A New 'Gender' Definition in International Law : The Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence

This article explores the Convention's definition of 'gender' based on the 'social theory of gender' and its implications as they relate to international and national law. Defining gender in this way and in this context has been problematic from the theoretical perspective and has resulted in concerns of  judicial and political nature for states parties who are prevented from broadly taking part in the Convention. The result is a delay in the adoption of the Convention itself, thereby jeopardizing the protection of the very rights it seeks to protect.