For two years, Equilibres & Populations has been actively advocating for the term "human rights" to replace "rights of Man," which renders women invisible. Let's take a look back at December 10, 2016, International Human Rights Day, when the movement in favor of human rights gained even more momentum.
In 1948, when the member states of the United Nations signed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in Paris, Eleanor Roosevelt insisted that the English version should not be titled "man's rights" but rather "human rights." Since then, the vast majority of translations have preferred this more inclusive wording. France, however, continues to use the expression "droits de l'Homme" (rights of man), which, with or without a capital letter, renders women invisible. Two years ago, Equilibres & Populations decided to invest in the creation of the "Human Rights for All" collective, designed to promote the replacement of the expression "rights of man" with "human rights."
A growing number of supporters
After putting together a case that methodically demonstrated that the reasons for retaining the term "human rights" were irrelevant, the collective launched an appeal in 2015. Very quickly, 70 associations expressed their support, including Coordination SUD. Then two mobilizing events took place in Paris, the last of which was on December 10, 2015.
Through its participation in the collective, Equilibres & Populations has therefore continued its advocacy work in the various processes in which it is involved, particularly in the field of French official development assistance. On December 10, 2016, which could be renamed "the first International Human Rights Day," the movement gained momentum.
Public speaking contest
The collective "Human Rights for All" organized a public speaking competition in partnership with the Paris City Hall, in a room at the town hall of the 3rd arrondissement. Marguerite Bannwarth, communications and advocacy officer at Equilibres & Populations, hosted the morning event, during which the candidates took turns at the podium. The event demonstrated that there are many ways to promote the use of the term "human rights": through legal arguments, linguistic arguments, etc., and with a touch of humor!
[image_slider_no_space height="350" images="25796,25797"]The jury was chaired by Hélène Bidard, deputy mayor of Paris, who last year changed "droits de l'Homme" (human rights) to "droits humains" (human rights) in the official title of her position. First prize was awarded to Anne-Sophie Reinhardt, who showed that people can be conditioned by semantics and feel inferior or superior depending on the language used.
Political forum
Two days before this public speaking competition, 81 members of parliament published an open letter calling on France to reaffirm its universalism by choosing the official terminology "human rights" rather than "rights of Man." Catherine Coutelle, who initiated this appeal, announced that she was strongly committed to the issue during the event organized by the "Human Rights for All" Collective in December 2015. One year later, the results are in: among the 81 signatures are those of the presidents of major committees of the National Assembly. This proves that political advocacy for human rights has now moved beyond the realm of civil society.
Consequently, Equilibres & Populations will continue this advocacy work, seeking to broaden its support base in order to bring about lasting change in practices in the medium term. When we read statements such as "violence against women is a violation of human rights" in official UN documents, we understand the scale of the task ahead. Adopting the term "human rights" means laying a better foundation for understanding how inequalities between women and men are perpetuated. It is therefore one of the ways to reduce these inequalities, along with the health and education initiatives that Equilibres & Populations is carrying out in West Africa.
