Women's Rights: An Overview

By Ubong S. Ebong Esq. -
#Know_Your_Rights

Today we'll be discussing briefly about women's rights which is a very broad area of law. It's significance and impact on the society cannot be over-emphasized. This short piece is coined from a paper I delivered a while back so if you're interested in the complete copy just let me know.

First of all, I believe we are all aware of the 'burdens' of being a woman in our Nigerian society. In light of these there are several safeguards in our laws for protecting the female folk. I prefer to classify these legal protections into two:
a) General rights
b) Gender specific rights.

a) General rights refer to those rights that are enjoyed by all persons by virtue of being human beings. These include the fundamental human rights contained in the Constitution, as well as economic, social, cultural and political rights. 

The fundamental rights are:
Right to life,
Right to dignity of human person,
Right to personal liberty,
Right to fair hearing,
Right to privacy and family life,
Right to freedom of expression and the press,
Right to freedom of movement,
Right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association,
Right to freedom from discrimination,
Right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion,
Right to own immovable property,
Right to compensation in the event of compulsory acquisition.

The economic, social, cultural and political rights include:
Right to education,
Right to healthcare,
Right to housing,
Right to water and sanitation,
Right to participate in politics,
Right to work and engage in business,
Right to enjoy the benefits of science and culture,
Right to rest and leisure etc.

b) The gender specific rights are provided by various national and international laws with particular emphasis/focus on women. Some of these rights include:
Right to equality,
Right to own personal property,
Right of inheritance,
Right to freedom from physical violence,
Right to freedom from socio-economic violence,
Right of maintenance after divorce,
Right to custody or visitation of children after divorce,
Right of occupation of property after divorce,
Right to shared ownership and enjoyment of assets based on contribution after divorce etc.

Before I round up let me quickly highlight few of these rights which I feel require more emphasis. As a woman you are entitled to equal treatment free from any form of discrimination on the basis of gender and this also applies in the workplace. You should also not be subjected to any form of degrading treatment because of your gender. You also have equal right to education and to hold political offices just like the men. You have the right to inherit your parents' properties and even our  modern day judicial system does not support customs and traditions that forbid inheritance by women. 

In cases of divorce a woman is entitled to; financial maintenance by her ex husband, custody of her children or at least the right to regularly see her kids, a place of residence paid for by her ex and the right to partake in profits from businesses owned by her ex which she financially contributed to. 

As a woman the law also protects you from both physical and socio-economic violence such as; rape, female circumcision, abandonment by her husband, forceful ejection from her home, beatings and other physical violence by her husband, forced financial dependence or economic abuse, deprivation of liberty, stalking, intimidation, coercion, attacks with harmful substances, harmful widowhood practices etc.

Women's rights are an important aspect of our society and it's about time we know these rights and uphold them. I am not a feminist and I'm not saying you should be one either. As a matter of fact I don't even agree with some of their principles. But we don't have to be feminists before we do the right thing and the right thing is to abolish the scourge of female subjugation and suppression in our unbalanced patriarchal society.

Cheers!
#KYR


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