Human Rights and Women

1
Human Rights and Womens Rights A Brief History
and Overview

• Martin Donohoe

2
History of Human Rights

• Ancient Greeks, Romans, etc.
• Era of Kings and Queens
• Life short, brutal
• Identification community vs. individuals
• Slavery
• Religious beliefs Judgmental vs. benevolent
  divinity

3
History of Human Rights

• Enlightenments scientific rationalism ? Humanism
• Democratization of reading
• Developments in relief of suffering
• Pain relief (aspirin, narcotics, morphine -
  isolated 1806)
• Nitrous oxide (1773), ether anesthesia (1846)
• Abolitionist movement

4
Declaration of Independence

• All men are created equal, that they are
  endowed by their creator with certain unalienable
  Rights, that these are Life, Liberty, and the
  pursuit of Happiness

5
Declarations

• French Assemblys Declaration of the Rights of
  Man and Citizen of 1789
• Marquis de Lafayette
• Rights are self evident and unalienable

6
Declarations

• Declaration of the Rights of Woman and the Female
  Citizen of 1791
• Olympe de Gouges (French playwright, feminist,
  and anti-slavery activist)
• Woman is born free and lives equal to Man in her
  rights
• De Gouges executed

7
U.S. Constitution

• Ratified 1789
• Terms persons, people, and electors used,
  allowing interpretation of those beings as men
  and women

8
Timeline of Womens Rights in the
U.S.(http//www.legacy98.org/timeline.html)

• 1701 First sexually integrated jury hears cases
  in Albany, New York
• 1769 American colonies base their laws on the
  English common law
• summarized in the Blackstone Commentaries By
  marriage, the husband and wife are one person in
  the law? The very being and legal existence of
  the woman is suspended during the marriage, or at
  least is incorporated into that of her husband
  under whose wing  and protection she performs
  everything.

9
Timeline of Womens Rights in the U.S.

• 1777 All states pass laws which take away womens
  right to vote
• 1839 Mississippi grants women the right to hold
  property in their own name, with their husbands
  permission

10
Timeline of Womens Rights in the U.S.

• 1848 Declaration of Sentiments, Seneca Falls
  Plea for the end of discrimination against women
  in all spheres of society, including the right to
  vote
• 300 men and women sign
• 1855 In Missouri v. Celia, a Slave, a Black woman
  is declared to be property without a right to
  defend herself against a master's act of rape

11
Timeline of Womens Rights in the U.S.

• 1866 14th Amendment passed by Congress (ratified
  1868)
• Right to equal representation under the law
• The first time citizens and voters are
  defined as male in the Constitution.
• 1869 Susan B Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton
  form National Woman Suffrage Association

12
Timeline of Womens Rights in the U.S.

• 1869 Wyoming territory passes first womens
  suffrage law
• 1870 Women permitted to serve on Wyoming juries
• 1870 15th Amendment ratified The right of
  citizens of the United States to vote shall not
  be denied or abridged by the United States or by
  any State on account of race, color, or previous
  condition of servitude.
• women not specifically excluded

13
Timeline of Womens Rights in the U.S.

• 1873 Bradwell v. Illinois U.S. Supreme Court
  rules that a state has the right to exclude a
  married woman from practicing law
• 1875 Minor v Happersett U.S. Supreme Court
  declares that a state can prohibit a woman from
  voting. The court declares women as persons,
  but holds that they constitute a special
  category of non-voting citizens.

14
Timeline of Womens Rights in the U.S.

• 1879 Through special Congressional legislation,
  Belva Lockwood becomes first woman admitted to
  try a case before the Supreme Court
• 1893 Colorado first state to allow women right to
  vote
• 1900 By now, every state has passed legislation
  modeled after New Yorks Married Womens Property
  Act (1848), granting married women some control
  over their property and earnings

15
Timeline of Womens Rights in the U.S.

• 1908 Muller v State of Oregon Supreme Court
  upholds Oregons 10-hour workday for women
• Legislation implies that women are physically
  weak
• 1916 Margaret Sanger tests the validity of New
  Yorks anti-contraception law by establishing a
  clinic in Brooklyn
• 1918 New York v. Sanger, U.S. Court of Appeals
  Sanger wins her suit to allow doctors to advise
  married patients about birth control for health
  purposes

16
Timeline of Womens Rights in the U.S.

• 1919 Federal Woman Suffrage Amendment, originally
  written by Susan B Anthony and introduced in
  Congress in 1878, passes House and Senate and is
  sent to states for ratification
• 1920 Nineteenth Amendment ratified The right of
  citizens of the United States to vote shall not
  be denied or abridged by the United States or by
  any State on account of sex.

17
Timeline of Womens Rights in the U.S.

• 1923 National Womans Party proposes
  Constitutional amendment Men and women shall
  have equal rights throughout the United States
  and in every place subject to its jurisdiction.
• 1924 Radice v. New York State court upholds law
  forbidding waitresses from working night shift
  but makes exception for entertainers and ladies'
  room attendants

18
Timeline of Womens Rights in the U.S.

• 1925 American Indian suffrage granted by act of
  Congress
• 1932 National Recovery Act forbids more than one
  family member from holding a government job,
  resulting in many women losing their jobs
• 1936 Federal law prohibiting dissemination of
  contraceptive information through the mail is
  modified and birth control no longer classified
  as obscene

19
Timeline of Womens Rights in the U.S.

• 1938 The Fair Labor Standards Act establishes
  minimum wage without regard to sex
• 1947 Fay v. New York U.S. Supreme Court says
  women are equally qualified with men to serve on
  juries but are granted an exemption and may serve
  or not as they choose
• 1960 FDA approves birth control pills

20
Timeline of Womens Rights in the U.S.

• 1961 Hoyt v. Florida U.S. Supreme Court upholds
  rules adopted by the state of Florida that make
  it far less likely for women than men to be
  called for jury service on grounds that a woman
  is still regarded as the center of home and
  family life.
• 1963 Equal Pay Act passed by Congress, promising
  equitable wages for the same work, regardless of
  the race, color, religion, national origin or sex
  of the worker

21
Timeline of Womens Rights in the U.S.

• 1964 Title VII of the Civil Rights Act passes
  including a prohibition against employment
  discrimination on the basis of race, color,
  religion, national origin, or sex.
• 1965 Weeks v. Southern Bell ruling against
  restrictive labor laws and company regulations re
  hours and conditions of women's work opens many
  previously male-only jobs to women

22
Timeline of Womens Rights in the U.S.

• 1965 Griswold v Connecticut - Supreme Court
  overturns one of the last state laws prohibiting
  the prescription or use of contraceptives by
  married couples
• 1966 Founding of National Organization of Women
• 1968 Executive Order 11246 prohibits sex
  discrimination by government contractors and
  requires affirmative action plans for hiring women

23
Timeline of Womens Rights in the U.S.

• 1969 Bowe v. Colgate-Palmolive Company - Seventh
  Circuit Court of Appeals rules that women meeting
  the physical requirements can work in many jobs
  that had been for men only
• 1969 California adopts the nations first no
  fault divorce law, allowing divorce by mutual
  consent other laws passed regarding equal
  division of common property

24
Timeline of Womens Rights in the U.S.

• 1971 Phillips v. Martin Marietta Corporation
  U.S. Supreme Court outlaws practice of private
  employers refusing to hire women with pre-school
  children.
• 1971 Reed v. Reed U.S. Supreme Court holds
  unconstitutional an Idaho law establishing
  automatic preference for males as administrators
  of wills

25
Timeline of Womens Rights in the U.S.

• 1972 Title IX of the Education Amendments
  prohibits sex discrimination in all aspects of
  education programs that receive federal support
• 1972 Eisenstadt v. Baird Supreme Court rules
  that the right to privacy encompasses an
  unmarried person's right to use contraceptives.

26
Timeline of Womens Rights in the U.S.

• 1972 Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) passed by
  Congress and sent to states for ratification
• 1982 Ratification deadline passes (35/38 needed
  states ratify)
• 1973 Pittsburgh Press v. Pittsburgh Commission on
  Human Relations U.S. Supreme Court bans
  sex-segregated help wanted advertising as a
  violation of Title VII

27
Timeline of Womens Rights in the U.S.

• 1973 Roe v. Wade U.S. Supreme Court declares
  that the Constitution protects womens right to
  terminate an early pregnancy, thus making
  abortion legal in the U.S.
• 1974 Housing discrimination on the basis of sex
  and credit discrimination against women are
  outlawed by Congress.

28
Timeline of Womens Rights in the U.S.

• 1974 Cleveland Board of Education v. LaFleur
  Court determines it is illegal to force pregnant
  women to take maternity leave on the assumption
  they are incapable of working in their physical
  condition
• 1975 Taylor v. Louisiana U.S. Supreme Court
  denies states the right to exclude women from
  juries
• 1976 First marital rape law passed in Nebraska

29
Timeline of Womens Rights in the U.S.

• 1976 General Elec. Co v. Gilbert Supreme Court
  upholds womens right to unemployment benefits
  during the last three months of pregnancy
• 1976 Craig v. Boren Supreme Court declares
  unconstitutional a state law permitting 18 to
  20-year-old females to drink beer while denying
  the rights to men of the same age

30
Timeline of Womens Rights in the U.S.

• 1978 Pregnancy Discrimination Act bans employment
  discrimination against pregnant women
• 1981 Supreme Court rules that excluding women
  from the draft is constitutional
• 1981 Kirchberg v. Feenstra Supreme Court
  overturns state laws designating a husband head
  and master with unilateral control of property
  owned jointly with his wife

31
Timeline of Womens Rights in the U.S.

• 1984 Roberts v. U.S. Jaycees Supreme Court
  forbids sex discrimination in membership policies
  of organizations, opening many previously
  all-male organizations to women.
• 1984 Mississippi belatedly ratifies the 19th
  Amendment, granting women the vote
• 1986 Meritor Savings Bank v. Vinson Supreme
  Court holds that a hostile or abusive work
  environment can prove discrimination based on sex
• Other criterion for sex discrimination quid pro
  quo

32
Timeline of Womens Rights in the U.S.

• 1987 Johnson v. Santa Clara County Supreme Court
  rules that it is permissible to take sex and race
  into account in employment decisions even where
  there is no proven history of discrimination but
  when evidence of a manifest imbalance exists in
  the number of women or minorities holding the
  position in question
• 1992 Planned Parenthood vs. Casey Supreme Court
  upholds womans right to abortion under Roe v.
  Wade

33
Timeline of Womens Rights in the U.S.

• 1993 Harris v. Forklift Systems Supreme Court
  rules that victim does not need to show that she
  suffered physical or serious psychological injury
  as a result of sexual harassment
• 1993 Family and Medical Leave Act goes into effect

34
Timeline of Womens Rights in the U.S.

• 1994 Congress adopts Gender Equity in Education
  Act to train teachers in gender equity, promote
  math and science learning by girls, counsel
  pregnant teens, and prevent sexual harassment
• 1994 Violence Against Women Act funds services
  for victims of rape and domestic violence, allows
  women to seek civil rights remedies for
  gender-related crimes, and provides training to
  increase police and court officials sensitivity
  and a national 24-hour hotline for battered women

35
Timeline of Womens Rights in the U.S.

• 1996 United States v. Virginia Supreme Court
  affirms that the male-only admissions policy of
  the state-supported Virginia Military Institute
  violates the Fourteenth Amendment
• 1997 Elaborating on Title IX, Supreme Court rules
  that college athletics programs must actively
  involve roughly equal numbers of men and women to
  qualify for federal support

36
Timeline of Womens Rights in the U.S.

• 1998 Burlington Industries, Inc. v. Ellerth, and
  Faragher v. City of Boca Raton Supreme Court
  rules that employers are liable for sexual
  harassment even when a supervisors threats are
  not carried out. However, the employer can defend
  itself by showing that it took steps to prevent
  or promptly correct any sexually harassing
  behavior and the employee did not take advantage
  of available opportunities to stop the behavior
  or complain of the behavior

37
Timeline of Womens Rights in the U.S.

• 2000 United States v. Morrison Supreme Court
  invalidates those portions of the Violence
  Against Women Act permitting victims of rape,
  domestic violence, etc. to sue their attackers in
  federal court

38
Universal Declaration of Human Rights

• Emphasis on human dignity and worth, freedom, and
  universality
• Adopted 1948
• Not universally followed

39
Universal Declaration of Human Rights

• Rights to life, liberty, and security
• Prohibits slavery and torture
• Prohibits discrimination, arbitrary
  arrest/detention/exile
• Guarantees fair, public trial by impartial
  tribunal
• Innocent until proven guilty

40
Universal Declaration of Human Rights

• Guarantees protections against interference with
  family, home, and correspondence
• Right to freedom of movement and residence
• Right to nationality, right to seek asylum
• Equal rights at marriage, within families, and at
  dissolution of marriage

41
Universal Declaration of Human Rights

• Right to own property
• Right to freedom of thought, conscience, and
  religion
• Right to freedom of expression and peaceful
  assembly and association
• Right to take part in government
• Right to social security

42
Universal Declaration of Human Rights

• Right to work, free choice of employment, just
  and favorable conditions of employment, and
  protection against unemployment
• Right to form and join trade unions
• Right to rest and leisure

43
Universal Declaration of Human Rights

• Right to adequate standard of living, including
  food, clothing, housing, medical care, and social
  services
• Right to education
• Free and compulsory in elementary stages
• Right to participate in cultural life of
  community
• Protects scientific, literary, and artistic
  endeavors

44
The Present

• International Agreements
• Wars
• Torture
• Extraordinary rendition
• Status of Women

45
The US Rogue Nation

• History Native Americans, slavery, current
  excesses, disparities and injustices
• Co-opting Nazi and Japanese WWII scientists
• Minimum 277 troop deployments by the US in its
  225 year history

46
The US Rogue Nation

• Since the end of WWII, the US has bombed
• China, Korea, Indonesia, Cuba, Guatemala, Congo,
  Peru, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Nicaragua, El
  Salvador, Grenada, Libya, Panama, Afghanistan,
  Sudan, Yugoslavia, and Iraq

47
The US Rogue Nation

• Conservative estimate 8 million killed
• US invasions/bombings often largely at behest of
  corporate interests
• The US spends vastly more on war and the
  preparation for war than on peace
• The US maintains military bases in 69 sovereign
  nations around the world

48
The US Rogue Nation

• Continued funding of the Western Hemisphere
  Institute for Security Cooperation
• Formerly the School of the Americas
• Over 60,000 graduates, including many of the
  worst human rights abusers in Latin America
  (e.g., Manuel Noriega, Omar Torrijos, and the
  assassins of Archbishop Oscar Romero)
• School of the Americas Watch, arrests

49
International Non-Cooperation/Isolationism

• Failure to sign or approve
• Kyoto Protocol on Climate Change
• International Covenant on Economic, Social, and
  Cultural Rights
• Convention on the Prohibition of Anti-Personnel
  Land Mines
• Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty

50
International Non-Cooperation/Isolationism

• Failure to sign or approve
• Convention on the Rights of the Child
• Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination
  Against Women
• Convention for the Suppression of Traffic in
  Persons

51
International Non-Cooperation/Isolationism

• Failure to sign or approve
• Protocol 1, Article 55 of the Geneva Conventions,
  which bans methods or means of warfare which are
  intended, or may be expected, to cause
  widespread, long-term and severe damage to the
  natural environment

52
International Non-Cooperation/Isolationism

• Failure to sign or approve
• The Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic
  Pollutants
• The Basel Convention on the Control of
  Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes
• The Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety (re GM foods)

53
The US Rogue Nation

• Death Penalty
• US executes more of its citizens than any other
  country
• US is the only country to execute both juveniles
  and the mentally ill
• Failure to follow World Court Decisions
• Largest debtor to the UN (only 40 of dues paid)

54
The Future

• Education and Activism

55
Contact Information

• Public Health and Social Justice Website
• http//www.phsj.org
• martindonohoe_at_phsj.org