In all parts of the world, the implementation of women's human rights is seriously being hindered by gender stereotypes, religion, custom, or tradition - in short, by 'culture.' Culture is increasingly being used as an excuse to commit serious violations of women's rights. It is also brought forward as the reason why governments refuse to implement them, arguing that their culture forces them to accept limited interpretations of international obligations in this area, or to reject such obligations altogether. Any such 'cultural defense' poses severe difficulties for international organizations, local and foreign governmental officials, and NGOs. These actors - in their work on development co-operation, humanitarian aid, or peace-keeping operations - advocate for the full implementation of women's human rights. Being afraid of the reproach of (Western) neo-colonialism or imperialism, they are inclined to take refuge in a cultural relativist stance, which in fact may undermine women's human rights. This book provides women's human rights advocates with effective strategies to avoid a deadlock between upholding the principle of universality of human rights and the right to preserve and express one's culture. The aim is to help create the right conditions for a fruitful dialogue about this issue. The book places great emphasis on the positive role that the UN 'Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women' (CEDAW) could play in this respect, and on the equal participation of 'women of culture' in the process of the implementation of their human rights.

Stereotypes are beliefs about groups of people. Some examples, taken from human rights case law, are the notions that 'Roma are thieves', 'women are responsible for childcare', and 'people with a mental disability are incapable of forming political opinions'. Increasingly, human rights monitoring bodies including the European and inter-American human rights courts, the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, and the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination voice concerns about stereotyping and warn States not to enforce harmful stereotypes. Human rights bodies thus appear to be starting to realise what social psychologists discovered a long time ago: that stereotypes underlie inequality and discrimination. Despite their relevance and their legal momentum, however, stereotypes have so far received little attention from human rights law scholars. This volume is the first one to broadly analyse stereotypes as a human rights issue. The scope of the book includes different stereotyping grounds such as race, gender, and disability. Moreover, this book examines stereotyping approaches across a broad range of supranational human rights monitoring bodies, including the United Nations human rights treaty system as well as the regional systems that are most developed when it comes to addressing stereotypes: the Council of Europe and the inter-American system.

Leven en werken van Carla Adrienne van Schelven - van Nierop. (Amsterdam 1917-2012 Enschede). Papierschilderijen (Collages), olieverf en acryl. Autobiografische notities.