Part I The human rights of women and girls Indivisible: This concept expresses the idea that there is no priority among rights. In practice, however, women and girls can experience very real challenges when different rights come into conflict, such as religious freedom and the prohibition on sex-based discrimination. However, the idea behind “indivisibility” is very important. It acknowledges the complexity of the challenges that women face; it recognizes that all human rights contribute to dignity and well-being and that it is not possible to “pick and choose” which rights should be protected and which ones can be ignored. Interdependent: The enjoyment and fulfilment of some rights may depend on other rights being respected and protected. For example, the right of women not to be discriminated against in laws is essential for them to realize the right to property and equal rights in marriage. Likewise, the right of women to exercise choice in relation to reproduction is essential for them to realize all aspects of the right to health. 1.2. WHY THE RIGHTS OF WOMEN AND GIRLS NEED SPECIAL ATTENTION The description of human rights above makes clear that all human rights apply equally to women and girls and that certain rights, such as political or economic rights, cannot be reserved solely for men or otherwise protected and respected differently for women. This understanding was first recognized in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which proclaimed that everyone was entitled to enjoy human rights and fundamental freedoms “without distinction of any kind”, including distinction based on sex. The core international human rights treaties, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, also affirm that the rights they contain apply to all persons, without distinction of any kind, and expressly guarantee the right of women and men to the equal enjoyment of those rights.14 However, from the earliest days of the human rights movement, it was apparent that forces within society – forces of culture and tradition, as well as the dominant economic, social and political interests – operate to prevent human rights from applying equally to women and girls. Those same forces have also had a direct impact on how human rights were conceived and how the international human rights system itself has evolved over time. The main problems relating to the recognition of “women’s human rights” can be usefully summarized as follows. • The process by which human rights were conceptualized and defined did not involve significant participation by women or consideration of violations of human dignity that particularly affect women. This exclusion, at such a crucial stage, at least partly explains the general failure to consider gender (see definition below) as a factor in defining the substantive content of rights. • A widespread belief in and commitment to the underlying objectivity and “gender neutrality” of core human rights prevented recognition of the fact that equal treatment of persons in unequal situations will invariably perpetuate, rather than eradicate, injustices. • Many issues of urgent concern to women – such as underdevelopment, extreme poverty, illiteracy, gender segregation, lack of reproductive choice and systemic violence – were either not defined as human rights issues at all or were not made the subject of legally binding norms. This has contributed to a failure of the main international human rights mechanisms to address these issues. • The structure of international human rights law has traditionally excluded actions that occur in the private sphere and violations caused by non-State actors. This approach disadvantages women, who more often live outside the public domain, by rendering invisible many of the violations committed against them. 14 Articles 2(2) and 2(2) respectively. Chapter 1: Why focus on women’s and girls’ human rights? | 3