DEMOCRACY AROUND THE WORLD | Giving citizens a voice
06 May 2008
The Rights of Women and Girls
(The following one-pager is taken from the U.S. Department of State publication, Principles of Democracy.)
The Rights of Women and Girls
Discrimination against women means that specific laws or practices create a distinction, exclusion, or restriction on the basis of gender.
• Democracies should strive to protect women's rights, encourage women's participation in all aspects of society and government, and create places for women to associate freely and express their views openly.
• Legal rights for women include equal representation under the law and access to legal resources.
-- Women's rights must be clearly stated – ambiguity of women's legal status remains a leading cause of poverty worldwide.
-- Women should have rights to ownership and inheritance.
-- Women should have the opportunity to take part in the drafting and implementation of constitutions and legislation.
• Women's political rights include the right to vote in elections, to run for public office, to participate in government, and to organize politically.
-- Democracies should support civil society initiatives – public and nongovernmental – that teach women how to vote and train them in political campaign techniques and the legislative process.
-- Women's activism at all levels of civil society and government strengthens democracies.
• Women and girls should have access to primary education. They should not be barred from attending or teaching in secondary schools and universities.
• Economic rights give women control over their economic assets and help them avoid risky sexual and abusive relationships. These rights include:
-- The same employment opportunities and criteria as men.
-- Protection from job termination because of pregnancy or marriage.
-- Participation in programs, such as microenterprise lending and vocational training, that enable women to generate income.
-- The right to equal pay and to equal treatment and respect at work.
• Democracies should strive to ensure the health and well-being of women and girls and provide equal access to programs such as:
-- General health care, disease prevention, and prenatal care.
-- Preventing HIV/AIDS, improving health care delivery to those infected, and reducing mother-to-child transmission of the disease.
-- Combating traffickers who lure women and girls into forced prostitution or domestic servitude through deception, fraud, or coercion.
-- Fighting so-called sex tourism that often exploits women and children.
-- Educating families about the social and health consequences of early marriage.
-- Supporting victims' organizations, including domestic violence and rape crisis centers.
-- Training police, lawyers, judges, and medical personnel to reduce domestic violence.
-- Eliminating female genital mutilation.
