Abstract
The derivation of inequality as a consequence of gender difference has been formally removed in the context of the UN since the UDHR (1948), though in reality there are still many obstacles to full equality. These are justified either culturally, historically, religiously, or by states simply remaining in the political implementation behind the proclaimed ideals. This research paper presents findings from an empirical study among German adolescents (N = 2244) about women rights. The study focuses on the two topics, namely discrimination in the context of labour and sexual discrimination and will first answer the question of how young people in Germany assess selected women’s rights and, secondly, which factors are influential on youth’ attitudes towards women’s rights. The main interest of this study is to show if and how strong religious convictions have impact on the support of women’s rights. A supplementary discussion on the philosophical concept of dignity will be included, since it is a concept often stressed in UN publications and is something that can be considered as a component of the worldview of adolescents on attitudes towards women’s rights. The results show that respondents show a strong support for women’s rights, with important predictors being the conviction that human dignity is inherent to humans and that equal treatment for all people is desirable. However, gender leads to the largest of all measured differences. Above all, it is ‘being a woman’ which is the strongest predictor for the support of women’s rights.
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Notes
- 1.
http://www.fmyv.es/ci/in/women/3.pdf (10.10.2018).
- 2.
- 3.
- 4.
- 5.
https://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/cedaw/history.htm (10.10.2018).
- 6.
http://www.un-documents.net/a22r2263.htm (10.10.2018).
- 7.
http://www.un.org/documents/ga/res/48/a48r104.htm (10.10.2018).
- 8.
http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/cedaw/cedaw.htm (10.10.2018).
- 9.
- 10.
- 11.
- 12.
- 13.
- 14.
- 15.
The dataset is developed in the context of the international empirical research project Religion and Human Rights (2012–2019), see: http://www.rhr.theologie.uni-wuerzburg.de. The purpose of the project is to explore empirical connections between religious convictions and attitudes towards human rights. The survey is built on a standardised questionnaire with about 190 items, designed by the international research group and coordinated by the author.
- 16.
Including Christian Orthodox, Anglican, and ‘other Christian traditions’
- 17.
Including Sunnite, Shiite, Alevite, and ‘other Islamic traditions’
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UN Authorities
UDHR – Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UN 1948).
ICESCR – International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (UN 1966).
ICCPR – International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (UN 1966).
Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women (UN 1993).
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (UN 1979, adopted 1981).
Women Rights are Human Rights (UN 2014).
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Ziebertz, HG. (2020). Support for Women Rights? An Empirical Study Among German Youth. In: Ziebertz, HG. (eds) International Empirical Studies on Religion and Socioeconomic Human Rights. Religion and Human Rights, vol 5. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-30934-3_9
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