Intersectionality and International Law: Recognizing Complex Identities on the Global Stage

As a legal theory, intersectionality seeks to create frameworks that consider the multiple identities that individuals possess, including race, gender, sexuality, age, and ability. When applied, intersectionality recognizes complexities in an individual's identity to an extent not possible usin...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Harvard human rights journal 2015-04, Vol.28 (1), p.205
Main Author: Davis, Aisha Nicole
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Criminal law
Ethnic identity
Ethnicity
Human rights violations
Humanitarian law
International courts
International law
Intersectionality
Jurisprudence
Minority groups
Race
Sexuality
Tribunals & commissions
Womens rights
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:As a legal theory, intersectionality seeks to create frameworks that consider the multiple identities that individuals possess, including race, gender, sexuality, age, and ability. When applied, intersectionality recognizes complexities in an individual's identity to an extent not possible using mechanisms that focus solely on one minority marker. This Note proposes incorporating intersectional consideration in the realm of international human rights law and international humanitarian law to better address the human rights violations that affect women whose identities fall within more than one minority group because of their ethnicity or race. The Note begins with an explanation of intersectionality, and then applies intersectionality to human rights mechanisms within the United Nations and to cases in international criminal tribunals and the International Criminal Court. As it stands, international human rights law, international criminal law, and international humanitarian law view women who are members of a racial or ethnic minority as variants on a given category. This Note contends that by applying a framework that further incorporates intersectionality -- that is, both in discourse and action -- in international human rights law, international humanitarian law, and international criminal law, these women's identities will be more fully recognized, opening up the possibility for more representative women's rights discourse, and remedies for human rights abuses that better address the scope and nature of the violations.
ISSN:1057-5057
1943-5088