THE INFLUENCE OF RELIGIOUS NORMS AND IDEOLOGY ON THE RIGHTS OF WOMEN AND CHILDREN IN THE FIRST AND SECOND THIRDS OF THE 20th CENTURY IN IRELAND AND NAZI GERMANY

Abstract

Recognizing the influence of religious norms and ideology on the formation and development of various types of social relations, the circumstances of the creation and operation of such social institutions as mother and child homes in the first and second thirds of the 20th century were investigated in Ireland and Nazi Germany. As well as their influence on the recognition, guarantee and protection of the rights of women and children born out of wedlock in certain countries in the specified historical period. The article defines the general influence of religion and ideology on social relations in general and the rights of women and children, in particular. The formation of social attitudes, manifestations of stigma, and legal norms in Ireland regarding extramarital sexual relations in the first and second thirds of the 20th century are revealed under the influence of the Roman Catholic Church. The activity of Irish shelters for mothers and children under the auspices of the Roman Catholic Church in the period from 1922 to 1998 was analyzed, the forms and manifestations of violations of women and children in these socio-religious institutions were determined. The peculiarities of the implementation of the project of the Nazi government of Germany “Lebensborn” in the 40s of the XX century, which became a component of the system of Nazi demographic policy, were characterized, aimed at the selection of the German people, increasing the birth rate, reducing the number of abortions and focusing women’s attention on the functions of motherhood. It was determined that the negative manifestations of the influence of religious dogmas and Nazi ideology in Ireland and Germany in the first and second thirds of the 20th century such negative phenomena as: – violation of a woman’s rights, in particular, the right to motherhood, the right to medical care, the right to free movement, the right to work, the right to communicate with the family, the right to consent or refuse to adopt a child, the right to information about the child, the right to choose a sexual partner, the right to receive information; – violation of the rights of children, in particular, the right to life, the right to provide appropriate care and upbringing, the right to national self-identity, the right to medical care, the right to freedom of conscience and religious beliefs, the right to non-discrimination, the right to receive information about one’s origin, rights to live with parents; – development of such negative social phenomena as: social stigmatization of women and children born out of wedlock; high level of child mortality; manifestations of racism; inactivity of the relevant state authorities to prevent the violation of the rights of women and children born out of wedlock or the direct influence of the state on their violation; the formation of society’s values; under the direct, strong influence of religion or Nazi ideology and others.