Women's Rights

Security Sector Reform: Re-imagining Its Transformative Potential

Citation:

Ero, Comfort. 2011. “Security Sector Reform: Re-imagining Its Transformative Potential.” In Women and Security Governance in Africa, edited by 'Funmi Olonisakin and Awino Okech, 31–48. Nairobi: Pambazuka Press.

Author: Comfort Ero

Topics: Gender, Governance, Justice, Transitional Justice, Post-Conflict, Post-Conflict Reconstruction, Rights, Women's Rights, Security, Security Sector Reform Regions: Africa

Year: 2011

Note: Security Council Resolution 1820: An Imperfect but Necessary Resolution to Protect Civilians from Rape in War Zones

Citation:

Goldstoff, Melissa Goldenberg. 2010. “Note: Security Council Resolution 1820: An Imperfect but Necessary Resolution to Protect Civilians from Rape in War Zones.” Cardozo Journal of Law and Gender 16 (3): 491–517.

Author: Melissa Goldenberg Goldstoff

Abstract:

On June 19, 2008, the United Nations Security Council took an important step to further the protection of women during war by unanimously passing Security Council Resolution 1820 ("Resolution 1820" or "the Resolution") which calls for "immediate and complete cessation by all parties to armed conflict of all acts of sexual violence against civilians," including children, and states that "rape and other forms of sexual violence can constitute war crimes, crimes against humanity or a constitutive act with respect to genocide."This Note argues that despite the overwhelming importance of Resolution 1820 in protecting women raped during wartime conflict, the Resolution is ineffective and potentially detrimental to women's rights because it suffers from inconsistencies and incompleteness.

Topics: Armed Conflict, International Law, International Criminal Law, Justice, Crimes against Humanity, War Crimes, Rights, Women's Rights, UN Security Council Resolutions on WPS, UNSCR 1820, Sexual Violence, Rape

Year: 2010

Sexual Violence against Women in Armed Conflicts: Standard Responses and New Ideas

Citation:

Zinsstag, Estelle. 2006. “Sexual Violence against Women in Armed Conflicts: Standard Responses and New Ideas.” Social Policy and Society 5 (1): 137–48.

Author: Estelle Zinsstag

Abstract:

This article aims to assess ways in which different justice schemes may operate together for an improved legal and political response to victims of sexual crimes in the aftermath of armed conflicts. The article will briefly present the problem of sexual violence against women in armed conflict. It will then consider the evolution of criminal justice in regard to this crime, the results of recent attempts to implement truth and reconciliation processes, as well as briefly assess reparation schemes. Finally it will suggest a series of measures for coordinating the various schemes of justice in a way that guarantees women’s rights in the aftermath of a conflict.

Topics: Armed Conflict, Gender, Women, Justice, International Tribunals & Special Courts, Reparations, TRCs, Post-Conflict, Rights, Women's Rights, Sexual Violence, SV against Women

Year: 2006

The Double Boomerang Effect: Women’s Organizations and the Implementation of UNSCR 1325 in the Balkans

Citation:

Irvine, Jill. 2010. “The Double Boomerang Effect: Women’s Organizations and the Implementation of UNSCR 1325 in the Balkans.” Paper presented at the ISA Annual Conference, New Orleans, February 17-20.

Author: Jill Irvine

Topics: Democracy / Democratization, Gender, Women, Peace Processes, Post-Conflict, Post-Conflict Reconstruction, Rights, Women's Rights, UN Security Council Resolutions on WPS, UNSCR 1325 Regions: Europe, Balkans

Year: 2010

Gender, Citizenship, and Political Agency in Lebanon

Citation:

Khatib, Lina. 2008. “Gender, Citizenship, and Political Agency in Lebanon.” British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies 35 (3): 437–51.

Author: Lina Khatib

Abstract:

This paper examines the condition of women as political agents in Lebanon in the context of legislation and political participation. It focuses on the effect of the Civil War on women's conditions of living in Lebanon, and their lives in the post-war period. War had negative effects on women, reinforcing their patriarchal subjugation, furthering their economic deprivation, and diverting attention from issues like women's rights, which have only added to women's political and social marginalization. The war also had a positive effect on women as it opened up new avenues for them to participate in public life. This paper analyzes gender relations in Lebanon through the frameworks of social change and the rise of civil society, but also emphasizes the challenges facing women in post-war Lebanon, where they are still governed by patriarchal values that hinder their political participation and their identification as full citizens.

Topics: Armed Conflict, Civil Wars, Citizenship, Civil Society, Economies, Economic Inequality, Gender, Women, Governance, Post-Conflict Governance, Political Participation, Rights, Women's Rights Regions: MENA, Asia, Middle East Countries: Lebanon

Year: 2008

Gender and Nation

Citation:

Yuval-Davis, Nira. 1993. "Gender and Nation." Ethnic and Racial Studies 16 (4): 621-32. doi: 10.1080/01419870.1993.9993800

Author: Nira Yuval-Davis

Abstract:

The article outlines some of the main dimensions in which gender relations are crucial in understanding and analysing the phenomena of nations and nationalism, and the specific boundaries of inclusions and exclusions that they construct. Three major dimensions of nationalist projects that relate to citizenship, culture and origin are differentiated. In each of them gender relations play specific roles and have mobilized specific struggles. The article looks at the dualistic nature of women's citizenship, as both included and excluded from the general body of citizens. Even when there is a formal equality of women in their political rights as citizens, other modes of exclusion in the political, social and civil spheres continue to operate. The particular ways in which the entry of women into the military has been linked to struggles for women's equality as citizens are examined in this context. In relation to national cultures, both secular and religious, the article examines the ways in which women play the roles of cultural transmitters as well as cultural signifiers of the national collectivity. The last part of the article examines the role of women as biological reproducers of ‘the nation’ and how a variety of means are taken in order to ensure that the biological reproduction will fall within the legitimate boundaries of the collectivity.

Topics: Citizenship, Gender, Women, Gendered Power Relations, Gender Equality/Inequality, Military Forces & Armed Groups, Militaries, Nationalism, Religion, Rights, Women's Rights

Year: 1993

Judges & Gender: The Constitutional Rights of Women in a Post-Apartheid South Africa

Citation:

Sachs, Albie. 1990. “Judges & Gender: The Constitutional Rights of Women in a Post-Apartheid South Africa.” Agenda Empowering Women for Gender Equity, no. 7, 1–11.

Author: Albie Sachs

Topics: Gender, Women, Governance, Constitutions, Post-Conflict Governance, Post-Conflict, Post-Conflict Reconstruction, Rights, Women's Rights Regions: Africa, Southern Africa Countries: South Africa

Year: 1990

Gender, Discourse, and Customary Law in Africa

Citation:

Bond, Johanna E. 2010. “Gender, Discourse, and Customary Law in Africa.” Southern California Law Review 83: 509–73.

Author: Johanna E Bond

Abstract:

Around the world, efforts by states to accommodate cultural pluralism vary in form and vigor. Some multiculturalist states cede to cultural minorities the authority to govern in certain substantive areas, such as family law. Not surprisingly, feminists have raised concerns that a state’s reluctance to govern in areas traditionally seen as “private,” and leaving those areas of law to customary legal systems, leaves women within those minority communities vulnerable to discrimination. Many women value cultural identity, even as they work to eliminate discrimination within their cultural communities. The international human rights community, however, has not always viewed women as committed, active members of their cultural communities. By viewing African women almost exclusively as victims of their culture, the international human rights community has historically undervalued the potential for African women to reformulate cultural policies within their communities. The two primary human rights treaties for the promotion of gender equality in Africa, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women and the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights are dismissive of culture and gender equality, respectively. The Protocol to the African Charter on the Rights of Women in Africa attempts to remedy the shortcomings of CEDAW and the African Charter and offers new hope for promoting gender equality on the continent. In addition to strong substantive rights, the Protocol provides important procedural rights to ensure that women have a voice in the ongoing examination and reformulation of cultural practices and customary law.

Topics: Gender, Women, Gendered Power Relations, Gender Equality/Inequality, Governance, International Law, International Human Rights, Rights, Women's Rights Regions: Africa

Year: 2010

The Gender of Constitutional Jurisprudence

Citation:

Baines, Beverley, and Ruth Rubio-Marín. 2005. The Gender of Constitutional Jurisprudence. New York: Cambridge University Press.

Authors: Beverley Baines, Ruth Rubio-Marîn

Abstract:

Describing the constitutional rights of women in twelve countries, the contributors to this collection draw on a wide range of legal cases covering issues such as abortion, sexual harassment, employment discrimination, sexual abuse, pornography, family relationships, access to health and social assistance benefits, and electoral rights, among others. Their analysis reveals how essentially male judges decide cases that are mainly about women's equality claims. The volume's comparative perspective provides readers with the basis for independent pursuits of constitutional equality for women.

Keywords: women's rights, State Law, gender equality

Topics: Gender, Women, Gendered Power Relations, Gender Equality/Inequality, Governance, Constitutions, Rights, Women's Rights

Year: 2005

Nationalism and Suffrage: Gender Struggle in Nation-Building America

Citation:

Cohen, Philip N. 1996. “Nationalism and Suffrage: Gender Struggle in Nation-Building America.” Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society 21 (3): 707-27.

Author: Philip N. Cohen

Topics: Gender, Women, Nationalism, Political Participation, Rights, Women's Rights Regions: Americas, North America Countries: United States of America

Year: 1996

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