Rights of Women

Women's rights have not always and are still sometimes not upheld in this world in which we live.  Women, as citizens of this world, are entitled to all the same rights as men under the UNHR.  There are, however areas in which women's rights are violated more often than men.  What rights do you think these might be?

In some countries, women's rights are institutionalized or supported by law, local custom, and behaviour.  In other places women's rights may be ignored or suppressed. This is often the case when local custom through inherent historical and traditional bias in regards to women's and girl's rights differs from broader notions of human rights and therefore favours men and boys.

Issues commonly associated with notions of women's rights include, though are not limited to, the right: to bodily integrity and autonomy; to vote (suffrage); to hold public office; to work; to fair wages or equal pay; to own property; to education; to serve in the military or be conscripted; to enter into legal contracts; and to have marital, parental and religious rights.

In many, many countries woman struggle just to keep themselves and their children alive.  Worrying about the vote, about holding public office, about legal contracts, etc. are all beyond their ken. What are some of the issues of survival that keep women so occupied that they cannot stand up for their rights?

But it is not all bad news.  There are people who are stepping forward to help women help themselves all around the world.

   

We are going to watch the film, "End of Poverty".  We will discuss this film in class.

Homework

What would you be willing to do to help impoverished women or children around the world?  Write in your journal.

If you want to read books on poverty, try:

• BC 929.2 MCC - Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt
• FIC SWA - Slumdog Millionaire by Vikas Swarup
• 305.569 CAP - The War At Home: An Intimate Portrait of Canada's Poor by Pat Capponi
• 307.76 CRA - Hope in the Shadows by Brad Cran and Gillian Gerome 
• 338.91 MOY - Dead Aid by Dambisa Moyo
• 339.46 NOV - The Blue Sweater by Jacqueline Novogratz
• 362.5 CAM - The Door is Open by Bart Campbell
• 361.2 LEW - Race Against Time by Stephen Lewis
• 362.5 HUR - Pay the Rent or Feed the Kids by Mel Hurtig
• 362.5 SEA - The No-nonsense Guide to World Poverty by Jeremy Seabrook
• 362.5 SIN - The Life You Can Save by Peter Singer
• 362.5 STA - Out of Poverty And Into Something More Comfortable by John Stackhouse
• 363.8 BER - Hunger: Examining Cause and Effect Relationships by Neal Bernards
• 399.46 SAC - End of Poverty: Economic Possibilities for our Time by Jeffrey Sachs
• 960 CAP - The Betrayal of Africa by Gerald Caplan
• 971.1 MOR - Stoney Creek Woman by Bridget Moran

Child Soldiers

All over the world, children are recruited or kidnapped and forced to become soldiers.  They face combat, they cook and clean, carry supplies and weapons, and they are forced to act as sexual partners to the adult soldiers.  Children lose their futures and often their lives.

Discussion:

• Not all children involved in armed conflict are kidnapped.  Some are recruited and some choose to seek out the military forces.  Why would they do this?  What choices do they have?
• What are the reasons for using children in armed conflict?
• What are the moral issues of using children in armed conflict?
• How does society suffer when children are used in armed conflict?
• Which articles from the UNCRC are meant to protect children from use in armed conflict?

In your homework you read about Omar Khadr who was a 15-year-old child soldier in Afghanistan.

How are child soldiers supposed to be treated when they are captured? 

We will now watch the CBC documentary, US vs. Omar Khadr.  Think about how Omar Khadr is treated and how this treatment fits into the Articles.  If you miss watching this movie in class, you can see it on YouTube.

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

Read the following stories: Globe and Mail  New York Post War and Peace.

What have NGOs and other organizations done to help child soldiers.  Watch this video by Witness (www.witness.org).

For homework you have two pieces of writing to do:

1. In your journal, write what you think about Omar Khadr.  What is your opinion as to his guilt or innocence and his treatment at Guantanamo Bay.
2. On your blog write about the differences in the three stories.  Why are they so different?  Can you see any flaws in their logic?  How would you answer each of these writers?

Want to read about child soldiers?  You can try these books in the library:

• 306.362 BAL - Disposable people: New slavery in the Global Economy by Kevin Bales
• 331.1 HER - Child Labor Today: A Human Rights Issue by Wendy Herumin
• 331.3 MOD - Modern Slavery and the Global Economy 
• 335.009 DAL - They Fight Like Soldiers, They Die Like Children by Romeo Dallaire
• 966.4 BEA - Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beal

 

The Rights of the Child

Working On The Building

The Orphanage in Jo Slovo

The Orphanage in Jo Slovo

The Babies in the Creche

The Children

Lions Club Helping With the Wall

Children Celebrating the New Playground

First Time Ever With A Bouncy Castle - Christmas '10

Fascinated by a Puppet Show - Christmas '10

Yesterday you met Neil Tubb and heard his presentation on Project Hope.  Looking at the pictures and having heard what he said, what rights for these children are now being met?

Read in GV pp 23-34.  Consider the following:

• What rights are being violated and what are being upheld in these short columns?
• What prevents the rights from being up-held?  
• What role does education play in changing the situation for the poor in developing countries?
• What can you, personally, do to help create change?
• At the top of this blog it says "If we do not understand why something is wrong, we cannot make it right."  Do you agree with this statement?  If it is true, why did the lessons learned from the Holocaust not prevent the Rwandan genocide?

 When you have considered these, go into the library, log in to your blog and write a reflection on your reading and these questions.

Homework:  Read pp 37-45 in GV.

United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child

Place your Human Rights posters up around the room.  Looking at these posters, get into small groups (3 or 4 people) and brainstorm how individuals and world leaders can and should protect and honour these rights.

• Can the rights in the UDHR be applied equally to adults and children?  
• What are the differences between adults and children?
• Do children need rights of their own?  Why or why not?
• What rights should children have that adults don't need?

Homework

Each person will be assigned two articles of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC).  Create a poster for each just as you did for the UDHR.

Next Monday, we will have a speaker.  His name is Neil Tubb.  Neil founded Project Hope - a charity that aids orphans in the Township of Jo Slovo, near Capetown, South Africa.  To prepare for his presentation, please go to his blog and read about what he has been doing in conjunction with the Tableview Lions Club.

Above: Vivian Nukuzola Dlabantu
Below: Neil Tubb

Human Rights

We will be watching the movie: Global Issues for Students: Human Rights.  While we are watching this film you should have your blog open in front of you.  Write short answers to the following questions in your blog:

1. What was the purpose of human rights movements in the 19th and 20th centuries?
2. In what ways are human rights violated today?
3. What limitations does the Universal Declaration have?
4. In what ways do women suffer discrimination in various countries around the world?
5. What is Sharia?  Why do some consider it to violate human rights agreements? 
6. Why did the US response to 9-11 spark international concerns about possible human rights violations?
7. What happened in Tiananmen Square in June 1989.
8. How do NGOs defend human rights?
9. What conditions limit political and and legal efforts to protect human rights?

Once the film is finished, consider one of the following topics and write what you think - paragraph, point form, etc., as long as you can express your opinion in a way that I can understand.  You may also include pictures or video clips that illustrate your opinion.

• Torture of criminal suspects with the aim of extracting confessions is a routine practice in many countries.  Is there ever a time when this kind of behaviour is justified?
• Low-paid workers, often children, toil in sweatshops around the world.  How do you think we (in Canada) could best address the problem of worker exploitation?  What is the best way to ensure that companies adhere to a code of labour standards?
• Who is ultimately responsible for ensuring that human rights are protected around the world?  Does Canada have a responsibility or even a right to intervene in countries where violations are occurring?

Human Rights on Prezi

Looking at the Media

What role does the media play in the development, perpetuation or establishment of our beliefs?

Look at these pictures.  What messages are they giving us?

Ads, news reports and television shows that bombard us with their messages can change the way we think.

In groups, discuss ads, news reports or television shows that have really "stuck" for you.  How have they affected how you feel or what you think?  Do you think they change the way you or others behave?

Watch the following news clip.

Having watched the video, what responsibility does the media have towards social justice?

The following three clips are from TV shows focusing on African American families.  What messages are they giving?

Good Times (1974-1979)

The Cosby Show (1984-1992)

Tyler Perry's House of Payne (2006-2011)

  

These are three shows spread over close to 40 years depicting African American families.  What are they telling us?  Two of these shows were considered groundbreaking at the time.  Can you guess which ones they were?  What would have made them groundbreaking?

Look at this clip.  How much has changed since then?



Homework:

Read this article

CBC News - Music - Censor Dire Straits song: broadcast panel

Write on your blog what you think the media's responsibility is in terms of social justice.  What can you do to help the media make the best choices?