The last two decades have seen major advances in the legal protection of the human rights of women around the world. A series of international and national court cases has developed an important body of jurisprudence that has been relied on by courts and advocates in many countries to support women's claims for equality and the full enjoyment of human rights and fundamental freedoms. Growing out of a series of judicial colloquia organized by the Commonwealth Secretariat, this compilation brings together a selection of over fifty significant cases from international and national courts. The cases are grouped by theme and presented in full text or edited format. Together they highlight the way in which courts have used international human rights norms and national constitutional standards to contribute to women's equality. A detailed introduction provides a summary of the significance of the cases and references further material available on women's human rights. Cases decided under United Nations human rights treaties, the European and American Conventions on Human Rights and other international instruments, as well as cases decided by national courts in Asia, Africa, Europe, Australasia, and North America are all included. The compilation will be of interest to all those with an interest in the advancement of the human rights of women especially equality advocates, lawyers and judges, scholars and students.

The last two decades have seen major advances in the legal protection of the human rights of women around the world. A series of international and national court cases has developed an important body of jurisprudence that has been relied on by courts and advocates in many countries to support women's claims for equality and the full enjoyment of human rights and fundamental freedoms.

Growing out of a series of judicial colloquia organized by the Commonwealth Secretariat, this compilation brings together a selection of over fifty significant cases from international and national courts. The cases are grouped by theme and presented in full text or edited format. Together they highlight the way in which courts have used international human rights norms and national constitutional standards to contribute to women's equality. A detailed introduction provides a summary of the significance of the cases and references further material available on women's human rights.

Cases decided under United Nations human rights treaties, the European and American Conventions on Human Rights and other international instruments, as well as cases decided by national courts in Asia, Africa, Europe, Australasia, and North America are all included. The compilation will be of interest to all those with an interest in the advancement of the human rights of women especially equality advocates, lawyers and judges, scholars and students.

"Some of West s earliest writings devastatingly funny, fiercely feminist and socialist now have been rescued from obscurity and published with Jane Marcus s excellent commentary in The Young Rebecca." St. Louis Post-Dispatch

"Thanks to Marcus s arduous labor of selection, we have here a living, breathing evocation of the early feminist and socialist movements in England as recorded by a highly opinionated participant." Jessica Mitford

"The Young Rebecca reflects West s] consuming interest in feminist and socialist issues. Quite apart from their technical excellence, these articles are remarkable because they were produced by a girl barely out of her teens, and because many of them read as if they were written last Tuesday." The Atlanta Journal

..". a fierce and funny scourge of establishment figures... her prose sparkles... " Book World, The Washington Post

Jane Marcus brings together some of Rebecca West s early journalistic writings, collected here for the first time, which reveal West s passionate responses to political and literary events as well as her experience in the suffrage campaign. Included are articles from The Freewoman, The Clarion, and the Daily News, among others."