History-3

Cape Verde stands out in Africa for being the most developed nation in human rights, specifically in women. Cape Verde has had many high points in the development of women's rights but there are a few low points as well. Cape Verde is progressing at the same rate as a nation with a similar background in women's rights, such as the United States. Most of the struggles including injustice toward women occurred a few years after independence was claimed. This applies for both the United States and Cape Verde.
 * __CAPE VERDE, INJUSTICE TOWARDS WOMEN/HUMAN RIGHTS__**

The islands of Cape Verde were unexplored and uninhabited up until the 15th century when the region was claimed and colonized by the Portuguese. The location of Cape Verde became important for the Atlantic slave trade because of it's convenient location off the east coast of Africa. However the location was not convenient for long. Pirate attacks soon after the habitation of the islands caused the European slave trade to leave Cape Verde. Therefore, there is no history of injustice towards women including the slave trade, which makes sense why the island country is so far ahead of the other regions of Africa in that aspect. The minimal women's rights problems led to later strong accomplishments for the region.

A few of the accomplishments in Cape Verde concerning women's rights include: Women were given the right to vote in 1975, the signing and ratification of the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) in 1980, the signing and ratification of the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa (Maputo Protocol) in 2005, the African Party for the independence of Guinea-Bissau and Cape Verde won Guinea-Bissau's first multi-party elections in July 1995, and the presence of a white ribbon campaign in Cape Verde supporting the rights of women in the region.

I believe the lowest point of development in women's rights in the region of Cape Verde was that, in 2005 human's rights activists were beaten and arrested on account of their work. However, this problem was quickly doused and forgotten about.

http://www.moibrahimfoundation.org/en/media/get/20101108_eng-table-iiag2010-revised.pdf http://www.africa4womensrights.org/public/Dossier_of_Claims/Cape_Verde-UK.pdf

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"Ratifying Countries." //Amnesty International USA - Protect Human Rights//. N.p., n.d. Web. 1 Mar. 2011. .

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"White Ribbon Campaign. The Global Context." //The White Ribbon Campaign - The Campaign//. N.p., n.d. Web. 1 Mar. 2011. .

"Culture of Cape Verde - traditional, history, people, clothing, women, beliefs, food, customs, family." //Countries and Their Cultures//. N.p., n.d. Web. 1 Mar. 2011. .