Bahar, Saba. “Human Rights Are Women’s Rights; Amnesty International and the Family.” Hypatia, vol. 11, no. 1 (Winter, 1996): 105-134.
Study Questions
1. In the past, what violations of human rights did the international human rights movement focus on? What violations did it ignore?
2. Feminist human rights activists are expanding the concept of human rights. What is the fundamental idea on which the idea of “rights” rests?
3. Before the 1990s, did Amnesty International have a focus on state-related violence against women?—on violence against women in the home? Why or why not?
4. In the 1995 Human Rights Are Women’s Rights report, what four new steps emphasize that government-sponsored discrimination against women contributes directly to human rights violations in the private sphere?
5. Does the 1995 mandate of Amnesty International radically redefine human rights, according to Bahar? Explain.
6. According to Bahar, what does the 1995 report overlook?
7. Why should reproductive rights be considered human rights (not private rights), according to Bahar?
8. How far does Canada’s Immigration and Refugee Board go in recognizing women’s rights as human rights?
