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HUMAN RIGHTS
Women, Young Women and Human Rights
No development without justice!
By Zonny Woods, Canada
Development, human rights and women
Development should be about people having access to food, shelter, health care, social security, political and religious freedom, education and civil liberties. These are also human rights, rights which should be enjoyed by every inhabitant of this planet, regardless of race, class, gender, political or religious belief, gender, sexual orientation, age, physical or mental ability, yet the majority of the world's population is denied these rights. Included in this majority are women. Women, who constitute half of the world's population, suffer from human rights violations every day. These violations take different forms but have one thing in common. They are consistently overlooked and seldom condemned by our social and political system.
Violations against the rights of women are seen as the part of the norm, a norm which young women and future generations stand to inherit unless great strides are made to achieve justice for women. Women have the right to education, health, equality, employment and freedom, among many other rights. The rights of women are human rights, and unless equal rights are given to women we will never achieve social and economic sustainable development.