human rights and women’s rights: a brief history and overview martin donohoe

Human Rights and Women’s Rights: A Brief History and

Overview

Martin Donohoe

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

History of Human Rights

• Enlightenment’s 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

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”

Declarations

• French Assembly’s Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen of 1789

–Marquis de Lafayette

–Rights are “self evident” and “unalienable”

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

U.S. Constitution

• Ratified 1789

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

Timeline of Women’s 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.”

http://www.legacy98.org/timeline.html

Timeline of Women’s Rights in the U.S.

• 1777 All states pass laws which take away women’s right to vote

• 1839 Mississippi grants women the right to hold property in their own name, with their husbands’ permission


• 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


• 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


• 1869 Wyoming territory passes first women’s 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

Comstock Law: 1873-1936

• Whoever shall offer to sell, loan, give away, exhibit, publish, or possess – an obscene book, pamphlet, advert-isement,

print, picture, or drawing or– any article for the prevention of conception,

or for causing abortion, • or shall advertise the same for sale, • or shall write or print any circular, book, or

pamphlet stating how such articles can be obtained,

• shall be imprisoned at hard labor for not less than six months nor more than five years for each offense…

Slide Courtesy Dr Steven Miles

Anthony ComstockPostal Inspector

Politician


• 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.”


• 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 York’s Married Women’s Property Act (1848), granting married women some control over their property and earnings


• 1908 Muller v State of Oregon: Supreme Court upholds Oregon’s 10-hour workday for women– Legislation implies that women are physically weak

• 1916 Margaret Sanger tests the validity of New York’s 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


• 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.”


• 1923 National Woman’s 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


• 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


• 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


• 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


• 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


• 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


• 1967 Loving v State of VA – Supreme Court voids laws barring inter-racial marriage

• 1968 Executive Order 11246 prohibits sex discrimination by government contractors and requires affirmative action plans for hiring women


• 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 nation’s first “no fault” divorce law, allowing divorce by mutual consent; other laws passed regarding equal division of common property


• 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


• 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.


• 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


• 1973 Roe v. Wade: U.S. Supreme Court declares that the Constitution protects women’s 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.


• 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


• 1976 General Elec. Co v. Gilbert: Supreme Court upholds women’s 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


• 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


• 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


• 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 woman’s right to abortion under Roe v. Wade


• 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


• 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


• 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


• 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 supervisor’s 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


• 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

Universal Declaration of Human Rights

• Emphasis on human dignity and worth, freedom, and universality

• Adopted 1948

• Not universally followed


• 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


• 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


• 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


• 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


• 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

The Present

• International Agreements

• Wars

• Torture

• Extraordinary rendition

• Status of Women

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


• 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


• 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


• 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

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


• 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


• 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


• 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)


• 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)

The Future

Education and Activism

Contact Information

Public Health and Social Justice Website

http://www.phsj.org

[email protected]

http://www.phsj.org/

mailto:[email protected]

human rights and women’s rights: a brief history and overview martin donohoe

Documents

rights of woman

timeline of womens rights

rights of man

lafayette rights

unalienable slide

excluded slide

certain unalienable

benevolent divinity