ABSTRACT
On an international scale the human rights of women are systematically attacked. Women face discrimination as the state fails to prevent, prosecute or take seriously, widespread and routine acts of violence against women that in many cases are so deeply institutionalized and embedded they are viewed as normal. There are many forms of indirect state-perpetrated violence that disproportionately impact women and girls. Women have increasingly entered the workforce becoming economic actors, heads of households, as well as maintaining their roles as mothers and caregivers. In the United States there have been significant social, political and legal changes in the role of women in the workforce since the 1950s. This has led to greater social and economic freedoms for women but there still remain pervasive and systemic gender inequities that relegate women to economic positions that are secondary to men. Traditionally conceptualized as being beyond the purview, the family has long been a site of male domination.
