The difference between “Social Justice Issues” and other “Social Issues” is the idea that we have a moral duty to address an issue of social justice.
A social issue may be specific to a place and have negative consequences, but there are other influencing factors as to whether it should be addressed or not. For example perhaps the idea of graffiti in a neighbourhood, some people will think it is a menace but others will call it art. In contrast social justice issues are often connected to human rights. A social justice issue might be the lack of access to something that is considered a “right” and is often connected with the idea of equity.
This is why gender inequality is often talked about as a social justice issue – because it is about people being treated differently and having different access to their rights based on their gender. Gender inequality is not just one thing and is made up of lots of other social justice issues – the discrimination against women in being allowed to own property, discrimination based on gender when moving from one country to another, violence against a person based on their gender, and many more.
It is this last issue, gender based violence, that I want to highlight as one we should talk more about. This type of violence comes in many different forms – intimate partner or domestic violence (which takes place within relationships or families), sexual violence, genital cutting, early and forced marriage. These are often very sensitive topics. They are connected with a lot of emotions for survivors of violence. And our culture often says that we should not speak about them in public as they are private matters.
However, if we do not speak about them, then these injustices will continue to happen. It is a difficult conversation to start and many adults do not think these are topics to discuss with young people. But there are startling statistics about how many young people have been subject to violence based on their gender, be that male, female or another gender identity. It is too late to wait to have those conversations as adults – we need to create safe spaces to discuss these subjects with all young people so that they are empowered to address violence amongst their peer groups and prevent it from happening.
It is an issue of social justice, everyone has a right to a life free from violence, and as such we have a duty to address it. What programmes have you come across that work towards achieving gender equality and ending gender based violence?
A social issue may be specific to a place and have negative consequences, but there are other influencing factors as to whether it should be addressed or not. For example perhaps the idea of graffiti in a neighbourhood, some people will think it is a menace but others will call it art. In contrast social justice issues are often connected to human rights. A social justice issue might be the lack of access to something that is considered a “right” and is often connected with the idea of equity.
This is why gender inequality is often talked about as a social justice issue – because it is about people being treated differently and having different access to their rights based on their gender. Gender inequality is not just one thing and is made up of lots of other social justice issues – the discrimination against women in being allowed to own property, discrimination based on gender when moving from one country to another, violence against a person based on their gender, and many more.
It is this last issue, gender based violence, that I want to highlight as one we should talk more about. This type of violence comes in many different forms – intimate partner or domestic violence (which takes place within relationships or families), sexual violence, genital cutting, early and forced marriage. These are often very sensitive topics. They are connected with a lot of emotions for survivors of violence. And our culture often says that we should not speak about them in public as they are private matters.
However, if we do not speak about them, then these injustices will continue to happen. It is a difficult conversation to start and many adults do not think these are topics to discuss with young people. But there are startling statistics about how many young people have been subject to violence based on their gender, be that male, female or another gender identity. It is too late to wait to have those conversations as adults – we need to create safe spaces to discuss these subjects with all young people so that they are empowered to address violence amongst their peer groups and prevent it from happening.
It is an issue of social justice, everyone has a right to a life free from violence, and as such we have a duty to address it. What programmes have you come across that work towards achieving gender equality and ending gender based violence?
