Women's Rights Throughout History Essay Example

For a long time, women's rights have been a hot topic. The overwhelming blend of sexism, racism, and economic inequality pretty much embrace everything on a national and global basis. Women's rights are an essential issue today, but they have always been an important one in history.

The fight for women's suffrage in the United States was driven by the mid-nineteenth-century women's rights movement. In July 1848, in Seneca Falls, New York, Elizabeth Cady Stanton led the first attempt to build a national movement for women's rights. Economic and educational disparities, limited marriage and property laws, and social and cultural norms all hindered women from enjoying "all the rights and privileges which belong to them as citizens of the United States," according to Stanton (The Women’s Rights Movement 1848–1917). Women's rights movements have pushed hard for many years to address this issue, fighting for legislative change or taking to the streets to demand that their rights be recognized.

Elizabeth Stanton and Susan B. Anthony soon formed a lifetime alliance as a women's rights activist in 1850. After the civil war, they helped build a movement dedicated to women’s suffrage and pushed lawmakers to guarantee their rights during Reconstruction. Following the freedom of four million enslaved African Americans. It was unclear whether women would be granted the same rights as men (The Women’s Rights Movement 1848–1917). Even when Elizabeth Stanton and Susan B. Anthony persuaded legislators to guarantee their rights during reconstruction, there was no guarantee that women would have the same rights as men.

The issues that women in undeveloped countries face are numerous, and trauma-centered feminism is one of them. It's especially prominent on college campuses, where young women are told that they're fragile, defenseless, and in danger. “A new trauma-centered feminism has taken hold. Its primary focus is not equality with men, but rather protection from them” (Politico Magazine). Women are constantly informed that they are in danger wherever they go. Women's sexual and reproductive health and rights are still a concern. A woman's total health and well-being are dependent on her sexual and reproductive health. Women's sexual rights have been protected through interpreting the human rights to privacy and non-discrimination. Another area where international human rights law protects women's rights to make informed decisions about their reproductive rights and health is forced sterilization. The CEDAW Committee ruled that Hungary had violated the complainant's rights when a public hospital forced her to undergo a sterilization operation. In reaching its finding, the Committee cited General Recommendation 19: "Compulsory sterilization has a harmful impact on women's physical and mental health, and infringes on women's freedom to select the number and spacing of their children." (International Justice Resource Center). Women's sexual and reproductive rights have been and continue to be violated.

Women's rights are still a significant issue now, as they have always been throughout history. For a long time women's rights have been a matter of discussion, and they continue to encounter challenges. Trauma-centered feminism, sexual and reproductive rights, and health continue to be issues for women. The women's rights movement supported the campaign for women's suffrage in the United States. Despite this, many women around the world continue to confront challenges.