{"id":18167,"date":"2018-06-15T17:09:17","date_gmt":"2018-06-16T00:09:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dminlgp\/?p=18167"},"modified":"2018-06-15T17:09:17","modified_gmt":"2018-06-16T00:09:17","slug":"womens-rights-are-you-concerned","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/womens-rights-are-you-concerned\/","title":{"rendered":"Women’s rights – are you concerned?"},"content":{"rendered":"

There are many important themes in Jung Chang\u2019s text, Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China.<\/em> This text highlights family \u2013 and the love within a family \u2013 as well as loyalty, self-sacrifice and the connection of the three (family loyalty and self-sacrifice as women). \u00a0As we\u2019ve learned through reading Simon Chan\u2019s, Grassroots Asian Philosophy, <\/em>Jackie Pullinger\u2019s Chasing the Dragons<\/em> and Steve Tsang\u2019s text, A Modern History of Hong Kong<\/em> the aforementioned predominant values of Chinese culture undermine attempts for cultural change. Livermore would agree \u2013 he teaches that understanding cultural context is essential to understanding individual, family, and community behaviors. One significant historical (and to some degree present day) value of concern – not only in China but around the world \u2013 is the \u201crole\u201d of women (i.e. oppression of women). Chang writes a telling story of the atrocities committed against the \u201cthree daughters\u201d in China. Several reader reviews noted that they were unable to finish the book because of the disturbing stories. However, it\u2019s important to know the history of, and acknowledge, this oppressive\/abusive behavior to help advocate for future change. It triggered my interest in the comparison of women\u2019s rights and oppression in China\/Hong Kong vs. women\u2019s rights and oppression in Somalia (my research population). In both contexts, it\u2019s imperative to understand the level of trauma connected to gender experiences.\u00a0 As I further my research on Somali refugee resettlement and resilience in Columbus, Ohio, I believe an understanding of native culture and gender trauma is imperative to understanding capacity for resilience once resettled.<\/p>\n

How is Hong Kong fairing today with women\u2019s rights? In many ways similar to the United States, with the exception of social attitudes \u2013 attitudes that expect women to be homemaker, mother, and caregiver to aging family members even if they are the sole breadwinner (and yes these attitudes still prevail in the U.S. but women can culturally overcome them easier than women in HK)\u2026<\/p>\n

The long period of British rule, combined with highly developed international financial and trading sectors, has made Hong Kong one of the most Westernized societies in Asia. Women are not necessarily expected to marry; girls generally have access to education, and the preference for boys that is prevalent in many other Asian societies is barely perceptible. Yet social attitudes remain traditional, casting women squarely in the role of homemaker and mother \u2014 even when they are also breadwinners. Women are also expected to look after elderly relatives, a phenomenon that will intensify as Hong Kong\u2019s population ages, thanks to a low birthrate.[1]<\/strong><\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Just like we experienced (or are experiencing) in the U. S. all of these complex roles aren\u2019t sustainable for one person and create dissention in marriages, career barriers, anxiety and depression.\u00a0 In China, neighbor and governance to Hong Kong, women are granted \u201crights\u201d on paper and in law, however the value of women and women\u2019s roles are directly connected to what benefits China\u2026<\/p>\n

Although the government invests resources into improving the status of women, Chinese economic and security interests far outweigh gender concerns, which are only afforded minimal interest by the state. The government advances rights for women that are deemed to be in the national interest of promoting China\u2019s political and economic development. Thus the state has taken some steps to advance equality in education and employment. But it has not taken sufficient steps to prevent violence against women, including sexual violence, trafficking, sex-selective abortion and intimate-partner violence, which affects at least 25 percent of the population, according to the All-China Women\u2019s Federation, a state-sanctioned quasi-nongovernmental organization.[2]<\/strong><\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Obviously there is a mission field and advocacy role in assessing and understanding how women feel about their roles in HK and China. Somalian\u2019s women\u2019s roles\/rights are even more oppressive. Somali women were given the right to vote when Somalia gained independence in 1960.[3]<\/a> Women began to take interests in politics and government. There were opportunities for secondary and higher education for women, as the government increased efforts in areas of literacy and education. \u201cThe status of women improved until the collapse of the central government in 1991 when the new government eliminated legal protection of human rights of women. Women no longer stand with rights or with say in what goes on in their homes, communities, and the government.\u201d[4]<\/a><\/p>\n

Somali women are expected to submit to men and to fulfill their duties as daughters, wives, and mothers. Parents usually sell their young daughters into marriage in exchange for money, especially because the country\u2019s poor economic status. They also force their daughters to undergo a dangerous procedure known as female genital mutilation, which has high risks of physical, mental and psycho-social damages to the child.\u00a0When they are taken away in marriage, their husbands become the leader of the two who is in charge of all the decision-making that goes on in the family. Many women are afraid to speak up against their husbands in cases of disagreement or abuse because they are scared of losing their possessions and children or having their husbands throw them out. By speaking out, they risk their lives and the safety of their family members.[5]<\/strong><\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Clearly, the Somalian experience of abuse\/oppression\/sexual exploitation for women is abhorrent. But Somalia is not alone in their oppression.\u00a0 There are varying degrees of oppression throughout the world.\u00a0 If you are not familiar with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights <\/em>(http:\/\/www.un.org\/en\/universal-declaration-human-rights\/) I encourage you to take some time to read and understand its history \u2013 written and approved by all regions of the world by the United Nations in 1948. It defines fundamental human rights for all humans<\/u>. As Christians, this document mirrors biblical principles and we <\/em>should care that dictators\/governments around the world are ignoring this document mandate. The next step to advocacy is to further educate yourself on human rights violations \u2013 and I recommend becoming a regular reader of Human Rights Watch <\/em>(https:\/\/www.hrw.org\/) \u2013 a non-profit organization advocating for human rights around the world. \u201cHuman Rights Watch is a nonprofit, nongovernmental human rights organization made up of roughly 400 staff members around the globe. Its staff consists of human rights professionals including country experts, lawyers, journalists, and academics of diverse backgrounds and nationalities.\u201d There are opportunities to volunteer, advocate, and give to further impact the rights of all humans \u2013 after all isn\u2019t that what Jesus called us to do? I think it is\u2026<\/p>\n

[1]<\/a> https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2011\/02\/22\/world\/asia\/22iht-women22.html<\/p>\n

[2]<\/a> https:\/\/www.worldpoliticsreview.com\/trend-lines\/21198\/china-promotes-a-narrow-definition-of-women-s-rights<\/p>\n

[3]<\/a> https:\/\/www.mtholyoke.edu\/~park22d\/classweb\/Women.html<\/p>\n

[4]<\/a> https:\/\/www.mtholyoke.edu\/~park22d\/classweb\/Women.html<\/p>\n

[5]<\/a> https:\/\/www.mtholyoke.edu\/~park22d\/classweb\/Women.html<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There are many important themes in Jung Chang\u2019s text, Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China. This text highlights family \u2013 and the love within a family \u2013 as well as loyalty, self-sacrifice and the connection of the three (family loyalty and self-sacrifice as women). \u00a0As we\u2019ve learned through reading Simon Chan\u2019s, Grassroots Asian Philosophy, Jackie […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":99,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[1299],"class_list":["post-18167","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-jung-chang","cohort-lgp8"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18167","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/99"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18167"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18167\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18168,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18167\/revisions\/18168"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18167"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18167"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18167"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}