“Women’s rights are human rights.” Hillary Clinton’s words left the 1995 Beijing World Conference for Women as an activist slogan. It also demonstrated the close relationship between international covenants and gender equality advocacy which has often centered around legal reforms. This strand of RC07’s research interest goes beyond law and human rights to include research relating to sexual and gender-based violence and gender justice.
Democratic backsliding and deviations from the Rule of Law have especially devastating consequences for gender violence prevention and access to justice. Impunity arising from intersections of gender, class and community privilege is reinforced by proximity to political power. As power is gradually centralised in an oligarchy or a single individual, accountability for even the most heinous abuse and exploitation is weak.
The research presented on this panel–be it theoretical, legal, case studies or quantitative–will raise and address questions connecting gender, law and human rights with violence, injustice and iniquity in the context of a world in which the same laws and courts activists have relied on, now appear ineffectual.