engleski

Addressing the sex/gender difference: An Inclusive Approach to Human Rights

Women’s experiences of human rights abuse have long been marginalised in international human rights law. The main human rights concepts – personhood, equality and freedom, have been defined on the basis of the experiences of men, and the main framework of international law – the public/private divide, has been defined in a gendered (masculine) manner. Thus, the ideal of universality of human rights has not yet been achieved. This paper proposes approach to interpreting human rights, which aims to remedy the problem of under-inclusiveness. The inclusive approach, based on feminist theories of difference, requires that attention is paid to sex/gender difference, as it intersects with other identity characteristics, and that efforts are made at challenging disadvantage attached to difference. The approach demands that the ‘woman question’ be asked in conceptualising and interpreting human rights. Asking this question would result in re-conceptualisation of the subject, equality and freedom in a manner that recognises gender (and other) difference. Further, the boundaries of the public/private divide would be shifted, so that gender-based violence, reproductive self-determination and women’s economic disadvantage would firmly be placed on the human rights agenda.

Women’s rights; freedom; equality; the public/private divide; woman’s question; gender-based violence; reproductive freedom; women’s economic disadvantage

nije evidentirano