The Development of Women’s Rights: A Cultural and Judicial Perspective

Abstract

If anyone wants to see how progressive the society is, they should look at the situation of the women there. Women have fought for their rights and equal position in the society, as a result they have covered a long journey from having very few legal rights to gradually recognised as equal member in the society. This article examines how women legal rights have evolved over time. The term “Jura Feminarium” simply means “women’s rights” in Lain. This article analyses how the women rights have evolved from being almost non-existent to be recognised in today’s legal system. The article focuses on several changes in women’s rights such as right to own property, right to vote, access to education, equal treatment in the workplace and protection from violence and discrimination. This journey includes three main forces working together which are feminist movements (group of people advocating for women), new laws being passed and court decisions that supported equality. The article examines these changes in individual countries and around the world. Inspite of all the changes, there is still a lot of work to be done to ensure that all women have equal rights and opportunities.

References

1. Constitution of Medina (622 A.D.) (Islamic Charter).
2. Magna Carta, 1215, reprinted in 1 Statutes of the Realm 5 (1810).
3. Declaration of Arbroath (1320) (Scotland).
4. The Henrykian Articles (1573) (Polish Lithuanian Commonwealth).
5. English Bill of Rights, 1689, 1 W. & M. Sees. 2, c. 2 (Eng.).
6. Claim of Rights (1689) (Scotland).
7. Virginia Declaration of Rights, June 12, 1776.
8. U.S. Declaration of Independence (1776).
9. Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen (Fr. 1789).
10. Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom (1785) (U.S.)
11. Equal Pay Act, 1970 (UK)
12. Olympe de Gouges, Declaration of the Rights of Woman and the Female Citizen (1791).
13. Mary Wollstonecraft, A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792).
14. John Stuart Mill, The Subjection of Women (1869).
15. Conventions on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, Dec. 18, 1979, 1249 U.N.T.S. 13.
16. Universal Declaration of Human Rights, G.A. Res. 217 (III) A, U.N. Doc. A/810 (Dec. 10, 1948).
17. Fran P. Hoskin, Getting the Heart of the Matter, Women’s Studies Int’l Forum (1981).