There is increasing awareness among researchers and policymakers that harmful practices, a form of value-based discrimination, continue to challenge the actualization of women’s rights worldwide. These practices are rooted in cultural and religious norms that are undergirded by patriarchal interpretations of religious texts and male domination. Although they are as varied as the cultures in which they occur, a common attribute of these practices is that they are related to women’s sexuality, and are often enforced as a way to keep women in subordinate roles.

Among the most common practices are female genital mutilation, forced marriage, son preference, stoning of women, wife inheritance, widowhood rites, sex selective abortions, child marriage, public harassment (euphemistically referred to in some countries as “Eve teasing”), bonded labor, abductions, bride price (dowry-related issues), forced impregnation, polygamy, acid attacks, restriction of second daughter’s right to marry, dedication of girls to temples, maltreatment of widows, burning/beheading women thought to be witches, virginity tests, breast ironing, stereotyping, and marital or date rape. These practices continue to grow and evolve through globalization and migration, with many of them transferring to new locations. Many of these practices are linked to other forms of violence against women; for instance, the denial of property rights is often linked to the maltreatment of widows, sexual violence to forced marriages, and the receipt of monetary payments for daughters to trafficking.

Although various international, regional, and domestic measures have been put in place to address these harmful practices, the effectiveness of the mechanisms or measures has been severely compromised by the fact that many of them are grounded in widely accepted cultural and religious norms. The challenge lies in finding ways to respect diverse cultures without allowing the human rights of women to be curbed by the mores and religious practices of the culture in which they live. A woman’s human rights are absolute, and may not be limited by those seeking to invoke culture or religion as a justification for practices which violate international human rights standards. Just as it would be unacceptable to cite religious or cultural norms to justify slavery, a woman may not be denied her human rights simply because of the way her culture or religion views gender roles. 

Sources:

Grieff, S. (2010). No justice in justifications: Violence against women in the name of culture, religion, and tradition.