Women's Health Challenges in the Light of Feminist and Islamic Human Rights Approaches

Document Type : Original Article

Author
International Law Department, Varamin Branch., Islamic Azad University, Varamin, Iran.
10.22034/jhsrj.2025.2059152.1015
Abstract
Background and Aim: The right to health has been increasingly discussed within the framework of human rights in relation to specific societal groups. This study aims to examine the challenges facing women’s right to health from the perspectives of Islamic and feminist human rights approaches.
Materials and Methods: This research is theoretical in nature and employs a descriptive-analytical methodology. Data collection is conducted through library resources, including a review of legal documents, academic books, and scholarly articles
Ethical Considerations: All stages of the research have been conducted in accordance with academic integrity, ensuring authenticity, honesty, and adherence to ethical standards.
Findings: The concept of women’s right to health has undergone fragmentation and pluralization. This multiplicity stems from divergent philosophical foundations and the prevalence of regionalized interpretations of health rights. The emergence of region-specific legal practices has played a significant role in shaping these dynamics.
Conclusion: The feminist approach to human rights, by emphasizing formal equality and insufficiently addressing the need for affirmative action, poses structural challenges in securing women’s health rights. In contrast, the Islamic approach, through its advocacy of positive discrimination and the formulation of context-specific normative standards, offers a framework less susceptible to the pitfalls of rigid egalitarianism.
Keywords

  • طباطبایی، محمد حسین، المیزان فی تفسیر القرآن، بیروت، موسسه الاعلمی للمطبوعات، 1393ق.
  • طبرسی، فضل بن حسن، تفسیر مجمع البیان، بیروت، دارالمعرفه، 1408ق.
  • مکارم شیرازی، ناصر، تفسیر نمونه، تهران، دارالکتتب الاسلامیه، 1374.
  • Ayelet Shai, Shahar Koffler,  Yael Hashiloni-Dolev, “Feminism, Gender Medicine and Beyond: A Feminist Analysis”,  International Journal for Equity in Health, 2020
  • Binatris R. Ninawagaba, “Reproductive Rights as Fundamental Human Rights: A Feminist Perspective on Bodily Autonomy and Social Justice”, ResearchGate, 2024.
  • Barnet, OW, Miller, CL, Robin R, Perrin, D, Family violence Across life Span, Oxford, Sage publications, 1996.
  • Brigitte Y, Diane E, Isabella B, Questioning Financial Governance from a Feminist Perspective, Hague, Taylor & Francis, 2011.
  • Chappell A, Piquero A, Applying Social Learning Theory to Police Misconduct. Journal of Deviant Behavior, volume (25)2, 2004.
  • City Mashkore and Effendi, “Islamic Perspective About Women’s Reproductive Health Rights”, Al Huwiyah Journal of Woman and Children Studies, Volume 2, Issue 2, 2022
  • Deborah, L, Brake, M C, Verna, L, The Oxford Handbook of Feminism and Law in the United States, Oxford, Oxford university press, 2012.
  • Disch, Lisa, The Oxford Handbook of Feminist Theory, Oxford, Oxford university press, 2011. P. 249-250
  • Dutt M, Human rights and women's health, Journal of the American Medical Women's Association, volume 52(4), 1997.
  • Fantasia HC, Promoting Women's Health and Gender Equality, Nursing for women's health, volume 27(1), 2012.
  • Hilary L, Susan SH, Feminist Perspectives on Equity and Trusts, Oxford, Oxford university press, 2013.
  • Hyde, E, Greene ME, Darmstadt, GL, Time poverty Obstacle to women's human rights health and sustainable development, Journal of global health, volume 10(2), 2020.
  • Needlesky, Jennifer et l., “Embracing a Feminist Approach to Women’s Reproductive Health”, Sexual and Reproductive Health Matters, 2023.
  • Norhana Ahad, Mohammad Fahmi Abdul Hamid,Khairul Azhar Meerangani, Nor Azlina Abd Wahab, Siti Nurul Izza Hashim, Ahmad Azlan Raihan, “Women’s Reproductive Rights: Between Shariah Demands and Equal Rights”, International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science, 2024.
  • Kapoor A. Physical emotional and sexual violence during pregnancy in Malatya turkey, European journal of public health, volume 16(2), 2005.
  • Scales, Ann, Activism Lawyering and Legal Theory, Oxford: oxford university Press, 2006.
  • Seikkula J, Trimble D, Healing Elements of Therapeutic Conversation Dialogue as an embodiment of Love, Journal of Family Process, volume (44)4, 2005.
  • Woodruff, TJ, Conry, JA, Climate change women’s health and the role of obstetricians and gynecologists in leadership, International journal of gynecology and obstetrics the official organ of the International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics, volume 155(3), 2013.