Basic Tenets of Liberal Philosophy

Individual Rights (including property) Freedom of choice; freedom from confining embraces of other persons 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 of biological superiority)

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 Basic tenets cover three key forms of freedom:

Economic freedom Political freedom Religious freedom

LIBERTY

EQUALITY
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Enlightenment
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.

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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

Are women citizens ?

Olympia de Gouges, Declaration of the Rights of Woman and the Female Citizen
"law is the expression of the general will: all female and male citizens have the right to participate personally, or through their representatives, in its formation."
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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 her Declaration of the Rights of 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 during the 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

EQUALS

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History
Three Waves of Feminism
19th through early 20th centuries 1960s-1980s 1990s-Present

1 EQUALITY 2 STANDPOINT /Difference 3 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 right of 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
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Equality
Use law to redress oppression and inequality Law has used a difference model of men and women (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 equality approach

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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 equalrepresentation 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 government positions. Encouraging employers and governments to provide workplace child care and paid parental leave.

Getting abortion legalized and reproductive rights recognized as human rights

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Legal reform: Remove barriers to opportunity Extend rights to women

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ANTI- DISCRIMINATION LAW

INTERNATIONAL

REGIONALS (EU)

NATIONAL

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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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The International Bill of Human Rights

Universal Declaration 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 December 1979 Entered into force on 3 September 1981 As of November 2012, 187 countries are parties to the Convention

CEDAW
International Bill of Rights of women Equality - equal access to, and equal opportunities in, political and public life, as well as education health and employment.

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CEDAW Convention

Part I (articles 1 6) Advancement of women

Part II (articles 7 9) Womens rights in political and public life

Part III (articles 10 14) Elimination of discrimination against women in the fields of education, employment, health, economic and social rights
Part IV (articles 15 16) Women equality before the law and in marriage and family law

The Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against women (CEDAW)

DEFINITION OF DISCRIMINATION
STATE INVOLVEMENT

ACTION PROGRAM TO ELIMINATE 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 of impairing or nullifying the recognition, 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, by all appropriate means and without delay, a policy of eliminating discrimination against women and, to this end, undertake:
a) to embody the principle of the equality of men and women in their national constitutions or other appropriate legislation and to ensure, through law and other appropriate means the practical realisation of this principle; b) to adopt appropriate legislative and other measures, 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 ensure through competent national tribunals and other public institutions the effective protection of women against 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 ACTIONS

CULTURAL ASPECT OF GENDER . STATE FIGHT AGAINST GENDER STERIOTYPES

the only human rights treaty which reaffirms the reproductive rights of women and targets culture and tradition 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 prostitution

States 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 ?
Reconoce el papel de la cultura y las tradiciones en la discriminacin. Obliga al Estado a eliminar estereotipos en los roles de genero

Permite medidas temporales de accin afirmativa

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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 of liberty. 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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WHO

187 - The number of countries, out of 194 countries, that have ratified 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.

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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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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

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1. Oktober 2013

IPES 2009