ILSA Chapter UNS

Feminism: Special Rights or Equal Rigts?

Feminism: Special Rights or Equal Rights?

Introduction

In April 2016, Saudi Arabia introduced a new national reform policy named “Saudi Vision 2030.” Led by the Crown Prince, Mohammed bin Salman. This policy is to involve the role of women in development so as to realize gender equality between women and men. Through Global Gender Gap Report 2016, World Economic Forum measuring the size of the gender gap and tracking their progress by special focus on the relative disparity between women and men in the 4 main fields of health, education, economics, and politics.[1] Based on the 2018 Gender Inequality Index (GII) data in the Middle East, Arab Saudi has a Gender Inequality Index level of 0.224. Saudi Arabia is in the bottom three to be exact at 141 out of 144 countries. This shows that Saudi Arabia have a very high level of gender disparity. One of target of “Saudi Vision 2030” is to include women in development process. Presence of “Saudi Vision 2030” provides for some women’s rights that did not yet exist and were prohibited. Women’s rights that are enforced include women’s physical education, women’s rights in the field of labour, and women’s rights in the economic and social fields providing facilities and making rules that liberate women. Generally speaking, this vision is Saudi Arabia’s plan to let go of dependence on oil and diversify the economy to strengthening economic activity and investment in Saudi Arabia, increasing trade in the sector in addition to oil and improve manufacturing and defense equipment. In addition to the economic sector, ‘Saudi Vision 2030’ also focuses on the social revolution in Saudi Arabia. This social revolution focuses on increasing women’s participation, especially in increasing women’s work participation.  Before the reign of the Crown Prince Salman, Saudi Arabian women were still very difficult to get their rights. The climax was when Saudi Government is cracking down on dissidents. There is a group of women, most Saudi Nationals, work on the radio program called Nsawya FM. They just using a laptop, low editing programs, and microphone to broadcast their message through the live radio streaming website Mixlr. They began their project in the hope that their voices could be heard by the government and they wanted to show that feminists in Saudi Arabia are exist.[2]

 

The Laws Within Gender Equality in Feminism

The Organization of United Nations (UN) in 1979 adopted the convention which contains the elimination of discrimination against women in the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). CEDAW is a basis for equality of women with men in terms of opportunities for political, public life, education, health, and employment. Support of many countries through ratification of the convention to confirm the elimination of discrimination against women. On its face, CEDAW works to extend the reach of overt collective decision making in social life by imposing obligations on the State to remedy detrimental non-State action, whether that detrimental action takes form of discrete treatment or systemic practices that have a disparate impact on women’s lives.[3]  After the creation of Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030, Saudi women are slowly gaining rights that were previously neither granted nor denied. These rights include public and political life, sports and physical education, employment, economics and social. There are some rights to provide more access to women so that they can participate in future economic development in Saudi Arabia State. Based on CEDAW, below are some women’s rights in Saudi Arabia:

  • Women’s Rights in Public and Political Life

In accordance with women’s rights according to CEDAW, this point refers to Article 7 states that women have the right to participate in political life and state society. Therefore, Saudi government is making efforts to guarantee women’s rights starting with licensing allowed to drive cars, enter cinemas, and enter stadiums. Furthermore, according to CEDAW in Article 13, women have the right to participate in recreational, cultural, and other activities other communities.

  • Women’s Rights in Sports and Physical Education

In accordance with women’s right according to CEDAW in Article 10 explains that women who study education, women can participate in activities from school, such as participating in sports. In the year of 2016, the Crown Prince Salman allows women to go to the gym but with room requirements for men and women must be separate.

  • Women’s Rights in Employment

In accordance with the rights of women according to CEDAW in Article 11 explains that women have to right to choose professions and jobs according to their skills have. The Saudi government includes women in the army work in the public sector (government and private sectors) including tourism, military, aviation, government, retail and hospitality sectors. Destination placing women in various sector to reduce the discrimination against women because previously women did not allow to participate in life in Saudi Arabia.

  • Women’s Rights in Economic and Social Sector

In accordance with the rights of women according to CEDAW in Article 13 explains that women have the right to enjoy the facilities and infrastructure provided by the state, like to be able to join in the commercial field without permission of the husband or guardian.

Feminist framework

The term ‘feminism’ has been derived from the latin word ‘femina,’ meaning ‘woman’ and was first used with regard to the issues of equality and women’s Rights Movement. The Oxford English Dictionary defines ‘feminism’ as the belief and aim that women should have the same rights and opportunities as men.[4] The Webster Dictionary defines ‘feminism’ as belief in and advocacy of the political, economic, and social equality of the sexes expressed especially through organized activity on behalf of women’s rights and interest.[5] Feminism has altered predominant perspectives in a wide range of areas within Western society, ranging from culture to law. Feminists and scholars have divided the movement’s history into three “waves”. The first wave refers mainly to women’s suffrage movements of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries (mainly concerned with women’s right to vote). The second wave refers to the ideas and actions associated with the women’s liberation movement beginning in the 1960s (which campaigned for legal and social rights for women). The third wave refers to a continuation of, and a reaction to the perceived failures of, second-wave feminism, beginning in the 1990s.

 

Over this past several years, legal scholars have extended feminist theory to many areas of the law, and legal discourse has been enriched by feminist jurisprudence. Until recently, however international law had not undergone a sustained feminist critique. The feminist critique of international law contains many disparate strands of theory that must be disentangled. The most important mismatch is between liberal and radical feminism. Liberal feminists rely on liberal principles of domestic and international law to end abuses against women. This principle is, of course, a centerpiece of the international law of human rights. Meanwhile, radical feminists believe that existing states are hierarchically structured according to gender, and that gender hierarchy necessarily infects the process of legal reasoning itself. Radical feminists hold that the “actual choices” of women only seem to be autonomous and free; in reality they are socially determined. Under radical feminists’ theory, no woman is truly free, not even the “freest” of society.[6]

Nowadays, there is no doubt that there are relatively few women heads of state, diplomats, or international organizations officials. In particular, men and women may come to managerial roles with a somewhat different set of skills. The strongest evidence that can obtained for a sex difference in leadership style occurred on the tendency for women to adopt a more democratic or participative style and for men to adopt a more autocratic or directive style. [7]The only remedy that we can do is secure the human rights. In this case we are all entitled to human rights. These include the right to live free from violence and discrimination, to enjoy the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health, to be educated, to own property, and to earn an equal wage. But across the world many women still face inequality on the basis of sex and gender. For many years women’s rights movements have fought hard to address this inequality.

Despite a lot of developments have happened there are still many places around the world where it is very difficult for women to exercise this right. Take Saudi Arabia for example, recently there has been a successful national reform policy named “Saudi Vision 2030” that allow women to drive, which had previously been banned for many decades. It gives freedom of movement is it the right to move around freely as we want. The goal for women is “equality,” to have access to education, jobs, and political power on the same basis as men. Being a feminist simply means believing in equal rights for all genders. It’s not about hating men. It’s not about woman being better than men, it’s not about women want special rights or privilege to be greater than men.

 

International human rights declarations urge the development of feminism in the world. Feminism whose essence is fighting for women’s rights has so far been neglected by the community, so that a new spirit is sought so that women can again feel. The role of women must be considered important by the progress of a nation, however in the world there are still so many issues of gender equality that occur, such as the absence of women’s own beliefs in matters of occupying good power. The problem of sexual crimes that have been wiping out in all public relations has led to increasingly ineffective emancipation is a form or manifestation of the feminist movement that can benefit both men and women.

Conclusion

In conclusion, feminism is a social movement, initiated through a series of resistance movements against the notion of patriarchy, social inequality and role of capitalism in the oppression of women. Feminism only demands gender equality rights, not special rights. The controversy concerning feminist movement is still becoming the main agenda for many countries. The problem of women’s participation in many aspects in social life it’s a long and difficult process to resolve. The aim of feminist movement is to create an equal condition where women and men can contribute in each other conditions in society and play a role in it, so as not to cause discrimination between the two parties. The situation of women in liberal society plainly reveals that liberalism has not yet fulfilled its promise to women equal dignity. Yet notwithstanding its imperfections, liberalism remains the most humane and progressively transformative system of social organization known to our time. Its aspiration to universal human rights, its principles of respect, equal treatment, and human dignity.. The adoption of CEDAW by the United Nation also provides new hope for feminist movements all around the world. Therefore, many countries in the world support by ratifying the convention. Things can be sensitive sometimes including the feminism movement but this movement exists not to spread hatred or to outstrip men but to fight for the equality.

References

[1] World Economic Forum. (2016). The Global Gender Gap Report. Retrieved from http://www3.weforum.org/docs/GGGR16/WEF_Global_Gender_Gap_Report_2016.pdf

[2] Aurora Muñoz, “The Voice of the Silent Majority, Saudi Feminist Radio,” Medium, Agustus 2018, https://medium.com/womens-marchglobal/the-voice-of-the-silent-majority-saudi-feminist-radio-e4d522234e5c

[3] Brad R. Roth. (2002). The CEDAW as a Collective Approach to Women Rights. Michigan Journal of International Law. (24)(1)

[4] https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/american_english/feminist

[5] https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/feminism

[6] Fernando Teson. (1992). Feminism and International Law: A Reply. Florida State University College of Law

[7] Eagly, Alice H. and Johnson, Blair T. (1990). “Gender and Leadership Style: A Meta-Analysis” CHIP Documents. Paper 11.

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