Curriculum Guide · Courses

Professor Susan Ross

J.D. Course 230 (cross-listed) | 2 credit hours

In many parts of the world, women are discriminated against, abused, treated as property, and even murdered because they are women. Yet, notwithstanding a substantial body of international human rights law that has developed over the last four decades, until recently few academics or nongovernmental organizations attempted to consider these problems within an international and comparative legal framework. This course sets out to provide such a framework, by analyzing rights and remedies afforded women under international human rights law, including the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, The European and American Conventions on Human Rights, The African Charter on Human and People's Rights, and the EEC's Equal Treatment Directive. The course also compares different legal systems' responses to domestic violence, female genital mutilation, polygamy, reproductive rights, parental leave, employment discrimination, pay equity, and other gender-related issues.

For J.D. Students: Preference for this course is given to students who are enrolled in the International Women's Human Rights Clinic.