Gender, Oppression and Human Rights
by Serena Parekh
Abstract
This paper is a philosophical exploration of the relationship between gender and human rights. I argue that gender oppression must be identified as one of the key limitations to women’s ability to claim human rights. I argue for this by first looking at the phrase “women’s rights are human rights”. Second, I look at some ways that it has been used and show that often people mean very different things by this phrase. Finally, I suggest a different meaning for this phrase and indeed, a different way of understanding women’s limitations in achieving human rights. For this, I apply a point that Hannah Arendt makes when she discusses the breakdown in human rights in the early 20th century. I show ultimately that what women are lacking are not human rights per se, but rather the conditions which make rights meaningful.