Gender Justice
A.Y. 2021/2022
Learning objectives
By the end of course, students should successfully be able to:
- Understand the notions of gender, equality and discrimination, and women's human rights in both constitutional and international human rights law;
- Apply and developing individually a critical investigation on the topics presented during the course;
- Understand the laws and case-law presented during the course;
- Critically evaluate, compare and contrast diverse States' approaches towards the topics at issue
- Understand the notions of gender, equality and discrimination, and women's human rights in both constitutional and international human rights law;
- Apply and developing individually a critical investigation on the topics presented during the course;
- Understand the laws and case-law presented during the course;
- Critically evaluate, compare and contrast diverse States' approaches towards the topics at issue
Expected learning outcomes
By the end of course, students should be able to:
- Learning the gaps, conflicts, and ambiguities in States' approaches to the gender discourse with a specific focus on women's and LGBTQ+'s people's rights;
- Learning critical tools to investigate and analyze the case-law of Constitutional and Supreme Courts, the ECtHR, the United Nations Human Rights Committee, and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights;
- Understanding the current controversies through a legal perspective;
- Analyzing laws and case-law on a national, comparative, and supranational approach;
- Developing and applying the notions discussed during the course.
- Learning the gaps, conflicts, and ambiguities in States' approaches to the gender discourse with a specific focus on women's and LGBTQ+'s people's rights;
- Learning critical tools to investigate and analyze the case-law of Constitutional and Supreme Courts, the ECtHR, the United Nations Human Rights Committee, and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights;
- Understanding the current controversies through a legal perspective;
- Analyzing laws and case-law on a national, comparative, and supranational approach;
- Developing and applying the notions discussed during the course.
Lesson period: First semester
Assessment methods: Esame
Assessment result: voto verbalizzato in trentesimi
Single course
This course cannot be attended as a single course. Please check our list of single courses to find the ones available for enrolment.
Course syllabus and organization
Single session
Responsible
Lesson period
First semester
Course syllabus
Overview:
The course aims at offering a wide spectrum of investigation over the most prominent concepts and issues on gender-specific rights, women's human rights, and LGBTQ+ people's rights.
Alongside the theoretical analysis, the course will interlace it with the law and it will subsequently deepen into a national and supranational case-law analysis, by way of examining cases on a constitutional, comparative and supranational dimension.
The course will, therefore, touch upon the general concepts described below as a premise to the analysis of specific areas where gender-related human rights are exposed to severe and increasing tensions.
Concepts:
The notions of human rights and gender-specific rights
Universalism, differences, post-colonial critique and women's human rights
The notion of discrimination from conflict-power theories to the law
Equality and non-discrimination in the constitutional and supranational framework
The concept of women's rights as human rights and gender-related theories
Women's human rights between individual and collective rights
Women's rights and the law concerning international human rights law treaties on women's rights and constitutional law implications
Gender and LGBTQ+ people's rights
Fields of Analysis:
The Private Sphere:
Women's bodies and sexuality: from natural reproduction to artificial reproductive technologies and surrogacy-related practices to (forced) sterilization and abortion
Women and family life
LGBTQ+ people's rights
The Public Sphere:
Religion, women's human rights, and personal law
Culture and women's human rights in the multicultural discourse
The case of women belonging to indigenous communities
Women's empowerment: from public health to education
Violence against women between domestic violence and slavery-related practices
Violence against LGBTQ's people
Language as a mechanism to boost gender justice
Technological innovation, diversity and women's human rights
The course aims at offering a wide spectrum of investigation over the most prominent concepts and issues on gender-specific rights, women's human rights, and LGBTQ+ people's rights.
Alongside the theoretical analysis, the course will interlace it with the law and it will subsequently deepen into a national and supranational case-law analysis, by way of examining cases on a constitutional, comparative and supranational dimension.
The course will, therefore, touch upon the general concepts described below as a premise to the analysis of specific areas where gender-related human rights are exposed to severe and increasing tensions.
Concepts:
The notions of human rights and gender-specific rights
Universalism, differences, post-colonial critique and women's human rights
The notion of discrimination from conflict-power theories to the law
Equality and non-discrimination in the constitutional and supranational framework
The concept of women's rights as human rights and gender-related theories
Women's human rights between individual and collective rights
Women's rights and the law concerning international human rights law treaties on women's rights and constitutional law implications
Gender and LGBTQ+ people's rights
Fields of Analysis:
The Private Sphere:
Women's bodies and sexuality: from natural reproduction to artificial reproductive technologies and surrogacy-related practices to (forced) sterilization and abortion
Women and family life
LGBTQ+ people's rights
The Public Sphere:
Religion, women's human rights, and personal law
Culture and women's human rights in the multicultural discourse
The case of women belonging to indigenous communities
Women's empowerment: from public health to education
Violence against women between domestic violence and slavery-related practices
Violence against LGBTQ's people
Language as a mechanism to boost gender justice
Technological innovation, diversity and women's human rights
Prerequisites for admission
none
Teaching methods
Methodology:
The course will be structured in frontal lessons dedicated to the theoretical discussion over the above-mentioned topics, that will be interlaced with the case-law investigation and in-class debate benefiting from the active contribution of attending students.
Students will be asked to actively participate and engage in the debate during the frontal lessons and to discuss an assigned case in class alongside the submission of a written paper.
The course will be structured in frontal lessons dedicated to the theoretical discussion over the above-mentioned topics, that will be interlaced with the case-law investigation and in-class debate benefiting from the active contribution of attending students.
Students will be asked to actively participate and engage in the debate during the frontal lessons and to discuss an assigned case in class alongside the submission of a written paper.
Teaching Resources
First Part:
From Universal Human Rights to Gender-Specific Rights
Week One
Tue, September 28th
Topics:
Course Introduction
Universalism versus Gender-Specific Rights
Details:
Required and introductory Readings:
1. A.M. Slaughter, "Why Women Still Can't Have it All," The Atlantic
2. H. Rosin, "The End of Men." Atlantic Monthly (July/August 2010) - http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2010/07/the-end-of-men/8135/
3. Global Gender Gap Report 2021: https://www.weforum.org/reports/ab6795a1-960c-42b2-b3d5-587eccda6023
Case-Law:
ECtHR, Abdulaziz, Cabales and Balkandali v The United Kingdom, 1985.
High Court of Botswana, Attorney General v. Unity Dow, 1992.
Thu, September 30th
Topic
Gender in Constitutional and Human Rights Law
Details:
Assignment:
Examination of United Nations and Regional Charters
Required Reading:
1. H. Charlesworth, What are "Women's International Human Rights?".
2. Hilary Charlesworth, Christine Chinkin and Shelley Wright, Feminist Approaches to International Law.
3. D. Rosenblum, "Unsex Cedaw, or What's Wrong with Women's Rights", in Columbia Journal of Gender and Law, Vol. 20, 2011.
Week Two:
Tue, October 5th
Topics:
Gender Justice through the Lens of the Principle of Equality and Non-Discrimination
Intersectionality Theories
Details:
Required Readings:
1. S. Fredman, Double Trouble. Multiple Discrimination and EU Law, European Anti-discrimination, in Law Review, 2005, 13 ss.
2. S. Fredman, Equality: A New Generation?, in Industrial Law Journal, 2001, 145 ss.
3. R. O'connell, Cinderella comes to the Ball: Article 14 and the right to non-discrimination in the ECHR, in Legal Studies: The Journal of the Society of Legal Scholars, 2009, 211 ss.
4. K. Crenshaw, Mapping the Margins: Intersectionality, Identity Politics, and Violence against Women of Color, in Stanford Law Review, 1991, 1241 ss.
5. FRA - Handbook on European non-discrimination law - 2018 edition: https://fra.europa.eu/en/publication/2018/handbook-european-non-discrimination-law-2018-edition
Further readings:
1. E. Ellis, EU Anti-Discrimination Law, Oxford Univesity Press, Oxford, 2005.
2. S. Fredman, Discrimination Law, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2011.
3. K.J. Partsch, Discrimination, in R.St.J., Mcdonald, F. Mascher, H. Petzold (Eds.), The European System for the Protection of Human Rights, Kluwer Academic Publishers, Norwell, 1993, 571 ss.
Thu, October 7th
Topic:
Women as a Minority? The Notion of Minority Group and the Challenges between Individual and Collective Rights
Details:
Required Readings:
1) F. Capotorti, Study on the Rights of Persons Belonging to ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities.
2) ICCPR, Minority Rights - General Comments and Recommendations.
3) R. Sandland, Developing a jurisprudence of difference: the protection of the human rights of travelling peoples by the European Court of Human Rights, in Human Rights Law Review, 2008.
Week Three:
Tue, October 12th:
Topics:
Gender and LGBTQ+ People's Human Rights
LGBTQ+'s People's Right to Family Life
Details:
Required Readings:
1) FRA - 2020, A long way to go for LGBTI equality: https://fra.europa.eu/en/publication/2020/eu-lgbti-survey-results
2) M. D'Amico, C. Nardocci, LGBT rights and the way forward: the evolution on the case law of the ECtHR in relation to transgender individuals' identity, in ERA Forum, Springer, 2016.
3) M. D'Amico, C. Nardocci, Homosexuality and Human Rights in the aftermath of Oliari v. Italy, in Same-sex relationships and beyond: gender matters in the EU, in K. Boele-Woelki, A. Fuchs (eds.), Same-Sex Relationships and Beyond Gender Matters in the EU, Intersentia, London, 2017.
Thu, October 14th:
Topic:
LGBTQ+'s People's Right to Private Life between Hate Speeches and Hate Crimes (Guest Lecture: Marianna Muravyeva)
Details:
The required and/or suggested readings will be indicated by Professor Muravyeva
Second Part
Gender-Specific Rights between the Private and the Public Sphere
Week Four:
Tue, October 19th:
Topics:
Women and Culture
Managing Cultural Diversity: Multicultural Theories in Constitutional Democracies
Details:
Required Readings:
1) E. Stamatopolou, Taking Cultural Rights Seriously: The Vision of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
2) E. Stamatopolou, Cultural Rights in International Law, Leiden/Boston: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, 2007.
3) W. Kymlicka, The Essentialist Critique of Multiculturalism: Theories, Policies, Ethos, 2013.
4) C. Taylor, The Politics of Recognition, in C. Taylor, A. Gutman (Eds.), Multiculturalism. Expanded Paperback Edition, Princeton University Press, 1994.
5) Leti Volpp, Talking "culture": gender, race, nation, and the politics of multiculturalism, Columbia Law Review, 1996, 1573 ss.
Thu, October 21st:
Topic:
Accomodating Diversity: Self-Government, Legal Pluralism and Women's Rights
Details:
Required Readings:
1) C. Nardocci, Light on Article 14 between Discrimination by Association & Self-Identification Right. The Individual within the Group & the Group before the State in ECtHR's Molla Sali v. Greece, in Federalismi.it
Case-Law:
ECtHR, Molla Sali v. Greece
ECtHR, Tasev v. North Macedonia
UN Human Rights Committee, Lovelace v. Canada
United States Supreme Court, Santa Clara Pueblo v. Martinez
Week Five:
Tue, October 26th:
Topic:
Spotlight on Female Genital Mutilations and Polygamy
Details:
Required Readings: To be further indicated.
Thu, October 28th:
Topic:
Gender, Culture and Sustainability: the case of Indigenous Women (Guest Lecture: Alexandra Xanthaki)
Details:
The required and/or suggested readings will be indicated by Professor Xanthaki
Week Six:
Tue, November 2nd:
Topic:
Women's and their Bodies
From Artificial Reproductive Technologies to Surrogacy of Motherhood
Details:
Required Readings: To be further indicated.
Thu, November 4th:
Topic:
Women's Empowerment and Global Health (Guest Lecture: Yanis Ben Amor)
Details:
The required and/or suggested readings will be indicated by Professor Ben Amor
Week Seven:
Tue, November 9th:
Topic:
Violence against Women and Domestic Violence: Forms and Definitions
Details:
Required Readings:
1) M. D'Amico, C. Nardocci (eds.), Gender-Based Violence between National & Supranational Responses: the Way Forward, Editoriale Scientifica, Naples, 2021.
Thu, November 11th:
Topic:
International and National Responses towards Violence against Women
Details: Required Readings: To be further indicated.
Week Eight:
Tue, November 16th:
Topic:
Contemporary Forms of Slavery-related Practices
The Case of Genocide in a Gender Perspective
Details:
Required Readings: To be further indicated.
Thu, November 18th:
Topic:
Gender and Employment
Details:
Required Readings: To be further indicated.
Week Nine:
Tue, November 23rd:
Topic:
Poverty and Gender Inequality
Details:
Required Readings: To be further indicated.
Thu, November 25th:
Topic:
Gender Justice between Words: Gender Inclusive Language
Details:
Required Readings: To be further indicated.
Week Ten:
Tue, November 30th:
Topic:
Gender and New Technologies: the Case of Artificial Intelligence
Details:
Required Readings:
1) Artificial intelligence and gender equality: key findings of UNESCO's Global Dialogue.
Thu, December 2nd:
Topic:
Gender Justice in Education (Guest Lecture Paola Mattei: Global Public Policy and women in education)
Details:
The required and/or suggested readings will be indicated by Professor Mattei.
Week Eleven:
Thu, December 9th:
In-class Closing Discussion
From Universal Human Rights to Gender-Specific Rights
Week One
Tue, September 28th
Topics:
Course Introduction
Universalism versus Gender-Specific Rights
Details:
Required and introductory Readings:
1. A.M. Slaughter, "Why Women Still Can't Have it All," The Atlantic
2. H. Rosin, "The End of Men." Atlantic Monthly (July/August 2010) - http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2010/07/the-end-of-men/8135/
3. Global Gender Gap Report 2021: https://www.weforum.org/reports/ab6795a1-960c-42b2-b3d5-587eccda6023
Case-Law:
ECtHR, Abdulaziz, Cabales and Balkandali v The United Kingdom, 1985.
High Court of Botswana, Attorney General v. Unity Dow, 1992.
Thu, September 30th
Topic
Gender in Constitutional and Human Rights Law
Details:
Assignment:
Examination of United Nations and Regional Charters
Required Reading:
1. H. Charlesworth, What are "Women's International Human Rights?".
2. Hilary Charlesworth, Christine Chinkin and Shelley Wright, Feminist Approaches to International Law.
3. D. Rosenblum, "Unsex Cedaw, or What's Wrong with Women's Rights", in Columbia Journal of Gender and Law, Vol. 20, 2011.
Week Two:
Tue, October 5th
Topics:
Gender Justice through the Lens of the Principle of Equality and Non-Discrimination
Intersectionality Theories
Details:
Required Readings:
1. S. Fredman, Double Trouble. Multiple Discrimination and EU Law, European Anti-discrimination, in Law Review, 2005, 13 ss.
2. S. Fredman, Equality: A New Generation?, in Industrial Law Journal, 2001, 145 ss.
3. R. O'connell, Cinderella comes to the Ball: Article 14 and the right to non-discrimination in the ECHR, in Legal Studies: The Journal of the Society of Legal Scholars, 2009, 211 ss.
4. K. Crenshaw, Mapping the Margins: Intersectionality, Identity Politics, and Violence against Women of Color, in Stanford Law Review, 1991, 1241 ss.
5. FRA - Handbook on European non-discrimination law - 2018 edition: https://fra.europa.eu/en/publication/2018/handbook-european-non-discrimination-law-2018-edition
Further readings:
1. E. Ellis, EU Anti-Discrimination Law, Oxford Univesity Press, Oxford, 2005.
2. S. Fredman, Discrimination Law, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2011.
3. K.J. Partsch, Discrimination, in R.St.J., Mcdonald, F. Mascher, H. Petzold (Eds.), The European System for the Protection of Human Rights, Kluwer Academic Publishers, Norwell, 1993, 571 ss.
Thu, October 7th
Topic:
Women as a Minority? The Notion of Minority Group and the Challenges between Individual and Collective Rights
Details:
Required Readings:
1) F. Capotorti, Study on the Rights of Persons Belonging to ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities.
2) ICCPR, Minority Rights - General Comments and Recommendations.
3) R. Sandland, Developing a jurisprudence of difference: the protection of the human rights of travelling peoples by the European Court of Human Rights, in Human Rights Law Review, 2008.
Week Three:
Tue, October 12th:
Topics:
Gender and LGBTQ+ People's Human Rights
LGBTQ+'s People's Right to Family Life
Details:
Required Readings:
1) FRA - 2020, A long way to go for LGBTI equality: https://fra.europa.eu/en/publication/2020/eu-lgbti-survey-results
2) M. D'Amico, C. Nardocci, LGBT rights and the way forward: the evolution on the case law of the ECtHR in relation to transgender individuals' identity, in ERA Forum, Springer, 2016.
3) M. D'Amico, C. Nardocci, Homosexuality and Human Rights in the aftermath of Oliari v. Italy, in Same-sex relationships and beyond: gender matters in the EU, in K. Boele-Woelki, A. Fuchs (eds.), Same-Sex Relationships and Beyond Gender Matters in the EU, Intersentia, London, 2017.
Thu, October 14th:
Topic:
LGBTQ+'s People's Right to Private Life between Hate Speeches and Hate Crimes (Guest Lecture: Marianna Muravyeva)
Details:
The required and/or suggested readings will be indicated by Professor Muravyeva
Second Part
Gender-Specific Rights between the Private and the Public Sphere
Week Four:
Tue, October 19th:
Topics:
Women and Culture
Managing Cultural Diversity: Multicultural Theories in Constitutional Democracies
Details:
Required Readings:
1) E. Stamatopolou, Taking Cultural Rights Seriously: The Vision of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
2) E. Stamatopolou, Cultural Rights in International Law, Leiden/Boston: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, 2007.
3) W. Kymlicka, The Essentialist Critique of Multiculturalism: Theories, Policies, Ethos, 2013.
4) C. Taylor, The Politics of Recognition, in C. Taylor, A. Gutman (Eds.), Multiculturalism. Expanded Paperback Edition, Princeton University Press, 1994.
5) Leti Volpp, Talking "culture": gender, race, nation, and the politics of multiculturalism, Columbia Law Review, 1996, 1573 ss.
Thu, October 21st:
Topic:
Accomodating Diversity: Self-Government, Legal Pluralism and Women's Rights
Details:
Required Readings:
1) C. Nardocci, Light on Article 14 between Discrimination by Association & Self-Identification Right. The Individual within the Group & the Group before the State in ECtHR's Molla Sali v. Greece, in Federalismi.it
Case-Law:
ECtHR, Molla Sali v. Greece
ECtHR, Tasev v. North Macedonia
UN Human Rights Committee, Lovelace v. Canada
United States Supreme Court, Santa Clara Pueblo v. Martinez
Week Five:
Tue, October 26th:
Topic:
Spotlight on Female Genital Mutilations and Polygamy
Details:
Required Readings: To be further indicated.
Thu, October 28th:
Topic:
Gender, Culture and Sustainability: the case of Indigenous Women (Guest Lecture: Alexandra Xanthaki)
Details:
The required and/or suggested readings will be indicated by Professor Xanthaki
Week Six:
Tue, November 2nd:
Topic:
Women's and their Bodies
From Artificial Reproductive Technologies to Surrogacy of Motherhood
Details:
Required Readings: To be further indicated.
Thu, November 4th:
Topic:
Women's Empowerment and Global Health (Guest Lecture: Yanis Ben Amor)
Details:
The required and/or suggested readings will be indicated by Professor Ben Amor
Week Seven:
Tue, November 9th:
Topic:
Violence against Women and Domestic Violence: Forms and Definitions
Details:
Required Readings:
1) M. D'Amico, C. Nardocci (eds.), Gender-Based Violence between National & Supranational Responses: the Way Forward, Editoriale Scientifica, Naples, 2021.
Thu, November 11th:
Topic:
International and National Responses towards Violence against Women
Details: Required Readings: To be further indicated.
Week Eight:
Tue, November 16th:
Topic:
Contemporary Forms of Slavery-related Practices
The Case of Genocide in a Gender Perspective
Details:
Required Readings: To be further indicated.
Thu, November 18th:
Topic:
Gender and Employment
Details:
Required Readings: To be further indicated.
Week Nine:
Tue, November 23rd:
Topic:
Poverty and Gender Inequality
Details:
Required Readings: To be further indicated.
Thu, November 25th:
Topic:
Gender Justice between Words: Gender Inclusive Language
Details:
Required Readings: To be further indicated.
Week Ten:
Tue, November 30th:
Topic:
Gender and New Technologies: the Case of Artificial Intelligence
Details:
Required Readings:
1) Artificial intelligence and gender equality: key findings of UNESCO's Global Dialogue.
Thu, December 2nd:
Topic:
Gender Justice in Education (Guest Lecture Paola Mattei: Global Public Policy and women in education)
Details:
The required and/or suggested readings will be indicated by Professor Mattei.
Week Eleven:
Thu, December 9th:
In-class Closing Discussion
Assessment methods and Criteria
Assessment:
1. Attending students:
- in-class presentations or written paper and oral exams.
The oral presentation will consist of an illustration of a selected case provided by professors.
The written paper will consist of a brief analysis of a topic addressed in class;
- Oral exam
2. Non-attending students:
- oral exam.
1. Attending students:
- in-class presentations or written paper and oral exams.
The oral presentation will consist of an illustration of a selected case provided by professors.
The written paper will consist of a brief analysis of a topic addressed in class;
- Oral exam
2. Non-attending students:
- oral exam.
Professor(s)