Human Rights and Gender Violence

Description

In the light of these new perspectives, the present book attempts to discuss some of the critical emerging concerns of different countries and the 21st century challenges to social system. The United Nations defines Human Rights as “rights inherent to all human beings, regardless of race, sex, nationality, ethnicity, language, religion, or any other status“. These rights include the right to life and liberty, freedom of opinion and expression, the right to work and education, freedom from slavery and torture, and many others. Every person in the world is entitled to enjoy these rights without any form of discrimination. There is no excuse for gender-based violence (GBV) to still persist (and in such high rates) throughout countries and cultures around the globe. Yet, the existing data available shows alarming figures of violence against women and girls, and it unveils the brutal reality of so many who still have to live in fear for their lives at home or in public spaces, every day. Equally alarming and unacceptable is that so often discriminatory national legislations and unprepared law-enforcement officers, judges, social and health workers help to perpetuate or aggravate the consequences of violence inflicted on women and girl. People who experience gender violence may suffer from different human rights violations – for example the right to life, freedom from torture and degrading treatment, freedom from discrimination and the right to safety and security. All these rights can be found in international and regional human rights documents, in particular by the United Nations and by the Council of Europe. The book would be found immensely useful both by the students and practitioners of human rights and gender violence and would serve as a reference book to encourage further debate and discussions amongst the academics.