A Global Mandate to End Violence and Harassment in the World of Work: ILO Convention No. 190
“For me, as for most women workers I know, this Convention and this Recommendation are personal… This Convention, and its recognition of violence and harassment as a range of behaviours...
Domestic Workers in South Africa Lead the Way in Advancing Social Protection for Precarious Workers
In a recent South African High Court judgement, the court held the failure to cover domestic workers under Compensation for Occupational Injuries and Diseases Act (COIDA) to be unconstitutional. This...
Brazilian Superior Court of Justice Decides that Victims of Domestic Violence are Entitled to Paid Work Leave – While New Legislation Could Hinder Their Right to an Adequate Standard of Living
The Brazilian Superior Court of Justice (STJ) established a new precedent asserting that women who suffer domestic violence are entitled to a court-determined paid work leave of six months or...
NDAs in Discrimination Cases: UK Women and Equalities Select Committee Report & Collective/Individual Justice Dilemmas
In June 2019 the UK Parliament’s Women and Equalities Select Committee (‘WESC’) published a report on the use of non-disclosure agreements (‘NDAs’) in discrimination cases, focussing on settlement. This built...
Transgender Laws in Transition: European Courts on Non-Binary Gender Recognition
A decision of the Belgian Constitutional Court is the latest in a series of judgments in Europe deciding essentially the same question: should non-binary gender identities be recognized by (non-binary)...
The ILO adopts Convention concerning violence and harassment at work
Sexual harassment, an expression of violence against women (VAW), received remarkable media attention with the #MeToo Movement. It was a reminder of the law’s poor track record in curbing workplace...
The declaration of rape as an emergency in Sierra Leone needs to address legal ambiguities in order to combat the scourge of rape and gender-based violence
In February 2019, President Bio of Sierra Leone declared a state of emergency to combat rape and sexual violence. However, if the declaration is to have full effect, ambiguities and...
Marriage of the Girl Child in Iran
In February 2019, the news of an 11-year-old girl being married to a man who was almost 50 years old, caused severe criticism of the Iranian Civil Code, which allows...
Workers of the Fireworks Factory of Santo Antônio de Jesus and their family members vs. Brazil and why we need to talk about socioeconomic gender inequality
In 1998, there was an explosion at an irregular, high-risk fireworks factory in the city of Santo Antônio de Jesus, Brazil, which led to 64 deaths and left six people...
Sexual Violence in Conflict 2019: Insights from Sudan and Algeria
The 19th of June is celebrated as the UN International Day for the Elimination of Sexual Violence in Conflict. In this context, Security Council Resolution 1820, in 2008, recognized sexual...
López Soto v Venezuela: The Inter-American Court of Human Rights’ answer to violence against women
The Inter-American Court of Human Rights’ (IACtHR) feminist answer to torture and sexual enslavement in its September 2018 López Soto v Venezuela judgment is unprecedented. López Soto is the first...
The entry of women into the legal profession under British colonial rule
This year sees the centenary of the abolition of the legal barriers to women’s entry into the legal profession in the United Kingdom. The Sex Disqualification (Removal) Act 1919 (UK),...
