PH417: International and Multicultural Women’s Health and Social Issues
Team Assignment 3: Country Profile of Human Rights Record
Points: 125 (Paper 90 points, Small group discussion 30 points, Reflection 5 points)
Objective
The purpose of this assignment is to provide you with an opportunity to gain an in-depth
understanding of your selected country's human right’s profile and how this affects the women
of the country. The small group exercise allows for you to practice participating in and facilitating
peer-discussion groups.
Guidelines
Each team will complete and submit one well-integrated paper 20- 25 page paper (4-5 pages
per member). Each team will collaboratively decide which section each member will complete.
Make sure your name is included on the section you have written.
Information about human rights and for developing countries can, like all information, be biased.
As part of this assignment use your best judgment as to what is quality information, and in the
paper describe if the sources may have some bias and what they are.
To optimize your learning experience, each team-member should plan to spend time
researching your respective sections each week, as well as time together as a group discussing
your research. Here are a couple of web links to begin your inquiry: International Women’s
Rights Organizations and Human Rights Organizations.
I. Topics
1. General Human Rights Profile in the Country
 Discuss the government’s general human rights record (for all citizens).
o What is the history of human rights violations in the country? Which groups have
suffered human rights violations?
o Has the country signed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights? What steps has
the country taken to implement it?
o Have there been implementation problems, i.e., dissent within the country for
providing human rights?
 Discuss institutionalized and socioeconomic human rights violations that may exist within
your country.
o What types of institutionalized (government sponsored) violence exists and what are
the origins?
o Discuss laws or policies that exist that may result in discrimination (e.g. political,
religious, economic, health, sexuality, reproductive rights).
 Describe cultural or religious traditions and/or practices that may be viewed as human
rights violations against people in your country.
o What rationale is given to support such practices by various leaders?
2. Types and Prevalence of Violence Against Women
 Describe the types of violence experienced by females throughout the life cycle in your
selected country.
o What challenges, discrimination and violations does a typical girl child face?
o What challenges, discrimination and violations does a typical adolescent girl face?
o What challenges, discrimination and violations does a typical adult woman face?
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Provide statistics for females who suffer from the different types of human rights
violations or violence you have identified.
Is trafficking/slavery of girls or women an issue for the country?
o What is the estimated number and rate of people trafficked/enslaved in your country?
o What are the main industries that use slave/trafficked labor in your country?
o What laws are in place to prevent trafficking & slavery?
To what extent do these practices exist in your country and which groups of women
specifically, are most affected?
3. Conflict Situations and War Conditions
 Discuss any current or recent conflict situations in country (brief history, causes, length
of time, results):
o Conflicts between population groups within the country.
o Conflicts between the government and the population.
o Conflicts within the country perpetrated by outside groups and/or other governments.
o Conflicts between neighboring countries.
 Discuss the impacts of these conflicts (and the resulting violence) on women in the
country.
o What role did women play in the conflict?
o Describe activities/role that women played in bringing about peace or protesting the
war.
4. Political Conditions Local Programs to Support Women
 Has the government agreed to or ratified the United Nations Convention on the
Elimination of Violence Against Women (CEDAW)?
o Is their record on women’s human rights been evaluated and critiqued by the UN? If
so, what were the findings?
o What are the challenges the country faces in implementing the CEDAW plan?
 Describe any government policies that exist to discourage various forms of gender
violence.
o Discuss how successful (or not) these government policies have been and why or
why they haven’t been.
 What government programs exist to assist women with problems related to violence
against their gender?
o Discuss how successful (or not) these government programs have been and why or
why they haven’t been.
 Select one local NGOs in your country that is working to help women and describe
o What types of programs have they implemented or attempted to implement?
o How successful they have (or have not) been?
o Is work the organization does relief or development work?
o Describe innovative efforts or programs by local or regional grassroots women’s
organizations that are addressing the safety of their women from various forms of
violence.
II. Paper
Each student should submit 4-5 pages of your own research and analysis of the topic selected
above. To optimize your learning experience, each team-member should plan to spend time
researching your respective sections each week.
 Make sure your name is included on the section you have written.
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Please do not simply present a list of data, but rather tell the full context of the women
and the factors that influence their health and well being. Share how the information you
are sharing shapes the lives of the people living within the country.
Allow enough time to write and share your sections, check for spelling, and edit for
redundancies, inconsistencies, and contradictory information, and that the paper flows
smoothly.
I am more interested in reading your work than quotes from sources, so use limited
direct quotes.
Please use APA format for the document, in-text citations, and reference list.
Include an introduction and conclusion for the paper.
Be sure to upload the assignment as a Word .doc to iLearn before 9:00PM of the due
date.
Please review the Team#3 checklist for grading criteria on iLearn.
III. Small Group Discussion
During the final class session country teams will be grouped together by the instructor and will
share the information they learned about their respective country’s human rights record with
each other in a roughly 1-hour discussion.
A questionnaire will be distributed be completed in class based on the information shared by
each small group.
III. Individual Reflection: Each team member will write his/her own reflection
Please reflect on your individual experience in researching and writing about these issues by
addressing the following:
 Discuss how researching this topic helped you to better understand human rights, the
causes of violence against women and women’s success overcoming these problems.
 Discuss any personal beliefs you had about violence and human rights beforehand and
how your research changed or challenged them.
 Discuss how you think any personal insights you gained from the research might affect
how you approach issues of human rights and violence against women in your own
community.
 Upload to iLearn in the “Team 3: Reflection” drop-box by 9:00PM the day after the
presentation.
I hope you enjoy learning even more about your country!
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