Becoming human the origins and development of women's human rights - Women and Human Rights - Brief Article

WIN News, Spring, 2002 by Fran P. Hosken

BY ARVONNE FRASER

FROM: WOMEN, GENDER, AND HUMAN RIGHTS - A GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE

Arvonne Fraser, the author of this essay -- the first chapter of the book summarized above: is one of the women leaders who has made major contributions to international human rights for women, and to the recognition of women in International Affairs. She was the first director of WID -- the Women in Development office of the U.S. Agency for International Development starting in 1975. She led the U.S. delegations to the 1975 and 1980 United Nations Women's Conferences in Mexico City and Copenhagen and was for many years the U.S. Delegate at the United Nations Commission on the Status for Women and also led many initiatives by and for women in the USA

Fraser's extensive experience as leader in international women's affairs is reflected in this most interesting chapter documenting the international women's movement and United Nations actions by, for and about women from their start to the present time. This includes all UN Women's Conferences and CEDAW -- The Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women. The implementation of CEDAW is an ongoing UN activity: Fraser organised the NGO (Non-Governmental Organization) support for CEDAW in the form of IWRAW -- the International Women's Rights Action Watch -- which is designed to support the implementation of CEDAW worldwide (See section "Women and the UN in each WIN NEWS issue.) As international treaty CEDAW is reviewed twice a year by the United Nations. That is CEDAW member countries review before the CEDAW Committee the progress of their country in complying with the CEDAW treaty. Regrettably, due to relentless discrimination by the U.S. Senate, the USA is the only major country that has not yet ratified this all important treaty.

The CEDAW Convention is to be sure the most important global human rights achievement for women protecting women and girls and supporting our rights.

"This essay traces the evolution of thought and activism over the centuries aimed at defining women's human rights and implementing the idea that women and men are equal...

"This essay aims to stimulate historians and human rights activists to delve deeper into the history of women's human rights throughout the world and further develop this neglected half of history. ...because from history, whether written or oral, role models and traditions are created..."

Fraser's 50-page essay traces the origin and background of the international women's human rights movement- based on education-which, as Fraser also points out, was clearly understood for instance by the Taliban: hence they closed all schools for girls and stopped all education of women.

"Education involves the ability to receive, create, and disseminate knowledge. Knowledge is power, the foundation of intellectual and political development..."

Fraser documents the contributions of women leaders around the world providing the foundation for women's independence and development of our abilities and education starting with the times when most women were excluded from all higher education and considered the property of men.

Yes, we have come a long way, but in terms of history women's human rights are a very recent achievement. For instance, Harvard University excluded all women until quite recently. President Bok of Harvard University strenuously resisted when the issue of admitting women to Harvard College arose.. Bok in an interview with the Crimson, the Harvard College Newspaper, stated he could not agree because the record shows that women alumnae contribute far less money to their universities than men do. So one of the top educational leaders of the U.S. tried to refuse women students on the grounds of money !!!

The exclusion of women from education and paying women less than men for the same work is quite international and practiced all over the world: it obviously is a human rights violation. Fraser writes:

"The Women's Convention wove together all the ideas discussed during the preceding five centuries of debate and placed a strong emphasis on the concept of equality in family matters. It coveres civil and political rights as well as economic and social rights, and in 1980, with the requisite number of ratifications it became the international women's human rights treaty..."

"The question at the beginning of the twenty-first century is whether women will exercise their political muscle sufficiently at national, local, and international levels to assure universal implementation of the women's human rights treaty..."

Fraser summarizes the contributions of women leaders all over the world from Wollstonecraft at the end of the 18th century and many other European women leaders to the women's suffrage and education movement in the U.S. and worldwide to the present international action at the UN.

Withholding education and property rights from women was practiced by men worldwide -- men still exclude women from owning land all over Africa -- the most essential resource. Worldwide men exclude women from political leadership and ownership rights -- indeed from education as UNESCO statistics show. In the U.S. it took until 1920 for women to achieve the vote -- only some 80 years ago!