HUMAN RIGHTS QUARTERLY

, A Methodology to Ensure that States Adequately Apply Due Diligence Standards and Processes to Significantly Impact Levels of Violence Against Women Around the World

This article alleges that due diligence is essential to reducing the prevalence of violence against women (VAW) worldwide. First, the article examines current international and state mechanisms for recognizing and documenting VAW. The article then assesses the international legal approach to gender discrimination and VAW.

Women’s Progress and Women’s Human Rights

In this article, Nussbaum argues that the impact of international human rights law on women’s progress should be assessed broadly. Legal documents, e.g., the CEDAW, have little direct impact on their own. And what direct impact they do have is often difficult to measure.

Nepali Widows' Access to Legal Entitlements : A Human Rights Issue

Approximately a half-million Nepali widows struggle to obtain property that is owed to them under domestic and international law. This article presents a qualitative study of Nepali widows’ access to their legal entitlements, including land acquired through the death of a husband, death benefits provided to widows of conflict victims, army personnel, and social security benefits provided to widows who don’t fit into the previous categories.

Beyond Strategic Rape and Between the Public and Private: Violence Against Women in Armed Conflict

The premise of this article is to analyze the definition of gender-based violence within the context of armed conflict, partially in response to the tendency of some scholars to only “consider” strategic rape as conflict-related violence against women while ignoring other forms of violence.

The Political Repression of Women

This paper seeks to develop a new, operational conceptualization of political repression, taking into account the experiences of women. Repression is conceptualized as a policy threatening a segment of society when that segment is challenging the existing power structure and policies. The author examines the gender stratification in the political realm, an area of society that is often overlooked in gender discourse. Through analysis of data on women's repression from fifty-seven countries, the author asserts two statements: first, when women

Ending the Marginalization: Strategies for Incorporating Women into the United Nations Human Rights System

This article describes and evaluates the progress which has been made towards developing and incorporating a gender perspective into human rights work of the United Nations and to suggest strategies that may be adopted to facilitate this process. In doing so, it seeks to examine the reasons why women have been at the periphery of international human rights, and what obstacles remain for full integration.

Women's Rights in the Universal Declaration

This article is an historical account of women's rights in the drafting of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights (UDHR), examining the internal history and discussing the struggles involved. The author argues that because of the prohibition against discrimination, there was no need for repetition through a separate "women's clause". The final result, with use of the words "everyone" and "no-one", came as a result of much struggle, especially in the case of women's rights.

Human Rights Dynamics of Abortion Law Reform

This article proposed that the legal approach to abortion is evolving from criminal prohibition towards accommodation as a life-preserving and health-perserving option, particularly in light of data on maternal mortality and morbidity. The authors assert that the modern momentum for liberalization comes from international adoption of the concept of reproductive health, and wider recognition that the resort to safe and dignified healthcare is a major human right.

ASEAN States, Their Reservations to Human Rights Treaties and the Proposed ASEAN Commission on Women and Children

This article examines reservations to the six main human rights treaties and specifically considers the impact of reservations made by the Association of South East Asian Nations' (ASEAN) on the Hanoi Action Plans proposed Commission on Women and Children. The author discusses reasons why ASEAN states become parties to human rights treaties and the general debate on reservations to such treaties. An overview of the Vienna Conventions reservation provisions, including the process and validity of reservations, is provided, and the legal effect of

"The Personal is Political", or Why Women's Rights are Indeed Human Rights: An African Perspective on International Feminism

Pages