Human Rights: Toward an Integrated Theory For Action

This article proceeds from three basic premises bearing on these problems: that the aim of the international human rights movement is to secure protection for individual rights; that this includes the rights of all human beings; and that, without a theory that integrates the human rights of half of humanity, the goal of the human rights movement, equal justice for all, cannot be attained. The discussion that follows provides a historical overview of both the human rights and women's rights movements, examines some of the consequences of this separation for both women and society at large, and proposes that the construction of a unified action-oriented theory of human rights that may be applied to the whole of humanity-women as well as men - is now not only essential but also feasible.

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