All about her

The term women’s rights typically refers to freedoms inherently possessed by women and girls of all ages, which may be institutionalized or illegitimately suppressed by law or custom in a particular society. These liberties are grouped together and differentiated from broader notions of human rights because they often differ from the freedoms inherently possessed and/or recognized by men and boys, and because activism surrounds this issue claims an inherent historical and traditional bias against the exercise of rights by women. These differences are at least partially socially constructed rather than biologically immutable conditions. See articles about women, the term some feminists see as a “gender unbiased term.”

Issues commonly associated with notions of women’s rights include, though are not limited to:

• The right to bodily integrity and autonomy,
• The right to vote,
• The right to hold public office,
• The right to work,
• The right to fair wages,
• The right to own property,
• The right to education,
• Marital rights,
• Parental rights,
• Religious rights,
• The right to serve in the military, and
• The right to enter into legal contracts.
  

  Notable women’s rights activists

  • Guru Nanak (1469-1539) The founder of Sikhism also promoted equal rights for Women
  • Qasim Amin (1863-1908) – Egyptian jurist, early advocate of women’s rights in Islamic society
  • Susan B. Anthony (1820-1906) – American civil rights leader and suffragette, co-founder of the National Woman’s Suffrage Association, tried for casting a vote in the 1872 presidential election
  • Luisa Capetillo (1879-1922) – Puerto Rican labor union suffragette; jailed for wearing pants in public
  • Unity Dow (born 1959) – Botswanan judge and writer, plaintiff in a case that allowed children of Botswanan women and foreign nationals to be considered Batswana
  • Carolyn Egan (birthdate unknown) – Canadian-American trade unionist and feminist, advocate for women’s reproductive rights, including access to birth control, abortion, and sex education
  • Nawal el-Saadawi (born 1931) – Egyptian writer and doctor, advocate for women’s health and equality
  • Marianne Hainisch (1839-1936) – Austrian activist, proponent of women’s right to work and to receive education
  • Sor Juana (c. 1651-1695) – Mexican nun, scholar, and proponent of women’s education
  • Raden Adjeng Kartini (1879-1904) – Javanese advocate for native Indonesian women, critic of polygamous marriages and lack of education opportunities for women
  • Begum Ra’ana Liaquat Ali Khan (1905-1990) – Indian-Pakistani activist, founder of the All Pakistan Women’s Association, organizer of women’s nursing and first aid corps to help refugees in Delhi despite public resistance to women working outside the home
  • Jyotiba Phule (1827-1890) – Indian social reformer, critic of the caste system, founded a school for girls, a widow-remarriage initiative, a home for upper caste widows, and a home for infant girls to discourage female infanticide
  • Dora Russell (1894-1986) – British progressive campaigner, advocate of marriage reform, birth control and female emancipation
  • Hoda Shaarawi (1879-1947) – Egyptian feminist, organizer for the Mubarrat Muhammad Ali (women’s social service organization), the Union of Educated Egyption Women and the Wafdist Women’s Central Committee, founder and first president of the Egyptian Feminist Union
  • Shamima Shaikh (1960-1998) – South African activist, member of the Muslim Youth Movement of South Africa, proponent of Islamic gender equality
  • Kate Sheppard (1847-1934) – New Zealand suffragette, influential in winning voting rights for women in 1893 (the first national election in which women were allowed to vote)
  • Elizabeth Cady Stanton (1815-1902) – American social activist, abolitionist, and suffragette, organizer of the 1848 Women’s Rights Convention, co-founder of the National Woman’s Suffrage Association and the International Council of Women
  • Ida B. Wells (1862-1931) – American civil rights and anti-lynching activist, suffragette noted for her refusal to avoid media attention because she was African American
  • Mary Wollstonecraft (1759-1797) – author of A Vindication of the Rights of Women, advocate of women’s equality and rationality
  • Emmeline Pankhurst (1858 – 1928) was one of the founders of the British suffragette movement

  Freedoms granted by religions

  Religion	Roman Catholicism	Protestantism	Islam	Hinduism	Buddhism	Sikhism	Judaism	Neopaganism
  Right to vote	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
  Hold Public Office	Yes	Yes	Part	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
  to Work	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
  Equal pay	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
  Own Property	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
  Education	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
  Marriage	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
  Parenting	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
  Religious Office	Part	Part	No	Yes	Part	Yes	Yes	Yes
  Lead a religious assembly	No	Part	No	No	No	Yes	Part	Yes
  Military Service	Part	Part	Part	Part	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
  Legal Contract	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes

  Sikhism

  The Sikh religion grants women equal status in most aspects of life. Women are allowed to lead religious assemblies; to perform Kirtan (Congregational hymn singing); become members of religious management committees; to lead armies on the battlefield; equality in marriage; equality in Amrit; etc

  Guru Nanak (1469-1539) the founder Sikh Guru is probably the first recorded religious prophet to grant women equal rights as men. The primary teachings of Sikhism are recorded in the Sikh holy book called the Sri Guru Granth Sahib. He is quoted in this Granth to have said:

  From woman, man is born; within woman, man is conceived;
  to woman he is engaged and married.
  Woman becomes his friend; through woman, the future generations come.
  When his woman dies, he seeks another woman; to woman he is bound.
  So why call her bad? From her, kings are born.
  From woman, woman is born; without woman, there would be no one at all.
  — Guru Nanak, Raag Aasaa Mehal 1, SGGS, Page 473

  In the East, up until 1500’s, women had generally being treated almost as untouchable and had very few rights. ¹ They were subjected to highly degrading practises like Purdah (wearing of a veil to cover their face as a sign of inferiority and submission); Sati, the killing of the wife on the dead husband’s funeral pyre; child marriage, when girls of between 5 and 10 years old were married off, without their consent or knowledge; Dowry, the giving of expensive gifts by the bride’s family to the groom’s family in agreement to the wedding; etc. To root out these century old habits, the Guru spoke clearly and in simple terms to influence the masses

  To reinforce the message of equality among the genders, the Sikh founder Guru further says in the Sikh holy book Sri Guru Granth Sahib that God’s light shine in both men and women thus: “In the earth and in the sky, I do not see any second. Among all the women and the men, His Light is shining. (3)” (SGGS page 223). To further remove the long ingrained prejudices of the masses, Guru Nanak also says that both men and women are created by the Lord thus: “He Himself created all women and men; the Lord Himself plays every play.” (SGGS page 304) and again “Women and men, all the men and women, all came from the One Primal Lord God.” (SGGS page 983). Further to make sure that people of both the Muslim and Hindu religions were listening, Bhagat Kabir say this: “You fashioned all these men and women, Lord. All these are Your Forms. Kabeer is the child of God, Allah, Raam. All the Gurus and prophets are mine. ||5||” (SGGS page 1349), mentioning that “God”, Allah (the Muslim name for God) and Raam (the Hindu name for God) are all honoured.

  From the 1500’s, the women in India had support from the Sikh Gurus and the wrongful practise of discrimination against women very slowly began to disappear from this region. However, due to entrenched position of various sub-cultures within the sub-continent, cases of gender discrimination are still present in small numbers in various parts of this region, especially in rural communities.