Feminist Methods in International Law

This paper describes two feminist methods that can illuminate the study of international law. These methods are "searching for silences" or pointing to the ways that international law factors out the realities of women's lives and "world travelling," or seeking to respond to the many differences among women. The author then considers the questions that these two methods might raise in the particular context of accountability for human rights violations in internal armed conflict. She points out where international law has not adequately taken into account the experiences of different women in armed conflict and, how in some instances, a purely gender-based analysis can limit our understanding of womens' lives.