Women International Law Part 5

Kelly D. Askin and Dorean M. Koenig (eds.), Women and International Human Rights Law (Transnational Publishers, Ardsley, NY). Volume 1: Introduction to Women’s Human Rights Issues, 1999, xxv + 727 pp., $115.00 ISBN 1-57105-064-7 (h-b); Volume 2: International Courts, Instruments, and Organizations and Select Regional Issues Affecting Women, 2000, xxi + 719 pp., $115.00 ISBN 1-57105-092-2 (h-b); Volume3: Toward Empowerment, 2001, xxiii + 981 pp.,$115.00 ISBN 1-57105-093-0 (h-b)
Thérése Murphy
Human Rights Law Review
Volume 2, Number 1, Spring 2002 p.167-177

Briefer Notices: Askin, Kelly D., and Dorean M. Koenig (eds.). Women and International Human Rights Law (Vol. 3) (Dorinda G. Dallmeyer), 1001; Scott, Craig (ed.). Torture as Tort (Detlev F. Vagts),
American Journal of International Law
Volume 95, Number 4, October 2001 p.1002

Women, War, and International Law: The Historical Treatment of Gender-Based War Crimes
Jocelyn Campanaro
Georgetown Law Journal
Volume 89, Number 8, August 2001 p.2557

A Cultural Rite of Passage or a Form of Torture: Female Genital Mutilation from an International Law Perspective
Alexi Nicole Wood
Hastings Women’s Law Journal
Volume 12, Number 2, Summer 2001 p.347

Female genital mutilation (FGM) has been performed on approximately 135 million girls and women worldwide. It is estimated that two million girls and women undergo FGM each year- approximately 6,000 a day. Often the procedure is performed clandestinely by local, unskilled practitioners in unsafe conditions. As many as fifteen to thirty percent of all girls and women who undergo FGM die as a result of bleeding or infection. In addition to short-term complications such as extreme pain, shock and hemorrhaging, FGM can cause severe long-term complications that can include sterility due to infection, complications during childbirth, as well as extreme pain and difficulty during urination, menstruation and sexual intercourse. Countries where FGM is performed tend to be highly patriarchal and women are often viewed as socially inferior to men. Women’s lives are tightly controlled, and control of women’s sexuality is often cited as a reason for why FGM is performed. FGM must be seen as a part of a larger system of discrimination, domination and control of women. FGM violates many international laws, covenants and declarations. There are, however, certain problems inherent in using international law to address a problem that has traditionally been seen as a private matter. Furthermore, it is important for Western women’s rights groups not to impose their own sets of values on African women. International and African women’s rights groups should look to various international laws and conventions as a way to combat this form of torture and sexual subordination of women.

REMEMBERING CHRYSTAL MACMILLAN: WOMEN’S EQUALITY AND NATIONALITY IN INTERNATIONAL LAW
Karen Knop and Christine Chinkin
Michigan Journal of International Law
Volume 22, Number 4, Summer 2001 p.523

RYOUSAI KENBO REVISITED: THE FUTURE OF GENDER EQUALITY IN JAPAN AFTER THE 1997 EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY LAW
Robert Larsen
Hastings International and Comparative Law Review
Volume 24, Number 2, Winter 2001 p.189

In 1985 amid international and domestic pressure, Japan enacted the Equal Employment Opportunity Law (EEOL). Many viewed it as an era of change, one that would see Japanese women rise to equality with male co-workers. However, equal employment never materialized. Historical context and the experience of the 1985 EEOL provide insights into the future of gender equality in Japan. This Note provides a brief description of the Japanese corporate world and a historical context of women in Japanese society. It identifies pressures, both domestic and international, that Japan faced prior to 1985 that led up to the EEOL. The 1985 EEOL and its subsequent revisions are discussed, and future prospects for gender equality in Japan are examined.

WHAT IS TO BE DONE?
Kate Millett
Chicago-Kent Law Review
Volume 75, Number 3, 2000 p.659

Since its existence, the feminist movement has fought for equal rights for women, and, in so doing, it has challenged the oldest and most fundamental social scheme in history – patriarchy. Patriarchy is the rule of males over females in all departments of human life, and it is based on custom, belief, law, and ultimately on force. Although the American feminist movement made significant progress in its early years, it has struggled in recent years to accomplish many of its goals. Millett notes that the American feminist movement now stands stalemated, on the defensive, and trying desperately to hold on to the gains it has made. Millett argues that the American feminist movement still can bring about the last days of patriarchy by aligning itself with the international feminist movement. There, feminists have brought about great change by ratifying documents such as the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women. This document, which is still unratified by the United States, is set up with mechanisms that allow nations to bring about sexual equality. Because it challenges patriarchy generally and the American right wing in particular, Millett argues, the Convention has been kept forcibly out of public discussion in the United States. Paradoxically, its obscurity testifies to its power.

Author: international