We discussed the question of human rights in International Politics last week. Yes, the question of human rights; no, human rights are not necessarily universally implied.
Professor, male, American, Argentinean, social constructivist, father posed the question: “whose responsibility is it to take care of the states’ citizens? Is it someone outside the states’ responsibility to take care of an exploited country’s citizens?”
“Why should I care? It isn’t my responsibility to aid an exploited person, an exploited country,” responded student, male, American, Asian, political-orientation uncertain.
“Why wouldn’t I just look out for myself? Helping someone else won’t help me in any way; it will set me back,” asserted student, male, American, white, conservative.
Firstly and foremost, I am a woman. Above being an American, a New Yorker, a liberal, a student, part-white, part-Hispanic, half Catholic, half Jewish, I am a woman. That is something I cannot hide from. Maybe if my skin were darker, my features more pronounced, my faith — or lack thereof — visible on my sleeve, I would identify differently. But I cannot hide from being a woman, and neither can any other woman.
“But you can’t deny the fact that your family raised you in the United States and you are lucky you have the opportunities you have,” refuted student, male, American, white, conservative.
I know that I am fortune, in a relative kind of way. I know that I do not live in a war-torn country where rape is used as a systematic tactic of war.
I know that I have a family who loves me, education that protects me, and a house that shelters me, to a certain extent. These luxuries do buffer me from gender-based violence, sexism to a certain extent.
Raise your hand if you are a woman and you have ever been sexually harassed, either verbally or physically.
Raise your hand if you are a woman and have been condemned, either verbally or physically, for expressing your sexuality because it is considered “taboo.”
Raise your hand if you’re a woman and have ever been called a whore, a slut or a cunt.
Raise your hand if are a woman who has been abused, either verbally or physically.
Raise your hand if you are a woman who has been raped.
Look around you, and look around the world at the number of women with their hands raised. More importantly, look at the women who cannot raise their hands because of the stigma inextricably tied to sexual abuse.
And if you don’t believe me, face the facts; in the United States, 17.6 percent of women have survived a completed or attempted rape. At Connecticut College, that means that since 90 percent of our population are American and 60 percent are women, close to 200 of our female peers identify with this fact.
Globally, at least one in three women is beaten or sexually abused in her lifetime. At Conn, that means that close to 400 of our female peers identify with this fact.
This is what makes me a global citizen as a woman; although violence against women is relative to where you live, it is universal. It is global.
How can we create change, obliterate inequality, assure human rights for every person regardless of race, socioeconomic status, gender or sexuality?
“I believe in liberty, in the equal treatment of each of us, however I recognize political realities. Two hundred years ago this country and many others enslaved non-whites. Women could not vote. These things, regardless of how you feel, to me, have all changed for the better,” voiced professor, male, American, Argentinean, social constructivist, father, global citizen.
He continued, “can we reach a point where economic inequality will not exist? No. It is human nature to protect what we possess. The question is: how much are we willing to sacrifice?”
And that is the question we must contemplate. Not the question of human rights, but the question of “what can I do?” “How do I identify and how does that shape the things I care about?”
