Developing Human Rights Principles in Cases of Gender-based Violence: Opuz v Turkey in the European Court of Human Rights

This article argues that Opuz v Turkey marks a shift in the European Court of Human Rights' approach to gender-based violence. Prior to Opuz, the Court consistently addressed cases of sexual violence through a State duty to secure rights between private individuals, not through a discrimination analysis. In Opuz, the Court relied in part on the prohibition of discrimination in Article 14, and thus has serious implications for the ways in which States must deal with domestic violence cases.

Patricia Londono, Developing Human Rights Principles in Cases of Gender-based Violence: Opuz v Turkey in the European Court of Human Rights (2009) 9:4 Oxford Human Rights Law Review 657.