Gender and Human Rights (LAWS90124)
Graduate courseworkPoints: 12.5On Campus (Parkville)
About this subject
Contact information
April
Teaching staff:
Catherine O'Rourke (Coordinator)
For current student enquiries, contact the Law School Academic Support Office
Overview
| Availability(Quotas apply) | April |
|---|---|
| Fees | Look up fees |
This subject focuses on the reimagination of human rights from a gender and women’s rights perspective. The traditional human rights canon has been challenged in important ways by its deficiencies in the protection of the rights of women and sexual and gender minorities.
The primary focus on violations by state actors was shown to obscure and make invisible violations against women in the private sphere of family and home, in particular gender-based violence. The partial and contingent protection of sexual and reproductive rights under international human rights law has revealed persistent gendered limitations. Meanwhile, the adherence to date of international human rights law to the male/female binary has proven exclusionary to the promotion and protection of the rights of sexual and gender minorities.
This subject considers these critiques and examines their explanatory force. It considers ways in which the international human rights system has responded to critiques and demands of feminist, gender and queer scholars and activists. The subject will focus, first, on the international system for the protection of women’s rights, in terms both of ‘mainstream’ guarantees of non-discrimination and the specialised system for the protection of women’s rights, most notably CEDAW. Second, the subject will focus on certain emblematic violations of women’s and gender rights (gender-based violence, reproductive rights and the rights of sexual and gender minorities) and critically examine developments in the recognition and redress of such violations under international human rights law. Third, the subject will consider the relationship between the formal mechanisms of the human rights system and the mobilisation of human rights ideas and values by social movements and non-governmental organisation. It will consider the role and value of international human rights norms in underpinning diverse social movements working in alliance for the improved protection of women’s and gender rights.
Indicative list of principal topics:
- An overview of the protection of women’s rights and rights of sexual orientation and gender identity under the so-called ‘mainstream’ system for the protection of human rights
- A discussion of feminist, queer and postcolonial critiques of the international human rights system
- Analysis of specialised treaties and instruments responding to these critiques, most notably CEDAW (the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women)
- Critical reflection on the particular role of the CEDAW Committee in monitoring and interpreting women’s and gender rights under international human rights law
- Analysis of developments for the enhanced protection of the rights of women to live free from violence, including the debate about the need for a new dedicated human rights treaty for the prevention of violence against women
- An examination of developments across the mainstream and specialised human rights systems for the protection of reproductive and sexual rights
- An understanding of the limited progress made to date under international human rights law for the protection and promotion of rights of sexual and gender minorities
- A review of sustained critiques of the human rights regime by scholars such as Ratna Kapur, Dianne Otto, Christine Chinkin and Hilary Charlesworth
- Examination of human rights in practice, focusing on the way these ideas are mobilised by women’s movements, queer activists and human rights advocates to deal with local issues such as gender violence, reproductive rights and discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity.
Intended learning outcomes
A student who has successfully completed this subject will:
- Have a sophisticated appreciation of the challenges that the international human rights regime faces in the protection of women's rights and the rights of sexual and gender minorities.
- Be equipped to engage in a probing and constructive manner with the key criticisms and the challenges that they represent
- Understand how to make effective use of some of the principal international treaty regimes in the human rights field, in particular CEDAW
- Be able to apply international norms and obligations concerning women's and gender rights to domestic laws and contexts
- Have an understanding of human rights as a mobilising framework for women's movements and queer activists
- Understand how human rights laws work in practice
- Evaluate in context new developments in the protection of women's and gender rights across diverse issues under international human rights law, including gender-based violence, reproductive rights and the rights of sexual and gender minorities
Last updated: 4 March 2025
Eligibility and requirements
Prerequisites
Admission into a relevant Melbourne Law Masters program
Corequisites
None
Non-allowed subjects
| Code | Name | Teaching period | Credit Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| LAWS70118 | Women, War and Peacebuilding | No longer available |
Recommended background knowledge
Background in international law or international relations is recommended.
Applicants without legal qualifications should note that subjects are taught at an advanced graduate level and requires a thorough background in common law. While efforts are made to meet the needs of students trained in other fields, teaching and assessment activities are designed to give an advanced and integrated understanding of the discipline of law for legal practitioners, learners and researchers.
Inherent requirements (core participation requirements)
The University of Melbourne is committed to providing students with reasonable adjustments to assessment and participation under the Disability Standards for Education (2005), and the Assessment and Results Policy (MPF1326). Students are expected to meet the core participation requirements for their course. These can be viewed under Entry and Participation Requirements for the course outlines in the Handbook.
Further details on how to seek academic adjustments can be found on the Student Equity and Disability Support website: http://services.unimelb.edu.au/student-equity/home
Last updated: 4 March 2025
Assessment
| Description | Timing | Percentage |
|---|---|---|
Class participation | Throughout the teaching period | 10% |
Take-home exam
| 27 - 30 June 2025 | 90% |
| Hurdle requirement: A minimum of 75% attendance is required. | Throughout the teaching period | N/A |
Last updated: 4 March 2025
Quotas apply to this subject
Dates & times
- April
Principal coordinator Catherine O'Rourke Mode of delivery On Campus (Parkville) Contact hours 34 Total time commitment 150 hours Pre teaching start date 2 April 2025 Pre teaching requirements Please refer to the Reading Guide on the LMS subject page for confirmation of which resources need to be read and what other preparation is required before the teaching period commences. Teaching period 30 April 2025 to 6 May 2025 Last self-enrol date 7 April 2025 Census date 2 May 2025 Last date to withdraw without fail 13 June 2025 Assessment period ends 18 July 2025 April contact information
Teaching staff:
Catherine O'Rourke (Coordinator)
For current student enquiries, contact the Law School Academic Support Office
What do these dates mean
Visit this webpage to find out about these key dates, including how they impact on:
- Your tuition fees, academic transcript and statements.
- And for Commonwealth Supported students, your:
- Student Learning Entitlement. This applies to all students enrolled in a Commonwealth Supported Place (CSP).
Subjects withdrawn after the census date (including up to the ‘last day to withdraw without fail’) count toward the Student Learning Entitlement.
Additional delivery details
Please refer to the Melbourne Law Masters enrolment webpage for further information about re-enrolment, subject quotas and waitlists.
Melbourne Law School may reserve places in a subject for incoming international cohorts or where a subject is core to a specialisation with limited alternate options.
Last updated: 4 March 2025
Further information
- Texts
- Related Handbook entries
This subject contributes to the following:
Type Name Course Master of Human Rights Law Course Graduate Diploma in Human Rights Law Course Master of Laws Course Graduate Diploma in International Law Course Graduate Diploma in Laws Course Master of Public and International Law Course Master of Law and Development Course Juris Doctor - Links to additional information
- Available through the Community Access Program
About the Community Access Program (CAP)
This subject is available through the Community Access Program (also called Single Subject Studies) which allows you to enrol in single subjects offered by the University of Melbourne, without the commitment required to complete a whole degree.
Please note Single Subject Studies via Community Access Program is not available to student visa holders or applicants
Entry requirements including prerequisites may apply. Please refer to the CAP applications page for further information.
Additional information for this subject
If subject coordinator approval is required, or for further information about Community Access Program study, please contact us
- Available to Study Abroad and/or Study Exchange Students
Last updated: 4 March 2025