Women's Rights Protection: a Pathway to International and European Mechanisms Against Discrimination
This course takes you on a journey through the International systems that protect Women’s rights and combat discrimination. You’ll discover the historical milestones that paved the way for equality, learn how international organizations and courts work to safeguard Human Rights and fight discrimination, and analyze the gender and LGBTIQ+ policies in a global scale.
Through case studies, debates, and hands-on projects, we will learn about Human Rights, gender justice, and social justice, as well as global current challenges such as climate change and digital technologies.
Course objectives:
- Understand the fundamental legal concepts related to equality, discrimination, and intersectionality.
- Analyze the international legal systems for the protection of Human Rights, including specific frameworks for Women’s rights and LGBTIQ+ rights.
- Identify and examine the roles of international organizations and European institutions in developing gender and equality policies and safeguarding Human Rights, as well as the historical evolution of Women’s rights and related public policies.
- Understand and interpret European and international instruments for the protection of Women’s rights.
- Explore the practice and jurisprudence of international courts and monitoring bodies concerning Women’s rights and LGBTIQ+ rights.
- Develop a critical perspective on gender-related policies and actions at the international level, recognizing both progress and setbacks in the advancement of Women’s rights and LGBTIQ+ rights.
Important Notice on Course Suitability and Activities:
Some Summer School courses are designed for students with prior academic background in a specific discipline and may be unsuitable for participants without that preparation.
In addition, certain courses include discipline-standard practical activities (for example, laboratory work with biological specimens, dissections, use of clinical or forensic material, field sampling, or other hands-on procedures) that may be unfamiliar or unsettling for some participants.
Students are responsible for reading the course descriptor carefully and ensuring (i) that they meet any stated academic expectations or prerequisites, and (ii) that they are comfortable participating in the methods and activities described.
If you are unsure about suitability, please contact the course lecturer(s) before enrolling.
| Week | Contents | Teaching / learning activities |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Fundamentals of International systems of protection of human rights. Fundamentals of equality and non-discrimination. History and evolution of women’s rights and its international protection. UN Instruments and mechanism of protection of human rights: women’s rights, persons with disabilities and protection against racism. |
Case study Debates Proposal of Positive Actions |
| 2 |
Regional Systems of protection of Women’s Rights
|
Case study Debates Proposal of Promotion Actions |
| 3 |
Gender Policies:
|
Case study Debates Proposal of Legislative Actions |
There are 3 assessment activities, one at the end of each week. The activities include:
- A case study to be presented and discussed in class. Both the presentation and participation in the discussion will be graded (25%)
- Debate competition (25%)
- A research short paper about a topic that affects equality and how it is regulated internationally. It will be presented in class (50% - 25% paper + 25% presentation)
Academic integrity notice: any form of plagiarism in work submitted for this course will be treated as a serious academic offence and may result in an automatic fail grade.
Bibliography:
Belavusau, Uladzislau, and Kristin Henrard. EU anti-discrimination law beyond gender , edited by Uladzislau Belavusau and Kristin Henrard. Primera edició. Oxford: Hart Publishing, 2019. Print.
Guth, Jessica. Gender and the Court of Justice of the European Union, Jessica Guth, Sanna Elfving. London; Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group, 2020. Print.
Hellum, Anne, and Henriette Sinding Aasen. Women's Human Rights: CEDAW in International, Regional and National Law. Vol. 3. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2013.
https://bibcercador.uab.cat/permalink/34CSUC_UAB/1c3utr0/cdi_proquest_ebookcentral_EBC1303706
Martín Sánchez, María. La Perspectiva de género en la protección internacional de los derechos humanos: diálogo multinivel y deconstrucción de estereotipos / María Martín Sánchez. 1a edición. Valencia: Tirant lo Blanch, 2020. Print. Disponible online :
Rivas Vañó,Alicia. LGBTI en Europa: la Construcción Jurídica de la Diversidad, Editorial: Tirant lo Blanch, 2019, ISBN: 9788491904809
https://biblioteca.tirant.com/cloudLibrary/ebook/show/9788491904809?showPage=0
Internet links.
CEDAW: http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/cedaw/
CES: http://www.unwomen.org/en/csw
UN Women: http://www.unwomen.org/es/
Universal Declaration of Human Rights: http://www.ohchr.org/EN/UDHR/Pages/UDHRIndex.aspx
EIGE - European Institute for Gender Equality: https://eige.europa.eu/es/in-brief
Council of Europe: https://www.coe.int/en/web/cm/home
European Commission : https://ec.europa.eu/info/policies/justice-and-fundamental-rights/gender-equality_en
European Pariment LGTBI Intergroup: https://lgbti-ep.eu/
FRA - European Agency for Fundamental Rights: https://fra.europa.eu/en/theme/gender
EUR-Lex - EU Legislation and Case Law Finder:
Dr. Lidia Ballesta Martí is a Lecturer in European Law and International Law the Autonomous University of Barcelona, since September 2016. Her main research areas are the Gender Equality, LGBTIQ+ Rights and non-Discrimination Law and EU Digital Strategy. She is part of the teaching staff of the degree in Socio-Cultural gender Studies at UAB. Currently, she coordinates a project of ipedagogical innovation on Gender Mainstreaming in Legal Srtudies. In 2024 she coordinated the project Transnational Dimensions of Equality, granted by the Spanish Ministry of Equality. She was awarded the first prize FJLUniversities 2024 by EuroBasque for her research "The importance of women's leadership in the institutions of the European Union".
- Department of Public Law and Legal History Studies
- E-mail: lidia.ballesta@uab.cat
Dr. Àlex Moreno Urpí is a lecturer in International and European Law at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Before this position, he was a postdoctoral researcher at Universitat Rovira I Virgili (URV) and visiting professor at Universitat de Girona. His research focuses on human trafficking and transnational organised crime, human rights, asylum and migration and environmental law and cross-border cooperation to protect biodiversity.
- Department of Public Law and Legal History Studies
- Email: alexandre.moreno@uab.cat