Black Women and Gender Equality in a New South Africa: Human Rights Law and the Intersection of Race and Gender

This article uses an "integrated race and gender perspective" to critique international human rights law. The article notes the tendency of traditional feminist theory to overlook the interaction between race and gender. Part II outlines the intersectional analytical framework and its importance for women who face oppression on multiple fronts. Part III looks at the impact of apartheid from a gendered standpoint. Part IV argues that human rights protection that focuses solely on harm by public actors or the state is particularly detrimental to women whose harms often derive from the private sphere. This section also discusses the relationship between the rights encompassed in the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the International Covenant on Economic and Social Rights (ICESCR). Part IV offers suggestions for further engendering South Africa's Constitution.