Australia is often cited as an economic success story. Decades of growth fuelled by the resources and agricultural industries enabled it to navigate the global financial crisis virtually unscathed. Indeed,...
United Nations Human Rights Council: Commission of Inquiry into Human Rights Abuses in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea
On 26 March 2014 the United Nations Human Rights Council (“HRC”) passed a Resolution ‘condemning in the strongest terms’ the continuing violation of human rights and calling for the referral...
Cheshire West and the Repugnant Conclusion
The Supreme Court’s judgment(s) in Cheshire West [2014] UKSC 19 stirred up the expected storm. By siding with the approach urged upon it by the Official Solicitor, the Court has...
What Has the European Union Ever Done for Women?
As the 2014 European elections are approaching this is an appropriate time to pause and reflect on what the European Union has ever done for women. The EU was established...
Omnipresent in the EU: Violence Against Women
The results of the world’s largest survey on women’s experiences of psychological, physical and sexual violence have shown that violence against women is a problem which exists at home, at...
Women at work – positive obligations for positive results
The most significant change in recent decades influencing the position of women at work is the transformation of state-managed capitalism into a globally marketised, privatised, deregulated system. This is accompanied...
Inspiring Change Through Law for International Women’s Day
March 8th is International Women’s Day, formally observed by the United Nations in recognition of the fact that ‘securing peace and social progress and the full enjoyment of human rights...
The Women Empowerment and Gender Equality Bill: Can It Live Up to Its Name?
The Women Empowerment and Gender Equality Bill (WEGE) is currently before Parliament in South Africa. One of its main aims is to ‘give effect to the letter and spirit of...
Sexual Harassment in the Indian Legal Profession
Two big sexual harassment complaints have sent shock waves in India this month– one by a legal intern complaining of sexual harassment from a retired Supreme Court judge and another...
Lessons from the South African Constitutional Court: a duty of care for police in England and Wales?
Last month at the inquest of Rachael Slack, a 38 year-old woman stabbed to death by her ex-partner, the jury ruled that police failures had contributed ‘more than minimally’ towards...
Men and gender based violence: part of the problem, but also the solution?
Universities may well create the future leaders of our governments, economies, and communities—they are places of intellectual thought and social development. But does that square with what we know about...
UN Resolution on Women’s Involvement in Conflict-Prevention: a Move Towards Participative Equality for Women in Conflict Zones
Earlier this month, the UN Security Council unanimously adopted Resolution 2122, designed to highlight the importance of women’s involvement in conflict prevention, resolution and peace-building. The adoption of this Resolution...