Two Major International Human Rights Issues
The two major international human rights issues discussed in this paper are:John Lennon once wrote a song, which said, "Women are the niggers of the world..." The words, unfortunately, are an accurate description of the plight of women since times immemorial. The biological differences between the male and female human species have obviously been the root cause behind the traditional discrimination against women in most societies. The child-bearing ability and physically weaker bodies of the females have resulted in relegating them to a restricted role as mothers and wives. On the other hand, the male who did not have to suffer from the 'disadvantage' of bearing children and possessed greater physical strength, assumed the role of the 'provider' outside the home, and began to dominate the women. The widespread belief that women were intellectually inferior to men also contributed to their lowly status in the society, which was even accepted by the women themselves until as late as the 19th century when the first stirrings of the women's rights movement were felt in the Western world. Since then, women in Western societies have managed to win several key rights s
If the rest of the countries, which are currently outside the treaty, can be persuaded to join it, landmines may become a thing of the past in not too distant a future. The practice has been difficult to stop due to poverty, corruption, and huge profits involved as well as the involvement of the organized criminal world in human trafficking. The argument is refuted by a 1996 study of the International Committee of Red Cross (ICRC) which concluded: "There is no clear evidence that anti-personnel land mines are indispensable weapons of high military value" and "their use in accordance with military doctrine is time-consuming, expensive and dangerous and has seldom occurred under combat conditions" ("Anti-personnel mines: Not an indispensable weapon" 1996). In Africa, women are at high risk of contacting AIDS/ HIV from their husbands who commonly engage in sex outside marriage, since they are unable to demand the use of condoms due to threat of violence. In some countries such as India, the gender bias against women is so pronounced that it is not unusual for middle class women to opt for abortion if the sex of the unborn baby has been determined as female through pre-birth tests. deaths in Vietnam were caused by mines; (Drinan, 1994) and in the 1991 Gulf War, land mines caused 34% of U. , that anti-personnel mines have their legitimate uses just like other weapons such as bombs and tanks; hence they do not want to forego their 'right' to produce and use them. According to the Land mine Monitoring Report, 2003, only 15 % of reported landmine casualties in 2002 were identified as military personnel, while the overwhelming majority of the victims were civilians ("What's the Problem?" 2006). Even in the Western world, gender equality has not been fully achieved with issues such as sexual harassment in the workplace, unequal pay, and invisible 'glass ceilings' often confronting the working women. Sexual violence against women is still a norm in several societies. Unfortunately, 40 countries including the U. Apart from its high cost, mine-clearing is a painstaking, life-threatening job especially in places where the mines have not been properly mapped5 or have moved since they were laid (Strobel, 1994). In any case, the long-term humanitarian costs of the anti-personnel land mines far outweigh any limited military utility they may have. Anti-Personnel Land Mines Anti-Personnel land mines3 are among the most vicious weapons ever developed; they kill or injure indiscriminately; are deliberately designed to maim, often requiring amputation of limbs; they continue to kill decades after the end of a conflict; more than 80 countries around the world have a land mine problem, and continue to claim more than 15,000 fresh victims every year-most of them innocent civilians ("What's the Problem?" 2006).
Common topics in this essay:
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Acceptance Essays
