The role of the Catholic Women’s Guild in promoting women’s rights in Amolatar Catholic Parish in light of Pacem in Terris of John XXIII.

Abstract

This thesis was based on the role of the Catholic women’s guild in promoting women’s rights in Amolatar Catholic Parish, in light of Pacem in Terris. In Amolatar Catholic Parish, Women’s Rights’ violation still remains a fact and real. This existent fact of women’s rights’ violation in Amolatar results from the fact that their contributions towards the promotion of women’s rights have hardly been realized, especially by those in Catholic Women’s Guild association.

The main objective of this study was to determine the role played by the Catholic Women’s guild in promoting Women’s rights in Amolatar Catholic Parish. However, besides this main objective, the specific objectives were to: 1. Expose the notion of women’s rights, and the basic women’s rights among the Catholic Women’s guild of Amolatar Catholic Parish. 2. Identify the role played by the Catholic Women’s guild in promoting Women’s rights in Amolatar Catholic Parish. 3. Examine challenges in the promotion of Women’s rights in Amolatar Catholic Parish. 4. Suggest ways through which Women’s rights can effectively be promoted in Amolatar Catholic Parish. During the study, various methods and procedures were used in gathering information. These included: use of questionnaires, interviews, observations, group discussions and casual conversations with others. In tallying the results from the findings, the researcher has used the aid of tables, graphs, charts and explanations. Findings on the first objective revealed that many women have heard about human rights, they understand its meaning even in their local language and know some of their rights. It rather impresses that out of the total population, 96% of women have the knowledge about human rights. However, among their rights, women have expressed that right to food, clothing, housing and health care is very central and more demanding in the promotion of their rights. Keen attention should therefore be paid this right.

The study also discovered that women have indeed played a great role in promoting their rights. They have been able to do these through: leadership empowerment, sensitization of women, conferences, transparent accountability, and exchange visits.

On the other hand, women also met with various challenges in their struggle to promote their rights. These included: negativity of cultural attitude, domestic violence, ignorance and illiteracy, unemployment, HIV/AIDS, poverty, single parenthood, male dominances, and sexual immorality.

In spite of all these challenges, various ways of promoting women’s rights were proposed. They included the following: Family Apostolate, promotion of more religious movements and associations, open-sharing of the challenges, inviting various stakeholders who are experts in women’s rights, promoting girl-child education, empowering and educating women on their self-confidence, and partnership of the Catholic Women’s Guild with the sister Churches like the Mother’s Union of the Anglican Church.

Human rights are surely built on the dignity of the human person so much that the dignity of the human person is rooted in the image and likeness of God. Respect for human person entails respect for the rights that flow from his dignity as a creature. Two important things were also noted: 1. There is an indirect relationship between traditional culture and the promotion of women’s rights. Most women pointed out that they have a very negative attitude to the role of culture in the promotion of their rights. Indeed culture in this area of research upholds a high male dominance over women. 2. A positive correlation exists between the partnership approach to development and the promotion of women’s rights. This approach has worked best with the Catholic Women’s Guild of Amolatar Catholic Parish. They liaise with other religions, politicians and NGOs for the integral promotion of their rights. In conclusion therefore, it should be noted that by virtue of their being human, women share the same rights as men. Indeed, because they are persons, they have rights and obligations flowing directly and simultaneously from their very nature, and as these rights and obligations are universal and inviolable, they cannot in any way be surrendered.