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Cultural Relativism: The Universal Declaration Of Human Rights

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Universal Human Rights mean the rights which are equally acceptable in all the socities when The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) is the unique and an important document which is translated into different languages all over world. It is based upon idea of promoting freedom, justice and peace and it provides a set of uniform standards that were adopted by the United Nations General Assembly with the support of forty-eight countries. This doctrine consists of universal international values, but indigenous societies are not in favour of universal implementation of this kind of law because it interferes with the social fabric of the society which in turn consists of the traditional beliefs, values and norms. These beliefs, norms and …show more content…

Each culture is uniquely worthy of respect. The distinctiveness among cultures should not be blurred or mitigated. They should not be compared favorably or unfavorably with one another, they should be respected. On the other hand in cultural relativism, all points of view are equally valid, and any truth is relative. The truth belongs to the individual or her or his culture. All ethical, religious, and political beliefs are truths related to the cultural identity of the individual or society. The United Nations Department of Public Information defines cultural relativism as, “the assertion that human values, far from being universal, vary a great deal according to different cultural perspectives. Some would apply this relativism to the promotion, protection, interpretation and application of human rights which could be interpreted differently within different cultural, ethnic and religious traditions`` (Diana, 1995). …show more content…

Although there is strong international condemnation of practices that are harmful to children, many rites continue to hold significant meaning among indigenous populations. These cultural customs like ritual circumcision, symbolic cuts to the body, tests of endurance, child marriage are viewed as ritual steps in the process of transition from childhood to adulthood in many traditional societies. Among these cultural practices the most brutal and horrifying practice is female genital mutilation (FGM). The practice of removing the external female genitalia for cultural, traditional or religious reasons is particularly a big blow to human rights advocates. According to the World Health Organization, one hundred million women have undergone the practice of circumcision, mostly in sub-Saharan Africa. It has been described by the organization as “a torture that must be stamped out.” Based on the UDHR and the Declaration on the Rights of the Child, humanitarians argue that both male and female circumcision directly violates such provisions of international law (Smith 1998). It is important to note that generally children do not have any say in these matter, they have no choice but have to tolerate such kind of torture. Such social pressures to confirm to traditional rituals, particularly ones that demonstrate a transition into adulthood and indicate

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I work at Sonora Regional Medical Center and this week, I have been working at a pediatric clinic and I have learned certain things about circumcisions and when it should be performed on a baby boy. A circumcision is the surgical removal of the foreskin and, on infants, it is performed within the first few day after birth. It has been found by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), that the benefits of a circumcisions in newborns, outweigh the risks of it, but when the boys age more, it does not necessarily need to be done unless there is a medical reason to do so. There are many benefits to a circumcision including a reduced risk of urinary tract infections, a reduced risk of sexually transmitted diseases in men, reduced risk of penile

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The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is a document adopted by the United Nations on December 10, 1948. This document states a list of Articles every person has and should abide by no matter what. Everyone should have a right to possess human rights because “Nobody has the right to torture, harm, or humiliate you,” “Nobody has the right to take your things from you without good reason,” and

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Our moral beliefs indicate the kind of environment or culture we grew up in. Therefore, if we were born in Somalia, we would believe that it is morally right to go through female circumcision as a rite of passage. However, if we grew up in the western world, then we would not believe in female circumcision. We can therefore see the relativist 's argument of cultural relativism in this case, because if cultural relativism exists, then naturally, morality will also be relative. Additionally, to support his stance, the relativist will also argue that tolerance comes into play when it comes to cultural relativism.

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Correspondingly, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights depend on dignity, equality and mutual respect – regardless of your nationality, your religion or your beliefs. Your rights are tied in with being dealt with reasonably and treating others decently, and being able to make on decisions about your own life. These fundamental human rights are: Universal; They have a place with every one of us; They can't be detracted from us, Indivisible and independent Governments should not have the capacity to choose

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In most cases or arguments we have for legalising something, the benefits should always outweigh the disadvantages; in this case, the disadvantages seem to outweigh all the benefits. The world health organization has set aside all the possible allegations that it wants it to be legalised. There are certain policy matters that the WHO has set towards this practice of female circumcision. Female genital mutilation can lead to death, severe chronic pain, haemorrhage, urinary retention, urinary tract infections, keloid scars, strictures, fistula, incontinence, infertility, painful intercourse, painful periods, neuroma, recurrent infections, septicaemia, transmission of hepatitis, tetanus and many more other

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The latter assessed the argument not only highlighting its flaws, but also keeping in consideration the morally right points raised. However, the cultural differences argument infers a normative conclusion about the inexistence of an objective truth in morality, from a merely descriptive premise about different cultures having different moral codes. It goes without saying that there is empirical evidence of disagreement among moral systems, as there are several instances in which what is regarded as morally right for a culture is morally wrong for another. One of the most known examples is the male circumcision, accepted largely by Jewish communities, but not so broadly shared with the rest of the world. Accordingly, because of the presence of such wide differences, people may be led to believe in relativism as it rightly raises tolerance and flexibility which are necessary open-minded attitudes for the recognition of cultural diversity.

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This is shown in “A Defense of Ethical Relativism” where Ruth Benedict gives examples of different circumstances. However, as shown in the example of the eskimo female newborns and male eskimos those who believe in Cultural Relativism seem to get morals, and cultural distinctions confused. These tribal people have different ways of dealing with their relatives, one being no right than the

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To initiate, the implementation of gender equality laws will help conclude unequal treatment towards women and create opportunities for women to refuse unsafe work and treatments. Also, without the right to make individual choices for body, women 's prosperity, well-being, and potential in society are restricted and gender inequality is therefore perpetuated. According to the academic article, Sexual Health’s Women’s Rights, “120 million girls worldwide have experienced forced intercourse” (Ngcuka) activities against their own individual soul. Many women are suffering from forced physical and sexual violence because of the limited laws and regulations that allow women to refuse unsafe treatments and practices. According to reports, the “ 32

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Therefore, different cultures with result in different moral codes. In that case, people should see matters from many aspects instead of having a general truth as the standard. A second reason why cultural relativism has a more logical way of reasoning is because it teaches us to keep in an open mind. This can be seen from the fact that people should respect and tolerate other’s culture since there is no universal truth that holds for all people. Taken together, these two arguments demonstrate the logical way reasoning of cultural relativism and highlight the advantage of the cultural relativism

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Informative Speech: Female Genital Mutilation Specific Purpose: To inform my audience about female genital mutilation and where the controversy of it all lies. Central Idea: Female Genital Mutilation is a tradition in certain parts of the world. Most of the time these procedures aren 't carried out safely and the final outcome of the girls that have been mutilated are to work as sex slaves. INTRODUCTION (Attention Getter)This is Kizibianca of kenya, africa. At a mere fifteen years old she was woken up at 5 am and led outside of her hut by the the local traditional brothers and female elders.

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In other words, “right” or “wrong” are culture specific, what is considered moral in one society may be considered immoral in another, and, since no universal standard of morality that exist, no one has the right to judge another societies custom (Ess, 2009). Cultural Relativism is closely related to ethical relativism, which views truth as variable and not absolute. What makes up right and wrong is determined solely by individual or the society (Ess, 2009). Since the truth is not object, there can be no standards which applies to all cultures.

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“Cultural Relativist and Feminist Critique of International Human Rights- Friends or Foes?” The journal, “Cultural Relativist and Feminist Critique of International Human Rights- Friends or Foes?” by Oonagh Reitman have the aim to know deeper about the two critiques towards the universal Human Rights by the two major theory, which are the Cultural Relativism and Feminism, how they see the universal Human Rights theory. The Journal address for the workshop discussion matter regarding to the similarities on critique of International human rights that made by the Cultural relativist and the feminist. “ Human Rights is the right that given and held by human simply because they are human, and it does not classified nor held by certain groups or not the subject to variation in culture”(Donnelly 1989: 109-110) From the introduction in the journal, the writer defines how the feminist and the cultural relativist express their idea of Universal human rights. The idea of Universal human rights from Donnelly were being reserve by Relativist, they argue that the human rights itself root from culture and due to the variation of culture, making the human rights not universal.

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(Luco, Week 3 Notes, p.9) Cultural Relativism is simply a combination of the following three theses: 1. The only criterion of moral truth or falsehood is the moral code of a cultural group. 2. A moral claim is true, relative to a culture’s moral code, if and only if the claim is generally accepted within that cultural

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It is the complete or partial surgical removal of the clitoris from a woman and has a highly spiritual and cultural significance in many African communities and is required for cultural identity (Kanogo, 2005). In the beliefs of the indigenous communities, cliterodectomy was directly bonded with marriageablilty, procreation, ethnic purity and access to land and thus it meant being socially accepted by community. The missionaries, colonial government and the Kikuyu Central Association (KCA) became very involved in this major controversy: whether or not female circumcision should be allowed to continue in Kenya (Kanogo, 2005). Many women challenged these views and partook in the initiation process. Therefore in this essay I shall be discussing

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Human Rights What are Human Rights? Human Rights are commonly understood as being those rights which are inherent to the human being. The concept of human rights acknowledges that every single human being is entitled to enjoy his or her human rights without distinction as to race, color, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status. Human rights are legally guaranteed by human rights law, protecting individuals and groups against actions which interfere with fundamental freedom and human dignity. They are expressed in treaties, customary international law, bodies of principles and other sources of law.

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