Sathya Tadinada

Period 3

11 November 2020

Women’s Rights are Human Rights

The United Nations speech that Hilary Clinton gave primarily talks about how women

should be receiving the same rights as other people. To begin, one specific way she illustrates

this is by showing how women are capable of improving the lives of their families and others in

society, just as much as any male could. In several third-world countries, women are taking

familial matters in their own hand by doing “unorthodox” activities for the wellbeing of the

entire society. Clinton states that she has “met women in South Africa who helped lead the

struggle to end apartheid … are now helping build a new democracy,” and has “met women in

India and Bangladesh who are taking out small loans to buy milk cows, rickshaws, thread and

other materials to create a livelihood for themselves and their families.” These women have

progressed past the traditional gender roles and taking on new responsibilities, which has helped

themselves as well as everyone around them. If women are clearly capable of accomplishing so

much as an independent figure, there is no reason people should be allowed to deny them equal

treatment and rights.

The reason that I prioritized this element is because it is a very compelling argument for

why women should be given the same rights as everyone else. Women are as proficient as any

other person, so the rights granted should not be biased in any way. It is extremely unfair to take

away rights from someone because of nothing more than a false assumption that women are

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incapable of the same work as men. This section of the speech gives logical examples why that

assumption is not true and why women deserve the same treatment as men.

Another element in Clinton’s speech is how the people listening to her speech have a

moral obligation to speak up for the women who do not have such a voice. She mentions how,

personally, she is fighting for and speaking up for “mothers who are fighting for good schools,

safe neighborhoods, clean air and clean airwaves [and] for older women, some of them widows,

who have raised their families and now find that their skills and life experiences are not valued in

the workplace…” According to Clinton, these women are at a severe disadvantage because they

are not able to utilize the human right of freedom to truly express themselves in the best way

possible. Most of them around the world are also “denied the chance to go to school, or see a

doctor, or own property, or have a say about the direction of their lives, simply because they are

women.” This prejudice against genders is very unfair and something needs to be done about it.

However, since those oppressed women are unable to share their opinion about it, it is our duty

to speak out on their behalf.

This is one of the highlights of the speech because of the powerful message and sad truths

being shown. It is very heartbreaking to learn of the maltreatment that women around the world

suffer, but the way that Clinton presented it makes me as a reader more willing to do something

about it. A key takeaway from this element in the speech is that women have virtually no

differences from men (both genders have strong public ideas on ways to improve the welfare of

society and a diverse skillset) and therefore should have no difference in how much freedom they

are given to say what they want to.

An additional point that Clinton addressed in her speech is how the modern world, as

advanced as it may seem, still holds on to false theories of how women are less of a person than

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a man. Clinton makes it clear that treating women and young girls any different than men is an

infringement of their rights. “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… when

women are doused with gasoline, set on fire and burned to death because their marriage dowries

are deemed too small… 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.” All these rights,

which are deemed as acceptable in some places, is against the spirit of basic human rights for all

people, regardless of the individual aspects of that person (including gender, age, race, etc.) For

true democracy and a forward-thinking civilization to establish itself, human rights must be

applied to all humans. As long as women continue to be discriminated against, “the potential of

the human family to create a peaceful, prosperous world will not be realized.”

This was one of the most important parts, in my opinion. Clinton was able to conclude

the speech with a powerful call to action. This gave me a lot of inspiration to go out and fight for

these rights that have been taken away from women for far too long. Also, rather than finding

ways to throw blame at someone, she focused on how everyone needs to come together to solve

this problem. I found that very motivating and unifying (especially in a time where everything is

so split and polarized.) This element, along with the other two, makes this a very memorable and

persuasive speech.

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