The women’s movement has worked to empower women and bring attention to men who mistreat women. However, some people believe this has led to unfair treatment of men. They think that women’s rights have become more important than men’s rights. This has caused concern about whether men are being treated unfairly and if their rights are being ignored.

An example of this is in Australia was the Higgins and Lehrmann case played out in the public arena. The media heralded Higgins as a hero for coming forth to tell her story of an alleged rape two years previous at her work place, parliament house, in the early morning hours. She accused a man of an abhorrent crime, rape. Even politicians congratulated her on her bravery. But what about Lehrmann? He denied the allegation but his rights to a presumption of innocents was not respected by some segments of the media and the community. Did anyone care about him and his basic human right to a fair trial? What about his family who would have lived through this with him and still are? What happened here? Did we all lose our sense of fairness? And correct me if I’m wrong, wasn’t this a police matter not a media, political dance?

Well, as it turns out, the trial resulted in a hung jury and the charges were withdrawn against Lehrmann due to Higgins’s health issue. Higgins secured a multi-million compensation deal from the Commonwealth and Lehrmann was denied the opportunity to clear his name. This has to be concerning for every Australian. We are moving into dangerous territory if we allow the pendulum to swing too far one way and it becomes a vehicle for media and political agendas.

It’s time to balance the scales and stop this attitude of anti-male, pro-female righteousness influencing community outcomes that are not fair. Human Rights for freedom, equality and dignity are essentially what has motivated every movement in history. Women’s rights are human rights, so that must go for the men too, right? And, all genders. Our human rights include a right to a fair trial, vote, free speech, freedom from discrimination, right to life, freedom from torture, right to privacy, access to health and education, right to decent living conditions, right to safety, protection from violence and many others.

So, it’s time to get back to basic human rights which is inclusive of all genders … and that’s how I see it!