'Long admired for her pioneering work on gender, neo-liberalism and human rights, in this volume Ratna Kapur builds on that scholarship to offer a bold and wide ranging set of arguments that will add immensely to the many current debates about human rights and their efficacy in this age of inequality. Kapur' s trenchant critique of rights and her vision of an alternative to the liberal concept of freedom offer strikingly original arguments that make this an indispensable volume for all who are interested in the future of human rights.' - Tony Anghie, National University of Singapore and University of Utah, US 'Gender, Alterity and Human Rights: Freedom in a Fishbowl is located within the best of critical theory traditions - thinking and rethinking orthodoxies around sexuality, rights and freedoms. Kapur not only deploys a late Foucauldian rethinking of freedom, but inherits the very spirit of intellectual engagement - of ''shak(ing) up habitual ways of working and thinking, dissipate(ing) conventional familiarities, to reevaluate rules and institutions'' (Foucault). It is a compelling, provocative read that will make its readers rethink what they think they already know.' - Brenda Cossman, University of Toronto, Canada 'Ratna Kapur is one of the most important international legal scholars working today. Gender, Alterity and Human Rights is brilliant, provocative and ground breaking - I cannot think of any other book published today that centers radically 'other' approaches to political and ethical agency as the epistemological anchor for analysis of international law. She advances this ambitious new ground by showing how dominant approaches to human rights and feminism are themselves invested in political subjectivities and agendas that seek to redeem international law and authorize global governance. With theoretical rigor and a radical sensibility, she quarries through material as diverse as human rights case law and Sufi poetry to excavate the plurality of ways in which freedom is envisioned, challenged and inhabited.' - Vasuki Nesiah, New York University, US Human rights are axiomatic with liberal freedom. This book builds on the critique of this mainstream and official position on human rights, drawing attention to how human rights have been deployed to advance political and cultural intents rather than bring about freedom for disenfranchised groups. Its approach is unique insofar as it focuses on queer, feminist and postcolonial human rights advocacy, exposing how such interventions have at times advanced neo-liberal agendas and new forms of imperialism, and enabled a carceral politics rather than producing freedom for their constituencies. Through a focus on campaigns for same-sex marriage, ending violence against women, and the Islamic veil bans in liberal democracies, human rights emerge as forms of governance that operate through normative prescriptions, which bind even as they purport to free, and establish a hierarchy of the human subject: who is human and who is not; who qualifies for rights and who does not. This book argues that the futurity of human rights rests in a transformative engagement with non-liberal registers of freedom beyond the narrow confines of the liberal fishbowl. This book will have a global appeal for students and academics concerned with international and human rights law, jurisprudence, critical legal theory, gender studies, postcolonial studies, feminist legal theory, queer theory, religious studies, and philosophy. It will appeal to political activists and policymakers in the global justice arena concerned with the freedom of disenfranchised groups, human rights, gender justice, and the rights sexual and religious minorities.

This volume brings together an interdisciplinary group of scholars from the United States, the Middle East, and North Africa, to discuss and critically analyze the intersection of gender and human rights laws as applied to individuals of Arab descent. It seeks to raise consciousness at the intersection of gender, identity, and human rights as it relates to Arabs at home and throughout the diaspora. The context of revolution and the destabilizing impact of armed conflicts in the region are used to critique and examine the utility of human rights law to address contemporary human rights issues through extralegal strategies. To this end, the volume seeks to inform, educate, persuade, and facilitate newer or less-heard perspectives related to gender and masculinities theories. It provides readers with new ways of understanding gender and human rights and proposes forward-looking solutions to implementing human rights norms. The goal of this book is to use the context of Arabs at home and throughout the diaspora to critique and examine the utility of human rights norms and laws to diminish human suffering with the goal of transforming the structural, social, and cultural conditions that impede access to human rights. This book will be of interest to a diverse audience of scholars, students, public policy researchers, lawyers and the educated public interested in the fields of human rights law, international studies, gender politics, migration and diaspora, and Middle East and North African politics.

The fact that domestic violence is a serious and ongoing social problem has been well recognized since the women's movement made the hitherto private experience of violence against women in the home into a political issue in the 1960s and 1970s. In Australia, a major national prevalence study of violence against women conducted by the Australian Bureau of Statistics in 1996 found that 23% of women who had ever been married or in a de facto relationship-1.1 million women-had experienced violence from their partner at some stage during the relationship. Feminist legal scholarship, however, has highlighted the many failures of criminal law to respond adequately to women's experiences of domestic violence. Civil remedies for violence and abuse seem to offer better possibilities: there is a lower standard of proof, and the woman is the subject of her own action rather than merely being the object of proceedings. The availability of civil remedies has, in many cases, resulted from feminist campaigns to fill the gaps in protection left by the criminal law. It has also been argued that civil actions provide scope to change public discourses and legal understandings of violence against women. Listening to women's stories might force a revision of traditional conceptions and myths about what constitutes violence, its causes and effects, and "appropriate" reactions to it. This study investigates the ways in which women's experiences of domestic violence are heard and understood in civil court settings, and examines women's experiences of telling their stories (or at least attempting to do so) in those settings. The two areas on which the study focuses are intervention order proceedings in State Magistrates' Courts, and residence, contact, and property matters in the federal Family Court in Australia. The relevant legislation in the two jurisdictions is either partly or wholly a product of feminist legal activism. The study, therefore, seeks to determine whether the feminist claim that the criminal law silences women also pertains in the context of new civil claims specifically designed to respond to women's experiences. The general history and theory of law reform suggests that reforms often strike problems in the process of implementation. But because law does not operate monolithically, the exact nature of those problems is not necessarily predictable. In the context of this study, implementation problems may arise from social and legal discourses about domestic violence and about victims of violence which tend to operate constantly across the legal system, and/or they may arise from the particular rules and structures found in each institutional setting. There is thus a need for detailed examination and analysis of how these various elements operate and interact in different court settings. In undertaking this task, the study has two objectives. First, it draws conclusions about the nature of implementation problems in the two jurisdictions in order to inform future feminist activism around violence against women. Secondly, it makes a more general point about the importance of procedure in feminist legal theory and praxis. In Australia in particular, feminist legal scholars and advocates have placed a heavy emphasis on doctrinal revision and have largely ignored issues of implementation. The study argues that procedure (conceived broadly to encompass the what, where, how, and who of legal proceedings) crucially shapes women's experience of the legal process, and is neglected by feminists at their peril. This book will be of interest to feminist jurisprudence and law and society scholars and researchers, and to activists and advocates in the field of domestic violence.

Title IX, a landmark federal statute enacted in 1972 to prohibit sex discrimination in education, has worked its way into American culture as few other laws have. It is an iconic law, the subject of web blogs and T-shirt slogans, and is widely credited with opening the doors to the massive numbers of girls and women now participating in competitive sports. Yet few people fully understand the law's requirements, or the extent to which it has succeeded in challenging the gender norms that have circumscribed women's opportunities as athletes and their place in society more generally.

In this first legal analysis of Title IX, Deborah L. Brake assesses the statute's successes and failures. While the statute has created tremendous gains for female athletes, not only raising the visibility and cultural acceptance of women in sports, but also creating social bonds for women, positive body images, and leadership roles, the disparities in funding between men's and women's sports have remained remarkably resilient. At the same time, female athletes continue to receive less prestige and support than their male counterparts, which in turn filters into the arena of professional sports. Brake provides a richer understanding and appreciation of what Title IX has accomplished, while taking a critical look at the places where the law has fallen short. A unique contribution to the literature on Title IX, Getting in the Game fully explores the theory, policy choices, successes, and limitations of this historic law.

What is the place of women in global labour policies? Women's ILO: Transnational Networks, Global Labour Standards, and Gender Equity, 1919 to Present gathers new research on a century of ILO engagement with women's work. It asks: what was the role of women's networks in shaping ILO policies and what were the gendered meanings of international labour law in a world of uneven and unequal development? Women's ILO explores issues like equal remuneration, home-based labour, and social welfare internationally and in places such as Argentina, Italy, and Ghana. It scrutinizes the impact of both power relations and global feminisms on the making of global labour policies in a world shaped by colonialism, the Cold War and post-colonial inequality. It further charts the disparate advancement of gender equity, highlighting the significant role of women experts and activists in the process. Contributors are: Paula Lucia Aguilar, Lucia Artner, Eloisa Betti, Chris Bonner, Eileen Boris, Akua O. Britwum, Dorothy Sue Cobble, Dorothea Hoehtker, Pat Horn, Sonya Michel, Silke Neunsinger, Renana Jhabvala, Marieke Louis, Yevette Richards, Mahua Sarkar, Kirsten Scheiwe, Francoise Thebaud, Susan Zimmermann "This is a must-read volume for scholars and students interested in women, labor and international/transnational history." - Judy Tzu-Chun Wu, University of California, Irvine, USA "This fascinating collection of essays assesses the ILO's role in securing social justice for women workers around the world and asks how that role might change as the world of work is transformed in the next century." - Celia Donert, University of Liverpool "This exciting collection provides a long-overdue state of the art on gender politics and the ILO. It will no doubt be the work of reference on the topic for years to come." - Elisabeth Prugl, Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, Geneva

"Feminist Legal Theory" is just over a decade old in the United States and is even younger in most other countries. Here, Francis Olsen presents the best articles from within this burgeoning field. Drawing on literature which is extremely rich and varied, these volumes include articles from a range leading legal scholars and feminists. Two volumes.

The question of 'recognition' motivates a range of contemporary social movements and forms the backdrop to legal and policy change, and theoretical and political debate. This timely book draws on original research to examine the meanings and significance of, and contestations around, recognition in relation to the aptly named UK 'Gender Recognition Act'. Gender Diversity, Recognition and Citizenship: Towards a Politics of Difference considers changing UK law and policy around gender diversity within the context of broader social, cultural, legal, political, theoretical, and policy shifts concerning gender and sexuality. In bringing together a wide range of critical interdisciplinary perspectives, and by addressing key debates about inclusion, equality, diversity, human rights and citizenship, the book examines gaps between law and policy, and everyday experiences and understandings of social justice. Through a critical engagement with a politics of recognition, Gender Diversity, Recognition and Citizenship instates the value of a 'politics of difference'.

"Little did I know that my intimidation by senior officers in the UNDP had only just begun." Fouzia Saeed dreamed of bringing social change to the women of Pakistan and was thrilled to land her dream job at the world's ethical compass and institutional tour de force: The United Nations. As expected, the UN was a gathering place for passionate minds devoted to human rights and justice for all. Shockingly, at the UN mission in Pakistan it was also a breeding ground for powerful men who viewed women as sexual objects rather than professional equals. Refusing her boss's advances didn't stop the harassment. Reporting him to superiors didn't either. In her years-long struggle with torment and humiliation at the UN, Fouzia held strong, knowing her fight for women's rights was the only thing that could keep her going. But how do you fight for others' rights when you cannot even take hold of your own? Can you ever change a culture that views sexual harassment by a man as a woman's crime? Fouzia and a group of female colleagues, who similarly suffered in the workplace, gained the courage to risk their reputations. They filed a joint compliant and promptly found themselves under attack by their managers who aligned with the perpetrator in an effort to crush their case. Working with Sharks follows eleven indestructible women and the case that sparked a national movement and culminated in the passage of legislation that made sexual harassment a crime in Pakistan in 2010. Inspirational and poignant, Working with Sharks encourages women in any part of the world to find their voice and stand up to sexual harassment.

Real security law is where property law and credit law meet to regulate the rights that creditors have to property belonging to their debtors – either as agreed upon between the parties or as imposed by the law. Security rights facilitate affordable borrowing, investment in property and industry, and thus the promise of economic prosperity. Secured lenders are also empowered with stronger rights than other creditors and with more beneficial debt enforcement options. In our ever-changing economic and social context, a sophisticated system of law is necessary to maintain a fine balance between the rights of debtors, creditors, third parties and the general public – especially when things go wrong. Financial crises, rising consumer over-indebtedness and the fight against homelessness are but some important considerations that challenge this area of law.

Real Security Law covers all of the conventional forms of real security, such as the mortgage of land, the pledge of movables, general and special notarial bonds, security cessions, the landlord’s tacit hypothec and rights of retention. It also includes security mechanisms imposed by statutes, for example municipal charges, embargo powers, the instalment-agreement hypothec and statutory pledges.

The aim of this volume is to describe and analyse the current state of real security law in South Africa, starting with our common law foundation but with a particular focus on developments inspired by the Bill of Rights and other statutory and socio-economic changes in society. Therefore, the most recent developments in constitutional, statutory and case law are incorporated, and the aim is to strike a balance between legal theory, constitutional imperatives, commercial realities and the needs of practice.

An exploration of the ways that multiple inequalities are being addressed in Europe. Using country-based and region-specific case studies it provides an innovative comparative analysis of the multidimensional equality regimes that are emerging in Europe, and reveals the potential that these have for institutionalizing intersectionality.

Does gender make a difference to the way the judiciary works and should work? Or is gender-blindness a built-in prerequisite of judicial objectivity? If gender does make a difference, how might this be defined? These are the key questions posed in this collection of essays, by some 30 authors from the following countries; Argentina, Cambodia, Canada, England, France, Germany, India, Israel, Italy, Ivory Coast, Japan, Kenya, the Netherlands, the Philippines, South Africa, Switzerland, Syria and the United States. The contributions draw on various theoretical approaches, including gender, feminist and sociological theories. The book's pressing topicality is underlined by the fact that well into the modern era male opposition to women's admission to, and progress within, the judicial profession has been largely based on the argument that their very gender programmes women to show empathy, partiality and gendered prejudice - in short essential qualities running directly counter to the need for judicial objectivity. It took until the last century for women to begin to break down such seemingly insurmountable barriers. And even now, there are a number of countries where even this first step is still waiting to happen. In all of them, there remains a more or less pronounced glass ceiling to women's judicial careers.

This book offers an innovative, comparative approach to the study of women's legal rights during a formative period of Anglo-American history. It traces how colonists transplanted English legal institutions to America, examines the remarkable depth of women's legal knowledge and shows how the law increasingly undermined patriarchal relationships between parents and children, masters and servants, husbands and wives. The book will be of interest to scholars of Britain and colonial America, and to laypeople interested in how women in the past navigated and negotiated the structures of authority that governed them. It is packed with fascinating stories that women related to the courts in cases ranging from murder and abuse to debt and estate litigation. Ultimately, it makes a remarkable contribution to our understandings of law, power and gender in the early modern world. -- .

This collection provides a guide to the legal requirements surrounding children's rights. The book discusses the practicalities and problems of listening to the child in educational, social and health settings.

This unique book adopts a rich theoretical, empirical and political perspective to explore the gendered incarceration of women and girls and the marginalization of their needs and rights within predominantly male penal systems.Focusing on a decade's research inside prisons in Northern Ireland, Moore and Scraton integrate in-depth interviews, focus groups, regime observation and documentary analysis to examine issues of equality, discipline, mental health, self-harm, abuse and suicide. The independent, primary research engages in controversies regarding the deaths of women in custody, a hunger strike concerning the status of politically-affiliated women prisoners, media revelations of sexual exploitation of women prisoners by male prison guards, and the use of punitive strip-searches and punishment cells for vulnerable women.Telling the story of female incarceration through the voices and experiences of women, this book provides a rare insight into the destructive and debilitating impact of prison regimes, advancing feminist analysis of women's incarceration and the criminalization of women. Moore and Scraton's study raises questions over the potential and limitations of gender specific policies, the silencing of prisoners' voices and agency, the significance of critical research in voicing prisoners' resistance and the possibilities of decarceration through adopting an abolitionist agenda.

Health research has made spectacular strides over the past few decades. The value of health research is obvious and irrefutable. What is not so apparent is that people who participate in research may be harmed during the process. Africa prides itself in having some of the most respected universities globally. It is a continent of immense research potential. At the same time, Africa suffers from many of the health burdens of low-income regions. While it affords many research opportunities, this creates the potential for the misuse of power on vulnerable individuals and populations.

This book explores why participants in health research require protection. It also explains how ethical principles and the law can assist inter alia research ethics committees, researchers, funders and institutions at which research is conducted, to safeguard the rights and dignity of individuals contributing to the research enterprise. It engages with this imbalance and examines how well-intentioned aims of ethical health research can be achieved while simultaneously maximising the protection of research participants. It draws on local and international documents and expertise to inform the resolution of many ethical dilemmas and complexities that inevitably arise in health research.

Health Research Ethics: Safeguarding the Interests of Research Participants provides a solid understanding of the normative values for protecting research participants against exploitation, harm and wrong. Since research ethics is multidisciplinary, this book will be of value to a range of professionals and academics inter alia those from the health sciences, social sciences, and legal disciplines.

American women fare worse than men on virtually every major dimension of social status, financial wellbeing, and physical safety. Sexual violence remains common, and reproductive rights are by no means secure. Women assume disproportionate burdens in the home and pay a heavy price in the workplace. Yet these issues are not political priorities, and worse, there is a lack of consensus that there still is a serious problem, or at least one that women have any reason or capacity to address. This 'no problem' problem helps explain why women fail to mobilize around issues that materially affect the quality of their lives. Why is this, why does it matter, and how can we best respond? What Women Want focuses on the policy agenda for women. Deborah L. Rhode, one of the nation's leading scholars on women and law, brings to the discussion a broad array of interdisciplinary research as well as interviews with heads of leading women's organizations. Key questions addressed include whether the women's movement is stalled. What are the major obstacles it confronts? What are its key priorities and what strategies might advance them? In addressing those questions, the book explores virtually all of the major policy issues confronting women. Topics include employment and appearance discrimination, the gender gap in pay and leadership opportunities, work/family policies, childcare, divorce, same- sex marriage, sexual harassment, domestic violence, rape, trafficking, abortion, poverty, and politics. Discussion focuses on the capacities and limits of law as a strategy for social change. Why, despite four decades of enforcement of equal employment legislation, is women's workplace status so far from equal? Why, despite a quarter century's effort at reforming rape law, is America's rate of reported rape the second highest in the developed world? Part of the problem lies in the absence of political mobilization around such issues and the underrepresentation of women in public office. This path-breaking book explores how women can and should act on what they want.

Women and the Law is a pioneering study of the way in which the law has treated women - at work, in the family, in matters of sexuality and fertility, and in public life. It was first published in 1984 by Susan Atkins and Brenda Hoggett, then University teachers. The authors examine the origins of British law's attitude to women, trace the development of the law and ways in which it reflects the influence of economic, social and political forces and the dominance of men. They illustrate the tendency, despite formal equality, for deep-rooted problems of encoded gender inequality to remain. Since 1984 the authors have achieved distinguished careers in law and public service. This 2018 Open Access edition provides a timely opportunity to revisit their ground-breaking analysis and reflect on how much has changed, and how much has stayed the same.

This thought-provoking book conceptualizes femicide as a multifaceted human rights violation and proposes state responsibility for group-related risks of violence against women and girls. In doing so, it reassesses the concept of femicide, analysing it in view of the crime of genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, as well as several facets of human rights. Angela Hefti challenges the common definition of femicide, extending it beyond the killing of women due to their gender to include elements of victim blame, sexual abuse, forced marriage and delayed investigations by authorities. Chapters address femicide in the context of the African, Inter-American and European regional and universal human rights systems. Case studies from Iraq, Nigeria and Mexico provide a fundamental understanding of the multidimensional and worldwide nature of femicide. Spanning several key academic debates, the book incorporates underlying feminist legal theory and approaches pertaining to the subordination of women and girls in society, arguing that femicide should qualify as an autonomous human rights violation. Providing an impetus for further research on femicide, particularly on state responsibility for crimes committed by private actors, this book will be a crucial resource for academics in human rights and humanitarian law, criminal law and justice. The book will also be highly valuable to activists, practitioners, and lawyers with an interest in advancing aspects of femicide in international human rights law.