The word ‘Woman’ refers to any female human, or specifically, to mean an adult female human as contrasted with a girl. It was only around the 16th century that the word ‘Girl’ came to mean specifically a female child.
Women’s Right are the privileges and entitlements bestowed on women and girls worldwide. These rights formed the basis for the Women’s Right Movement in the 19th century and the Feminist Movement during the 20th and 21st century.
The first women’s right convention was organized by Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott in July, 1848 in Seneca Falls, New York. This convention met and issued a declaration that called for women suffrage and for the right of women to education and employment opportunities. Also, in the 1920s Eleanor Roosevelt became fully involved in the women’s rights movements. Early women’s rights activist wanted more than suffrage. Voting was not their only goal, or even their main one. They battled racism, economic oppression and sexual violence along with the law that made married women a little more than property of their husbands.
Women’s Right include; the right to live free from violence and discrimination, to enjoy the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health, to be educated, to own property, to vote and to earn equal wage. But across the globe, many women and girls still face discrimination on the basis of sex and gender.
Nigeria has seen progressive advances in women’s right and status over the years, moving from a patriarchal society to one where women have equal opportunity in several areas of life. The 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria has to some extent made provisions for the right of women.
The pioneers of the women’s right include; Adekogbe, Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti, Wuraola Esan, Tanimowo Ogunlesi and Margaret Ekpo. They were staunch human right activist and they contributed to Nigeria’s Independence struggle. The Southern women were granted the right to vote in 1958.
Their Northern neighbors were only granted the same freedom in 1978, after a 20-year-wait. It was not until 1979 when all Nigerian women gained their voting right. To this day, Nigerian women still rally and fight to further their political voice
In Nigeria, women’s right appear to be protected.
The country is a signatory to many international convention and norms, such as the convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women and the Solemn Declaration on Gender Equality in Africa. Yet, this protection is mostly on paper. Despite much progress made in securing women’s right globally, millions of women and girls continue to experience discrimination and violence, being denied of their equality, dignity and autonomy and even a life.
Nigerian women join the rest of the world to celebrate the International Women’s Day, every March 8th. International Women’s Day is celebrated in many countries around the world. It is a day when women are recognized for their achievements without regard to divisions whether national, ethnic, linguistic, cultural, economic or political. Purple, Green and White are the colours of the International Women’s Day. Purple signifies justice, dignity and being loyal to the cause. Green symbolizes hope and White represents purity. The colours originated from the Women’s Social and Political Union (WSPU) in the UK in 1908.
There at various advantages of introducing or establishing rights of women. One of them is that, countries that actively include women in the workforce have more economic growth than countries that do not. The World Bank found that for every 1% increase in the population of girls educated, a country’s GDP increases by 3%. When economies grow, there are more employment opportunities, social services and development for everyone to enjoy.
Another benefit is that, Companies managed by women report more motivated workers and higher productivity than those managed by men. Though the reasons why are still contested. A Gallup poll found that individuals with female managers were 6% more engaged than those with make leaders. Similar studies have found that women may be more affirming and check in with their employees more often than make managers do, which results in motivation, interest and higher productivity.
The Women’s Movement were able to achieve some things like; Divorce laws were liberalized, employers were barred from firing pregnant women and women’s studies programs were created in colleges and universities. Record numbers of women ran for -and started winning- political office.
The passing of the Equal Pay Act in 1963, Title IX in 1972 and Roe v. Wade in 1973 were legislative victories for feminists. Another of the achievement was that, the Congress finally ratified the 19th amendment in 1920, granting women across the United States, the right to vote and moving one step closer towards equality for women.
Basically, Women’s rights are Human rights. Women should be allowed to live equally with men. They are not to be treated unfairly or in an unjust manner. The lives and rights of women matter too. This article was written by a student of Delta State University, Oleh Campus.
