Unsustainable International Law : Transnational Resource Extraction and Violence Against Women

Title: 
Unsustainable International Law : Transnational Resource Extraction and Violence Against Women
Journal Citation: 
26(2) TRANSNATIONAL LAW AND CONTEMPORARY PROBLEMS, 415-434 (2017)

This article focuses on sexual violence against women perpetrated in the context of transnational North-South resource extraction. The author explores how a growing number of transnational extractive corporations, and particularly Canadian ones, have been linked to the perpetration of sexual violence against women in the Global South. The author starts by detailing the legal cases of three Canadian extractive companies implicated in human rights abuses overseas including violence against women. They then describe the distinct types of harm caused by sexual violence, using reports from the UN and Amnesty International for support, and underline the structural factors that exacerbate violence against women. An overview of the contribution of international treaties and obligations, including CEDAW, to the matter shows how the current international legal system maintains a gendered regulatory gap and fails to hold transnational extractive companies accountable for violent acts perpetrated against women in the Global South.