Law is often perceived as an instrument that can effect social change. While this might be so, it must be complemented by the necessary financial and human resources to make the law effective. Natalie Persadie explains that, among developing countries, such as Trinidad and Tobago, the achievement of legal advances for women-at either the international or national levels-is particularly difficult where practical measures are not subsequently implemented. This is, perhaps, attributable to a lack of political will. Important issues such as gender equality and domestic violence are not given priority and laws aimed at protecting women and promoting women's rights are ineffective, scant, or unenforced. Gender justice can only be realized through a multilevel approach from above and, more importantly, from below, as women have the potential to effect real national and international legal and institutional change to ensure gender equality at both levels.

Seeing the role of transitional justice as an area of contestation, this book focuses on the principle of equality guaranteed in the access to transitional justice mechanisms. By raising women's experiences in dealing with the law and policies as well as the implications of community and family practices during post-conflict situations, the book shows how these mechanisms may have been implemented mechanically, without considering the different intersections of discrimination, the public and private divides that exist in the local context or the stereotypes and values of international and national actors. The book argues that without unpacking the barriers in the administration of transitional justice, the different mechanisms that are implemented in a post-conflict situation may set a higher threshold for the participation of women. Moreover, by taking into account women's perceptions of justice, it further argues that scholars have paid insufficient attention to the welfare structures that are produced after a conflict, particularly the pensions of veterans. Going beyond the focus on sexual violence, a relationship between the violations and post-conflict economic justice may have longer-term consequences for women since it perpetuates their inequality and lack of recognition in times of peace. The use of transitional justice may thus exacerbate the invisibility of and discrimination against certain sections of the population. Inspired by the work of Hannah Arendt and based on extensive field research in Timor-Leste, the book has larger implications for the overarching debate on the social consequences of transitional justice.

South African law remains relatively silent on the legal aspects of pregnancy, and legal commentary is rather scarce too. While there have been attempts to address the gaps in the law in relation to specific issues in pregnancy, these attempts have usually favoured the individual protection of the unborn at the expense of pregnant women's agency and rights, which has given rise to a tension between female reproductive autonomy and foetal interests. In Pregnancy Law in South Africa, the author explores the question of whether it is possible to regard pregnancy in law as embodying both women and the unborn and whether the pregnancy can be construed in a way that it does not come to be framed as an adversarial relationship. Pregnancy Law in South Africa focuses on the issues of prenatal substance abuse, termination of pregnancy, violence that terminates a pregnancy, and the extension of legal personhood to the unborn. The author argues that pregnancy-related issues will never be adequately resolved unless the potential for an adversarial pregnancy relationship is removed and proposes a relational approach to pregnancy, centred on fostering relationships, in order to eliminate the potential for tension. The author contends further that a relational approach encourages imaginative and constructive possibilities for law reform efforts without sacrificing women's reproductive autonomy and rights or the recognition of the unborn. Pregnancy Law in South Africa provides a sound theoretical approach to pregnancy in law and its recommendations seek to promote healthy, rights-affirming pregnancies.

Explores the relationship between sexuality and politics in Britain's recent political past. Includes four case studies to illustrate the arguments made. Important contribution to the understandings of sexuality, identity and inequalities, as well as of crisis and neoliberalism.

Jurisprudential meditation and methodological performance on how feminist and legal thought come into relation. Experiments with genre, style, and form to historicise the relationship of a feminist jurisprudent to her own sources, methods, and interlocutors. The book will be a useful resource for scholars and students of law and humanities, feminism, and history.

Feminist Perspectives on Tort Law offers a distinctly feminist approach to key topics in tort law. Ten original essays written by feminist legal scholars from the UK, US, Canada and Australia encompass a range of ways of thinking about women, tort law and feminism. The collection provides a fresh and original analysis of issues of long-standing concern to feminists as well as nascent areas of concern. These include conceptions of harm, constructions of reasonableness, the duty of care, the public/private divide, sexual wrongdoing, privacy and environmental law. Written with both scholars and students in mind, Feminist Perspectives on Tort Law is an important and timely addition to key debates in tort law..

Gender and punishment in Ireland explores women's lethal violence in Ireland. Drawing on comprehensive archival research, including government documents, press reporting, the remnants of public opinion and the voices of the women themselves, the book contributes to the burgeoning literature on gender and punishment and women who kill. Engaging with concepts such as 'double deviance', chivalry, paternalism and 'coercive confinement', the work explores the penal landscape for offending women in postcolonial Ireland, examining in particular the role of the Catholic Church in responses to female deviance. The book is an extensive interdisciplinary treatment of women who kill in Ireland and will be useful to scholars of gender, criminology and history. -- .

This volume critically analyses Muslim Personal Law (MPL) in India and offers an alternative perspective to look at MPL and the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) debate. Tracing the historical origins of this legal mechanism and its subsequent political manifestations, it highlights the complex nature of MPL as a sociological phenomenon, driven by context-specific social norms and cultural values. With expert contributions, it discusses wide-ranging themes and issues including MPL reforms and human rights; decoding of UCC in India; the contentious Triple Talaq bill and MPL; the Shah Bano case; Sharia (Islamic jurisprudence) in postcolonial India; women's equality and family laws; and MPL in the media discourse in India. The volume highlights that although MPL is inextricably linked to Sharia, it does not necessarily determine the everyday customs and local practices of Muslim communities in India This topical book will greatly interest scholars and researchers of law and jurisprudence, political studies, Islamic studies, Muslim Personal Law, history, multiculturalism, South Asian studies, sociology of religion, sociology of law and family law. It will also be useful to practitioners, policymakers, law professionals and journalists.

Stories of Care: A Labour of Law is an interdisciplinary study of the interactions of law and labour that shape paid care work. Based on the experiences of homecare workers, this highly topical text unpicks doctrinal assumptions about class and gender to interrogate contemporary labour law. It demonstrates how the UK's crisis in social care is connected to the gendered inadequacy of labour law and argues for transformative change to law at work. 'Utterly compelling. Perhaps the best ever example in modern labour law scholarship of research-led recommendations.' - Keith Ewing, Professor of Public Law, King's College London 'An important contribution to socio-legal research on care work and labour law.' - Judy Fudge, Professor of Labour Law, University of Kent 'Innovative and meticulous; merits a very wide readership.' - Lizzie Barmes, Professor of Labour Law, Queen Mary University of London 'A really important text which shows, through deep analysis of care workers' stories, how badly undervalued their work is... It offers an excellent analysis.' - Robin Allen QC, Cloisters Chambers 'A rare and valuable insight into the lives and views of women who work in the little known world of homecare for rates of pay and conditions that shame our society.' - David Brindle, Public Services Editor, The Guardian 'Boundary-breaking ... an outstanding contribution to the growing field of feminist labour law scholarship.' - Joanne Conaghan, Professor of Law, University of Bristol

This vital report is the only textbook of its kind for practitioners in this complex area of law. Since 2002 this essential resource has continued to fulfil its promise of: Enabling compensated persons to understand and obtain the best deal from the means-tested benefits system through the use of personal injury trusts; Enabling solicitors to unravel the mystique surrounding the foundation and administration of personal injury trusts and to equip them to fulfil their role better for it; Enabling solicitors to develop compensation protection services to help protect their firms from negligence claims and to improve the bottom line; and enabling solicitors to do these things in as efficient and as practical a way as possible with the greatest amount of professional peace of mind. The fourth edition has been fully updated to include: The significant changes by the mental capacity act 2005 which came into force fully on 1st October 2007; A revised and expanded property section with specific focus on purchasing property where there is a P I Trust in place or where the Court of Protection are involved; 2008 changes to the care rules and Employment and Support Allowance, which has replaced Incapacity Benefit for new claimants; Plus, new and up-to-date precedents. It is vital that every lawyer doing personal injury compensation work should have a copy of this book on their shelves to enable them to give truly comprehensive advice as to the final process in achieving compensation.

Hindu women in India have independent right of ownership to property under the Law of Succession (The Hindu Succession Act, 1956). However, during the last five decades of its operation not many women have exercised their rights under the enactment. This volume addresses the issue of Hindu peasant women's ability to effectuate the statutory rights to succession and assert ownership of their share in family land. The work combines a critical evaluation of law with economic analyses into allocation of resources within the family as a means of addressing gender relations and explaining resulting gender inequalities.

Liveable Lives examines what makes life liveable for LGBTQ+ people beyond equality reforms. It refuses the colonizing narrative of surviving in a ‘regressive’ Global South and thriving in a ‘progressive’ Global North. By linking the concept of liveability with the decolonial literature on sexualities, this open access book draws on individual's stories, art and writing to examine how lives become liveable across India and the UK, providing a multifaceted investigation of two divergent contexts where activists refuse local framings of exclusion/inclusion and LGBTQ+ lives are continually re-envisioned. Embracing diverse methodologies, including workshops, in-depth interviews, street theatres, and web surveys, the book stands as an example of a queer collaborative praxis that refuses the familiar Global North / Global South practices of theorizing and data gathering. The ebook editions of this book are available open access under a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 licence on www.bloomsburycollections.com.

This book considers the rapidly evolving, both legally and socially, nature of image-based abuse, for both minors and adults. Drawing mainly from UK data, legislation and case studies, it presents a thesis that the law is, at best, struggling to keep up with some fundamental issues around image based abuse, such as the sexual nature of the crimes and the long term impact on victims, and at worst, in the case of supporting minors, not fit for purpose. It shows, through empirical and legislative analysis, that the dearth of education around this topic, coupled with cultural norms, creates a victim blaming culture that extends into adulthood. It proposes both legislative developments and need for wider stakeholder engagement to understand and support victims, and the impact the non-consensual sharing of intimate images can have on their long-term mental health and life in general. The book is of interest to scholar of law, criminology, sociology, police and socio-technical studies, and is also to those who practice law, law enforcement or wider social care role in both child and adult safeguarding.

1. This is the only book like it on the market. It has a multi-disciplinary market across criminology, sociology and gender studies, and can be used as key reading on courses on sex crime, gender and sexuality and the sociology of deviance 2. Features include international case studies and a glossary of key terms. 3. The new edition has been fully revised and updated to include up-to-the-minute crime data and literature updates, as well as further coverage of LGBTQ rights, expanded discussion of non-binary identities, and coverage of new studies on online dating, pornography and sexting.

Set in different national contexts (Brazil, Bulgaria, France, Germany, Laos, Norway, Thailand) and in different social science disciplines, the chapters of this volume aim at questioning anti-trafficking policies and their practical impact on sex work regulation. Many actors, from media to researchers, from nonprofit organizations to law enforcement agencies, from "experts" to "reality tourists", contribute to produce knowledge on trafficking and sexual exploitation and thus to institutionalize it as a category of thought and action; by naming and framing perpetrators and victims, they make trafficking "come true" as a public problem. The book pays particular attention to the way the international expertise produced by these different actors and institutions on sexual exploitation and sex work impacts local control practices, especially with regard to law enforcement. The fight against trafficking as it gets institutionalized and put into practice then appears as a way to reaffirm a gendered and racialized public order. Building analytical bridges between different national contexts and relying on contextualized fieldwork in different countries, the book is of great interest for academics as well as for practitioners and/or activists working on sex and gender issues and migration policies. Also, it resonates with a broader literature on the construction of public problems in sociology and political science.

Transitional justice is the way societies that have experienced civil conflict or authoritarian rule and widespread violations of human rights deal with the experience. With its roots in law, transitional justice as an area of study crosses various fields in the social sciences. This book is written with this multi- and inter-disciplinary dynamic of the field in mind. The book presents the broad scope of transitional justice studies through a focus on the theory, mechanisms and debates in the area, covering such topics as: The origin, context and development of transitional justice Victims, victimology and transitional justice Prosecutions for abuses and gross violations of human rights Truth commissions Transitional justice and local justice Gender, political economy and transitional justice Apology, reconciliation and the politics of memory Offering a discussion of the impact and outcomes of transitional justice, this approach provides valuable insight for those who seek both an introduction alongside relatively advanced engagement with the subject. Transitional Justice: Theories, Mechanisms and Debates is an important text for postgraduate and advanced undergraduate students who take courses in transitional justice, human rights and criminal law, as well as a systematic reference text for researchers.

This book explores the issue of abortion and women's rights in contemporary China. With a vast population, China's government has pursued controversial policies, such as the One Child Policy, in the past. Today, a rapidly urbanizing society is aging quickly, and the policies are loosening; but what are the implications for Chinese women, and how do policies compare to those in the West? In this groundbreaking book, Dr. Jiang eludicates the Chinese legal and social history of abortion for the first time in English. This book will be of interest to lawyers, NGO researchers, feminists and academics.

Subject matter of growing presence and interest. Multidisciplinary approach. Case study of Denmark, the first European state to adopt self-declaration. Will appeal to researchers and practitioners working in trans, gender, feminist legal, and socio-legal studies.

Honour based violence and abuse manifests itself in different forms, and this book offers a comprehensive understanding of this phenomenon. This book argues that the limits of honour crimes must be defined more widely so that they include conducts and behaviours that originate from the patriarchal notion of honour, such as honour based oppression and breast ironing. The book provides a critical analysis and synthesis of the law in England and Wales and in the international human rights sphere. The relevant domestic legislation and cases are examined to reflect on whether adequate protection is provided for the victims and potential victims of honour based violence and abuse. Since honour based violence is a violation of human rights, the relevant international human rights law is examined to illustrate the perception of such crimes in the international arena. The effectiveness of any remedy for victims of honour based violence and abuse depends on its capability to change deep rooted behaviours in communities with honour based patriarchal values. This book argues that the law does not provide the effective impact required, in part due to patriarchal structures, and that more efforts should be dedicated to changes in education. It is held that there is a need for an educational programme that is especially designed to tackle violence and promote gender equality. The book will be essential reading for academics, researchers and policy-makers working in the areas of Human Rights Law, Criminal Law and Gender Studies.

This book explores the shortcomings of the criminal justice system's response to sexual violence. Despite a plethora of legal and policy reforms, concerns remain regarding the conviction rates for rape and the extent to which cases fall out of the system. Ample research has highlighted the ongoing impact of 'rape myths' and the presence of an 'implementation gap' whereby policies, provisions and measures - proposed in order to improve the system's response - are frequently not brought into practice, nor utilised as expected. Rape and the Criminal Trial proposes a move beyond representational theory and towards New Materialism and affects, a school of thought which emphasises the importance of embodiment and the ontological intensive regime as necessary in order to generate radical new approaches for understanding this problematic status quo, and in order to move forward to the production of more effective solutions.

She Took Justice: The Black Woman, Law, and Power - 1619 to 1969 proves that The Black Woman liberated herself. Readers go on a journey from the invasion of Africa into the Colonial period and the Civil Rights Movement. The Black Woman reveals power, from Queen Nzingha to Shirley Chisholm. In She Took Justice, we see centuries of courage in the face of racial prejudice and gender oppression. We gain insight into American history through The Black Woman's fight against race laws, especially criminal injustice. She became an organizer, leader, activist, lawyer, and judge - a fighter in her own advancement. These engaging true stories show that, for most of American history, the law was an enemy to The Black Woman. Using perseverance, tenacity, intelligence, and faith, she turned the law into a weapon to combat discrimination, a prestigious occupation, and a platform from which she could lift others as she rose. This is a book for every reader.

Integrating interdisciplinary and cross-cultural analysis, this volume advances our understanding of sexual violence in intimacy through the development of more nuanced and evidence-based conceptual frameworks. Sexual violence in intimacy is a global pandemic that causes individual physical and emotional harm as well as wider social suffering. It is also legal and culturally condoned in much of the world. Bringing together international and interdisciplinary research, the book explores marital rape as individual suffering that is best understood in cultural and institutional context. Gendered narratives and large-scale surveys from India, Ghana and Africa Diasporas, Pacific Islands, Denmark, New Zealand, the United States, and beyond illuminate cross-cultural differences and commonalities. Methodological debates concerning etic and emic approaches and de-colonial challenges are addressed. Finally, a range of policy and intervention approaches-including art, state rhetoric, health care, and criminal justice-are explored. This book provides much needed scholarship to guide policymakers, practitioners, and activists as well as for researchers studying gender-based violence, marriage, and kinship, and the legal and public health concerns of women globally. It will be relevant for upper-level students and scholars in anthropology, sociology, psychology, women's studies, social work and public and global health.

What Works (and Doesn't) in Reducing Recidivism offers criminologists and students an evidence-based discussion of the latest trends in corrections. Experts Latessa, Johnson, and Koetzle translate the research and findings about what works and doesn't work in reducing recidivism into understandable concepts and terms, presenting them in a way that illustrates the value of research to practice. Over the last several decades, research has clearly shown that rehabilitation efforts can be effective in reducing recidivism among criminal offenders, but it is clear that treatment is not a one-size-fits-all approach. Offenders vary by gender, age, crime type, and/or addictions, to name but a few ways, and these individual needs must be addressed by providers. Finally, issues such as leadership, quality of staff, and evaluation efforts affect the quality and delivery of treatment services. While other texts have addressed issues regarding treatment in corrections, this text is unique in that it not only discusses the research on "what works" but also addresses the implementation issues faced as practitioners move from theory to practice, as well as the importance of staff, leadership, and evaluation efforts. This book synthesizes the vast research for the student interested in correctional rehabilitation as well as for the practitioner working with offenders.