Womens Rights

Question 1

What is the violation of women’s rights?

Answer 1

The negative position of women
Intrusion into the rights of women
- perceived as a private matter
- within their homes
- women are subject to mental and physical violence
- rape, dowry deaths, wife battering, FGM, forced sterilisation, prostitution

Question 2

What did the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural rights - Gen comment 5 1994

Answer 2

Said that women are subject from double discrimination, for example because of race, religion, national and social origin, old age and disability

Question 3

In 1993 the general assembly adopted what?

Answer 3

A declaration on the elimination of violence against women as well as appointing a special rapporteur

Question 4

ECHR

Answer 4

Article 1 secures that the rights are for everyone in the ECHR
Article 14 = grounds of sex

Question 5

UN charter

Answer 5

Article 1(3): the purpose of the UN is to achieve international cooperation in solving international problems etc without distinction such as sex

Question 6

Commission on the status of women set up in 1946

Answer 6

Preps recommendations and reports for the council on promoting women’s rights in political, economic, civil, social and educational fields

• most famous work was drafting CEDAW
• identified that in the drafting of the UDHR it related to “all men are brothers” = lack of gender identity

Question 7

UDHR

Answer 7

Article 16

Question 8

Problem with the UDHR

Answer 8

It never made a distinction between men and women and brought women’s rights up to the same as men’s, = equality achieved yet lacking gender specific provisions

Question 9

Was the problem continued in the ICESCR and the ICCPR

Answer 9

Yes, both failed to define equality or discrimination in article 3 of both conventions and followed the UDHR approach of equality

Question 10

Advantages of the equality approach

Answer 10

The prohibition of sex discrimination targeted the elimination of stereotypes of women and the dominating stereotypes of men

Human rights challenged the naturalness of many oppressive beliefs and practices

Question 11

Disadvantages to the sex discrimination approach

Answer 11

More formal (de jure) rather than substantive approach (de facto) in that even though women have the same rights as men in theory, it doesn’t necessarily then mean they have equality

Question 12

Shirin A-C and 19 other Mauritius women v Mauritius - HRC

Answer 12

Had to do with residency permits where the husbands of women living in Mauritius lost this residence so had to apply for residency permits, unlike the wives of Mauritian men

• Complained the new laws breached right to family life and non-discrimination, various articles of the ICCPR
• Mauritius could place restrictions on the entry and expulsion of aliens however found that it was discriminatory seeing as the wives of Mauritian men did not have to do the same

Question 13

ICESCR art 10 is an example of what?

Answer 13

Where the covenant has recognised specific rights to mothers but instead of making it more universal it highlights and re-emerges the protectionist approach to women, rather than having rights to new mothers for example it has “special protection” element

Question 14

What about the right to work under the ICESCR

Answer 14

Based on a male framework and doesn’t take into account what is specific for women like their interrupted work patterns for child care or
Gender segregation in the work place

Question 15

One could also say that the ICESCR article 11 does what?

Answer 15

Provision is on the right of HIMSELF to have a family life
- suggests the stereotype
Of women being dependent on men in the home

BUT
- the Committee on Economic Social and a cultural rights has disputed this

Question 16

Article 1 of cedaw includes

Answer 16

The definition

• but does this mean that it prohibits the laws giving more preference for women or girls over boys
  Article 4 says that state parties can give temporary special measures to accelerate de facto equality between men and women but cannot entail separate standards between men and women

Question 17

What are the three core spheres of the scope of the convention

Answer 17

• public: measures on the state including positive to ensure that there is non discrimination against women - national laws and constitutional rules, gov policies, national institutions and participation in political life: article 2
• private: includes corporations but can penetrate into the family life because of article 16 which is the hardest to enforce
• cultural: stereotypes, cultural practices, beliefs and prejudices: see article 5**

Question 18

Obstacles / challenges to CEDAW

CVAA

Answer 18

• comparisons with men: reliance on this to give a de jure perception of “equality”
• violence against women: little reference to it in the convention
• assumption of married heterosexuality
• lack of ACKNOWLEDGEMENT of intersectional forms of discrimination

Question 19

Challenges to cedaw from a cultural perspective

Answer 19

Some cultural beliefs do have oppressive mechanisms such as FGM and arranged marriages, the preference for sons etc so will have to weigh this up with women’s rights and the respect to family life

Question 20

Also there are reservations to the convention

Answer 20

Think at least every stage has a reservation to the convention which is linked to one of its core obligations

• in article 28(2) of the convention it is stated that some states can provide a reservation to the articles
• e.g Saudi Arabia with regards to provisions on divorce, custody, adoption and inheritance

Question 21

Obstacle 1) comparison with men and women

Answer 21

E.g. Women’s productive rights in article 10(h), 12(1) and 16(1)(e) all have to be enjoyed on the basis of equality
> little stand alone room for women’s rights including on abortion!! Unless they fall under “measures protecting maternity” under article 4(2)
> comparison with the Protocol on women’s rights in Africa 2003 which recognises women’s autonomy in sexual and reproductive health
> no recognition to different groups of women like unmarried women’s access to reproductive assistance and is only denied insofar as unmarried men are
> evicting a female spouse from a family home is not discriminatory because there is no male comparator

Question 22

Obstacle 2) lack of reference to violence against women

Answer 22

Gendered violence doesn’t happen the same to women as it does to men
> cedaw Committee general recommendation 19 = violence against women is a form of discrimination against women and applied by the jurisprudence of the cedaw
Committee
= violations of state obligations to eliminate violence against women in family relations (art 16) where the state’s have not acted with due diligence to protect women (AT v Hungary 2005) (Jallow v Bulgaria 2012)

Question 23

Violence against women contin

Answer 23

• since the decisions in AT v Hungary and Jallow v Bulgaria

Violence against women declaration by the General Assembly in 1993

Question 24

Council of Europes approach to violence against women

Answer 24

Preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence 2011

Question 25

Obstacle 3) women’s family life is assumed to be married in a heterosexual relationship

Answer 25

> ignores HR violations that take place in different family formations e.g. Unequal sharing of income and assets, violence in lesbian relationships and fails to protect women when an unmarried relationship breaks down

> CEDAW Committee General Recommendation 21 at 22: tried to rectify that problem by identifying different relationships exist by using “spouse or partner”

> cedaw fails to address discrimination that women face for expressing their sexuality outside of marriage whether in relationships, sex workers, in pursuit of sexual pleasure or lovers of other women

Question 26

Obstacle 4) women are treated as a homogeneous group that experience the same forms of discrimination

Answer 26

> gender discrimination can interlink with other forms of discrimination that are not fully comprehended as sex discrimination

> most extreme form is disabled women

> however there is the advantage in article 14 of the different types of discrimination rural women can face and gives a wide definition of rural

Question 27

Summary 1

Answer 27

NGOs, cedaw and Cedaw Comittee all have played active part in reducing the discrimination of women

> despite its shortcomings and obstacles, the formal recognition of discrimination against women is a move towards inclusiveness

> a women’s specific treaty was needed to combat the criticisms of the UDHR ICESCR and ICCPR which focused on sex discrimination

> hasn’t really done much difference to this though
women’s specific treaty shows the marginalisation between men and
Women still

> 45 countries have discriminatory laws remaining