Persuasive Speech - Gender Equality PDF

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Transcript of A+ speech given on gender equality and human rights....

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Human Rights vs Women’s Rights Speech The right to freedom of movement. The right to equal pay. The right to fair, unbiased treatment. These are some of the basic human rights we are entitled to. Both men and women. Yet, Every. Single. Day, women continue to be let down by society and deprived of the rights all human beings are supposedly entitled to. How is this possible? Despite the United Nations introducing the Declaration of Human Rights in 1948, it was never declared a treaty.i Thus, no countries are legally obligated to implement these rights. The only possible way we can eliminate the discrepancy between women’s rights and human rights, is to make these rights law, and at the very least, amend the rhetoric of women’s rights as human rights. In 1995 at the UN Fourth World Conference on Women, Hillary Clinton said “women’s rights are human rights”ii, a statement that still resonates strongly today. However, despite grave violations of women’s human rights being recognised 22 years ago, nothing has changed. We continue to allow women to be trafficked and forced into slavery; a violation of Article 4: ‘No one shall be held in slavery or servitude; slavery and the slave trade shall be prohibited in all their forms. iii And this isn’t just happening in a few random countries. It’s happening here. It’s happening in Australia, our own country. Last year, a victim of slavery in Sydney spoke to the Sydney Morning Herald about her experience. She was isolated, enslaved by the people she had trusted most. Their children taught to treat her as a “nobody”.iv Put yourself in her position. How would you feel if you were locked inside a house with no escape? How would you feel if you were forced to work unpaid 18-hour days, and forced to sleep under the dining room table with three dogs? 71% of all trafficking victims are women and girls. Most of which are exploited either for sex or labour.v How can we allow this to happen? How can we so easily allow women to be exploited on a daily basis? And modern-day slavery barely scrapes the surface of what women are forced to endure. We’ve all heard of the gender pay gap. In Australia, males earn an average of 17.7% more than women each week.vi A blatant violation of article 23.2: ‘Everyone, without any discrimination, has the right to equal pay for equal work’. Consequently, it becomes more difficult for women to afford a standard of living that is adequate for them and their family; yet another human right they become deprived of. Research shows that as a result of the gender pay gap, women are more likely to suffer depression and anxiety due to poorer job control and financial securityvii. Due to their poorer standard of living, they are unable to access much-needed assistance. With basic liberties not being met, women are being left behind, and unless change is made, will continue to lead a life fuelled by constant struggle. Although women in general have limited access to their fundamental freedoms, the struggle is amplified for women of minority groups. Their access to basic human rights are limited further due to the intersectionality they face. The Declaration states that ‘all are equal before the law and are entitled without any discrimination to equal protection of the law’, yet those from minority ethnic backgrounds are more likely to be arrested than those

from ‘white’ backgrounds. Reports show that in 2014, for every 100 white females handed custodial sentences for drug-related offences, 227 black women shared the same fate.viii In addition, women of ethnic minorities are generally poorer than white women. Whilst all women are subject to the pay gap, black and Latina women are particularly disadvantaged. Compared to the dollar value of a white male, white women earn 75 cents, whereas black and Latina women earn 63 and 54 cents respectively.ix As a result of this gap, women of ethnic minorities struggle to receive the education and health services they require to lead healthy lives. Many women, particularly those in developing countries such as Africa, are trapped in warzones where they are stripped of their freedom and left to the power of combatants. Conflict zones in Africa are filled with women being ‘beaten, raped and starved’, and in most cases, the assailants are associated with the military. x In such situations, women often become the target of sexual violence, and are left with physical and emotional trauma. Then after the fact, are shunned by their family and community, leaving them isolated. These women are causalities of war, left to endure a ‘living death’.xi The discrepancy between women’s rights and human rights isn’t purely caused by the Declaration not being law. At the time of its creation, the drafting committee was composed of entirely males, with the exception of Eleanor Roosevelt. However, Roosevelt only represented the majority of women – the white woman. Even so, she could not change the masculine rhetoric of the Declaration to one of equality. Majority of the rights outlined emphasise the masculinity of the committee through the masculine pronouns used; ‘freedom to change his religion or belief’, ‘act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood’, ‘himself and his family’. Despite the Declaration being intended to fit all people, discrimination against women unsurprisingly remained prevalent in society. This ultimately led to the establishment of the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) in 1979.xii This was obviously going to work in abolishing gender inequality, right? Maybe it would have, if it didn’t mirror what was stated in the Declaration of Human Rights. What’s the point in introducing a brand-new bill if its nearly identical to the old one? They both mention equal pay. They both mention health care, and they both mention education. The major difference is that it is no longer “he” who has the right, but the States Parties who are in charge of minimising discrimination.xiii Seems like a great move on the surface, but who makes up the majority of leadership roles? That’s right, males do. In fact, as of June 2016, only 22.8% of all national parliaments were women.xiv Yet again, in attempt to eliminate discrimination against women and return their fundamental freedoms, women are excluded from the conversation. However, it would be wrong to assume that males do not suffer from inequality. They do experience some inequality, but not to the extent of women. For the most part, men enjoy their entitlement to human rights daily. The few rights they may not receive, such as the right to marry if they are homosexual, are currently being amended, with gay marriage being legalised in 22 countries and counting.xv Women on the other hand, remain inferior. Even though legalisation of gay marriage would be a win for them also, there is still so much they are deprived of. Men still retain greater power in this modern, “equal” society. It is abundantly clear that women’s rights differ greatly from human rights. Women continue to be exploited by society and unless the Declaration of Human Rights is made law,

or at the very least altered to have an equal rhetoric, they will never receive the liberties all people are meant to be entitled to.

i Australian Human Rights Commission n.d, What is the Universal Declaration of Human Rights? Viewed 15 July 2017 ii Hillary Rodham Clinton (n.d) viewed 15 July 2017

iii United Nations n.d, Universal Declaration of Human Rights, viewed 9 July 2017

iv Dumas. D (10 April 2016), ‘This is happening in Australia’: Sydney victim of slavery speaks out, viewed 15 July 2017 < http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/this-is-happening-in-australia-sydney-victimof-slavery-speaks-out-20160407-go1bt7.html> v United Nations (22 December 2016), Report: Majority of trafficking victims are women and girls; one-third children, viewed 23 July 2017, < http://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/blog/2016/12/report-majority-of-trafficking-victimsare-women-and-girls-one-third-children/> vi Williams. AV (8 March 2017), ‘But the gender pay gap is a myth’: A conversation with a sceptic, viewed 15 July 2017 vii Milner. A; Kavanagh. A; Hewitt. B (15 December 2016), How the gender pay gap is affecting women’s health, viewed 15 July 2017

viii Bowcott. O (16 November 2016), Ethnic minorities more likely to be jailed for some crimes, report finds, viewed 15 July 2017 ix Mercado. M (4 April 2017), 8 Startling Statistics That Show How The Pay Gap Affects Women Of Colour Differently, viewed 15 July 2017 x McVeigh. K (28 February 2017), Refugee women and children ‘beaten, raped and starved in Libyan hellholes’, viewed 9 July 2017 xi Baker. A n.d, The Secret War Crime, viewed 16 July 2017 < http://time.com/war-and-rape/> xii UN Women n.d, Short History of CEDAW Convention, viewed 15 July 2017

xiii UN Women n.d, Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women – Full text of the Convention in English, viewed 15 July 2017

xiv UN Women (Updated August 2016), Facts and Figures: Leadership and Political Participation, viewed 15 July 2017 xv Winsor. B (1 June 2017), Same-sex marriage is now legal in 22 countries - here’s how it happened, viewed 15 July 2017...