Culture and HRs

1. Women’s rights

o According to many sources women have been through a lot especially extreme poverty,
illiteracy, payment issue - less paid even in comparable work
o After the 1945 feminist movement some improvements were registered especially: -
 equal rights of men and women written into the UN Charter and in establishing the
Commission on the Status of Women (CSW).
 The prohibition of discrimination against women was included in the UDHR
 The CSW, though hampered by underfunding and the opposition of culturally
conservative states, was responsible for CEDAW, adopted in 1979
 Many states have ratified CEDAW, but it is weakened by numerous reservations. The
Committee charged with implementing CEDAW is also under-resourced (Reanda 1992;
Jacobson 1992)
 Generally, there was improvements however the slow pace of progress and growing
demand led to the Decade for Women 1975–85, which included three world conferences,
held in Mexico City, Copenhagen and Nairobi
 The declarations and programmers of action adopted by these conferences were endorsed
by the UN General Assembly
 The issues thus officially recognized included political participation, education,
employment, health, nutrition, agricultural production and marketing, access to credit,
housing, industrial development, and the special vulnerability of refugees, the disabled,
the elderly and many others
 The Women's Decade led to a shift of emphasis from activities specifically related to
women to ‘mainstreaming’, that is, incorporating women's issues in all UN planning. UN
human-rights bodies began to include gender issues in their work, an innovation that was
strengthened when Mary Robinson became the High Commissioner for Human Rights
(Gaer 2001). It was also recognized that the situation of women would not be improved
unless women were empowered through participation in decision-making. Whether this
change of strategy has led to much improvement in the everyday lives of women is
uncertain (Reanda 1992; Simmons 2009).
 Feminists have challenged dominant interpretations of human right considering violations
by of women’s rights by many actors including the state and the private sphere although
the international and regional instruments impose obligations like The Vienna
Declaration and The UN General Assembly
 All in all, the feminist movements have brought significant shifts form activity based
intervention to mainstreaming/integration approach and drawn the attention of human
rights actors including the UN, government and CSOs
 The feminist still believe that The rights of women require political rather than cultural
change due to the believe that Modern political and economic forces may be more
harmful to women than traditional culture
2. Children Rights

 Children constitute more than half of the world population. However, child poverty, child
labor, living in street situation, abuse and neglect, education - still we there are millions
out of school, displacement, refugee, trafficking, migration etc.
 At first the concern for children were on the welfare part than on the concept of human
rights. And the concept of human-rights movement was slow to incorporate children as
subject of right holders.
 the 1924 Geneva Declaration; the 1959 Declaration of the Rights of the Child; Universal
Declaration of Human Rights 1948; the International Covenant on Civil and Political
Rights 1966 (articles 23 and 24); the International Covenant on Economic, Social and
Cultural Rights 1966 (article 10) and relevant instruments of specialized agencies and
international organizations were generally concerned with the welfare of children.
 The UNCRC - the most ratified human rights instruments
 However, the 1989 CRC includes fundamental rights beyond protection and welfare.
 The CRC has been described as the most comprehensive international binding document
with regard to comprehensive children's rights. It addresses children’s specific
entitlements, organized according to four guiding principles: nondiscrimination (article 2),
a child’s best interests must be a primary consideration (article 3), a child’s survival and
development must be ensured (article 6) and a child’s views must be considered in all
matters affecting the child (article 12).
 Therefore, it is a paradigm shift from child protection approaches in which children are
perceived and treated as “objects” in need of assistance rather than as rights holders
entitled to non-negotiable rights to protection.
 A child rights approach is one which furthers the realization of the rights of all children as
set out in the Convention by developing the capacity of duty bearers to meet their
obligations to respect, protect and fulfil children’s rights ( art 4 UNCRC).
 Five issues were controversial in the drafting process: freedom of religion; inter-country
adoption; the rights of unborn children; traditional practices harmful to children's health;
and the duties of children; debatable
o The right of children to freedom of religion with the right of parents to guide their children
in the exercise of this right, and the right of the state to regulate religion in the public
interest.
o Adoption is not recognized in Islam, and there was Latin American opposition to inter-
country adoption on the ground that it might amount to ‘exporting children’. Article 21
permits, but does not require, inter-country adoption where it is ‘in the best interests of the
child’ and subject to various legal safeguards.
o The rights of the unborn are left ambiguous by a combination of the preamble, which states
that children need special protection ‘before as well as after birth’, and Article 1, which
defines children as human beings below the age of 18.
o The Convention is also somewhat ambiguous about traditional practices harmful to
children's health, as Article 24 (3) calls on states parties to take ‘appropriate ‘measures to
abolish such practices, while the preamble recognizes the importance of traditions and
cultural values
o Article 29 (1) (c) states that education should include respect for parents. Perhaps the most
distinctive element in the Convention is Article 12, which recognizes the right of children to
freedom of expression, especially in legal proceedings concerning their welfare.
o CRC also unifies civil and political rights with economic, social and cultural rights more
thoroughly than any other human-rights treaty

 There were also criticisms on UNCRC Article 38 permits the recruitment of child
soldiers once they have reached the age of 15. However, as a result of an initiative by
CRC's committee the issues of child soldiers and the impact of armed conflicts on child
civilians have been ‘mainstreamed’ in the UN Security Council
 Although CRC represents a substantial cross-cultural consensus on the human rights of
children, it suffers from many reservations, a weak implementation system, and the lack
of the right of individual petition.
 CRC is also criticized for its vague language that permits governments to evade their
responsibilities
 Despite the criticisms the CRC has brought many changes in the lives of children related
with health, education and social protection
 Freeman has distinguished three approaches to child welfare: child protection, children's
liberation, and children's rights.

3. Persons with disability

 There is still violation of fundamental rights for people living with disability even after the
ratification of the CRPD
 The term disability is not well defined and is still debating issue
4. Migrants, refugees, asylum-seekers

 Almost all the international and regional HRs instruments affirm that everyone to ‘leave
any country’, ‘to seek and to enjoy in other countries’ asylum from persecution
 However, in practice there are problems because
o many countries discourage asylum-seeking,
o Refugees rescued at sea are often returned to their countries of origin so that the rescuing
state can escape its obligation of nonrefoulement, contrary to the spirit of the convention.
o The rights to family life and to non-discrimination in health care, education and
employment are also important rights for refugees and for migrant workers; it is argued
that these are better protected by human-rights than by refugee law.
o many others are exploited and suffer from various human-rights violations both during
their migration and on arrival at their destination.