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http://beijing20.unwomen.org/en/news-and-events/stories/2014/12/oped-ohchr
The Beijing Platform for Action Turns 20
Progress & Gaps – Solidarity with Women’s Human
Rights Defenders
By the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights,
Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein
Photo: OHCHR
Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein is the United Nations High
Commissioner for Human Rights and has extensive experience in international
diplomacy and the protection of human rights. He was the first President of the
Assembly of States Parties to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal
Court, and the former President of the UN Security Council. In this op-ed , he
discusses achievements and gaps in guaranteeing equal rights for all and
stresses the importance and courage of women human rights defenders, and the
challenges they face. OHCHR will begin a new campaign on Human Rights Day, 10
December, to galvanize recognition for human rights advocates.
1 December 2014 - Almost two decades ago, in Beijing, 189
countries made a commitment to achieve equality for women, in practice and in
law, so that all women could at last fully enjoy their rights and freedoms as
equal human beings.
They adopted a comprehensive and ambitious plan to
guarantee women the same rights as men to be educated and develop their
potential. The same rights as men to choose their profession. The same rights
to lead communities and nations, and make choices about their own lives without
fear of violence or reprisal. No longer would hundreds of thousands of women
die every year in childbirth because of health care policies and systems that
neglected their care. No longer would women earn considerably less than men. No
longer would discriminatory laws govern marriage, land, property and
inheritance.
In the years that followed, the world has witnessed
tremendous progress: the number of women in the work force has increased; there
is almost gender parity in schooling at the primary level; the maternal
mortality ratio declined by almost 50%; and more women are in leadership
positions. Importantly, governments talk about women’s rights as human rights
and women's rights and gender equality are acknowledged as legitimate and
indispensable goals.
However, the world is still far from the vision
articulated in Beijing. Approximately 1 in 3 women throughout the world will
experience physical and/or sexual violence in their lifetime. Less than a
quarter of parliamentarians in the world are women. In over 50 countries there
is no legal protection for women against domestic violence. Almost 300,000
women and girls died in 2013 from causes related to pregnancy and childbirth.
Approximately 1 in 3 married women aged 20 to 24 were child brides. In many
parts of the world, women and girls cannot make decisions on their most private
matters – sexuality, marriage, children. Girls and women who pursue their own
life choices are still murdered by their own families in the dishonourable
practice of so-called honour killings. All of our societies remain
affected by stereotypes based on the inferiority of women which often
denigrate, humiliate and sexualize them.
Today we have the responsibility to protect the progress
made in the past 20 years and address the remaining challenges. In doing so, we
must recognize the vital role of women who defend human rights, often at great
risk to themselves and their families precisely because they are viewed as
stepping outside socially prescriptive gender stereotypes. We must recognize
the role of all people, women and men, who publicly call for gender equality
and often, as a result, find themselves the victim of archaic and patriarchal,
but powerful, threats to their reputations, their work and even their lives.
These extraordinary individuals –women’s human rights defenders – operate in
hostile environments, where arguments of cultural relativism are common and
often against the background of the rise of extremist, misogynistic groups,
which threaten to dismantle the gains of the past.
Attacks against women who stand up to demand their human
rights and individuals who advocate for gender equality are often designed to
keep women in their “place.” In some areas of the world, women who participate
in public demonstrations are told to go home to take care of their children.
Consider the recent example of a newspaper publishing naked photos of a woman,
claiming she was a well-known activist – an attack designed to shame this
defender into silence. In other places, when women claim their right to
affordable modern methods of contraception, they are labelled as prostitutes in
smear campaigns seeking to undermine their credibility. Online attacks against
those who speak for women’s human rights and gender equality by so-called
“trolls” - who threaten heinous crimes - are increasingly reported.
These attacks have a common thread – they rely on gender
stereotypes and deeply entrenched discriminatory social norms in an attempt to
silence those who challenge the age old system of gender inequality. However,
these defenders will not be silenced, and we must stand in solidarity with them
against these cowardly attacks.
This is why my Office has decided to launch a campaign to
pay tribute to women and men who defy stereotypes and fight for women’s human
rights. The campaign runs from Human Rights Day, 10 December this year, to
International Women’s Day, 8 March 2015. We encourage everyone to join the
ranks of these strong and inspiring advocates, on social media
(#reflect2protect) and on the ground.
As we approach the twenty year anniversary of Beijing, discrimination
and violence against women, and the stereotypes that confine them into narrowly
fixed roles must end. Women have the right to make their own decisions about
their lives and their bodies. Guaranteeing and implementing these rights are
non-negotiable obligations of all States. Women human rights defenders were
instrumental in securing the ambitious programme laid out in Beijing. Their
work, their activism and their courage deserve our recognition, our support and
our respect.