It is a violation of human rights when babies are denied…
““It is a violation of human rights when babies are denied food, or drowned, or suffocated, or their spines broken, simply because they are born girls. It is a violation of human rights when women and girls are sold into the slavery of prostitution. It is a violation of human rights when women are doused with gasoline, set on fire and burned to death because their marriage dowries are deemed too small. It is a violation of human rights when individual women are raped in their own communities and when thousands of women are subjected to rape as a tactic or prize of war. It is a violation of human rights when a leading cause of death worldwide among women ages 14 to 44 is the violence they are subjected to in their own homes. It is a violation of human rights when young girls are brutalized by the painful and degrading practice of genital mutilation. It is a violation of human rights when women are denied the right to plan their own families, and that includes being forced to have abortions or being sterilized against their will. If there is one message that echoes forth from this conference, it is that human rights are women's rights - and women's rights are human rights. Let us not forget that among those rights are the right to speak freely - and the right to be heard. [From 'Women's Rights Are Human Rights' Speech Beijing, China: 5 September 1995]””
About This Quote
This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.
The speech enumerates numerous violations against women and girls, asserting that gender equality is essential to human rights and urging global action.
In simple terms: Women face many abuses; gender equality is a human right.
Advocate for gender‑based rights worldwide.
Themes
Mood
Type
When to use this quote
- policy reform
- education campaigns
- legal advocacy
- support services
Key Concepts
Questions to Reflect On
- What policies can best protect women’s rights?
- How can societies shift harmful norms?
Cultural resistance can hinder reforms.