International Woman s Human Rights Syllabus

Transcription

1 International Woman s Human Rights Syllabus Wednesdays 4:40 6:30 pm Room 208 INSTRUCTOR Beth Mandel mandelba@gmail.com (513) You may contact me by at any time. You may also call me between the hours of 9:00 a.m. and 10:00 p.m. if you have an urgent question, have tried to me, and have not received a response. BOOK Susan Deller Ross, WOMEN'S HUMAN RIGHTS: THE INTERNATIONAL AND COMPARATIVE LAW CASEBOOK (Pennsylvania Studies in Human Rights) Companion website, (All documents labeled RR in this syllabus are available at the RossRights website) GRADING 65% final paper ; 35% class participation (graded on both quality and frequency) FINAL PAPER (25 to 35 pages) October 5, 2011: abstract paragraph(thesis statement), outline, and bibliography due November 16, 2011: deadline to submit rough draft (NOT required) December 19, 2011: final paper due by midnight Sixty-five percent of your grade in the class will be based on your final paper, which should address an issue related to women s human rights analyzed in the context of or with reference to one or more of the international human rights instruments we will examine during the semester. You should start thinking of topics for this paper now. It may be helpful to narrow your focus to a particular country or region. You may, but are not obligated to, turn in a rough draft of your paper for review. ATTENDANCE POLICY You are allowed one unexcused absence. Any more than one absence without a valid excuse may result in a deduction from the class participation grade.

2 International Woman s Human Rights Reading Schedule 1 August 24, 2011 (Week 1) CEDAW Chapter 1: Introduction (pgs 1-2) and Section III (pgs 11-24) Chapter 9: Section I.C (pgs ) and Section II (pgs ) Chapter 10: Section I (pgs , ) $ Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (RR) 2 Dina Francesca Haynes, Client-Centered Human Rights Advocacy, 13 Clinical L. Rev. 379 (2006) (available on Westlaw) $ Recommended: Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (RR) August 31, 2011 (Week 2) MAIN UN RIGHTS INSTRUMENTS Chapter 2: Section I (pgs 54-66) Chapter 3: read all $ UN Charter (RR) $ Universal Declaration of Human Rights (RR) $ International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (RR) $ International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights (RR) 1 Additional supplementary materials may be provided on a weekly basis. 2 All documents labeled RR are available at

3 September 7, 2011 (Week 3) REGIONAL RIGHTS INSTRUMENTS Chapter 5: Sections I-III (pgs ); Sections V and VI.A (pgs ) Chapter 6: (pgs ) $ American Convention on Human Rights (RR) $ African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights (RR) $ Recommended: Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa (RR) $ European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (RR) $ Recommended: Protocol No. 12 to the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (RR) September 14, 2011 (Week 4) CONFLICTING HUMAN RIGHTS: FREEDOM OF RELIGION VERSUS WOMEN S EQUALITY RIGHTS Chapter 4 -- Sections I-III (pgs ) $ Nusrat Choudhury, From the Stasi Commission to the European Court of Human Rights: L Affaire Du Foulard and the Challenge of Protecting the Rights of Muslim Girls, 16 Colum. J. Gender & L. 199 (2007) (available on Westlaw) $ Adrien Katherine Wing and Monica Nigh Smith, Critical Race Feminism Lifts the Veil?: Muslim Women, France, and the Headscarf Ban, 39 U.C. Davis L. Rev. 743 (2006) (available on Westlaw) September 21, 2011 (Week 5) CULTURAL RELATIVISM VERSUS UNIVERSAL HUMAN RIGHTS Chapter 12 Alison Davidian, Beyond the Locker Room: Changing Narratives on Early Surgery for Intersex Children, 26 Wis. J.L. Gender & Soc y 1 (2011) (available on Westlaw) $ Radhika Coomaraswamy, Identity Within: Cultural Relativism, Minority Rights and the Empowerment of Women, 34 Geo. Wash. Int l L. Rev. 483 ( ) (available on Westlaw)

4 September 28, 2011 (Week 6) RELIGION, CULTURE, AND EQUALITY IN MARRIAGE Chapter 1: Case Study on Afghanistan: The Status of Women in Historical Perspective (pgs ) Chapter 13: Sections I & II (pgs ), and Sections III.B through VI (pgs ) $ Barbara Bradley Hagerty, Some Muslims in U.S. Quietly Engage in Polygamy, May 28, 2008, available at $ Jonathan Turley, Op-ed., One Big, Happy Polygamous Family, N.Y. Times, Oct. 4, 2000 (to be distributed) $ Erick Eckholm, Boys Cast Out by Polygamists Find Help, N.Y. Times, Sept. 9, 2007 (to be distributed) October 5, 2011 (Week 7) ECONOMIC EMPOWERMENT AND EMPLOYMENT DISCRIMINATION Chapter 7 (read all); Chapter 10 (pgs ) October 12, 2011 (Week 8) NO CLASS FALL BREAK October 19, 2011 (Week 9) SPECIAL TREATMENT VERSUS EQUAL TREATMENT Chapter 8: read all Chapter 2: Section III (pgs ) Women in the Workforce: Female Power, The Economist (Dec. 30, 2009) (to be distributed) $ How Do We Determine Female Power? The Economist Explores Women and the Workplace, Jezebel.com (Jan. 8, 2010) (to be distributed) $ Ariela Migdal, et al., The Need to Address Equal Educational Opportunities for Women and Girls, 35-SUM Hum. Rts. 16 (Summer, 2008) (available on Westlaw) $ Dexter Filkins, A School Bus for Shamsia, The New York Times Magazine, pp (Aug. 23, 2009) (to be distributed)

5 *Readings for Weeks will be assigned at a later date. To the extent time permits, topics to be covered include: domestic violence; rape and sexual Assault; reproductive rights; the right to health; gender equality and sexual orientation; and sex trafficking and forced labor.