Carolyn Khor's blog

A time to understand human rights: Human Rights Day on 10 Dec Malaysia is still rated fairly free despite fall in Human Development Index ranking. Reuters The existence of a Human Rights Day ironically translates into an apparent lack of human rights in the world, even with laws which are supposedly meant to protect the innocent. In 1950, the United Nations General Assembly declared 10 December as Human Rights Day. It has been twenty years since 1993, when a mandate of High Commissioner was created for the promotion and protection of all human rights during the World Conference on Human Rights held in Vienna the same year. Furthermore, Women’s Rights are now acknowledged as a fundamental human right. Discrimination and acts of violence against women are at the forefront of the human rights discourse. Human rights cover a wide range of issues including access to basic necessities, equality, life and the right to tell the truth. In the Universal Declaration of H...

Link to MSN News Carolyn Khor Violence is a vicious cycle and violence begets violence. There should be no excuse to perpetuate violence and every effort must be made to eliminate violence. 25 Nov was International Day for the elimination of violence against women. In cultures that see no wrong in violence towards women, physical and sexual violence are practiced to subdue women. These women are silenced and victimised by the society to withstand the abuse and are expected to allow these torment to continue as a form of subservience and obedience towards men. This form of ‘accepted punishment’ is derogatory and psychologically damaging. According to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), 3 out of 10 women experience violence by an intimate partner at some point during their lifetime, and 603 million women live in countries where domestic violence is not yet considered a crime. The UNDP also reveals that in more than 35 countries worldwide, marital rape is n...