Transcript WOMEN'S RIGHTS

Human rights are rights which pertain to all human beings. These
rights are seen as universal, which signifies that they are meant for
everyone, no matter what their race, religion, ethnicity or nationality
age, sex, political opinion, intelligence, disability, sexual orientation,
are. They are guaranteed by the law which protects and defends
individuals and groups’ rights.
Founded on respect for dignity and worth of each person they are:

Universal: They apply to all people simply on the basis of being
human.


Inalienable: They cannot be taken away simply because we do not
like the person seeking to exercise their rights. They can only be
limited in certain tightly defined circumstances, and some rights,
such as the prohibition on torture and slavery, can never be
limited.
Indivisible: You cannot pick and choose which rights you want to
honour. Many rights depend on each other to be meaningful – so,
for example, the right to a fair trial would be meaningless without
the prohibition on discrimination, and the right to free speech
must go hand in hand with the right to assemble peacefully.
ELENA LEMME.
We cannot say exactly when human rights were born because
they are the fruit of a long evolution. Both in Greece and in
ancient Rome only the citizens could participate to political
life, or rather adult and free men; children, women and slaves
were excluded, instead. An important contribution was given
by Christianity which assumed the idea of men’s equality
before God.
Three important documents are:

The Magna Charta Libertatum, issued in 1215. It contains
a list of rights recognized only to the most important
social classes (archbishops, bishops, abbots, priors,
counts and barons).

The Habeas Corpus Act, issued in 1679. It established that
nobody could be arrested and deprived of his own freedom,
arbitrarily, that is without real evidence of his guilt.

The Bill of Rights was approved in 1689. It affirmed the
freedom of religion, speech, press.
The Declaration of American Independence of the
American colonies was issued in 1776. It stated
that all men are created equal, so they have the
right to: freedom, equality, in the pursuit of
happiness. Enclosed to it, then, was also the
Declaration the Right of Man which claimed: the
right to life, to freedom of speech, press, religion,
and political reunion. At the end of the French
Revolution in 1789 the Declaration of Men and
Citizens’ rights was drawn up. It established as
fundamental rights: equality, liberty of press,
thought, religion, the right to personal property and
the presumptuousness of innocence.
While the Declaration of Independence and the
French Declaration were linked to the citizens of
particular countries, the Universal Declaration of
Men’s Rights represents a historical step forward:
because it is not the declaration of an only state. A
lot of states in the world joined it, giving life to a
wide organization: the Organization of the United
Nations. Today the States Members of the United
nations are 189. The main aim of the UNO is to
keep peace and guarantee international security by
promoting and encouraging the respect of men’s
rights without distinction of sex, race, language or
religion and to defend the rights of weak categories
of people: such as women, children and refugees.
ISOTTA COLANGELO
Human rights education can be defined as education,
training and information aimed at building a universal
culture of human rights.
Effective human rights education not only provides
knowledge about human rights but also develops the
skills needed to promote, defend and apply human rights
in daily life.
Human rights education also fosters the attitudes needed
to uphold human rights for all members of society.
Human rights education activities should convey
fundamental human rights principles, such as equality
and
non-discrimination,
while
affirming
their
interdependence, indivisibility and universality.
At the same time, activities should be practical—relating
human rights to learners’ real-life experience and enabling
them to build on human rights principles found in their own
cultural context.
Through such activities, learners are empowered to
identify and address their human rights needs and to seek
solutions consistent with human rights standards.
Moreover for those who have the responsibility for
respecting, protecting and fulfilling the rights of others,
human rights education develops their capacity to do so.
Both what is learned and the way in which it is learned
should
reflect
human
rights
values,
encourage
participation and foster a learning environment free from
fear.
STEFANIA SCLOCCO
First of all a child is any under age human being. According to
Cornell University, a child is a person, not a “sub person”. The
field of children's rights spans the fields of law, politics,
religion, and morality. Children's rights are the human rights
of children with particular attention to the rights of special
protection and care afforded to minors, including their right to
association with both parents, human identity as well as the
basic needs for food, universal state-paid education, health
care and criminal laws, equal protection of the child's civil
rights, and freedom from discrimination. UNICEF is an
association that safeguards infancy, it was born In 1946. In
1959 the Declaration of Infancy Rights was issued to protect
and defend children. Thirty years later, in 1989, the
International Convention of Infancy Rights established: the
right of life, the right of growth, the right to protection from
abuse, the right to be listened.
All violations of children’s rights can legitimately be described as
harmful practices, but the common characteristic of the violations
highlighted in this report is that they are based on tradition,
culture, religion.
In the world the most widespread violation of children's rights is
child labour. It takes different forms:

Housework The work done by the children in the house of
other people.

Forced Labour Children pay the debts of their parents working
in the fields, kilns, quarries, etc..

Sexual Exploitation  girls are mostly involved in child
prostitution. Some countries allow this violation because they
make huge profits.

Street Work Millions of children work in the streets selling
newspapers, washing windows, scrubbing shoes, transporting
goods and people

Family work it is held in the house of their parents. It is heavy
when it forces children to work long hours distancing them from
school.
Among the forms of children’s labour the phenomenon of
children soldiers should be taken into particular account. The
principal causes of this phenomenon are:

Ethnic, religious and civil reasons  they involve the whole
society.

Economic reasons  children soldiers do not require
payroll and can be easily influenced and controlled.

Physical reasons  they are more agile and clever.
Children soldiers can carry out different tasks:

they can be involved in the transportation of ammunition,
mines and guns.

they can make suicide attacks.
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they are used as spies.
The consequences are devastating as clearly imaginable .
MARIAVITTORIA SANTARELLI
Women's rights are the rights and entitlements claimed for
women and girls of many societies worldwide.
In some places these rights are institutionalized or
supported by law, local custom, and behaviour, whereas in
others they may be ignored or suppressed. They differ from
broader notions of human rights through claims of an
inherent historical and traditional bias against the exercise
of rights by women and girls in favour of men and boys.
Issues commonly associated with notions of women's rights
include: bodily integrity and autonomy; vote (suffrage);
public offices; work; fair wages or equal pay; personal
property; education; military service or conscription; legal
contracts; marital, parental and religious rights.
On 8th March, 1908 one hundred and twenty-nine American
female workers died in their factory in New York during a fire.
They had protested against low wages and abuse. As a
consequence, their employer shut them up in their own factory.
When the factory caught fire there was no way out for those
women. They all died. Their graves were all covered with little
bunches of mimosa, a flower which grew in the fields near the
factory.
Since then, 8th of March has been celebrated as Women's day
when mimosa bunches are usually distributed as a present.
Then this day has been dedicated not only to the improvement
of women's status, but it has almost become a public holiday.
The hope for women and fortunately also for lots of men, is
that the 8th March should not be the only day in the year when
women deserve some consideration for what they are and they
do. This positive attitude should become the rule.
BENEDETTA BELFIGLIO
In classrooms, in corridors and in yards, only a few
students respect rules. Students ask for rigorous
punishment and they also want teachers to demonstrate
their authority. 63% of students assert that they see
some episodes of violence and 37% claim that they put
up with it. The school should be a peaceful community,
but some members do not respect rules. The most
widespread acts of violence are psychological. A lot of
students use some rumors to insult their peers. A third
of the interviewed admits that they never defend their
friends. Only few students talk about bullying with their
families. The people that talk about it with their families
receive only ‘’Don’t worry’’ or ‘’defend yourself’’ as
advice from their parents.
Female gangs are getting more and more
widespread, especially in France and in
Great Britain. However, also in Italy there
have been similar cases. In Milan a 17-yearold girl was hit by girls. In Novara a 15-yearold girl reported to the police 4 female
classmates. According to the data of the
Italian pediatric society, girls in schools
claim that they manage to confront their
male classmates.
In order to change the behaviour of a bully-boy/girl we
have to change our mind first. Bullying is like mafia: it
can survive only if nobody talks about it. What is ‘’a
bully’’? A bully is a person who acts violently, physically
or psychologically, on a victim who cannot defend
himself or herself. Bullying has always existed but it
became visible only when a crime was committed. But
some years ago, after a boy affected by the downsyndrome was hit and mocked by 4 classmates, the
problem became more serious. The association ‘’S.O.S.
bullying’’ was born. Its aim is to create a solidarity
culture. In primary schools there are training courses for
teachers. In secondary schools there are training
programs for groups of peers. That means that voluntary
children from 4th and 5th classes are trained in order to
protect younger children.
ALESSIA SIMONE
In one class, there was this boy who sat in my group." He
looked like a nice guy, but wow, was I wrong about that. This
boy only saw me as an easy target. I had big glasses at that
time, so maybe that just spelled out "nerd" in his mind. I'm not
sure what his reasons were, but I didn't want to get to know
him better just to figure that out. Anyway, he didn't throw
punches or do anything violent like that, but he teased me as
if there was no tomorrow. He made fun of me about my look,
the way I acted and talked, and so on. Whatever I said to him,
he didn't take it seriously and just said "you're stupid". My
mum found out that someone was making me unhappy at
school and she said that I should go and speak to a teacher
for help. So, I went up to the teacher and I said: “He has
teased me for days, and I really don't like it." The teacher told
the boy: “Be kind to Luigi. Have I made myself clear?" He
didn't really react, just gave a quiet nod or a short "Okay." .
Indeed things have not changed since then and I'm still afraid
of him.
Luigi Chiavetta’s interview
J: Hello! We are carrying out a survey on “What people think of human rights”.
Do you mind answering some of our questions?
A: Surely not!
J: What is your name?
A: I am Alessia Simone.
J: Nice to meet you, Alessia. What do you do? Do you work?
A: No, I’m unemployed, it’s hard to find a good job opportunity today.
J: Yes, I think so, too. This survey is about “what people think of human
rights”. So, to start…, what do you think of “The right to work?
A: All people should find a job suitable to their inclinations and interests.
J: How should a State which bases its constitution on labour be like?
A: Any State which bases its constitution on labour should guarantee the right
to exercise and protect it. Each work should be constructive for the moral or
the spiritual growth of the company. Although work is a right, it is not
guaranteed to everyone.
J: Thank you for your kindness.
A: You’re welcome, bye.
J: bye.
Alessia Simone’s interview
J: Hello everyone, I am in the “Mazzocco” middle school, here
with me there is a
teacher, Stefania Sclocco, she is
going to talk about the education to the respect of human
rights for children?
S: The education to the respect of human rights for children
is a fundamental theme because childhood is the ideal
time to start talking and learning about human rights.
J: Which are the fundamental bases of education?
S: Human rights education must be based on the respect of
the personal self and others’, on the appreciation of
differences and on the respect of the dignity and worth of
each person.
J: Thanks a lot for your answers, goodbye.
S: Goodbye.
J: Hello Jane. What can you tell us about human rights?
JA: Hi! What do you want to know about them?
J: First of all, why don’t you explain the meaning of human rights to us?
JA: Well, Human rights are those rights which are inherent to the human
being, without distinction as to social origin, race, colour, sex, language,
religion, political or other opinion.
J: Are human rights guaranteed by someone or something?
JA: Oh yes, they’re legally guaranteed by human rights law that does not
establish them because they are inherent entitlements which come to every
person as a consequence of being human.
J: What are their main characteristics?
JA: The most important are: they are founded on respect for the dignity and
worth of each person, they are universal, which means they are applied
equally to all people, they are inalienable or rather no one can have his or her
human rights taken away; in the end they are indivisible, interrelated and
interdependent, in practice, the violation of one right will often affect respect
for other rights.
J: So this is all we should know about human rights, isn’t it?
JA: Yes, this is the basic information to must know about the topic.
J: Thanks for answering our questions, bye, bye!
JA: Bye.
Isotta Colangelo interview..
J: Good morning.
B: Good morning.
J: Do you mind if we ask you some questions? They concern “Human Rights”.
B: Of course not.
J: Okay. So, what is your name?
B: My name is Benedetta Belfiglio.
J: Well, Do you work?
B: Oh, I don’t work because I have three little sons and I “work” with them all days long.
J: Considering your large experience as a mother, in your opinion: “What is a child?”
B: Well, first of all a child is a person like the others, endowed with the same rights as any
other being. According to Cornell University, a child is a person that must be encouraged,
listened and encouraged. The field of children's rights spans the fields of law, politics,
religion, and morality.
J: What are children’s rights?
B: Children's rights are the human rights of children with particular attention to the rights
of special protection and care afforded to minors, including their right to association with
both parents, human identity as well as the basic needs for food, universal state-paid
education, health care, equal protection of the child's civil rights, and freedom from
discrimination.
J: Can you mention an association safeguarding infancy?
B: UNICEF is an association that safeguards infancy, it was born In 1946. In 1959 was
issued the Declaration of infancy rights to protect and defend children. In 1989 was passed
the International Convention of Infancy Rights that established: the right of life, the right of
growth, the right to protection from abuse, the right to be listened. Personally, I think they
are all really important to live in a better world.
J: I think so, too, goodbye.
B: Goodbye.
Benedetta Belfiglio’s interview