Women's Human Rights Resources Database

This article discusses the pivotal importance of Jessica Gonzales v United States, heard by the Inter-American Commission in March 2007. At the time this article was written, the case had not yet been decided. The article offers an in-depth discussion of Ms. Gonzales' case, while also providing a comprehensive outline of the current treatment of domestic violence within American law and international human rights law. The case is not only important to Gonzales but also to the rights of women, especially those of colour. In particular, the article discusses how domestic violence is often viewed as a private issue and, thus, has been neglected both in state law and international human rights law. The article discusses the importance of framing domestic violence as a human rights violation, and explains how the case may serve to change the legal, political and social perspectives on violence against women. Caroline Bettinger-Lopez, Human Rights at Home: Domestic Violence as a Human Rights Violation (2008) 40:1 Colum HRL Rev 19.

The author argues that the current United Nations (UN) and nongovernmental organizations systems do not allow for a human rights analysis which accounts for multiple forms of human rights abuses. The author uses "qualified universalism" to propose a new framework to reconceptualize human rights and restructure UN institutions and NGOs. The author begins by describing the development of the global women's human rights movement and feminist critiques of the international human rights movement. Then, the author briefly details the right to nondiscrimination which prohibits discrimination based on race, gender, and sexual orientation. Next, the author describes the application of intersectionality to specific women's human rights issues. After examining the structure and practice of UN institutions and NGOs, the author concludes with short-and long-term recommendations to incorporate intersectionality within the UN system.

Male-centred legislation, policies and institutions that are the hallmarks of Canada's colonial history have had a long-lasting impact on the health of Indigenous women. Although Indigenous women have unique sets of constitutionally protected rights, the government has failed to protect those rights. Traditionally, Indigenous peoples have understood and practiced an integrated approach to health - however, by all health status indicators, Indigenous peoples in Canada suffer from disproportionately poor health compared to the non-Indigenous population. The residential school system, the child welfare system, overrepresentation of Indigenous people in the justice system, chronic law income and poverty, substandard housing, lack of self-determination, and unequal standards of education are all factors that have contributed to ill health. The purpose of this article is to present a constitutional rights-based approach to address the constitutional and human rights violations within the context  of a distinctive Indigenous appreciation of social rights and of women's substantive equality. The first section of the article is an overview of the health status of Indigenous women in Canada. The second section is a description of the rights-based approach to health, which Canada is bound to under international law. In the final section, the author suggests that a constitutional equality rights framework may offer a promising basis for future right to health claims by Indigenous women.

In this piece, the author reflects on her own work exploring ideological assumptions which inform the legal regulation of women in India, and considers how comparative research can be done without falling into the traps of ethnocentrism on the one side or cultural relativism on the other. She situates the work within the postcolonial context, examining the politics of collaboration, and transnational work. To overcome the dangers of "obsessive voyeurism" the author suggests a strategy of "turning the gaze back on itself", recognizing that in looking at others we are also always looking at ourselves.

This article argues that the human rights of women of colour are neither adequately protected nor fully recognized under the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD), as ratified by the United States. This result is largely attributable to both the conceptualization of race in terms that assume maleness represents a point of gender neutrality and the centrality of principles of formal equality to anti-discrimination law.

This article explores different theories addressing the tension, both real and perceived, of cultural claims and gender equality in the legal system. The author presents two opposing theories, Universalist and Post-Colonial, the former relying on an Enlightenment influenced cultural ranking, and the latter using a nuanced post-colonial approach to culture as a basis for analysis. Although divergent in approach, the author finds that the two theories reach the same conclusion with respect to gender: cultural equality and gender equality are diametrically opposed. The author presents a third option, arguing for a differentiated recognition of cultural claims for only those that do not marginalize internally disadvantaged groups, and describes criteria on how to identify such claims. [Descriptors: Race and Gender, International]

This article provides a theoretical framework from which to advocate women's human rights issues. The authors argue that feminist solidarity has failed because of the tendency to focus on ways that one is oppressed without addressing how multiple systems of oppression (such as capitalism, imperialism, and patriarchy) place women in hierarchical relations to one another. As these systems operate simultaneously, the authors present strategies for women's rights advocates to look at their own relative positions of power and how they are complicit in the oppression of other women. It is from the recognition of one's relative position of power, that advocates can then work to disrupt all systems to end the subordination of women.

This article critically analyzes the structure and processes of human rights law as it pertains to the protection of collective rights. The author argues that the right to development, which is a group right, is not sufficiently flexible to include the relational aspect of identities, namely the discrimination faced by individuals who exist at the intersection of race and gender. The author posits that the persistence of discrimination on both of these fronts shows that the international human rights regime is not structured to provide relief for women of colour. The author reviews doctrinal inconsistencies between the right to development and the right to self-determination. She argues that the strict categorization of individual rights and collective rights in human rights discourse, creates problems in the effective protection of individuals within groups, as these categories do not account for the relational aspect of human existence. The author's premise is supported by the fact that race and gender issues are frequently treated separately in human rights discourse. The author concludes that recognition of the "self" should be fundamental in implementing the right to development and in broadening human rights in general.

The authors discuss the right to education for women as addressed and delineated in international human rights law and in particular within CEDAW. They explore what this right grants to women and why it is important. The authors argue that bringing CEDAW into this discussion can be beneficial in encouraging states to adopt measures that would promote this right. Currently, states and other non-state actors are not clear about the best methods to create equality in education and the framework provided by CEDAW in this respect is needed. It is argued that CEDAW needs to clarify substantive ways these rights could be realized and make more detailed recommendations for states to follow. CEDAW should do this by creating a framework based upon the four principles of availability, accessibility, adaptability, and acceptability as proposed in CESCR.

This article reviews the progress made in the human rights situation of Latin American women both within Latin America and in the United States. The piece begins with a discussion of the intersections of race and sex discrimination in the Latina experience and assesses the protection offered by international race and sex-based instruments. Next, an overview is presented of the Inter-American Human Rights system’s jurisprudence in relation to women’s rights and the system’s effects in fostering changes in domestic laws and constitutions. It is argued that while the system has been successful in many respects, discrimination in law persists throughout the Americas. The article concludes by proposing reforms that include expanding the definition of violence to include economic violence and posing a number of critical queries in response to cultural defenses of discriminatory laws.

This article provides brief observations on the East/West human rights debate. It discusses the patriarchal and cultural imperial tendencies of the international legal regime, and advocates for a broader perspective within international human rights to take account of the intersections of gender, culture, economic justice and international politics. The author begins by examining the tension between universalism and cultural relativism. She critiques conflicting views on the relevance of Western liberal rights discourse for Asian women facing oppression, marginalization and discrimination. The author acknowledges the usefulness of rights discourse, but maintains that a re-conceptualized interpretation, one that takes a cross-cultural approach to rights, is necessary for human rights discourse to be relevant to all women. The author briefly discusses the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) and the Platform of Action adopted by the 1995 Fourth World Conference on Women. She also highlights various regional NGO initiatives that promote women's rights.

This research paper analyzes various international legal instruments that deal with the trafficking of women and discusses the ways in which it provides protection to the victims. These instruments include the Convention for the Suppression of Traffic in Persons and of the Exploitation of Others, CEDAW, the Palermo Protocol, and Human Rights Covenants. In their analysis, the authors highlight the inefficiencies of anti-trafficking regulations in preventing trafficking activities and providing remedy to the victims. In order to remedy these gaps in international legal instruments, the authors suggest establishing co-operation between different states, employing more rigorous enforcement mechanisms of Covenants, and promoting education and awareness about trafficking within the independent states.

This paper examines the intersection between international economic and tax laws and gender impact analysis, beginning with a discussion of women's realities: unpaid work, higher rates of poverty, lack of power, and constrained ability to accumulate investment capital. The author assesses CEDAW and other international documents to emphasize that eradication of gender discrimination is an ongoing commitment. She then focuses on the steps Canada has taken to implement mainstreaming gender equality at the federal level. The author concludes with an identification of the roles international organizations, such as World Bank and OECD, might play in improving the gender analysis of international taxation.

The author explores the developing area of critical race feminist human rights, specifically in relation to the issues affecting black women who migrate from Jamaica to America. The author's central argument is that to adequately address the rights of these women, it is necessary to re-conceptualize the dominant understanding of international rights. The author stresses the need to understand that race and gender intersect in ways that international law has yet to recognize. The author concludes that international laws must be interpreted in a manner better reflective of the intersection between race and gender. [Descriptors: Migration - Refugees and Immigration, International]

This essay examines how the intersection of race, gender, and cultural stereotypes operate to limit black migrant women's human rights recognition and access to the legal system in North America. The author explores the negative identities assigned to Mavis Baker, a Jamaican immigrant to Canada, by the media and an immigration officer recommending her deportation. The author also includes a discussion of the implications of globalization on unskilled female labour and a critique of the way in which the international human rights regime prioritizes political and civil rights violations over social, economic and cultural rights violations.

This study highlights the needs for closer scrutiny of the inter-sectional nature of perpetrators of domestic violence. The author posits that attention on the identities of victims of domestic violence fails to reveal the reason why success in family court cases does not always align with the victims adherence to decision-makers' expectations of the "perfect victim". The article argues that the expansion of inter-sectional and performance theory to perpetrators is necessary to gain further insight into this discrepancy.

The author analyzes Article 43 of the Arab Charter and how it should be interpreted to guarantee expansive rights for women. He argues that national courts must look to international human rights law as a guide to interpret Charter rights. The author explores how the Charter explicitly gives rights protection to women and how its inclusion of "positive discrimination" is beneficial for women's rights in the region. The author explains how domestic courts in Arab countries have been applying international norms of human rights and CEDAW. He notes that, while the Charter offers progress in the field of women's rights, problems still remain when resolving some Shariah principles with the Charter. He argues that interpreting those principles based upon international norms of human rights law can amend any derogation of rights.

The author uses Sherene Razack’s concept of an ethics of accountability to argue that the Gladue process constitutes a restorative approach to sentencing that falls short when operationalized through discourses of racial differences. This is because, as Razack discussed, the use of a discourse of cultural difference obscures the complexity of racial difference in settler colonialism and multiculturalism, rendering power relations invisible and keeping dominant cultural norms in place. The author then mobilizes these ethical considerations to analyze several decisions written by Justice Shaun Nakatsuru, lauded by media and the legal community for their “progressive” treatment of Indigenous offenders. She argues that, in fact, the focus on culture, vulnerability, and pathology does little to disrupt the racial and gendered relations that structure settler colonialism or to address the disproportionate incarceration of Indigenous people. Through this analysis, the author reveals the perniciousness of a seemingly progressive criminal justice process that conflates retribution and reparation.   

This article focuses on the notion of “intersecting borders of equality” ––drawn from intersectionality theory and the concept of “normative boundaries of belonging” ––to show the disadvantages and human rights violations faced by migrant women. The author highlights that formal, normative, and practical borders construe migrant women as outsiders or lesser members in society. When viewed through this lens, it becomes evident that migrant women’s experiences are shaped by different inequality structures rather than their own personal choices or failures. The author concludes by paying attention to how it may not always be possible to dismantle borders of inequality, especially without making deep changes in dominant cultural attitudes. Therefore, the focus of international human rights law should be to remain attentive to fixing these borders rather than reinforcing its disadvantages.

This article explores the intersection of critical race theory with race and gender discourse in the study of nationhood, borders, and sovereignty in the “Age of Trump”. The author’s discussion draws out the impact of populism on race and gender in immigration and rights advocacy. The article argues that two common gendered immigration narratives, the “welfare cheat” and the “criminal”, push the legal construction of North American states and borders inward and outward, respectively. Donald Trump’s stereotyping of Latina mothers as “welfare queens” reflect Ronald Reagan’s decades-old efforts to stereotype black women in the 1980’s, and other attempts to target residents within US borders are reflected in US family separation policy. The article also details how male-violence counterpart narratives have been used to justify legal action taken by Trump at and beyond the border. Similar gendered portrayals of racial groups are evidenced by US political discourse on terrorism.

This article focuses on the issues that arise from the intersection of multiple identities in international human rights law. The author examines the experience of Romani women and argues that problems arise from the complexities that result from the intersection between the "woman" experience and the "Romani" experience. For example, the author explores how support for Romani group rights can encourage traditional cultural practices that subject Romani women to discrimination. While her analysis is specific to Romani woman, the author suggests that it can be extrapolated to other minorities. This article is a shorter version of a Master's thesis presented at the European University Institute.

The murder of a Saulteaux (Ojibway) nation woman in Regina, Canada and the subsequent conviction of two white men for manslaughter is discussed in this article in the context of what the author calls "spatialized justice". The author argues that identity as it relates to space acted as a factor in the trial in so far as the victim was characterized as belonging to a "zone of violence" and the accused as foreign to this space and so less culpable. The author uses a method of "unmapping" to argue that by denaturalizing the spaces and individuals in the trial, one may expose the 1 nature of violence and hierarchies present in the case. The influence of colonization and one's accountability for one's position in history is also examined. [Descriptors: Race and Gender, Canada]

This article examines gender politics and human rights as they relate to Indigenous women. It considers whether a conception of rights centered on the individual can truly promote the collective rights of indigenous peoples. Additionally, the author discusses the limitations of gender norms in understanding the reality of indigenous women in many contexts. She explores how the identification of Mapuche women in Chile mediates gender and human rights and considers the multiple identifications of Indigenous women. The article discusses the various means through which Mapuche women identify with the Mapuche community as whole, and differ from non-Mapuche Chilean women.

This study traces the local phenomenon of the death penalty in the United States, finding that both race and gender factors are key indicators of death sentences within communities. Based on the socio-political context of each region, it suggests that counties with Black populations greater than the state median experience increases in all death sentences, while gender equality in education holds a remedial effect on death penalty application.  Ultimately, the study demonstrates that the persistence of extralegal factors, particularly racial bias, contributing to death sentencing is evidence that these relationships must be recognized and factored into research and administration of capital sentencing.