Gender and Law

1. other international organizations, have tried to tackle the problem of human trafficking. Present an argumentation from a gender perspective about the strengths and weaknesses of the measures taken and how the international community can improve its work.700words
2. Choose two feminist legal theories that you think have in the past and/or has the potential to further increase or secure women’s rights to actually participate in the public sphere (meaning for example having the right to, and exercising rights, such as voting, running for public office, expressing themselves etc.). Describe and discuss why you think that these feminist legal theories can achieve this, and what type of legal changes or areas these theories targets.700words
3. When discussing gendered violence and the law, certain aspects tend to come into focus. Can law function as a tool for social change, is legislation the answer, or should the application of the law (that is, that what happens in court) get more attention? I would like you to present a discussion, using relevant examples from the course material, on the pros and cons of using legislation when trying to combat gendered violence.700words

Reading materials for Question 1

• Coursebook: Feminist Legal Theory: A Primer (Second Edition), chapter 8 Feminist Legal Theory and Globalization.
• Jennifer K. Lobasz: Beyond Border Security: Feminist Approaches to Human Trafficking.

• Heather M. Smith: Sex Trafficking: Trends, Challenges, and the Limitations of International Law.

Reading materials for Question 2

• Course book: Feminist Legal Theory: A Primer (Second Edition), Chapter 1: Feminist Legal Theories (pp. 11–40)

• Anita Bernstein, Abuse and Harassment Diminish Free Speech, in Pace Law Review, Issue 1 Fall 2014, pp. 1–30.

Reading materials for Question 3

Reading materials

• Coursebook: Feminist Legal Theory: A Primer (Second Edition), Chapter 7: Sex and violence (pp. 191–220)

• Kate Fitz-Gibbon and Marion Vannier, Domestic violence and the gendered law of self-defence in France: The case of Jacqueline Sauvage, Fem Leg Stud, 2017,25, 313–335.
• GörelGranström, Challenging the heteronormativity of law, in Davies, Margaret, Gunnarsson, Åsa and Svensson, Eva-Maria (eds), Exploiting the limits of law. Swedish feminism and the challenge to pessimism, Aldershot: Ashgate, 2007, 127–140.
• Mala Htun and Jensenius, Francesca, Fighting violence against women: Laws, norms & challenges ahead, Daedalus (Cambridge, Mass.), 2020, 149(1), 144–159.
• Hanna Mason-Bish and Marion Duggan, ‘Some men deeply hate women, and express that hatred freely’: Examining victim’s experiences and perceptions of gendered hate crime, International Review of Victimology, 2020, Vol. 26 (1) 112–134.

N.B: You can add other references besides this above but try to focus on the readings materials I provide for each question.