Traditional Practices on Women and Children

Introduction
The rights to life and liberty, to freedom of expression and opinion, to participation in government and choice of employment, and to private property and general security in one's person these are just some of the rights that people around the globe have come to recognize as human rights those rights that all individuals have simply by virtue of their very humanity; rights that we expect all societies to guarantee to their citizens irrespective of a person's race, religion, gender, sexuality, or ethnicity; rights that we should have no matter where we live or who we are.
Understood as universal and inalienable, human rights have come to represent a common standard, a set of international norms against which we measure the actions of governments and the practices of communities.
They have come to function as the grounds on which we challenge particular policies and actions of states and the basis upon which we demand change or imagine a different, better future. With all that they do, with all that we expect from them, it is not surprising that human rights are cherished the world over.
1. Traditional Practices on Women and Children
On 24 May 1984, the UN Economic and Social Council requested the Secretary-General (resolution 1984/34) to entrust to a working group composed of experts designated by the Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities ; the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization ; and the World Health Organization the task of conducting a comprehensive study on the phenomenon of traditional practices affecting the health of women and children; and requested all interested non-governmental organizations to cooperate in the study.
2. Effects of Traditional Practices on Women and Children
The Working Group on Traditional Practices Affecting the Health of Women and Children held three sessions at the European office of the United Nations in Geneva, the first in March 1985, the second in September of that year, and the third in January 1986. On the basis of the documentation available to it, the Working Group submitted a report to the Commission on Human Rights in which it accorded priority consideration to such practices as
1. Female circumcision,
2. Preferential treatment for male children, and
3. Traditional birth practices.
3. Female Circumcision
The term, as used by the Working Group, refers to the traditional practice which consists in cutting away all, or part, of the external female genital organs. Although in most countries where it is practiced it is an integral part of the initiation rite," the operation has been shown to involve significant risks of damage to the mental and physical health of girls and women”.
4. Son Preference
Preference of parents for male children is a tradition in many parts of the world and often manifests itself in neglect, deprivation, or discriminatory treatment of girls to the detriment of their mental and physical health. According to the report of the Working Group, "it refers to a whole range of (Placeholder1)values and attitudes that are manifested in many different practices whose common feature is preference for the male child with daughter neglect often a concomitant result.
It may mean that a female child is disadvantaged since its birth, and may determine the quality and quantity of parental care and extent of investment on the child's development. It may lead to acute discrimination, particularly in settings where resources are scarce. Although neglect is the rule, in extreme cases son preference may lead to selective abortion or female infanticide but more often it involves neglect."
The area's most affected by the practice, the Working Group found:
“seem to be South Asia (Bangladesh, India, Nepal, and Pakistan), the Middle East (Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Libya, Morocco, Syria, Tunisia, and Turkey), and parts of Africa (Cameroon, Liberia, Madagascar, and Senegal). In Latin America, there is evidence of abnormal sex ratios in mortality in Ecuador, Mexico, Peru, and Uruguay”.
5. Traditional Childbirth Practices
In its consideration of traditional childbirth practices, the Working Group points out in its report that not all of them are harmful, and some are either beneficial or at least harmless. Among the beneficial practices, it lists breastfeeding, especially traditional "on demand" 12-month breastfeeding, which results in protection from infections and better nutrition and prolongs the intervals between births, and other traditional methods of birth spacing.
6. Action taken on the Report
After examining the Working Group's report, the UN Commission on Human Rights requested the Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities (resolution 1988/57) to consider, at its 1988 session, measures to be taken at the national and international levels to eliminate the practices described therein. “The Sub-Commission, responding to that request, called upon Mrs. Halima Embarek Warzazi (Morocco), who had acted as Chairman/Rapporteur of the Working Group, to study, on the basis of information to be gathered from governments, specialized agencies”.
Other intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations concerned, recent developments with regard to traditional practices affecting the health of women and children and to bring the results of her study to the attention of the Sub-Commission at its 1989 session.
Conclusion
It may conclude as among the harmful practices, it describes some of those considered to be the most harmful, including culturally prescribed dietary practices during pregnancy and puerperium, such as restrictions, in various localities, on the eating of meat, eggs, green vegetables, fruit, rice, milk, potatoes, and other nourishing foods; childbirth attended only by traditional birth attendants (TBAs), relatives, or no one at all in dark, secluded, and unsterile hideaways; unhygienic examinations, procedures, and operations; and improper treatment of complications, especially when TBAs delay recourse to trained medical.
Answer popular questions about human rights.
- What document guarantees international human rights?
- The Universal Declaration of Human Rights guarantees international human rights. The United Nations General Assembly passed this document in 1948.
- What international organizations are responsible for protecting human rights?
- International concern for human rights has been evident outside of the United Nations. The Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe, which met in Helsinki in 1973-75, produced the Helsinki Final Act. The European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, which first met in 1950, produced the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the European Social Charter; the Ninth Pan-American Conference of 1948 adopted the American Declaration on the Rights and Duties of Man; and the Organization of African Unity in 1981 adopted the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights. There are also a number of private groups involved in human-rights advocacy. One of the best-known international human rights agencies is Amnesty International (founded in 1961). This organization is responsible for broad casting violations of human rights, especially freedoms of speech and religion and the right of political dissent.
- When was the notion of human right worked out?
- Human rights belong to an individual as a consequence of being human. They refer to a wide range of values that are universal for all human beings. The origins of the concept of human rights are traced to the Greco-Roman natural-law doctrines of stoicism. According to the doctrines a universal force penetrates all creation and that human conduct should therefore be judged ac cording to the law of nature, and in the "law of nations", in which certain universal rights were extended beyond the rights of Roman citizenship. From the Renaissance until the 17th century the beliefs and practices of society so changed that the idea of human (or natural) rights took hold as a general social need and reality. The modernist conception of natural law (natural rights) was elaborated in the 17th and 18th centuries. The struggle against political absolutism in the late 18th and the 19th centuries further advanced the concept of human rights. In the 20th century the notion of human rights achieved universal acceptance.
- What are the basic human rights?
- The right to life and liberty are the basic human rights. They are proclaimed in the Covenant on Civil and Political rights and its optional protocol. One of the most vital rights granted in this Covenant is the right of people to self-determination. This document guarantees such rights as personal security, equality before the law, fair trial, freedom of religion, freedom of opinion and expression, peaceful assembly, right to marry, participation in public affairs and elections, and minority rights. Propaganda of war is prohibited. The right to security and privacy of person is very important too. The document insures fundamental freedoms for all without distinction as to race, sex, language, or religion.
- Do people have any social guarantees?
- Yes. Certainly we have such guarantees. Social guarantees of people are set forth in the Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural life. This document deals with the right to work, the conditions of work, trade unions, social security, protection of the family, standards of living and health, education and cultural life. The European Commission of Human Rights and the European Court of Human Rights provided the most effective means for the implementation of the protection of human rights. The efforts of government in this area should be guided by these two Covenants.
- What can you say about human rights in Russia?
- Now, when Russia has entered the way of democracy it is directed by the international covenants in the field of human right as the rest democratic countries of the world. Despite its great economic, political, and social difficulties the fundamental rights of the people are guaranteed by the Russian government. The protection of human rights is secured by the Russian constitution. Such human rights as freedom of religion, freedom of opinion and expression, peaceful assembly, right to marry, participation in public affairs and elections are guaranteed and embodied in different political, cultural, and social institutions, religious confessions, secular organizations, in a variety of mass media productions. Although not all human rights are equally put into life in our country so far, we are moving along the way of democracy and the new generation will enjoy all the human rights which are set forth in the international covenants.
References
An-Na'im, A. (2012a), “Human rights in cross-cultural perspectives: A quest for consensus” Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, pp.52-66
An-Na'im, A. (2012b), “The legal protection of human rights in Africa: How to do more with less” Oxford University Press, vol. 21, pp. 89-116
Beauchamp, L Thomas. & James, F. Childress. (2016), “Principles of Biomedical Ethics”, Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp.22-97
Beitz, C. (2001), “Human rights as common concern. American Political Science Review”, Oxford University Press, pp. 269-282
Bouchet, F Saulnier. (2017), “The practical guide to humanitarian law: First English language edition”, Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press pp. 41-65
Campbell, S Courtney. et al. (2018), “Biolaw: A Legal and Ethical Reporter on Medicine, Health Care, and Bioengineering”. Yale University Press, p. 12-32
Obesity in Children and Teens, Data Retrieved from http://www.aacap.org/cs/root/facts_for_families/obesity_in_children_and_teens on 29th September 2011