Women's_Rights

Assignment 02 Due 2 April 2011, changed to 11 April 2011 48220302 Declaration Dillon Miller 48220302 Assignment topic: HRV 1601 02 I declare that this assignment is my own original work. Where secondary material has been used (either from a printed source or from the internet) this has been carefully acknowledged and referenced in accordance with departmental requirements. I understand what plagiarism is and am aware of the department’s policy in this regard. I have not allowed anyone else to borrow or copy my work. D Miller 2.1 Women’s rights are human rights. Critically discuss the implications of this statement in relation to the lives of women in the church and society. Also use the case studies in study unit 1 to illuminate your analysis. Content page Introduction…………………………………………….3 Woman’s rights………………………………………...3 Women in Christianity………………………………...3 Roles of woman in society……………………………..4 Comfort women………………………………………..4 Conclusion……………………………………………...5 Bibliography……………………………………………6 Introduction “All animals are equal, but some are more equal than others” (animal farm by George Orwell). In a world where women bear children, have equal intelligence to men and are able to contribute equally in most spheres of life, it is alarming that they are not seen as being equal to men. Woman’s rights in society are constantly being abused. Woman’s rights Women's rights are entitlements and freedoms claimed for women and girls of all ages in many societies. In some places these rights are institutionalized or supported by law, local custom, and behavior, whereas in others they may be ignored or suppressed. They differ from broader notions of human rights through claims of an inherent historical and traditional bias against the exercise of rights by women and girls in favour of men and boys. Issues commonly associated with notions of women's rights include, but are not limited to, the right: to bodily integrity and autonomy; to vote ; to hold public office; to work; to fair wages or equal pay for equal work; to own property; to education; to serve in the military or to be conscripted; to enter into legal contracts; and to have marital, parental and religious rights. (A "Human Rights Quarterly" Reader (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2006)) Women in Christianity Christianity has normally given men the position of authority in marriage, society and government. This places women in submissive roles, and usually excludes women from church leadership, especially from formal positions requiring any form of ordination. The Catholic Church today says that only men can be ordained, as clergy and as deacons. Many liberal Christians disagree with the traditional male-authority and female-submission pattern. They take a Christian egalitarian or Christian feminist view, holding that the message of Christianity provides positional equality for women in marriage and in ministry. Accordingly, some Protestant churches now ordain women to positions of ecclesiastical leadership. Despite these differences, the majority of Christians treats women with dignity and respect as they have also been created alongside men in the Image of God. The Bible is seen by many as elevating and honoring women, especially as compared with some other religions or societies. Women have filled prominent roles in the Church historically, and continue to do so today in spite of significant limitations imposed by ordination restrictions. Roles of woman in society The ongoing changes in social, political and economic areas of the world entail not only the raise of women’s role in society, but include the breaking of stereotypes that tend to treat human beings differently by virtue of their sex. Free economic relations and democratization of all circles of life create the basis for eventual equal social rights for any human being regardless of sex. From a legal point of view, a man and a woman in Russia are equal. However, in practice, there are no real mechanisms in Russian society that promote women's rights fulfillment as well as letting woman take part in social life. In many societies housework, chores and raising children are generally considered to be a woman's domain. Birthrates have been falling, which could in part be because children are seen as obstacles in the working place. That’s why it is understandable that women decide to have children later or do not have children at all. Women's social status is a serious problem. Few female decision-makers can be found in positions of social or business importance. This strengthens the stereotype of "male superiority" and hampers the creation of true partnerships between men and women. Comfort women “Comfort woman” is a euphemism for women working in military brothels; for example those women who were forced into prostitution as a form of sexual slavery by the Japanese military during World War II.( WCCW2004) Around 200,000 women are estimated to have been involved in this slavery: including an estimated 20,000 Japanese scholars 41,000 Chinese scholars. The exact numbers are still being researched and debated. (Rose2005 p88) Young women from countries under Japanese Imperial control were reportedly abducted from their homes. In some cases, women were also recruited with offers to work in the military. It has been documented that the Japanese military itself recruited women by force. However, some Japanese, such as historian Ikuhiko Hata, deny that there was organized forced recruitment of comfort women by the Japanese government or military. (Ministerie van Buitenlandse zaken 1994, pp. 6–9, 11, 13–14.) According to the victims, they were forced to perform sexual acts more than 20 times a day. It is estimated that only 25 percent of the comfort women survived and that most were unable to have children as a consequence of the multiple rapes or the disease they contracted. According to Japanese soldier Yasuji Kaneko "The women cried out, but it didn't matter to us whether the women lived or died. We were the emperor's soldiers. Whether in military brothels or in the villages, we raped without reluctance."(O'Herne 2007.) In addition beatings and physical torture were said to be common. Many military brothels were run by private agents and supervised by the Japanese Army. Some Japanese historians, using the testimony of ex-comfort women, have argued that the Imperial Japanese Army and Navy were either directly or indirectly involved in forcing, deceiving, luring, and sometimes kidnapping young women throughout Japan's Asian colonies and occupied territories.(Onishi 2007-03-08.) Conclusion The main goals in all women’s right movements are the protection of women's rights, the elimination of discrimination in society and the widening of women's contribution in the decision-making processes on a local, regional and national level. In many countries today there are still woman’s rights that are being abused, but on the whole women’s rights are being upheld and the number of women in places of power is increasing. This is leading to more equality between men and woman. Bibliography Animal farm by George Orwell en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comfort_women en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women's_rights www.religioustolerance.org › Religious change en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women_in_Christianity hubpages.com/hub/Role_of_Women_in_Society