The Impact of Gender on Human Rights
Academic Level at Time of Presentation
Senior
Major
Political Science
Minor
Spanish
List all Project Mentors & Advisor(s)
Marc Polizzi, PhD; Rebecca Oliver, PhD; Alexandra Hendley, PhD
Presentation Format
Oral Presentation
Abstract/Description
Since World War II and the consequent formation of the United Nations, human rights have become an essential component of international and domestic issues. However, while anyone can suffer from oppression, women tend to be the victims of human rights violations more frequently than men; for example, seventy-five percent of human trafficking victims are women and girls (Polaris Project 2019). When I presented my research on human trafficking at an honors conference in Washington D.C. in 2018, a woman in the audience asked me if I believed that this topic would garner more international attention and be viewed as an emergent issue if the roles were reversed, and men and boys were primarily human trafficking victims. This phenomena also can be seen within cultural and religious oppression, bodily autonomy, and rates of communicable diseases. This brought me to the research question for this paper: is the persistence of gender inequality linked to disparate power dynamics and human rights violations that disproportionately affect women? My hypothesis is that gender inequality does lead to women suffering more human rights violations than men.
Spring Scholars Week 2019 Event
Honors College Senior Thesis
The Impact of Gender on Human Rights
Since World War II and the consequent formation of the United Nations, human rights have become an essential component of international and domestic issues. However, while anyone can suffer from oppression, women tend to be the victims of human rights violations more frequently than men; for example, seventy-five percent of human trafficking victims are women and girls (Polaris Project 2019). When I presented my research on human trafficking at an honors conference in Washington D.C. in 2018, a woman in the audience asked me if I believed that this topic would garner more international attention and be viewed as an emergent issue if the roles were reversed, and men and boys were primarily human trafficking victims. This phenomena also can be seen within cultural and religious oppression, bodily autonomy, and rates of communicable diseases. This brought me to the research question for this paper: is the persistence of gender inequality linked to disparate power dynamics and human rights violations that disproportionately affect women? My hypothesis is that gender inequality does lead to women suffering more human rights violations than men.