Women's Rights are Human Rights

Women's Rights are Human Rights

Women's Rights are Human Rights

Article 2 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights affirms that everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status.

Theme in the news

16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence

25/11/08
Human rights cannot be universal without human rights for women. Today marks the first of 16 days of activism around the world - standing up for women's rights and against gender violence. This year's 16 Days campaign is dedicated to celebrating the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration and to advancing women's human rights.
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Women's Rights on World Water Day

23/03/08

1.2 billion people have no access to clean water and sanitation. Women suffer disproportionately from lack of access to clean water.

Studies show that poor rural women in many developing countries may spend up to eight hours a day collecting water, carrying up to 20 kilos of water on their heads each journey...

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ActionAid's work on Women & Development

17/03/08

Like so many humanitarian organizations around the world, working to realize women's rights has become a common thread running through everything ActionAid does. To illustrate the strength of that thread, they've gone beyond convention, using creative partnerships and innovative platforms to highlight the abuse of women's rights across the world; while celebrating the central role that women play in creating a fairer and more just world.

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Women's Rights are Human Rights

Women's Rights!

Sixty years after the adoption of the UDHR, women around the world still find themselves being disproportionately affected by violence and discrimination. While the UDHR enshrines far-reaching principles of human dignity with the proclamation that "all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights," and the stipulation that human rights apply to all equally without distinction of any kind including sex, this rhetoric has not yet been fully translated into reality.

Over the past few decades, women's movements worldwide have formed organizations, networks and coalitions to give greater visibility both to the specific problems that women face every day, and to the centrality of gender to many issues from development and the environment to peace and security. In the evolution of a global women's movement, the term "women's human rights" has provided a common framework and foundation for securing commitments from decision makers to ensure women's equality in all spheres and to achieve concrete change in policies and practices that affect women's daily lives.

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Every person can make a difference

Pledge to stand up for Women's Rights!

The Center for Global Women's Leadership,
Rutgers University

Every person makes a difference! Start today to live by the principles of the UDHR by pledging to speak out against acts of violence and discrimination against women! Ensuring the protection of human rights defenders and the protection of advocacy for women’s human rights is crucial to eliminating all forms of violence against women.

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Living the principles of the Universal Declaration

Here are a few profiles of people who uphold the principles of the Universal Declaration through their work on in women's rights. If you have a story about woman's rights from your community, please share it with us here.

Betty Makoni

Girls Rights Advocate - standing up for human rights
A victim of childhood sexual abuse, Betty Makoni used her experience to transform the lives of girls in southern Africa by creating a girls' rights advocacy group with 30,000 members in Zimbabwe. Founded in 1998, Girl Child Network (GCN) empowers girls and works to eradicate all forms of abuse and practices that impede their full physical, emotional and spiritual growth.

Lydia Cacho Ribeiro

Defender of Women and Children against Trafficking - standing up for human rights
Lydia Cacho Ribeiro is an investigative journalist, feminist and leading defender of women's and children's rights in Mexico. Her work focuses on violence against women and the rights of children. As a result of her media expose' regarding child pornography and the murder of women in the Mexican city of Ciudad Juarez, Lydia has been arrested, detained, harassed and assaulted while in custody.

Prateep Ungsongtham Hata

Women's Legal Rights Leader - standing up for human rights
Starting with a school she ran as a teenager in her family's tiny house in the Khlong Toey slum, Prateep Unsongtham Hata became one of Thailand's most visible activists, defending slum dwellers' rights to education and basic services. Klong Toey is the largest of some 300 slums around Bangkok, housing over 800,000 persons, half of them children.