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Basic Tenets of Liberal Philosophy
Individual Rights (including property)
Freedom of choice; freedom from confining embraces of otherpersons or institutions.
Critique of religion Values science/reason over religion
Commitment to social progress/change
Science/reason as a basis for social change
Embraces achievement over ascription
Social position should be based on merit not birth (critiques idea ofbiological superiority)
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Basic tenets cover three key forms of freedom:
Economic freedom
Political freedom
Religious freedom
LIBERTYEQUALITY
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Enlightenment thought was rooted in thinking of
white propertied men (a reaction of growing
merchant class/middle class to nobility)
Not extended to women or racial minorities.
Enlightenment
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Liberal Approach to Equality
Equality of Opportunity Model
Freedom to chose education and career.
Need a level playing fieldeveryone should have equal access to
opportunities.
No legal or social barriers to economic opportunities.
Education, hiring, promotions based on achievement.
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Equal rights to everybody ?
All citizens are equals
Olympia de Gouges, Declaration of theRights of Woman and the Female Citizen
"law is the expression of the general will:all female and male citizens have the right to participatepersonally, or through their representatives, in its formation."
Are women citizens ?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Declaration_of_the_Rights_of_Woman_and_the_Female_Citizenhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Declaration_of_the_Rights_of_Woman_and_the_Female_Citizenhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Declaration_of_the_Rights_of_Woman_and_the_Female_Citizenhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Declaration_of_the_Rights_of_Woman_and_the_Female_Citizenhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Declaration_of_the_Rights_of_Woman_and_the_Female_Citizenhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Declaration_of_the_Rights_of_Woman_and_the_Female_Citizen -
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Olympe De Gouges
Olympe De Gouges (1748-1793): A proponent of democracy, she
demanded that French women be
given the same rights as French
men. In herDeclarat ion o f the
Rights o f Woman and the Female
Citizen(1791), she challenged the
practice of male authority and the
notion of male-female inequality.
She was executed by guillotine duringthe Reign of Terror for attacking the
regime of Maximilien Robespierre.
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Female subordination
Womens inferiority to men legitimated historically by:
Enlightenment writers such as Rousseau and Jefferson
Some religious traditions
Aristotle (classical Greece)
Western democracies in the 19th & early 20th centuries
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PATRIARCHAL SYSTEM
LAW CODES
NAPOLEONIC CODE(March 21, 1804)
WOMEN APPEARS IN LAW AS MOTHERS , WIFES ,
NEVER AS INDIVIDUALS,PERSONS OR CITIZENS.
Womens right vs men rights
What men can do vs women cannot
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EQUALS
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History
Three Waves of Feminism
19th through early 20th centuries
1960s-1980s
1990s-Present
1 EQUALITY
2 STANDPOINT /Difference3 GENDER MEN / QUEER STUDIES
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First Wave (1800s):
Fight of political inequalities
Suffrage movement
Extend rights (voting, property) to
women
Focus also on social reform
overturning legal (de jure)
obstacles to equality (i.e. voting
rights, property rights),
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Early liberal feminists
Mary Wollstonecraft
Lucretia Mott
Elizabeth Cady Stanton
Susan B. Anthony
Wollstonecraft
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Mary Wollstonecraft
Mary Wollstonecraft in the late 18th
century used classical liberal arguments
in favor of womens rights:Women are human beings, rational and
capable of self-determination and liberty.
Patriarchy distorts womens personalities
so that they seem to be the worst
stereotypes (vain & shallow).
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Feminisms roots in liberalism
In many ways similar to liberalism: emphasis on
equality, on personal autonomy (the right and ability
of individuals to make decisions for themselves), on
the importance of democratic processes, on the rightof revolution against tyranny.
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Simone de Beauvoir- The Second Sex
Written in 1949- precursor to 2nd wave
Trying to theorize about why women are
oppressed, have less power, less status
Historical and current status of women in
western world
Change in womens subordination is possible
With women organizing, differences will disappear
E li
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Equality
Use law to redress oppression and inequality
Law has used a difference model of men andwomen (will continue separate, unequal
treatment and gender pigeon-holing)
Separate spheres- private/public
Stereotypical dichotomies
Breadwinner/homemaker
Sexual aggressor/passive
Offender/victim
Goal of feminism is to utilize an equalityapproach
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Liberal feminism
Shared with liberalism these ideas:
Human equality
Human rationality
Importance of individual rights
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Liberal Feminism
In line with classical liberalism, liberal feminism sees social positions
(gender, class, status) not as biologically determined but as originating
through social learning/custom.
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LIBERAL FEMINISM Formal equality
Enlightemnt vindication
Equal acces to the public spheres
Reform of the law- destroy legal barriers
what do women want ? what men want
Private life as a limit to public life
CRITICS
Structures are patriarchal and women
becomes men
Conform to a male define world
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Liberal Feminist Theories
Thinkers
Simone de Beauvoir, Betty Friedan, Gloria Steinem,Wendy Williams
Problem
Gender stereotypes Division of work into mens and womens
Lack of affordable child care
Limitations on reproductive choice
Analysis- separate and unequal Binaries and stereotypes (private/public,
emotional/rational)
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BETTY FRIEDAN
THE FEMININE MYSTIQUE
The problem that has no name
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Gender-neutral child-rearing and education.
Bringing women into occupations and professions
dominated by men and breaking through the glass
ceiling to positions of authority (affirmative action).
Bringing more women into politics through equal-
representation rules and financial support.
Promoting gender mainstreaming in policies ensuring
attention to womens needs.
Sharing parenting and subsidizing child care.
Legal, accessible, and affordable reproductive services.
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Making language, childrens books, and education more
genderneutral.
Making formal and informal gender discrimination visible
Working with civil rights organizations to frame affirmative
action guidelines and to bring lawsuits for women and
disadvantaged men.
Getting more women elected and appointed to governmentpositions.
Encouraging employers and governments to provide workplace
child care and paid parental leave.
Getting abortion legalized and reproductive rights recognizedas human rights
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Legal reform:Remove barriers to opportunity
Extend rights to women
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ANTI- DISCRIMINATION LAW
INTERNATIONAL
NATIONAL
REGIONALS (EU)
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INTERNATIONAL
UN DECLARATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS
UN COVENANTS 1966
ECHRs 1951 RACE CONVENTION 1960
CEDAW CONVENTION 1979
DISABILITIES CONVENTION 2006
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TheInternationalBill of Human Rights
UniversalDeclaration of Human Rights (UDHR) -1948
Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural
Rights (ICESCR) - 1966
Optional Protocol (individual complaints) 2008 (not yet in force) Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) -
1966
1st Optional Protocol (individual complaints) -1966
2nd Optional Protocol (abolition of the death penalty)-1989
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The Convention on the Elimination of
Discrimination against women (CEDAW)
Adopted by the General Assembly on 18 December1979
Entered into force on 3 September 1981
As of November 2012, 187 countries are parties to the
Convention
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CEDAW
International Bill of Rights of women
Equality - equal access to, and equal opportunities in, political and publiclife, as well as education health and employment.
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CEDAW Convention
Part I (articles 1 6) Advancement of women
Part II (articles 79) Womens rights in political andpublic life
Part III (articles 10 14) Elimination of discriminationagainst women in the fields of education, employment,health, economic and social rights
Part IV (articles 15 16) Women equality before the lawand in marriage and family law
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STATE INVOLVEMENT
ACTION PROGRAM TO
ELIMINATE DISCRIMINATION
The Convention on the Elimination of
Discrimination against women (CEDAW)
DEFINITION OF DISCRIMINATION
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Part I (articles 1 6)
Advancement of women
Article 1: definition of discrimination against women
Any distinction, exclusion or restriction made on the basis of
sex which has the effect or purpose ofimpairing or nullifying therecognition, enjoyment or exercise by women, irrespective of their
marital status, on a basis of equality of men and women, of human
rights and fundamental freedoms in the political, economic,
social, cultural, civil or any other field
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Article 2: obligations to eliminate discrimination
States Parties condemn discrimination against women in all its forms, agree to pursue, byall appropriate means and without delay, a policy of eliminating discrimination againstwomen and, to this end, undertake:
a) to embody the principle of the equality of men and women in their national constitutions or otherappropriate legislation and to ensure, through law and other appropriate means the practicalrealisation of this principle;
b) to adopt appropriate legislative and othermeasures, including sanctions where appropriate,prohibiting all discrimination against women;
c) to establish legal protection of the rights of women on an equal basis with men and to ensurethrough competent national tribunals and other public institutions the effective protection of womenagainst any act of discrimination;
d) to refrain from engaging in any act or practice of discrimination against women and to ensure that
public authorities and institutions shall act in conformity with this obligation;
e) to take all appropriate measures to eliminate discrimination against women by any person,organisation or enterprise;
f) to take all appropriate measures, including legislation, to modify or abolish existing laws,regulations, customs and practices which constitute discrimination against women;
g) to repeal all national penal provisions which constitute discrimination against women
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AFIRMATIVE ACTIONSCULTURAL ASPECT
OF GENDER .
STATE FIGHT
AGAINST GENDER
STERIOTYPESthe only human rights treatywhich reaffirms the
reproductive rights of women
and targets culture andtradition as influential forces
shaping gender roles and
family relations
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Articles 5 & 6
Article 5: sex roles and stereotyping
States Parties shall take all appropriate measures:
a) to modify the social and cultural patterns of conduct of men and
women, with a view to achieving the elimination of prejudices and
customary and all other practices which are based on the idea of
the inferiority or the superiority of either of the sexes or on
stereotyped roles for men and women;
b) to ensure that family education includes a proper understanding of
maternity as a social function and the recognition of the common
responsibility of men and women in the upbringing and development
of their children, it being understood that the interest of the children
is the primordial consideration in all cases.
Article 6: trafficking and exploitation of prostitutionStates Parties shall take all appropriate measures, including legislation,
to suppress all forms of traffic in women and exploitation of
prostitution of women.
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WHY IS IMPORTANT ?
Permite medidas
temporales de accin
afirmativa
Reconoce el papel de
la cultura y las
tradiciones en la
discriminacin.
Obliga al Estado a
eliminar estereotipos
en los roles de genero
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Violence against Women
GR No. 19 (1992) The definition of discrimination (art. 1) includes gender-based
violence, that is, violence that is directed against a woman
because she is a woman or that affects women disproportionately.
It includes acts that inflict physical, mental or sexual harm or
suffering, threats of such acts, coercion and other deprivations ofliberty. Gender-based violence may breach specific provisions of the
Convention, regardless of whether those provisions expressly
mention violence.
VaW can be perpetrated by a state official or a private citizen, in
public or in private life and such violence impairs or nullifies the
enjoyment by women of human rights and fundamental freedoms.
It requires State parties to CEDAW to prevent, investigate, and
punish acts of VaW by State officials or private individuals and to
provide reparations for the victims.
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187 - The number of countries, out of 194 countries, that haveratified the treaty.
7 - The number of countries that have NOT ratified CEDAW,
including the United States, Iran, Somalia, Sudan, South Sudan,
and two small Pacific island nations (Palau, and Tonga).
67 - The number of votes needed for the U.S. Senate to ratify
CEDAW.
WHO
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In arguments against CEDAW, the conservative organization
Concerned Women for America cite that ratification of the treaty will: negate family law and undermine traditional family values by
redefining the family
force the U.S. to pay men and women the same for "work of equal
value" thus going against our free-market system
ensure access to abortion services and contraception
allow same-sex marriage legalize prostitution
promote gender re-education
negate parental rights
undermine the sovereignty of the U.S.
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h l i ki fi/ li i t
Motivation: can democracy increase the
effectiveness of a human rights
convention?
- Is an international convention on human rights effective?
In which condition can
an international human rights treaty be effective?
Focus on democracy as a crucial institutional
condition
1. Oktober
2013IPES
2009