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10 Dec: International Human Rights Day
December 10, the final day of the 16-day activism against gender-based violence, falls on the International Human Rights Day.
Do you know your basic human rights? If you don't, it's a good time to start. These are some of the most useful guarantees you (should) have in civil society. The only way to actually have them in action is by knowing what they are, and claiming for it!
Here's a brief summary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights:
1) Everyone is born free and equal
2) Everyone is entitled to human rights without distinction or discrimination
3) Everyone has the right to life, freedom and security
4) No one should be subjected to slavery
5) No one should be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
6) Everyone has the right to the law everywhere.
7) Everyone has equal standing and protection before the law without discrimination.
8) Everyone has the right to remedy if their legal or constitutional rights are violated
9) No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention or exile.
10) Everyone has the right to a fair and public hearing by an independent and impartial court against any criminal charges.
11) Everyone has the right to be presumed innocent until proven guilty; and criminal law shall not work backwards in time.
12) Everyone has the right to privacy, and to not have their reputation and honour come under attack.
13) Everyone has the right to freedom of movement and residence in their own country, and others.
14) Everyone has the right to seek and enjoy asylum in other countries from political persecution.
15) Everyone has the right to nationality.
16) Everyone has equal rights to marry and have a family.
17) Everyone has the right to own property.
18) Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion, and to practice it.
19) Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression, and to information.
20) Everyone has the right to freedom of assembly and association.
21) Everyone has the right to participate in the government of his country.
22) Everyone has the right to social security, and to economic, social and cultural rights that are necessary for personal development and dignity.
23) Everyone has the right to work, equal and just pay, and to form and join trade unions.
24) Everyone has the right to rest and leisure.
25) Everyone has the right to adequate livelihood and a reasonable standard of living.
26) Everyone has the right to education.
27) Everyone has the right to culture, arts and scientific development, and to benefit from them.
28) Everyone has the right to social and international order so that their rights and freedoms can be realised.
29) Everyone has duties to the community, and the exercise of personal rights should not infringe those of others.
30) Nothing in the declaration is to be interpreted as giving any party the right to do anything that will destroy any of the rights and freedoms within it.
Within the rights and freedoms, there are conditions and stipulations. To check out the overview, go to the United Nations website.
This declaration is a piece of document created from a specific time in our collective history. So it also carries within it some gender biases from 1948. For example, every person in the document is referred to in male terms ("he", "his", "brotherhood")
Women's movements across the world have fought for the recognition of women's perspectives into the understanding of rights and freedoms. This happened in different ways for different priorities at different times in different places.
Globally, the Fourth World Conference on Women held in Beijing in 1995 is generally seen as an important event that raised the prominence of women's rights as human rights, equally and without discrimination.
How would human rights that apply differently to women as it would to men?
For example, how would the right to privacy or security look like to a woman who is in a situation of domestic violence? Do a quick search on the internet for "rights to privacy" and "communication". How many of your search results include violence against women as part of its dimension and understanding of privacy rights?
Wikipedia is one of the most exciting online collaborative knowledge building projects in recent times. Started in 2001, it currently contains 1,524,435 articles, and many other localised wikipedia sites in other national languages.
In theory, anyone with an internet connection is able to add articles and resources, edit information and participate in editorial decisions. Many users including students, journalists and researchers have begun to use wikipedia as a source of information and reference.
So that this resource does not commit the same mistake as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (when first conceived), we have to make sure that gender perspectives are taken into account.
From
today until next year's 16 Days of Activism,
make a personal commitment to add to the information available
in wikipedia through the perspective of women's rights.
For example, under the "Privacy" article, add information about how women in situations of violence relate to this issue. Add in an article about your shero, and raise the presence of women who have contributed significantly to society and knowledge. Make it a collective project.
You can find out how to add content to wikipedia on the getting started page, or ask specific questions if you come across any difficulty.
Discuss with others on Tech Talk & VAW on how your initiative is going.