BEYOND UNIVERSALISM-CULTURAL RELATIVISM DEBATE: POTENTIALS OF THE GADA SYSTEM FOR LEGITIMIZING HUMAN RIGHTS OF WOMEN

Abstract

The notion of human rights was not a common topic until the 1940s. It was
only with the conclusion of World War II that human rights took shape as a
distinct and coherent set of ideas and eventually found expression within the
legal and institutional framework of the United Nations.1 The holocaust of the
World War II resulted in the incorporation of “universal respect for, and
observance of, human rights and fundamental freedoms for all without
distinction as to race, sex, language, or religion”2 as one of the major aims of
the United Nations (UN) within its Charter. Accordingly, the UN organized a
working commission to prepare what came to be the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights (UDHR) and adopted in 1948 by the General Assembly of the
UN.3 After this, a number of human rights documents have been adopted
under the auspices of the UN.