The Place of Social Work in Preserving Human Rights in Context of Changing Gender Roles in Nigeria

International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS) | Volume III, Issue VI, June 2019 | ISSN 2454–6186

The Place of Social Work in Preserving Human Rights in Context of Changing Gender Roles in Nigeria

Atumah, Oscar N¹, Agwu, Prince. C.² & Okoye, Uzoma. O.³

¹Department of Sociology, University of Abuja, Abuja, Nigeria
^2,3Department of Social Work, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Nigeria

Abstract: – Contemporary struggles between genders have ensued changes in gender roles, with relative harmful implications for family and societal members. This has occasioned implications for human rights, thus creating relevance for the social work profession in managing such change. This paper utilized the rational choice theory in justifying core reasons people derive from maximizing their potentials and fulfilling their goals. The paper stuck to secondary sources of data collection and concluded that these changing gender roles occasion cases of human rights concerns which cut across various levels of practice. Hence, social workers as stakeholders in human rights fields should play the role of professionals with relevant skills and knowledge to achieve successful management of the inevitable change.

Keywords: Gender roles, social work, rational choice, human rights

I. INTRODUCTION

Issues of gender have been of enormous concerns to governing bodies, communities, families, and individuals. In most cases, arguments of supremacy, role appropriateness, and access to resources form the bedrock of gender issues (Sefinatu, 2014; Akintan, 2013). With such profiled arguments, those featuring socioeconomic, political and cultural significance, have been captured within frameworks of human rights, with emphasis on bridging gaps over inadequacies. Attributes of these shortcoming deal with gender dissatisfaction and constitutes a product of the dynamic consciousness of societal change (Nwosu, 2012; Omodjohwoefe, 2011). The order of the society cannot remain the same over time since respective genders keep looking out for ways to get satisfied with consequences on their roles. In a bid to get happy, impacts of human rights significance are bound to occur between relationships of gender categories and those around them. Such calls for reconciliation within the domain of human rights protection. It becomes evident that social work as a profession deals mainly with human rights faces tending toward being the best fit for the provision of such sought after reconciliation (Thompson, 2006; Coulshed & Orme, 2006).

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