Feminism in international law is
rooted on various precepts and endeavours to break down the established notions
of society. Rather than being women centric, feminism also speaks volumes about
the rights of the marginalised. In other words, feminism is a multipronged
approach which has its baseline at the societal inequities. In the context of
international law, feminist scholars are of the view that international law and
international institutions are male centric [i]. They argue that non
interference among nation states constitutes a black box of sovereignty [ii] which
provides a fertile ground for permeation and continuation of social evils. This
non intervention leads to the abuse of vulnerably positioned women especially
in the context of the societal framework to which every woman belong. Therefore
this concern that international law should address oppression and inequality of
women by the feminist advocates has resulted in several discussions and
deliberations centered on women, which they consider is starkingly different
from the male dimensions of a problem. When the male world centres on global power
and security, the female world primarily centres on their safety and means of
livelihood. Feminism attains a new dimension in the context of third world which
calls for a liberal inclusion of women in the third world countries [iii]. Feminist scholars are breaking into
international law arguing that an insouciant attitude cannot be adopted as
regards the human rights obligations of international law.
Convention for Elimination of All
Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) is an international instrument
which addresses some of the prominent concerns of women in international law. Many
legal documents have preceded and succeeded the CEDAW which was adopted in
1979. The Committee on Feminism and International Law (Committee) is a globally
recognised platform for discussion of concerns pertaining to protection and
independence of women in various countries. The Committee has so far focused on
highly specific feminist concerns which results in the exploitation of women in
many third world regions. For instance during the 2004 ILA Conference, an
interim report was generated which dealt with women and migration and the risks
of trafficking of women in such situations. In the words of its rapporteur, the
report argues for a gender and broad human rights based approach to
trafficking, so that such violent incidents during migration of women can also
be regulated [iv].
A working session of the Committee
on Feminism and International Law convened in 2014 provides an insight into the
varied problems faced by women across nations. The session which saw
participation of prominent women legal scholars around the world deliberated on
problems inter alia low female
participation rates in decision making, occupational segregation, inequalities
in remuneration, land ownership facilities, economic violence and its deeper
manifestations in the form of reluctance to develop inheritance laws,
inequalities in employment, creating reservations to international agreements
like CEDAW to uphold the religious system proclaimed and practised in the
country [v].
Feminist scholarship has also
brought forth effective responses that help to widen our perspectives of feminism
in international law. For instance the concept of ‘Governance Feminism’ as
propounded by Janet Halley. This term was coined to describe the way in which
feminists and feminist ideas have become installed in legal institutional power
thereby flaunting the idea of gender legitimacy in international institutions [vi].
The above mentioned is only a
minuscule view of feminism in international law. We hope to continue this
discussion in the subsequent posts.
Endnotes:
1. Hilary
Charlesworth, Christine Chinkin, and Shelley Wright, Feminist Perspectives on
International Law, American Journal of International Law, 1991.
4. Committee on
Feminism and International Law, Working Session, April 2014.
5. ILA, Berlin
Conference, Committee on Feminism and International Law, 2004.
