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Law and Gender

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Brooklyn Law School

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Full-Text Articles in Law

My Body, Whose Choice? A Case For A Fundamental Right To Bodily Autonomy, Miri Trauner Mar 2024

My Body, Whose Choice? A Case For A Fundamental Right To Bodily Autonomy, Miri Trauner

Brooklyn Law Review

In 2022, the US Supreme Court decided Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which overturned Roe v. Wade and the fundamental right to abortion it had established nearly fifty years prior. The Court’s decision threw into uncertainty the future of not only reproductive rights in this country, but also many other individual rights. At the same time as the decision, the world was still reeling from a global pandemic, and the development of COVID-19 vaccines had spurred widespread controversy over the constitutionality of vaccine mandates. Both advocates for abortion access and opponents to vaccine mandates shared a common cry: “my …


Freedom On Paper: Reforms To Women’S Rights In Saudi Arabia Will Not Be Effective Until Male Guardianship Is Abolished, Mackenzie Kramer Dec 2023

Freedom On Paper: Reforms To Women’S Rights In Saudi Arabia Will Not Be Effective Until Male Guardianship Is Abolished, Mackenzie Kramer

Brooklyn Journal of International Law

Male guardianship, a societal custom derived from Islamic law, renders women in Saudi Arabia second class citizens. The country’s preservation of male guardianship has broken its agreement to adhere to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), the leading international women’s rights treaty. Throughout the past decade the country’s Crown Prince, Mohammed bin Salman al Saud (“MbS”), has issued rulings that work to slowly dismantle the apparatus of male guardianship. These developments have been both meaningful and restrained; MbS attempts to tread lightly into human rights reforms to garner the support of western allies, …


The Gospel Of Federalism: How The Deification Of Political Ideology Impedes The United States’ Abortion Law Scheme, Nicole Jakobson Dec 2023

The Gospel Of Federalism: How The Deification Of Political Ideology Impedes The United States’ Abortion Law Scheme, Nicole Jakobson

Brooklyn Journal of International Law

In 2022, the United States Supreme Court decided Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which ended the federal abortion protection established under Roe v. Wade. The Court reasoned that abortion restriction is properly regulated by state governments, and thus a federal abortion law scheme is unconstitutional. In substance, the Court was safeguarding the enduring political and legal principle of federalism. This Note draws a comparison between the United States’ treatment of federalism and foreign jurisdictions’ treatment of religion within the context of abortion. This Note argues that the United States’ preoccupation with federalism is analogous to appeals to religion in …


African Courts And International Human Rights Law, John Mukum Mbaku Aug 2023

African Courts And International Human Rights Law, John Mukum Mbaku

Brooklyn Journal of International Law

The UN General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948 and since then, the international community, with the help of the United Nations, has adopted other international human rights instruments designed to recognize and protect human rights. Since international human rights instruments do not automatically confer rights that are justiciable in domestic courts, each African country must domesticate these instruments in order to create rights that are justiciable in its domestic courts. Given the fact that many African countries have not yet domesticated the core international human rights instruments, international human rights law’s ability to positively impact …


A Not-So Turkish Delight: The Implications Of Turkey’S Unprecedented Withdrawal From A Groundbreaking Women’S Rights Treaty And The Need For International Reform, Allyssa Myers Aug 2023

A Not-So Turkish Delight: The Implications Of Turkey’S Unprecedented Withdrawal From A Groundbreaking Women’S Rights Treaty And The Need For International Reform, Allyssa Myers

Brooklyn Journal of International Law

Domestic violence against women is one of the most pervasive and pressing international issues of our time. There have been multiple international human rights treaties enacted to address this issue and move to end gender-based violence—the Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combatting Violence Against Women and Domestic Violence (Istanbul Convention) being one. Created in 2011, the Istanbul Convention sought to provide an international legal framework for how states should work toward eradicating gender-based violence. Turkey, the first country to sign and to subsequently ratify the Istanbul Convention, unprecedently withdrew from the Convention in 2021. Turkish President Recep Tayyip …


Social Media Vigilantism, Joanne Sweeny May 2023

Social Media Vigilantism, Joanne Sweeny

Brooklyn Law Review

One of the most well-reported consequences of the #MeToo movement is the ramifications it has had for powerful men accused of engaging in sexual assault or harassment. As part of telling their stories, women (and some men) named their abusers, leading, in some cases, to their alleged abusers suffering legal repercussions. But, much more commonly, legal repercussions never follow, often due to the expiration of the statute of limitations for the crimes committed by the abuser. Instead, social or employment consequences were the only negative impact felt by these abusers. Still, the backlash against #MeToo includes the complaint that these …


The Pro Se Gender Gap, Roger Michalski Feb 2023

The Pro Se Gender Gap, Roger Michalski

Brooklyn Law Review

This article is the first to identify, name, and empirically measure the pro se gender gap. Drawing on a massive dataset of all federal civil dockets spanning ten years, it finds a 2-to-1 gender imbalance. For every federal woman pro se litigant there are two males. This finding is robust and stable. It holds true for plaintiffs, defendants, and other parties. It is also true across most subject areas, time, length of litigation, and across states, districts, and circuits. The study excludes prisoner-rights and habeas petitions–including them would widen the gender gap even further. This gender gap reveals a troubling …


Different Countries, Same Homophobia And Transphobia: A Cross-Cultural Survey Of So-Called Conversion Therapy Practices And The Move Toward Legislative Protections For The United States Lgbtq+ Community, Samantha J. Past Dec 2022

Different Countries, Same Homophobia And Transphobia: A Cross-Cultural Survey Of So-Called Conversion Therapy Practices And The Move Toward Legislative Protections For The United States Lgbtq+ Community, Samantha J. Past

Brooklyn Journal of International Law

So-called “conversion therapy” consists of dangerous practices that inflict detrimental, long-lasting effects on its victims. As a form of sexual orientation or gender identity or gender expression change efforts, conversion therapy is fostered by global homophobia and transphobia. Despite formal public rejection and scientific discreditation, conversion therapy providers across the world continue to target LGBTQ+ individuals, predominately under the guise of offering health care services or obeying religious practices. The following piece compares conversion therapy in three countries with recently introduced LGBTQ+ legislation––(1) Ghana; (2) Canada; and (3) the United States (U.S.)–––in order to identify factors furthering conversion therapy and …


Gender Pay Disparity, The Covid-19 Pandemic, And The Need For Reform, Amy H. Soled Apr 2022

Gender Pay Disparity, The Covid-19 Pandemic, And The Need For Reform, Amy H. Soled

Brooklyn Law Review

The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed and deepened systemic inequities in the United States. One such inequity is gender discrimination in the labor market, evidenced by pay disparity—the difference between women’s and men’s wages. During the pandemic, women left the workforce at double the rate of men. This employment disruption will negatively affect women’s wages upon their return, as well as their lifetime earnings, further widening the pay gap. Pay disparity exploits more than half of the population, decreases gross national product, and stymies economic growth. This article addresses the reasons why existing legislation has failed to close the pay gap. …


Two Types Of Empirical Textualism, Kevin Tobia, John Mikhail Sep 2021

Two Types Of Empirical Textualism, Kevin Tobia, John Mikhail

Brooklyn Law Review

Modern textualist and originalist theories increasingly center interpretation around the “ordinary” or “public” meaning of legal texts. This approach is premised on the promotion of values like publicity, fair notice, and democratic legitimacy. As such, ordinary meaning is typically understood as a question about how members of the general public understand the text—an empirical question with an objective answer. This essay explores the role of empirical methods, particularly experimental survey methods, in these ordinary meaning inquiries. The essay expresses optimism about new insight that empirical methods can bring, but it also cautions against the view that these methods will deliver …


Shifting Antitrust Laws And Regulations In The Wake Of Hospital Mergers: Taking The Focus Off Of Elective Markets And Centering Health Care, Maya Inka Ureño-Dembar Sep 2021

Shifting Antitrust Laws And Regulations In The Wake Of Hospital Mergers: Taking The Focus Off Of Elective Markets And Centering Health Care, Maya Inka Ureño-Dembar

Brooklyn Law Review

Access to health care requires access to a care center and access to comprehensive health care services. Rampant hospital mergers are uniquely poised to reduce both the number of hospitals, requiring patients to travel further, and the services provided within a newly merged hospital, namely reproductive health services. This phenomenon is clearly seen through the merging of secular and nonsecular hospitals, which often result in patients being forced to travel much further for reproductive health care. In the United States’ current model, health care is not a right, but is treated as a commodity. As such, it is governed by …


Not All Violence In Relationships Is "Domestic Violence", Tamara Kuennen Dec 2020

Not All Violence In Relationships Is "Domestic Violence", Tamara Kuennen

Brooklyn Law Review

This article argues that not all violence in intimate relationships is “domestic violence.” Domestic violence is a pattern of acts perpetrated with a motive: power and control over another. National anti-domestic violence organizations, activists and advocates, and a number of academics agree on this construct of domestic violence. Law, on the other hand, requires neither a pattern nor a motive; it defines domestic violence to include any single act of violence in a relationship, regardless of the perpetrator’s intent. Because legal intervention is the primary intervention for domestic violence today, feminist legal scholars have sought to reform the law to …


Decriminalizing Prostitution: Embracing The Swedish Model By Removing The Mistake-Of-Age Defense From New York’S Stop Violence In The Sex Trade Act, Carley Cooke Dec 2020

Decriminalizing Prostitution: Embracing The Swedish Model By Removing The Mistake-Of-Age Defense From New York’S Stop Violence In The Sex Trade Act, Carley Cooke

Journal of Law and Policy

In recent years, New York has re-focused on the widely debated topic of how to best manage and regulate prostitution in the United States. As a state-level issue, the debate presents an invaluable opportunity to re-examine how New York as a society views sex work. The answer in New York focuses on the idea that sex work is real work, where workers should be able to carry out their profession without stigma or fear of arrest. As it stands, the proposed reform largely focuses on decriminalizing both the purchase and sale of sex. This approach contrasts with the legal structure …


When Women’S Silence Is Reasonable: Reforming The Faragher/Ellerth Defense In The #Metoo Era, Elizabeth C. Potter Apr 2020

When Women’S Silence Is Reasonable: Reforming The Faragher/Ellerth Defense In The #Metoo Era, Elizabeth C. Potter

Brooklyn Law Review

The incredible force of the #MeToo movement has created momentum for long-overdue reform of workplace sexual harassment laws. One problematic element of the sexual harassment scheme is the Faragher/Ellerth defense, a defense to a claim of hostile work environment under Title VII. The Faragher/Ellerth defense allows an employer to escape liability for actionable sexual harassment if it can show that it had a policy against harassment with a procedure for making complaints, but the victim of harassment did not complain using that procedure. But the vast majority of victims of sexual harassment never make a formal complaint to their employer …


Looking To The United Kingdom To Overhaul New York State’S Paid Family Leave Law And Close The Global Gender Gap, John Pietruszka Dec 2019

Looking To The United Kingdom To Overhaul New York State’S Paid Family Leave Law And Close The Global Gender Gap, John Pietruszka

Brooklyn Journal of International Law

The World Economic Forum estimates that mitigating gender-based disparities in the area of economic participation could lead to substantial economic benefits for the global economy. However, the international system of sovereign states requires this effort be piecemeal, as each state must set priorities to achieve greater gender parity within its own economic, political, and cultural contexts. The United States, by virtue of being the largest economy in the world by nominal GDP, undoubtedly has one of the largest roles to play in the effort to mitigate this global problem. Nonetheless, it lags behind other nation-states in several key areas that …


Roots Of Revolution: The African National Congress And Gay Liberation In South Africa, Joseph S. Jackson Jul 2019

Roots Of Revolution: The African National Congress And Gay Liberation In South Africa, Joseph S. Jackson

Brooklyn Journal of International Law

South Africa’s post-apartheid constitutions were the first in the world to contain an explicit prohibition of discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation, and that prohibition established the foundation for marriage equality and broad judicial and legislative protection of gay rights in South Africa. The source of this gay rights clause in the South African Constitution can be found in the African National Congress’s decision to include such a clause in the ANC’s A Bill of Rights for a New South Africa, published when the apartheid government of South Africa was still in power. This article traces the story of that …


Got Mylk?: The Disruptive Possibilities Of Plant Milk, Iselin Gambert May 2019

Got Mylk?: The Disruptive Possibilities Of Plant Milk, Iselin Gambert

Brooklyn Law Review

Milk is one of the most ubiquitous and heavily regulated substances on the planet—and perhaps one of the most contested. It is tied closely to notions of purity, health, and femininity, and is seen as so central to human civilization that our own galaxy—the Milky Way—is named after it. But despite its wholesome reputation, milk has long had a sinister side, being bound up with the exploitation of the (human and nonhuman) bodies it comes from and being a symbol of and tool for white dominance and superiority. The word itself, in verb form, means “to exploit.” It is also …


The Modern-Day Scarlet Letter: Erasing The Scar Of Non-Consensual Pornography Through Affirmative Consent, Jennifer Esposito Oct 2018

The Modern-Day Scarlet Letter: Erasing The Scar Of Non-Consensual Pornography Through Affirmative Consent, Jennifer Esposito

Journal of Law and Policy

Most have heard the phrase “revenge pornography” via the various websites that have infiltrated the internet for the sole purpose of posting this type of content. Not only do these websites display photos and videos of the victim in their most intimate moments, but they also often include names, addresses, phone numbers, and other identifying information. While many people know what revenge pornography is, they are completely unaware of the devastating impact that revenge pornography has on victims, the majority of which are women. As a result of revenge pornography, victims often suffer from mental illnesses (depression, anxiety, suicidal ideation, …


Dads Are Parents, Too: Why Amending The Pregnancy Discrimination Act Is Necessary For Courts To Determine If A Parental Leave Policy Violates Title Vii, Krista Gay Oct 2018

Dads Are Parents, Too: Why Amending The Pregnancy Discrimination Act Is Necessary For Courts To Determine If A Parental Leave Policy Violates Title Vii, Krista Gay

Brooklyn Journal of Corporate, Financial & Commercial Law

To attract millennials desiring a work-life balance, large companies have begun to offer new parent leave to both male and female employees and commonly offer longer leave to women than men. Although a company may offer pregnancy disability leave to women without offering similar leave to men, if the company classifies the leave as parental bonding leave, it must be offered equally. If it is not, as highlighted by recent lawsuits against JP Morgan and Estée Lauder, a Title VII claim can arise. Historically, courts have had difficulty deciding if such a policy does in fact violate Title VII, because …


Prosecuting U.N. Peacekeepers For Sexual And Gender-Based Violence In The Central African Republic, Sophia Genovese Jun 2018

Prosecuting U.N. Peacekeepers For Sexual And Gender-Based Violence In The Central African Republic, Sophia Genovese

Brooklyn Journal of International Law

Women and children living in armed conflict are amongst the most vulnerable populations at-risk of sexual and gender-based violence. When U.N. peacekeepers arrive to help dispel conflict; these populations believe that the soldiers in blue helmets will protect them. Instead; hundreds of women and children in the Central African Republic have reported being raped and sexually violated by U.N. peacekeepers. Despite compelling evidence to validate these claims; U.N. peacekeepers who commit these crimes are seldom held accountable. This Note discusses how to hold U.N. peacekeepers accountable for their human rights violations. This Note argues that troop-contributing countries should retain responsibility …


Cruel & Unusual Pathways To Crime: A Call For Gender- And Trauma-Informed Correctional Care, Emily Frances Musson May 2018

Cruel & Unusual Pathways To Crime: A Call For Gender- And Trauma-Informed Correctional Care, Emily Frances Musson

Journal of Law and Policy

Many female inmates have suffered trauma by way of interpersonal violence, which often precipitates mental health issues as well as criminal behavior later in life. Eighth Amendment jurisprudence dictates that they are entitled to adequate mental health treatment while incarcerated. Despite an influx of female inmates and the number of those requiring treatment, mental health programs in penal institutions have been designed to serve the needs of incarcerated men. Meanwhile, psychosocial scholarship has determined that mental health treatment needs to be informed by offenders’ common experiences as women and victims of gender-based violence (gender-responsive), as well as survivors of trauma …


The Ecoa And Disparate Impact Theory: A Historical Perspective, Winnie F. Taylor May 2018

The Ecoa And Disparate Impact Theory: A Historical Perspective, Winnie F. Taylor

Journal of Law and Policy

The Equal Credit Opportunity Act (“ECOA”) prohibits credit discrimination because of sex, marital status, race, age, and other personal attributes. Congress enacted the ECOA in 1974 to eliminate unfair lending practices that inhibit equality in the credit industry. Recently, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB” or “Bureau”) sued several automobile financiers and alleged ECOA violations in the various complaints; the resulting settlements became controversial when critics questioned the CFPB’s use of an evidentiary standard known as “disparate impact” to support its discrimination claims. While plaintiffs may use disparate impact theory to prove unintentional discrimination, they may also use another analytical …


Domestic Violence Law, Abusers’ Intent, And Social Media: How Transaction-Bound Statutes Are The True Threats To Prosecuting Perpetrators Of Gender-Based Violence, Megan L. Bumb Jan 2017

Domestic Violence Law, Abusers’ Intent, And Social Media: How Transaction-Bound Statutes Are The True Threats To Prosecuting Perpetrators Of Gender-Based Violence, Megan L. Bumb

Brooklyn Law Review

The rapid expansion of social media has brought with it a new platform for perpetrators of domestic violence to assert power and control over their victims. The statutes presently used to prosecute abusers fail to protect victims from social media threats and to punish abusers for making those threats. Using the Supreme Court’s 2015 decision in Elonis v. United States, this note proposes a straightforward solution to a multifaceted problem—how to better protect victims of domestic violence from social media threats while maintaining abusers’ First Amendment rights. The answer is not mere clarification of the true threat doctrine; it is …


The Conundrum Of Voluntary Intoxication And Sex, Michal Buchhandler-Raphael Jan 2017

The Conundrum Of Voluntary Intoxication And Sex, Michal Buchhandler-Raphael

Brooklyn Law Review

Research shows that a significant number of sexual assaults occur after victims have consumed an excessive amount of intoxicants, rendering them substantially impaired and incapable of opposing nonconsensual sexual acts. Existing sexual assault statutes mostly criminalize sexual acts with involuntarily intoxicated people, namely when the defendant administered the intoxicants to the victim. Most of these statutes, however, do not directly prohibit sexual intercourse with voluntarily intoxicated victims whose intoxication was self-inflicted. While general prohibitions against sexual intercourse with physically and mentally incapacitated individuals may be used to prosecute sexual assaults of intoxicated victims, they offer only an incomplete solution to …


The Community Politics Of Domestic Violence, Deborah M. Weissman Jan 2017

The Community Politics Of Domestic Violence, Deborah M. Weissman

Brooklyn Law Review

Gender violence has long been identified as a crisis of epidemic proportions that defies facile solution. Despite decades of intellectual and practical engagement, law reform, and notwithstanding increased social services and public health interventions, the rates of gender violence have not appreciably declined. The field of domestic violence advocacy is itself in a crisis, and it has been difficult to discern the best way forward. Reliance on the criminal justice system has tended to fracture the domestic violence movement even as it marginalized itself from disenfranchised populations. This article offers a case study of an incident that occurred between the …


Theorizing The Immigrant Child: The Case Of Married Minors, Medha D. Makhlouf Jan 2017

Theorizing The Immigrant Child: The Case Of Married Minors, Medha D. Makhlouf

Brooklyn Law Review

U.S. immigration laws provide special protections, benefits, and forms of relief for children. They also provide certain marriage-based benefits and exclusions. However, the most common definitions of “child” in the Immigration and Nationality Act make the existence of a married child into a legal impossibility. In other words, married children are variously treated as either married adults or unmarried children. This article analyzes the treatment of married minors in the immigration system in three contexts: as beneficiaries of spousal petitions; as petitioners for spouses, parents, and siblings; and as beneficiaries of parent-sponsored petitions. The analysis reveals that married minors are …


Deported By Marriage: Americans Forced To Choose Between Love And Country, Beth Caldwell Dec 2016

Deported By Marriage: Americans Forced To Choose Between Love And Country, Beth Caldwell

Brooklyn Law Review

As the fiftieth anniversary of Loving v. Virginia approaches, de jure prohibitions against interracial marriages are history. However, marriages between people of different national origins continue to be undermined by the law. The Constitution does not protect the marital rights of citizens who marry noncitizens in the same way that it protects all other marriages. Courts have consistently held that a spouse’s deportation does not implicate the rights of American citizens, and the Constitution has long been held inapplicable in protecting the substantive due process rights of noncitizens facing deportation. Given the spike in deportations over the past decade, hundreds …


Reflections On Opportunity In Life And Law, Judith S. Kaye Jan 2016

Reflections On Opportunity In Life And Law, Judith S. Kaye

Brooklyn Law Review

This essay was written by Judge Kaye in the fall of 2015 for the Brooklyn Law Review. She reflects on her life, her time on the bench, and the significance of New York’s Constitutional Convention. Through the lens of dual constitutionalism and her own life story, Judge Kaye opines on the opportunities in life and law that are not to be missed.


A Tribute To Judge Kaye, Nicholas W. Allard Jan 2016

A Tribute To Judge Kaye, Nicholas W. Allard

Brooklyn Law Review

This collection of remarks from scholars, practitioners, and judges serves as a tribute to the life of the beloved and esteemed Judge Kaye and her commitment to the New York State Constitution. The collection culminates with Judge Kaye’s final essay, written for the Brooklyn Law Review, with her reflections on opportunity in life and law and New York’s State Constitution.


From Baby M To Baby M(Anji): Regulating International Surrogacy Agreements, Yehezkel Margalit Jan 2016

From Baby M To Baby M(Anji): Regulating International Surrogacy Agreements, Yehezkel Margalit

Journal of Law and Policy

In 1985, when Kim Cotton became Britain’s first commercial surrogate mother, Europe was exposed to the issue of surrogacy for the first time on a large scale. Three years later, in 1988, the famous case of Baby M drew the attention of the American public to surrogacy as well. These two cases implicated fundamental ethical and legal issues regarding domestic surrogacy and triggered a fierce debate about motherhood, child-bearing, and the relationship between procreation, science, and commerce. These two cases exemplified the debate regarding domestic surrogacy—a debate that has now been raging for decades. A new ethical and legal debate …