Course Description:

This course examines the international human rights framework through through the lens of gender. We explore why and how women and transgender people continue to experience discrimination as a consequence of their gender and to what extent human rights can be useful in ameliorating the social, economic and political position of marginalized groups.

Human rights can play many roles and can serve multiple political interests. The discourse of human rights functions as a political tool, a framework for law enforcement, and a strategic context for creating social change. Human rights provide a central discourse in domestic legislation, foreign policy, development aid and even military interventions. Claiming that women’s rights and transgender rights are human rights provides a specific legal language for recognizing and addressing violations and a particular framework for articulating and channeling movements for social change.

Over many decades, the Women’s Rights Movement has been successful in advocating for a feminist approach in policy making and as a result women’s lives have been improved globally. Yet many challenges remain, as there is often a great divide between political rhetoric and social outcomes, while the human rights framework continues to privilege abuses in the domain of public life and neglects the violations that occur in the ‘private sphere.’ Women continue to be more likely to live in poverty, and a lack of access to education, formal work and political participation maintain women’s subordinate status. Child marriage, domestic labor, prostitution, the feminization of poverty and migration, discrimination based on race, class, sexuality and religion, sexual violence and reproductive rights are examples of current gender-specific issues, some of which we will examine during the course.

The movement for Transgender Rights has recently gained increased visibility and recognition, and the claim that ‘Transgender Rights are Human Rights’ provides a further ‘gender perspective’ through which to interrogate the capacity of the international human rights framework to bring about progressive social change.

 A gender approach to human rights acknowledges the importance of existing legal concepts, but also highlights dimensions of discrimination that are gender-specific, and which need to be addressed if the universal human rights framework is to include and reflect the experiences of women and transgender people. A ‘human rights approach’ to issues of gender discrimination also has significant limitations as legal rights do not of themselves translate into social realities. Throughout this course we shall be interrogating the effectiveness of a ‘human rights approach’ in addressing the pervasive discrimination, inequality and violence suffered by women and transgender people.

Learning Objectives:

• Develop a basic understanding of human rights, accountability mechanisms and obstacles to international human rights law
• Gain a historical and contemporary understanding of women’s rights and the potential impact of feminism as a political discourse
• Examine obstacles to gender equality and examples of gender-specific human rights issues  
• Discover how social norms related to gender and sexuality impacts the rights of women

Faculty:

Campbell Munro

Campbell holds an LLM in International Human Rights Law from Lund University, and previously practiced as a barrister in London, specializing in refugee and immigration law. He is currently completing a PhD in International Law at the University of Copenhagen.

Readings:

A list of ‘required class readings’ for each class are provided on the Canvas calendar. Students will be expected to prepare one of a range of ‘short written assignments’ on the required readings. (See ‘assignments’ below).

Field Studies:

Students are required to participate in two Field Studies during the course:

• Wednesday 29 September, 13:00 - 17:00 - TBC
• Wednesday 8 December, 08:30 - 12:30 - TBC

Approach to Teaching:

The approach to teaching adopted in this course will be based on a seminar model, in which classroom discussion and engaged participation will be the main method of teaching and learning. Students should consider the course as presenting a series of ‘shared problems’ that we as a group will seek to reflect on together. Our shared project is to gain a better understanding of the international human rights framework, and to be able to critically analyse the effectiveness of a ‘human rights approach’ in addressing the pervasive discrimination, inequality and violence suffered by women and transgender people.

Expectations of the Students:

Students are expected to abide by the Academic Regulations and assist in creating an environment that is conducive to learning and that protects the rights of all members of the DIS community. This course is designed to expose students to a variety of different arguments concerning a very topical and controversial topic, and is designed to provide students with tools with which to analyse those arguments and assess them critically. Please show respect for the views of your fellow-classmates, whether you agree with them or not. Whereas this course is designed to encourage debate, judgmental or intolerant behaviour will not be tolerated.

Evaluation:

Students will be evaluated on their engaged classroom participation and their assignments. Attendance for all classes and Field Studies is mandatory. Students are required to attend class on time and be prepared to actively participate in class. The starting point for such engaged participation will be the submission of ‘short written assignments’ prior to class, which will inform class discussion. These assignments form a bridge between the reading students undertake prior to class and their engaged participation in class.

Assignments:

A: Short Written Assignments

These assignments are intended to enhance understanding of the required readings for class, enable students to better identify and analyse key concepts from the reading, and provide an opportunity for students to practice drafting arguments that can be used in other assignments. The principal aim of these assignments, however, is to foster class discussion and collaboration, and all assignments must therefore be submitted onto the shared Discussion Board.

There are five types of short written assignment that students will be expected to prepare and submit regularly through the length of the course. Short written assignments vary in length from a single sentence or a short list of bullet points, to one or two paragraphs. Students will be expected to prepare only one type of short written assignment for each class reading.

Each completed short written assignment must be uploaded to the Discussion Board by 20:00 the day before class. In order to fulfill each short written assignment, students are also required to comment on at least one other submission. Students will only be able to read and comment on other submissions once they have submitted their own assignment.

1. Questions on the Reading:

Every student will be expected to formulate and submit a question that has arisen in response to the reading. The question may express any query the student may have concerning the reading. This will allow class discussion to focus on aspects of the material that requires further explanation or analysis, and ensure that student’s queries regarding the material covered in the readings are addressed.

2. Quotations:

Every student will be expected to select and submit a quotation or passage from the reading material that either articulates a key concept or otherwise addresses a specific question relevant to the particular reading for the class.

3. Key Concepts:

Every student will be expected to submit a short statement setting out the key concepts or arguments addressed in the reading. This need not be longer than a few ‘key words’ or a series of short bullet points. This will enable students to better identify and analyse key concepts from the reading and provide a basis for class discussion.

4. Short Summaries:

Every student will be expected to submit a short summary of the required reading for the class. This should be no longer than a paragraph and should summarize the key concepts and arguments from the readings in the student’s own words. This will enable students to better identify and extract the key arguments from the reading and assist them in preparing to write the longer assignments.

5. Student’s View of the Reading:

This is the most substantial type of short written assignment and may be up to a couple of paragraphs in length. Every student will be expected to submit a short text setting out his or her view of the main concepts or arguments contained in the reading. In contrast to the short summaries of the readings, the students will be expected to either support or critique the arguments made in the text. The intention is to enable students to better analysis the arguments made in the reading and to assist them in preparing to write the longer assignments.

B: Drafting an Individual Complaint under the Optional Protocol to CEDAW.

This assignment provides an opportunity for students to both further their understanding of the international human rights regime, and investigate in depth specific issues of women’s rights. Each student will research and draft an individual complaint to the CEDAW Committee concerning a specific violation of the human rights of women that will set out the factual basis for the violation, the protected rights under the Convention that have allegedly been violated and the redress demanded of the relevant State Party.

C: Group Project: Interrogating the ‘Human Rights Approach’

Interrogating the role of human rights in both ‘bottom up’ social movements and ‘top down,’ state led interventions is one of the central themes of this course. Many social movements and campaigns for gender rights utilize the language of human rights to catalogue the violence and discrimination they suffer and frame their demands for redress. The effectiveness of adopting a ‘human rights approach’ has, however, come under scrutiny, with some arguing that the individual and legal focus of human rights undermines the collective potential of social movements. The obligation to uphold and protect human rights, particularly the rights of women, also plays a key part in state led initiatives and interventions by the international community. Once again, however, the deployment of human rights to frame and legitimate such interventions has not escaped censure, with human rights allegedly serving as a fig-leaf for more hard-nosed political interests or distracting from underlying causes of violence and discrimination.

This assignment provides an opportunity to engage with these debates through a sustained investigation and analysis of both contemporary campaigns for gender rights and state led initiatives launched under the banner of women’s rights. Students will be divided into four groups and each group will be assigned one topic.  Each group will be expected to work together to research, design, construct and present an interactive presentation of their assigned topic that addresses the contentious debates around the role and effectiveness of a ‘human rights approach.’

The entire 80 minutes of the class will be set aside for the presentation of each group project and active class discussion. Each presentation should be between 30 - 40 minutes in order for each of the group members to contribute to the presentation. During the presentation the rest of the class will be expected to prepare questions about the presentation that will form the basis for an active class discussion.

Grading:

To be eligible for a passing grade for this course every student must complete all of the assigned work. The grading breakdown for the class is as follows:

Assignment	Percent
Engaged classroom participation	25%
Short Written Assignments	20%
Drafting an Individual Complaint under the Optional Protocol to CEDAW.	25%
Group Project: Interrogating the ‘Human Rights Approach’	30%

 

Classroom Policies:

Plagiarism/Cheating:

Plagiarism and cheating of any kind will not be tolerated. Any assignment which shows evidence of either will receive an immediate fail. It is essential that you attribute all the ideas that you have borrowed. All students should familiarize themselves with the DIS Academic Honor Code.

Lateness:

Minor and infrequent lateness is occasionally unavoidable, but please enter the classroom quietly and with as little disruption as possible. Repeated or disruptive lateness will affect your participation grade.

Mobile phones and laptop computers:

Any and every use of mobile phones and laptops during class is strictly prohibited. If you use an electronic device during class your participation grade will suffer. The reason for this rule is simple, research has consistently shown that students who use laptops during class to take notes contribute less to class discussion and leave class having learnt less!

Academic Regulations:  

Please make sure to read the Academic Regulations on the DIS website. There you will find regulations on: 

• Course Enrollment and Grading  
• Academic Expectations and Honor Code