1 Women and the international legal system
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Hilary Charlesworth
Abstract
This chapter considers why issues of sex and gender matter in international law. It introduces the main argument of the book – that the absence of women in the development of international law has generated a narrow and impoverished jurisprudence. Among other things, this jurisprudence has legitimated the unequal potion of women rather than challenged it. The aim of the book is to encourage a rethinking of the discipline of international law so that it can provide an adequate framework for international justice with respect to women. The chapter offers a snapshot of the conditions of women’s lives globally, showing that the quality of women’s lives around the world is consistently different from and inferior to men’s. It examines why the international legal order has paid such little attention to the position of women.
Abstract
This chapter considers why issues of sex and gender matter in international law. It introduces the main argument of the book – that the absence of women in the development of international law has generated a narrow and impoverished jurisprudence. Among other things, this jurisprudence has legitimated the unequal potion of women rather than challenged it. The aim of the book is to encourage a rethinking of the discipline of international law so that it can provide an adequate framework for international justice with respect to women. The chapter offers a snapshot of the conditions of women’s lives globally, showing that the quality of women’s lives around the world is consistently different from and inferior to men’s. It examines why the international legal order has paid such little attention to the position of women.
Chapters in this book
- Front Matter i
- Contents v
- Foreword ix
- Preface xiii
- List of abbreviations xvi
- Dedication xviii
- Introduction to the 2022 edition xix
- 1 Women and the international legal system 1
- 2 Feminist theories and international law 23
- 3 Modes of international law- making 62
- 4 The law of treaties 96
- 5 The idea of the state 124
- 6 International institutions 171
- 7 Human rights 201
- 8 The use of force in international law 250
- 9 Peaceful settlement of disputes 275
- 10 Redrawing the boundaries of international law 308
- Bibliography 338
- Table of cases 379
- Table of treaties 385
- Index 401
Chapters in this book
- Front Matter i
- Contents v
- Foreword ix
- Preface xiii
- List of abbreviations xvi
- Dedication xviii
- Introduction to the 2022 edition xix
- 1 Women and the international legal system 1
- 2 Feminist theories and international law 23
- 3 Modes of international law- making 62
- 4 The law of treaties 96
- 5 The idea of the state 124
- 6 International institutions 171
- 7 Human rights 201
- 8 The use of force in international law 250
- 9 Peaceful settlement of disputes 275
- 10 Redrawing the boundaries of international law 308
- Bibliography 338
- Table of cases 379
- Table of treaties 385
- Index 401
