CANADIAN JOURNAL OF WOMEN AND THE LAW

Indian Act Sex Discrimination : Enough Inquiry Already, Just Fix It

This article examines the connection between sex discrimination in the Indian Act, as it read in 2016, with the high levels of violence against Indigenous women in Canada.

Ethics of Accountability : Gladue, Race, and the Limits of Reparative Justice

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.

A Site/Sight We Cannot Bear : The Racial/Spatial Politics of Banning the Muslim Woman's Niqab

The author argues that the primary legal logic upon which niqab bans in the West rest—to promote security and social interaction—is weak. To illustrate this illogic, she discusses three examples of niqab bans: the Canadian case R v NS, the niqab ban at Canadian citizenship ceremonies, and the French case SAS v France.

Relations of Ruling : A Feminist Critique of the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and Violence against Women in the Context of Resource Extraction

This article examines the capacity of the UN guiding principles on Business and Human Rights (UN Guiding Principles) to address the gendered effects of resource extractive industries, particularly violence against women. After explaining the authors’ feminist textual methodology, the article traces the relationship between the resource extraction industry and violence against women in their workplace, home, and community.

Digging for Rights : How Can International Human Rights Law Better Protect Indigenous Women from Extractive Industries?

This article examines the potential for the right to self-determination, as represented in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights on Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), to protect Indigenous women and girls in Canada from the negative impacts of extractive industry growth.

Sweeping Changes - A Review of Recent Reforms on Protections for Migrant Workers in Asia and the Middle East

This article reviews government responses to a lack of safe migration practices for female migrant workers. The article is written from the perspective of an international human rights activist and is based on six years of research and policy advocacy by Human Rights Watch in Singapore, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Lebanon, Jordan, Sri Lanka, the Philippines, and Indonesia. In host countries, gaps in labour laws, strict immigration policies, and widespread discrimination against domestic workers contribute to human rights violations.

Litigating Social and Economic Rights in Canada in Light of International Human Rights Law: What Difference Can It Make?

This article examines the judicial use of international human rights law by Canadian courts with a particular focus on the potential to establish economic and social rights to promote women's equality. The article begins by discussing economic and social rights under international law and the regional law of the Inter-American human rights system. The author proceeds to identify the five distinct judicial approaches to international law.

"Gender Comment": Why Does the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights Need a General Comment on Women?

The author of this article discusses considerations of equality in the provision of economic, social and cultural rights and analyzes the particular role of the United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in securing these rights for women. The article begins with a review of General Comments by the Committee, including a discussion of the status of these comments under international law. The second half of the article focuses on how women's human rights issues are addressed within the broader UN system.

Beyond the Social and Economic Rights Debate: Substantive Equality Speaks to Poverty

The main premise of this article is that governments are required to take positive steps in order to encourage substantive equality. The article reviews Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms jurisprudence with a particular focus on cases which addressed poverty issues using a social and economic rights framework. The authors argue that the characterization of social and economic rights as distinct and different from civil and political rights is a significant factor which prevents the success of these claims.

Women and the Canada Health and Social Transfer: Ensuring Gender Equality in Federal Welfare Reform

This article addresses the repeal of the Canada Assistance Plan under Canada's 1995 Budget Act and the establishment of the Canada Health and Social Transfer (CHST) policy in its place. The author argues that CHST is a step backwards for women as it replaces a federal funding scheme based on need with one that allows provinces greater flexibility in allocating resources to welfare programs. The article begins by analyzing why federally-funded social programs are necessary to protect women's interests.

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