Work

Contested Subjects of Human Rights: Trans‐ and Gender‐variant Subjects of International Human Rights Law

Year: 2021

Type: article

Abstract: Gendered identities and gender variance have become a regular subject of the discourse of the United Nations human rights protection mechanisms. This article explores the manner in which gender identities are discussed, constructed, and regulated by the international human rights law system. Through use of postcolonial and feminist theoretical lenses, it argues that the emergence of multiple gendered identities into the legal mainstream has required the United Nations human rights bodies to expand their concepts of gender and to develop a new vocabulary and jurisprudence of gender variance. The article examines the language used in the construction of gendered subjects and its relationship to dynamics of state and postcolonial power. It also introduces the concept of the ‘cisgender matrix’ to international human rights law, expressing the hierarchical social privilege given to binary, stable gendered identities over gender‐variant ones.

Source: Modern Law Review

DOI: 10.1111/1468-2230.12633

Author: Sandra Duffy

Institution: University of Bristol

Language: English

Topic: International Law and Human Rights

Subfield: Political Science and International Relations

Field: Social Sciences

Domain: Social Sciences

SDGs: Peace, justice, and strong institutions, Gender equality, Reduced inequalities

Open Access status: hybrid

Estimated APC paid: $3,000