Original scientific paper
HUMAN RIGHTS OF WOMEN AND THE PUBLIC/PRIVATE DIVIDE IN INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS LAW
Ivana Radačić
Abstract
Women’s human rights have long been marginalised in international human
rights law. The public/private divide on which international human rights law rests has
been constructed in a manner that obscures the experiences of women and fails to
challenge women’s disadvantage.
In this paper, I discuss the problem of the marginalisation of women’s rights in
international human rights law and propose reforms to fully incorporate women’s
experiences of human rights abuse. The focus of the analysis is on the public/private
divide and its reflection in the conceptualisation of rights, the doctrine of state
responsibility, and the principle of equality.
The main argument of this paper is that the gendered nature of the divide needs to be
transcended and the public/private divide re-conceptualised in a manner that challenges
discrimination and violence against women in the private sphere, while protecting
women’s freedom of self-determination and personal development in both the ‘public’
and the ‘private’ sphere. Such a re-construction of the public/private divide entails using
gender analysis in interpreting rights, state responsibility, and equality.
Keywords
Hrčak ID:
28568
URI
Publication date:
2.11.2007.
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