GENDER, THE LAW AND HUMAN RIGHTS

The module “gender and the law” provides an introduction to gender and feminist legal theories. It will explore some complex legal issues, including equal pay and equality in the workplace; the law surrounding consent and sexual offences; the role of gender norms in the criminal courts and resilient stereotypes in the work of the judiciary; gender-based violence against women (with specific regard to the Istanbul Convention), including ICT-facilitated violence (cyber stalking, hate speech, revenge porn); women’s right to health and reproductive rights. It will also reflect on the patriarchal structure of legal systems and of international law more specifically. It will explore the evolution of gender equality within the European Union and the Council of Europe. It will emphasise the general incapacity of courts to incorporate a gender, intersectional, trauma-sensitive approach, in their legal arguments, constrained by the wording of the legal texts.
The course will be based on the jurisprudence and quasi jurisprudence at domestic, regional and international level, and will end with a feminist rewriting of a judgment.

Previous knowledge of law is welcomed but not strictly required.

C. Chinkin and H. Charlesworth, The Boundaries of International Law, 2nd ed., MUP, 2022;
Judith Bourne and Caroline Derry, Gender and the Law, Routledge, 2018;
Loveday Hodson and Troy Lavers, Feminist Judgments in International Law, Bloomsbury, 2019.
Sara De Vido, APPROCCI GIURIDICI FEMMINISTI AL DIRITTO INTERNAZIONALE: VERSO UN DIRITTO ECO-FEMMINISTA E POST-UMANO? In La Comunità internazionale, n. 3, 2023.

Presentation of a topic (judgment, a reading, a specific case-study) in class. Team work.

Lectures, group presentations.

English

The course is part of the minor in Gender Studies.

oral

This subject deals with topics related to the macro-area "Poverty and inequalities" and contributes to the achievement of one or more goals of U. N. Agenda for Sustainable Development