorly on basis of sex and gender. Gender Inequality brings about many problems that may affect women and girls such as domestic violence, lack to access education and not receiving adequate healthcare. The following are reasons why the Women Rights are important:

It saves Lives- Lack of resources and empowerment to the young girls and women in many places, they face life threatening risks. In a conference that took place in 2005, experts discussed on how gender inequality plays a major role in injury and loss of lives. Most of the disasters put the women and girls more vulnerable to risks and dangers.
Transforming the discriminatory social norms and stereotypes- This aids in improving more positions vacant for the women in the society.
It reduces poverty- Poverty rates among young girls are high. If the girls are not empowered in the society and being given opportunities to work, they can fill the gap of poverty. Additionally, the young girls, due to the discrimination and not accessing education and more job opportunities, it is exposing them to the poverty situations.
Advocates for equal participation of all people in the society regardless of their gender. This encourages the young girls and women to work hard and eliminate the possible chances of violence in the society.
Women rights leads to better legal protections- Women and young girls are not well protected from economic and domestic violence. This kind of violence usually affect woman’s freedom and rights among people. Having legal rights, keeps them safe and be able to build their family well.
The rights aid in reforming discriminatory laws and policies that has been stereotyped in ages which normally leads to gender discrimination. With the help of the women rights, all are treated fairly.

Laws That Protect Women Rights

Women are very vulnerable to any case pertaining crime or violence. The following are 10 laws that are set in place to protect them and their rights:

Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006

A research done by the International Research Centre for Women, shows that 47% of girls are married before they reach the age of 18. India leads at no 13 in the world for cases on Child marriages. This Act therefore, was made effective on 2007 and it defines child marriage as marriage where both the bride and the groom are juveniles. Since the law made such marriages illegal, it acts as a major obstacle.

Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961

Dowry system is very normal in most of the communities in the world. However, according to this Act, taking and receiving dowry at the time of marriage to either the groom or the bride, is to be penalized. Over many years, dowry burning has been brought about by divorces.

Medical Pregnancy Termination Act, 1971

After the act was effective on 1972, it was later amended in year 1975 and 2002. The main objective of the Act is to reduce the incidences of abortion and maternal mortality.

Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace,2013

The main aim of this act is to ensure that women are safe at their workplace and protect them from any sort of sexual harassment at the place of work. The use of sexual overtones and invasion of private place and subtle touches are also some of the examples of sexual harassments.

National Commission for Women Act, 1990

This is a legal body of the Indian Government that was established back in 1992 and Lalitha K. was appointed as the Chairperson in 2014. The commission provides a space for voices and issues of women. They target in improving the status of women empowerments.

Equal Remuneration Act, 1976

The main objective of this act is to prevent any sort of discrimination in terms of remuneration. The act provides equal payment to men and women workers.

Maternity Benefit Act, 1861

The act monitors the employment of women and every woman is entitled in receiving maternity benefits such as medical allowance, maternity leave etc.

Examples of Women Rights

The following are some of the examples of Women rights:

Equal Employment- This includes both accessing women to jobs without any discriminatory act and equal pay
Right to Vote- In 19^th Century, most women started demonstrating for the right to vote which entails right to participate in the government and law construction.
Property rights- This entails right to own property once married.
Freedom of Movement- Although women movement can be restricted by law, it can also be restricted by attitudes towards women in public places.
Right to Health- World Health Organization defines Health as a condition of complete social, physical and mental well-being. If this right is violated, it may result in deaths, therefore, it should not be ignored.
Right to Access Education- This right is a universal allocation to access education. In some parts of the globe, access to education is very limited.
Freedom from Violence- Violence are acts that are committed primarily against women. The World Health Organization, states that Violence against Women is considered as a major health problem and violation of their rights. Violence against women or even young girls may be sexual violence, psychological, socioeconomic or even physical violence. It may occur anywhere, private or even in public.
Reproductive rights- These are rights that are legal and they relate in reproduction and reproductive health in general. The Cairo Programme of Action is the one that endorsed these rights and which later was adopted by the ICPD (International Conference on Population Development) in 1994. Reproductive rights include right to access reproductive healthcare, legal abortion and right to dominate one’s reproductive functions.

Conclusion

From the above article, it clearly shows how important the women rights are and how we should protect them. Additionally, women and young girls should be allowed to live freely and treated equally just like every member of the society. Women rights play major role in keeping women and young girls safe from any sort of violence.