Reply to Sanders is the real feminist in this race

Forum Index » Political Discussion

Reply to "Sanders is the real feminist in this race"

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous]"But we must recognize that women will never gain full dignity until their human rights are respected and protected. Tragically, women are most often the ones whose human rights are violated. Even now, in the late20th century, the rape of women continues to be used as an instrument of armed conflict. Women and children make up a large majority of the world’s refugees. And when women are excluded from the political process, they become even more vulnerable to abuse.

I believe that now, on the eve of a new millennium, it’s time to break the silence. It’s time for us to say here, for the world to hear, that it is no longer acceptable to discuss women’s rights as separate from human rights. These abuses have continued because, for too long, the history of women has been a history of silence. Even today, there are those who are trying to silence our words. But the voices of this gathering must be heard loudly and clearly.

It is a violation of human rights when babies are denied food, or drowned, or suffocated, or their spines broken, simply because they are born girls. It is a violation of human rights when women and girls are sold into the slavery of prostitution for human greed. And the kinds of reasons that are used to justify this practice should no longer be tolerated. It is a violation of human rights when women are doused with gasoline and set on fire and burned to death because their marriage dowries are deemed too small. It is a violation of human rights when a leading cause of death worldwide among women ages 14 to 44 is the violence they are subjected to in their own homes by their own relatives. Finally, it is a violation of human rights when women are denied the right to plan their own families, and that includes being forced to have abortions, or being sterilized against their will.

If there is one message that echoes forth from this conference, let it be that human rights are women’s rights, and women’s rights are human rights, once and for all. Let us not forget that among those rights are the right to speak freely and the right to be heard. Let me be clear. Freedom means the right of people to assemble, organize, and debate openly. It means respecting the views of those who may disagree with the views of their governments. It means not taking citizens away from their loved ones and jailing them, mistreating them, or denying them their freedom or dignity because of the peaceful expression of their ideas and opinions."

Has Sanders given similar speeches?[/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics