Law and Gender Commons^™

Brief Of Public Health And Health Law Scholars As Amici Curiae Urging Affirmance In Support Of Plaintiffs-Appellees, Rachel L. Zacharias, Zeinab Bakhet, Kevin Costello, Maya Manian

Amicus Briefs & Court Filings

INTRODUCTION: Physicians’ use of their judgment and expertise to prescribe drugs and devices for purposes other than those approved by the Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”)—colloquially known as off-label use—is an indispensable feature of modern medicine. The FDA approves drugs as “safe and effective for specific indications.” Christopher M. Wittich, Christopher M. Burkle & William L. Lanier, Ten Common Questions (and Their Answers) About OffLabel Drug Use, 87 Mayo Clinic Procs. 982, 982 (2012). Federal law then generally leaves prescribing decisions, including off-label use of FDA-approved drugs and devices for a patient’s particular indication, to physicians acting under state law …

Poverty & Period Products: Achieving Menstrual And Abortion Justice Through Public Benefit Programs, Allyson Crays

American University Journal of Gender, Social Policy & the Law

Low-income people need and deserve access to quality menstrual products through public benefit programs as a public health and reproductive justice issue. Whether someone is managing their monthly period, a medical abortion, or post-pregnancy discharge, menstrual products are essential to ensure that person’s safety and bodily

autonomy. Low-income people on public benefit programs who menstruate face a variety of stigmas and barriers, and these programs are in a unique position to increase access to menstrual products to work toward menstrual and abortion justice. This Article outlines the history of public benefit programs and the stigmas accompanying them. It also details …

T.H. V. The Czech Republic: A Step Forward Or Back For Lgbtq+ Rights And Discourse In Europe With The First Openly Non-Binary Applicant?, Katherine Olsson

Human Rights Brief

On December 9, 2025, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) issued a final judgment in the case of T.H. v. The Czech Republic.  The case concerned a non-binary individual, T.H., who was assigned male at birth and, since May 2012, had repeatedly petitioned to change their sex/gender marker and personal numerical code on their national identity card.  Because the Czech system does not provide for the option of a neutral gender marker, T.H. petitioned to have their registered gender changed to female.

Situating Stillbirth Within A Reproductive Justice Methodology Amidst Perilous Politics, Jamie Abrams

Book Reviews

Stillbirth and the Law, published in 2025 by the University of California Press, offers both a deeply personal and rigorously insightful examination of how law, medicine, and policy intersect around stillbirth. Jill Lens brings her full self to this work in ways that reflect deep feminist roots cultivated over years of Lens’s impressive scholarly production. Lens channels her lived experience of stillbirth into a comprehensive analysis that combines data, theory, law, narrative, policy, and pragmatic solutions.

The reader leaves the book equally feeling Lens’s deep love and longing for her son, Caleb, and equipped with a lengthy list of tools, …

“No One Can Hear You Scream”: Intimate Partner Violence And Family Justice Centers In Rural America, Jordan Stevenson

Legal Writing Competition Winners

In rural Kentucky, where cars are a necessity to traverse the rugged Appalachian Mountains and sparsely populated farmlands, “Barbara’s” abusive husband couldn’t let her get away—so he set her car aflame. Although census-defined rural areas contain only 20% of the United States population, some studies have found that intimate partner violence is more common and severe in rural areas than urban or suburban regions. 

People, especially women, in rural areas experience intimate partner violence in unique ways tied to their geographic and cultural context. Consequently, organizations, courts, and law enforcement struggle to meet the needs of affected populations in rural …

Reproductive Rights & Absolutist Abortion Bans: Beatriz V. El Salvador & Human Rights Standards In The Inter-American Court Of Human Rights, Jordan Schucker

Human Rights Brief

On December 20, 2024, the Inter-Amer­ican Court of Human Rights (IACtHR) issued its judgment in Beatriz v. El Salvador. The case concerned an impoverished Salvadoran woman, known as Beatriz, who had severe pre-existing conditions impacting her pregnancy, including systemic lupus erythematosus, lupus nephritis, and rheumatoid arthritis. After a first pregnancy,  in 2012 that triggered severe preeclampsia, she became pregnant again in 2013. Ultrasounds showed the fetus was anencephalic, making it incompatible with life outside the uterus.

Guest Editorial: Making Gender Equality Visible In Judicial Selections At The European Court Of Justice, Laure Clément-Wilz, Fernanda G. Nicola

Scholarly Articles in Law Reviews & Journals

We begin this issue with a Guest Editorial by Laure Clement-Wilz and Fernanda Nicola, who invite reflection on the criteria for judicial selection at the European Court of Justice. They propose integrating gender parity as a soft criterion in the judicial selection process, thereby contributing to broader discussions on diversity in judicial appointments

Brief Of Law Professors As Amici Curiae In Support Of Plaintiff-Appellees, Ira P. Robbins

Amicus Briefs & Court Filings

INTRODUCTION: The Executive Order at issue in these appeals targets a small and uniquely vulnerable minority of transgender women—those currently housed in federal women’s prisons—by commanding the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) to transfer them immediately to men’s facilities. Amici file in support of Plaintiffs-Appellees (hereinafter “Plaintiffs”), to address two procedural arguments made by Defendants-Appellants (“the government”). First, Congress has not eliminated federal court jurisdiction to decide Plaintiffs’ challenge to the transfer provisions of the Executive Order. Second, the government overreads the Prison Litigation Reform Act (PLRA); Plaintiffs’ lawsuit is not improper or premature under that statute’s exhaustion requirement because …

Exit Planning And Emigration Aspirations Among Trans And Nonbinary U.S. Citizens, Jayesh Rathod

Presentations

Vulnerability In The Law, Sara Aziz, Aisli Ali, Casey Williams, Lindsey Nye, Saya Khandhar, Sofia Bazdekis

Human Rights Brief

On Monday, February 24, 2025, the Human Rights Brief (“the Brief”) at American University Washington College of Law (“WCL”) held its annual spring symposium with the theme of “Vulnerability in the Law.” This year’s theme aimed to highlight areas where legal systems fall short in protecting vulnerable populations, as well as highlighting where the law itself is vulnerable. The symposium was organized by Symposium and Education Editor Sara Aziz, in collaboration with the Junior Symposium Staff: Asli Ali, Casey Williams, Lindsey Nye, Saya Khandhar, and Sofia Bazdekis. The team worked relentlessly to coordinate panels on legal issues, including technology, environmental …

Femicide Is A Human Rights Violation, Not A Cultural Consequence: Why Nigeria Is Violating The Maputo Protocol, Bolu Jegede

Human Rights Brief

Femicide, the most extreme form of gender-based violence, is the intentional killing of women simply because they are women. It is driven by harmful societal norms, such as oppressive gender roles, systemic discrimination towards women and girls, and gender power imbalances. Femicide is a universal problem but gaps in data on this issue mask the true scale of violence. For the first time since 2013, when the UNODC began publishing regional estimates, Africa surpassed Asia as the region with the highest number of victims.

Pumpable Hours: Legal Protections For Lactating Individuals Through The Lens Of The Legal Profession, Elise Gonzalez

American University Journal of Gender, Social Policy & the Law

The Supreme Court denied women the right to be admitted to the legal profession in 1872. Since this ruling, women have entered the legal profession with force in growing numbers. Today, women comprise nearly 55% of law students across the country and 40% of practicing attorneys in the United States. Despite the growing number of women in the legal profession, women are often reminded of the profession’s sexist history, particularly during a period that is uniquely connected to women—motherhood.

Blood Cobalt: Unmasking And Charging Corporations For Involvement In International Law Violations In The Democratic Republic Of Congo, Bolu Jegede

American University International Law Review

Joint Criminal Enterprise (JCE) is a legal doctrine developed by the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) to hold participants in a criminal enterprise equally liable for all results of the group’s criminal actions, even if the individuals were not directly involved in committing the crimes. While traditionally used to prosecute individual criminal actions, JCE provides a legal pathway to hold corporations criminally liable for their actions that further international law violations. Although corporations currently do not have specific, listed responsibilities under international law, they are required to respect human rights and ensure their activities do not perpetrate …

The Feminicide Epidemic In Brazil: An Analysis Considering The Convention Of Belém Do Pará And The Rome Statute, Suzana Coelho Da Silva

Human Rights Brief

Gender-based violence against women is an issue little discussed both in academia and in various sectors of society. Men in positions of power block any attempts by women to be observed in places of influence and visibility, reflecting a patriarchal society that sees women as inferior, fragile beings incapable of exercising functions that requires intelligence, strength, and rationality.

A Woman’S Body Is Not Her Husband’S: Marital Duty And The Right To Refuse At The Ecthr, Dionejala Muhammad

Human Rights Brief

The European Court of Human Rights (“ECtHR”) issued a decision in H.W. v. France on January 23, 2025, ruling that under the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (“ECHR”), specifically Article 8(1), a woman is not required to provide sex to her husband to fulfill marital duty.

Criminalizing Transgender Care, Lewis Grossman

Scholarly Articles in Law Reviews & Journals

Since 2021, twenty-four states, in extraordinarily quick succession, have enacted statutes banning physicians from prescribing puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones to minors for treatment of gender dysphoria. Although the Food and Drug Administration has not approved these drugs for this use, off-label prescribing is a common practice, and leading medical organizations all agree that this off-label use of puberty blockers and sex hormones is an essential component of transgender medical care. These state laws thus represent an extreme, and unprecedented, interference with the provision of standard-of-care medicine. This article, after exploring the ongoing litigation challenging these bans, argues that they …

This Comment Is Gay: How Banning Lgbtq-Themed Books Violates First Amendment Rights, Michael Karam

Upper Level Writing Requirement Research Papers

No abstract provided.

Queer: Litigating Gender Non-Conformity, Eliot Tracz

American University Journal of Gender, Social Policy & the Law

Section I of this article provides background information on the complexity of gender identity. This section addresses some of the different terminology used by members of the LGBTQ community to describe their gender identity, including the relatively well-known term “nonbinary” and continuing through to the less concrete term “queer.” Section II looks at the history of state action policing queer bodies and identities. It outlines statutes enacted to prevent individuals from hiding their identities and how such laws were used to target queer individuals. Section III discusses the case of Grimm v. Gloucester County School Boardand the two approaches …

Deconstructing Concepts About Nature: An Alternative Perspective For Ecofeminism Based On The Rights Of Nature, Leslie Terrones

PEEL Student Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Legal Reforms And Women’S Rights Advocacy In Africa, Emelyne Calimoutou Dr.

Human Rights Brief

Although Gambia enacted the Women’s (Amendment) Act in 2015, which criminalized female genital mutilation and imposed penalties of up to three years in prison, the parliament is currently deliberating on a bill to overturn the Act.

The prospect of Gambia becoming the first country to reverse legislation against female genital mutilation is alarming, not only for its immediate implications on women’s health, but also for the precedent it could set for other states. It serves as a reminder of the fragility of women’s rights protections in the face of deeply entrenched social practices and underscores the urgent need for a …

The Rhetoric Of Abortion In Amicus Briefs, Jamie Abrams, Amanda Potts

Scholarly Articles in Law Reviews & Journals

The amicus briefs filed in landmark abortion cases before the U.S. Supreme Court serve as a barometer revealing how various constituencies talk about abortion, women, fetuses, physicians, rights, and harms over time. This article conducts an interdisciplinary legal-linguistic study of the amicus briefs that were filed in the milestone abortion cases of Roe v. Wade, Doe v. Bolton, Planned Parenthood v. Casey, and Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health. As the first large-scale study of all amicus briefs submitted in these key cases, this article identifies the roles of amicus briefs, analyzes their rhetorical strategies, and describes how their authors engage …

The Slow Drip Of Decarceration: Reversing The Flood Of Mass Incarceration And Its Racist Impact, Olinda Moyd

Scholarly Articles in Law Reviews & Journals

For the last four decades, the flood of African Americans pouring into our jails and prisons can be likened to a watershed where someone turned on a faucet full force and opened the floodgates to all the prison doors. Despite the multitudinous efforts to secure the release of people unwittingly swept up in this flood, most spending decades behind bars, their releases have been mediocre and only a few have slowly dripped towards freedom. Racism seeps into every facet of American life and nowhere is it more prevalent than in our criminal legal system and the crisis of mass incarceration. …

Owning Health Equity Entrepreneurship, Capital, And Community-Owned Health, Thomas Williams

Scholarly Articles in Law Reviews & Journals

There is a long history of recognized health disparities affecting marginalized communities in the United States. These disparities have complicated and deep roots, but multiple factors can be controlled in the short term, such as access to high-quality medical care. Public and private institutions often use incentives to focus the efforts of private actors towards specified goals; incentives can also be calibrated to mitigate health disparities through a health equity entrepreneurial model.

To understand the possibilities and complications of this model of health equity-focused entrepreneurship, this Article uses the Black and American Indian maternal mortality and morbidity crises as a …

Brief Of A Former Federal Judge, Fair And Just Prosecution, 17 Law Professors, And 4 Domestic Violence Researchers And Advocates As Amici Curiae In Support Of Petitioner, Jamie Abrams

Amicus Briefs & Court Filings

While amici are not formally affiliated with each other and come from a variety of professional fields, they are all keenly aware of the pernicious effects of gender bias against female defendants in American courtrooms. Each is deeply familiar with the toll that gender bias exacts not only on the individual women whose interactions with the criminal legal system are tainted by it, but also on the quality, reliability, and fairness of the criminal legal system. Together they have a distinct interest in ensuring that inflammatory and prejudicial gendered stereotypes about how women should look, act, and comport themselves are …

Foreword Introduction To Symposium: Enhancing Anti-Discrimination Laws In Education And Employment, Susan D. Carle

American University Journal of Gender, Social Policy & the Law

When this Symposium was first conceived in the Summer of 2021, the nation was just emerging from the first phases of the COVID-19 pandemic. This was the beginning of trying to go back to life as normal. Given this reawakening, the Symposium’s planning committee felt the urgency of a need to regroup, rethink, and reassess the state of employment antidiscrimination law. We were not sure where others would be on this possible project, given the newness of the hopeful end to lockdowns and social isolation and return to “normal” concerns. But we quickly found that those who joined the Symposium …

Letter From The Editor, Adriana E. Morquecho

American University Journal of Gender, Social Policy & the Law

It is an honor to write this editor’s note for Volume 30.2 of the Journal of Gender, Social Policy & the Law (“Journal”) commemorating our Symposium co-hosted by the National Institute for Workers’ Rights (“Institute”), “Enhancing Anti-Discrimination Laws in Education & Employment.” The Symposium and this Volume are a culmination of months of tireless work to draw attention to an area of law needing greater attention—employment and education discrimination

Panel 1 - Towards Effective Governmental Intervention: Ending Discrimination In The Workplace, Rebecca Salawdeh, Patrick Patterson, Victoria Lipnic, Carol Miaskoff, Hnin Khaing

American University Journal of Gender, Social Policy & the Law

FACILITATOR: Good morning, everyone and welcome to the “Enhancing Antidiscrimination Laws in Education and Employment Symposium”, hosted by the American University Journal of Gender, Social Policy & the Law, the American, and the National Institute for Workers’ Rights (“Institute”). And without further ado, let me pass it off to the Institute’s board president, Rebecca Salawdeh

Panel 2 - Unreported Shortcomings Of Title Ix, Lisa Taylor, Leslie Annexstein, Elizabeth Kristein, Natasha Martin, Elizabeth Kristen

American University Journal of Gender, Social Policy & the Law

MODERATOR: Hello, everyone, and welcome to our second panel, Unreported Shortcomings of Title IX. I’m going to start off with a quick introduction of our moderator. Today we have Dean Lisa Taylor who is our Dean for Diversity, Inclusion and Affinity Relations at WCL. She is much beloved by students of the Journal and students of WCL in general. And I know she is going to kick off a great panel. Dean Taylor, it’s all yours.

Panel 4 - Severe Or Pervasive: Towards Empowering Workers, Allegra Fishel, Joe Sellers, Bernice Yeung, Ann Mcginley, Alexis Ronickher

American University Journal of Gender, Social Policy & the Law

FACILITATOR: All right. We’re back and I wanted to introduce our moderator for our panel, Severe or Pervasive: Towards Empowering Workers. We have Ms. Allegra Fishel moderating. Ms. Fishel is a seasoned civil rights advocate and the founder of The Gender Equality Law Center. So, thank you so much for being here and, Ms. Fishel, I turn it over to you.

Panel 5 - The Future Of Employment Law, Karla Gilbride, Geraldine Sumter, Stephen Rich, Marcia Mccormick, Michael Selmi

American University Journal of Gender, Social Policy & the Law

FACILITATOR: All right everyone, welcome to our last panel, “The Future of Employment Law.” I want to quickly introduce our moderator, Karla Gilbride, the co-director of the Access to Justice Project. Karla, you can take it away.