Valji, Nahla

Women and the 1951 Refugee Convention: Fifty Years of Seeking Visibility

This article reviews the progress of women refugees under the 1951 Refugee Convention. The main argument is that the lack of inclusion of gender within the Refugee Convention is exacerbated by the same gap in the international legal system. The article begins with a review of the Convention itself and the feminist critique of efforts to incorporate women within the refugee definitions. The authors argue that the efforts to include women within the international legal protection regime do not account for many of the practical barriers facing women in making their particular refugee claims.

Shadow Reports on Reproductive Rights

The Center for Reproductive Rights has produced or co-produced many shadow reports for international human rights treaty monitoring bodies such as the Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (which monitors the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women) and the Human Rights Committee (which monitors the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights). These reports are intended to "supplement or shadow" the reports of national governments when treaty monitoring bodies review government compliance with treaty obligations.