Women's rights and empowerment, right now
2020-03-24
You could wait for it: the fight against the corona crisis is the ideal opportunity for authoritarian and illiberal governments to set human rights aside. In Hungary, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán wants to rule by decree for the rest of the year. Independent journalists who criticize the Hungarian government's approach to corona are already being accused of spreading fake news. In the United States, authorities in Texas and Ohio are taking advantage of the pandemic to curtail abortion rights, stating that abortion is currently a "non-necessary procedure."
Exceptional times, exceptional measures, this is how governments legitimize their current approach. But human rights groups fear that fundamental freedoms are being eroded. For example, of women in vulnerable positions. "While we have already seen a setback in recent years when it comes to women's rights," says Anne-Floor Dekker over the phone. Dekker is active for WO=MEN, a platform that works nationally and internationally for gender equality and women's rights. "In general, what we usually notice is that in times of crisis, women's rights are the first to fall off the political agenda. That is no different now.”
