History of Human Rights in Canada: Women's & Disability Movements

This essay provides a comparative analysis of the Women's Movement and the Disability Rights Movement in Canada, tracing their historical trajectories and assessing their impact on human rights. The essay begins by outlining the historical context of both movements, including the evolution of feminism in Canada and the emergence of the Disability Rights Movement. It then evaluates the performance of each movement, highlighting the Women's Movement's achievements in areas such as LGBTQ rights and abortion legalization, and the Disability Rights Movement's struggles against discrimination in employment and other sectors. The essay concludes by arguing that the Women's Movement has been more successful due to its earlier start and societal acceptance, while acknowledging the ongoing challenges faced by both movements in advocating for the rights of their respective target groups. The essay draws on various sources, including academic literature, to support its arguments and provide a comprehensive overview of the history of human rights in Canada.

Running head: HISTORY OF HUMAN RIGHTS IN CANADA 1
History of Human Rights in Canada
Name
Institution

HISTORY OF HUMAN RIGHTS IN CANADA 2
History of Human Rights in Canada
Introduction
Courtesy of the many social movements that have occurred in Canadian history, many
human rights and acts have been formulated and implemented. Social movements function as
catalysts in the process of legislation of human rights. This paper attempts to illustrate how
two human rights social movements - the Women's Movement and the Disability Rights
Movement – have performed in the history of the human rights movement in Canada. The
history, functions, and challenges facing each social movement. In essence, this essay
attempts to compare the characteristics and performance of the Women's Movement from
1985 to the present and the Disability Rights movement. Besides, the essay will trace the
historical trajectory of the two movements, displaying where each movement advanced while
the other seemed to have fallen back. The essay’s conclusion summarizes the main arguments
and also illustrates the current situation of both movements by demonstrating whether one of
the movements has been more successful compared to the other and the reason behind it.
History
Women Movements and the Disability Rights movements started in the second halves
of the nineteenth and the twentieth century respectively. Popularly known as the feminist
movements, the Women Movements in Canada started in the 1860s. According to Loose
(2016), literature from women scholars such as Mary Wollstonecraft can be attributed to the
start of women's movements. In its infant stages, the women's social movements in Canada
followed the steps of their British contemporaries and fought for women suffrage (Sangster,
2019). The early stages of women's rights movements in Canada are referred to as the first
wave. The second wave of feminism happened after the second world war. Like the first
wave, the second wave was greatly influenced by literature from Betty Friedan's insightful

HISTORY OF HUMAN RIGHTS IN CANADA 3
book The Feminine Mystique (Levine, 2015). The second wave was more concerned about
the identity of women in the western capitalistic patriarchal systems. The third wave of
feminism started in 1985 to the present. On the other hand, the Disability Rights Movement
started in the second half of the twentieth century (Galer, 2015). The Disability Rights
Movement primarily aims at fighting any sort of discrimination among people living with
disabilities in Canada. According to Prince (2016), the movement’s main role encompasses
fighting for inclusion especially in the Canadian employment sector. The movement
functions to advocate for the rights of more than four million individuals living with
disabilities in Canada.
Performance
The Women Movement and the Disability Rights Movement have been moving at
positive but unequal paces towards their long-term goals. Smith (2016) asserts that the
decriminalization of LGBTQ rights in Canada relied much on Women Movements during the
1960s. Moreover, Women Movements were very instrumental in the liberalization and
legalization of abortion in Canada (Stettner, 2016). In the controversial legalization of
abortion in Canada, women activists had successfully convinced the government that women
need to have control over their bodies. Moreover, Women Movements in Canada can be
associated with the formulation of harsh policies against males that assault women.
According to Hall (2015), Women Movements have shown effort in the setting up of
appropriate strategies that aim at eliminating violence against women. Although Women
Movements may be criticized for not eliminating gender-based violence, it is fair to
appreciate the movement's gradual but inspiring progress. Whereas the Women Movement
has been moving at a fast pace, the Disability Rights Movement is considerably moving at a
slow pace. Since its conception, the Disability Rights Movement had targeted to ensure
equality in the fields of employment, transportation, education, and housing (Smith, 2020).

HISTORY OF HUMAN RIGHTS IN CANADA 4
Although the Canadian government claims to prohibit any form of discrimination against
citizens living with a disability, discrimination of the disabled people is overtly seen in the
Canadian workplace, social places, and other institutions. For instance, Gunderson & Lee
(2016) reveal that there is a pay inequality against persons living with disabilities working in
Canada.
Conclusion
To conclude, the Women Movement in Canada has performed better when compared
with the Disability Rights Movement. Having been conceived almost one hundred years
before the Disability Rights Movement, the former movement can be associated with the
breakthrough of women's rights in the Canadian history of human rights. Currently, both
movements are poised towards advocating for the rights of their target groups. The Disability
Rights Movement, however, is unlikely to achieve its milestone objectives, considering that
many organizations and companies are not yet ready to comply with disability anti-
discrimination laws. Although the Discrimination Rights Movement has an admirable
intention and principle, the movement fails in practice.

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References
Galer, D. (2015). Disability Rights Movement in Canada | The Canadian Encyclopedia.
Retrieved 10 April 2020, from
https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/disability-rights-movement
Gunderson, M., & Lee, B. Y. (2016). Pay discrimination against persons with disabilities:
Canadian evidence from PALS. The International Journal of Human Resource
Management, 27(14), 1531-1549.
Hall, R. J. (2015). Feminist strategies to end violence against women. The Oxford handbook
of transnational feminist movements, 394-415.
Levine, S. (2015). The Feminine Mystique at Fifty. Frontiers: A Journal of Women
Studies, 36(2), 41-46.
Looser, D. (2016). Mary Wollstonecraft," Ithuriel," and the Rise of the Feminist Author-
Ghost. Tulsa Studies in Women's Literature, 35(1), 59-91.
Prince, M. J. (2016). Inclusive Employment for Canadians with Disabilities: Toward a New
Policy Framework and Agenda. IRPP Study, (60), 1.
Sangster, J. (2019). Exporting suffrage: British influences on the Canadian suffrage
movement. Women's History Review, 28(4), 566-586.
Smith, M. (2016). Federalism and LGBT rights in the US and Canada: A comparative policy
analysis. In Federalism, Feminism and Multilevel Governance (pp. 97-110).
Routledge.

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Smith, S. (2020). Review of Working Towards Equity: Disability Rights Activism and
Employment in Late Twentieth-Century Canada by Dustin Galer. Disability Studies
Quarterly, 40(1).
Stettner, S. (2016). A brief history of abortion in Canada. Without apology: Writings on
abortion in Canada, 31-74.