Women's rights under international human rights treaties: Issues of rape, domestic slavery, abortion, and domestic violence

Abstract

Most contemporary constitutions prohibit discrimination based on gender. Yet, as feminist legal scholars have shown, even a constitutional principle of nondiscrimination is not sufficient by itself to ensure women's de facto equality.<cross-ref type="fn" refid="fn1">1</cross-ref> These scholars advocate applying a gendered perspective to constitutional law so as to adapt it to the specific situation of women.<cross-ref type="fn" refid="fn2">2</cross-ref> In recent years, universal and regional human rights bodies have begun to employ this approach in connection with human rights treaties, interpreting them in light of the special threats posed to women's human rights. Such interpretations lend themselves to transposition into national constitutional law (in some if not all cases) and, in legal systems that have formally incorporated public international law, such transpositions may even be obligatory.