Editing Women's rights (section)

=== Discrimination ===

The United Nations Working Group on business and human rights (WGBHR) has stated that [[discrimination]] against women has historically been rooted in [[patriarchal]] social norms and power structures.<ref name="Nissen 2023">{{cite journal |last1=Nissen |first1=Aleydis |title=Gender-Transformative Remedies for Women Human Rights Defenders |journal=Business and Human Rights Journal |date=2023 |volume=8 |issue=3 |pages=369–402 |doi=10.1017/bhj.2023.41 |doi-access=free |issn=2057-0201|hdl=1887/3716539 |hdl-access=free }}</ref> Women's rights movements focus on ending discrimination against women. In this regard, the definition of discrimination itself is important. According to the jurisprudence of the [[European Court of Human Rights]] (ECHR), the right to freedom from discrimination includes not only the obligation of states to treat in the same way persons who are in analogous situations, but also the obligation to treat in a different way persons who are in different situations.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.equalrightstrust.org/ertdocumentbank/Microsoft%20Word%20-%20Case%20of%20Thlimmenos%20v%20Greece%20_2_.pdf |title=Data |publisher=equalrightstrust.org |access-date=2019-12-16}}</ref> In this regard, equity, not just "equality" is important. Therefore, states must sometimes differentiate between women and men – through for example offering [[maternity leave]] or other legal protections surrounding pregnancy and childbirth (to take into account the biological realities of [[reproduction]]), or through acknowledging a specific historical context. For example, acts of violence committed by men against women do not happen in a vacuum, but are part of a social context: in ''Opuz v Turkey'', the ECHR defined [[violence against women]] as a form of discrimination against women;<ref>{{Cite web|title=INTERIGHTS.org|url=https://www.interights.org/opuz/index.htm%5B%5D|access-date=2020-10-09|website=www.interights.org}}</ref><ref>para 200: "[T]he Court considers that the violence suffered by the applicant and her mother may be regarded as ''gender-based violence which is a form of discrimination against women''</ref> this is also the position of the Istanbul Convention which at Article 3 states that "violence against women" is understood as a violation of human rights and ''a form of discrimination against women'' [...]".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://rm.coe.int/CoERMPublicCommonSearchServices/DisplayDCTMContent?documentId=090000168046031c |title=Info |publisher=rm.coe.int |access-date=2019-12-16}}</ref>

There are different views on where it is appropriate to differentiate between women and men, and one view is that the act of [[sexual intercourse]] is an act where this difference must be acknowledged, both due to the increased physical risks for the woman,<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.unfpa.org/resources/giving-special-attention-girls-and-adolescents|title=Giving Special Attention to Girls and Adolescents|newspaper=United Nations Population Fund|language=en|access-date=2019-06-17}}</ref> and due to the historical context of women being systematically subjected to forced sexual intercourse while in a socially subordinated position (particularly [[marital rape|within marriage]] and [[Wartime sexual violence|during war]]).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/31473687 |title=Why Sexual Penetration Requires Justification |access-date=2019-12-16}}</ref> States must also differentiate with regard to healthcare by ensuring that [[women's health]] – particularly with regard to [[reproductive health]] such as [[pregnancy]] and [[childbirth]] – is not neglected. According to the World Health Organization, "Discrimination in health care settings takes many forms and is often manifested when an individual or group is denied access to health care services that are otherwise available to others. It can also occur through denial of services that are only needed by certain groups, such as women."<ref name="who.int">{{cite web|url=https://www.who.int/news-room/detail/27-06-2017-joint-united-nations-statement-on-ending-discrimination-in-health-care-settings|title=Joint United Nations statement on ending discrimination in health care settings|publisher=World Health Organization|language=en|access-date=2019-06-17}}</ref> The refusal of states to acknowledge the specific needs of women, such as the necessity of specific policies like the strong investment of states in reducing [[maternal mortality]] can be a form of discrimination. In this regard treating women and men similarly does not work because certain biological aspects such as menstruation, pregnancy, labor, childbirth, and breastfeeding, as well as certain medical conditions, only affect women. The [[Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women]] stipulates in its ''General recommendation No. 35 on gender based violence against women, updating general recommendation No. 19'' that states should "Examine gender neutral laws and policies to ensure that they do not create or perpetuate existing inequalities and repeal or modify them if they do so". (paragraph 32).<ref name="tbinternet.ohchr.org">{{cite web |url=http://tbinternet.ohchr.org/Treaties/CEDAW/Shared%20Documents/1_Global/CEDAW_C_GC_35_8267_E.pdf |title=Treaty |publisher=tbinternet.ohchr.org |access-date=2019-12-16 |archive-date=20 February 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190220225958/https://tbinternet.ohchr.org/Treaties/CEDAW/Shared%20Documents/1_Global/CEDAW_C_GC_35_8267_E.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref> Another example of gender neutral policy which harms women is that where medication tested in [[medical trial]]s only on men is also used on women assuming that there are no biological differences.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Liu |first1=Katherine A. |last2=DiPietro Mager |first2=Natalie A. |title=Women's involvement in clinical trials: historical perspective and future implications |journal=Pharmacy Practice |date=31 March 2016 |volume=14 |issue=1 |pages=708 |doi=10.18549/PharmPract.2016.01.708 |pmid=27011778 |pmc=4800017 }}</ref>