Law and Gender Commons^™

Gender Dimensions Of Biotechnology Policy And Trade, Constance Z. Wagner

All Faculty Scholarship

Gender issues in biotechnology policy and trade are rapidly emerging as some of the most interesting and challenging within these fields. Gender issues have been identified in three important areas impacted by biotechnology, namely agriculture, traditional knowledge, and health. The policy discussion on these matters is still in its early stages and more research will be needed in order to formulate approaches that adequately incorporate a gender perspective. Gendered aspects of biotechnology also raise concerns in international trade law, which have not yet been addressed in the current legal framework at any level, including the World Trade Organization (“WTO”) regime. …

Using Federal And State Laws To Promote Secure Housing For Survivors Of Domestic Violence, Deborah A. Widiss, Emily J. Martin

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

Advocating For The Employment Rights Of Victims Of Domestic Violence And Sexual Assault, Deborah A. Widiss, Robin R. Runge

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

A Moratorium On Intersex Surgeries?: Law, Science, Identity, And Bioethics At The Crossroads, Laura Hermer

Faculty Scholarship

Should the law prevent all parents and guardians from requesting and consenting to cosmetic genital surgeries on children with certain intersex conditions before the children are mature enough to decide the matter for themselves? While such surgeries ought not to be encouraged, banning the surgeries altogether, as some advocate, would hobble, if not eliminate, the burgeoning scientific investigation of the best treatment practices for different intersex conditions. It would also remove a surgical option that, according to data in a number of studies, has resulted in subjectively satisfactory outcomes for many patients.

Counting Outsiders: A Critical Exploration Of Outsider Course Enrollment In Canadian Legal Education, Kim Brooks, Natasha Bahkt, Gillian Calder, Jennifer Koshan, Sonia Lawrence, Carissima Mathen, Debra L. Parkes

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

In response to anecdotal concerns that student enrollment in "outsider" courses, and in particular feminist courses, is on the decline in Canadian law schools, the authors explore patterns of course enrollment at seven Canadian law schools. Articulating a definition of "outsider" that describes those who are members of groups historically lacking power in society, or traditionally outside the realms of fashioning, teaching, and adjudicating the law, the authors document the results of quantitative and qualitative surveys conducted at their respective schools to argue that outsider pedagogy remains a critical component of legal education. The article situates the numerical survey results …

American Husbandry: Legal Norms Impacting The Production Of (Re)Productivity, Camille Nelson

Scholarly Articles in Law Reviews & Journals

This article concentrates on the normative legal structure that established complete control over female slaves by sanctioning their subjugation to further slaveholders’ profit maximization and social domination. The criminal law sanctioned the rape of slave women, and the legal doctrine of partus sequitur ventrem mandated that the legal status of children born to slave women was determined by the mother’s legal status. The slave master derived an economic benefit from ensuring slave women had as many children as possible. This system ensured that slave women held no legally protected autonomy over their own bodies or over their own offspring.

Such …

Democracy, Gender, And Governance: Introduction, Darren Rosenblum

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

Since at least the mid 1990s and the Fourth World Conference for Women in Beijing, gender as an analytic category and as a programmatic concern has become a mainstream part of international law. While feminists have traditionally understood their relation to international law in critical terms and from their position as outsiders, this turn toward gender equality places at least some feminists and some of their projects within the governance structure of international law itself. This crucial shift from exclusion to partial inclusion merits examination.

Babes And Beefcake: Exclusive Hiring Arrangements And Sexy Dress Codes, Ann C. Mcginley

Scholarly Works

Las Vegas casinos exclusively hire women to serve cocktails on the casino floor, dressing them in tight-fitting, sexy, uncomfortable costumes and high heels. The exclusive hiring of women as cocktail servers violates Title VII's prohibition against sex discrimination unless the employer can demonstrate that being a woman is a bona fide occupational qualification ("BFOQ") for the job of cocktail server. Sitting en banc, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals recently decided Jespersen v. Harrah's Operating Co., which concluded that sex-differentiated appearance and grooming codes are legal in jobs held by both men and women unless they impose unequal burdens on …

Gendered Risks Of Retirement: The Legal Governance Of Defined Contribution Pensions In Canada, Mary G. Condon

Articles & Book Chapters

This paper examines how the governance of new employer-sponsored pension arrangements in Canada mediates the relationship between gender and discourses of economic risk. It considers the role played by these pension regimes in maintaining gendered forms of financial self-governance and economic insecurity. It asks whether evolving precepts of pension regulation assist or hinder women who wish to resist the disciplinary reach of policy restructurings in the employer-based pension sector.

Annotated Legal Bibliography On Gender

Cardozo Journal of Equal Rights & Social Justice

No abstract provided.

Viewing North Country: Sexual Harassment Goes To The Movies, Rebecca Korzec

University of Baltimore Law Review

No abstract provided.

Our Other Reproductive Choices: Equality In Sex Education, Contraceptive Access, And Work-Family Policy, Cornelia T. Pillard

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

Reproductive rights are traditionally understood to be protected by the privacy aspect of the due process liberty guarantee, but equal protection is also at the heart of the matter. Many of us intuitively know the close relationship between sex equality and abortion rights, and the law, too, is starting to reflect it. This Symposium broadens the focus of traditional abortion-rights jurisprudence to develop equality-based analyses of abortion rights. Widening the angle even further, this Article looks at sex equality and reproductive rights issues beyond the core right to abortion . . . To highlight some of the opportunities created by …

Taking The Right To Abortion In Croatia Seriously - One Of The Basic Constitutional Rights Or A Rudiment Of The Right To Reproduction?, Dalida Rittossa

Cardozo Journal of Equal Rights & Social Justice

No abstract provided.

Judicial Selection As It Relates To Gender Equality On The Bench, Adam Goldstein

Cardozo Journal of Equal Rights & Social Justice

The note examines the relationship between judicial selection methods and gender equality on the bench, arguing that merit selection does not necessarily lead to greater gender diversity compared to other methods like appointments or elections. Despite claims that merit-based systems promote diversity, empirical evidence suggests that elected judges may achieve comparable or greater gender representation.

Domestic Violence And Legal Reforms In Nigeria: Prospects And Challenges, Itoro Eze-Anaba

Cardozo Journal of Equal Rights & Social Justice

The article examines the challenges and prospects of legal reform aimed at addressing domestic violence against women in Nigeria. It highlights the inadequacy of current laws, the cultural and societal barriers that discourage victims from seeking redress, and the need for comprehensive legal and systemic changes to protect women's rights. The analysis emphasizes the importance of addressing economic, cultural, and educational disparities to create a more just and equitable legal framework.

Confronting "Unwelcomeness" From The Outside: Using Case Theory To Tell The Stories Of Sexually-Harassed Women, Margaret Moore Jackson

Cardozo Journal of Equal Rights & Social Justice

The article critiques the legal requirement that sexual harassment plaintiffs must prove the conduct was unwelcome, arguing that this element perpetuates cultural biases against women and undermines their ability to challenge discrimination. It proposes using case theory and storytelling to counter these biases, framing clients' stories in ways that preserve their dignity and challenge stereotypes.

Annotated Legal Bibliography On Gender

Cardozo Journal of Equal Rights & Social Justice

No abstract provided.

Retaliatory Harassment: Sex And The Hostile Coworker As The Enforcer Of Workplace Norms, Rhonda Reaves

Journal Publications

This Article focuses on the legal treatment of retaliatory harassment claims. It argues that retaliatory harassment is an often misunderstood and underanalyzed concept in the law of workplace harassment. This Article seeks to distinguish the legal treatment of retaliatory harassment from sexual harassment. Part I of this Article describes the use of harassment as a method of enforcing workplace norms; it details how harassment is used not just to further a worker's own individual sexist (or racist) agenda, but how it is used to keep women (and minority groups) in subordinate positions. Part II describes the current legal frameworks for …

Subverting The Marriage-Amendment Crusade With Law And Policy Reform, Anita Bernstein

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Custody, Maintenance, And Succession: The Internalization Of Women's And Children's Rights Under Customary Law In Africa, Allison D. Kent

Michigan Journal of International Law

In this Note, the author examines the process of international human rights norm internalization into areas traditionally governed exclusively by customary law, and the resulting evolution of customary law. Assuming, arguendo, that customary law is to be modified, I argue that a societal norm internalization approach is the most effective means to bring customary law into conformity with international human rights law. After a brief discussion of the fieldwork on which I rely, this Note describes the historical influence of colonialism on the development of customary law in Africa, with a particular focus on the repugnancy clauses of the …

Essentially A Mother, Jennifer S. Hendricks

Publications

This article connects the constitutional jurisprudence of the family to debates over reproductive technology and surrogacy. Despite the outpouring of literature on reproductive technologies, courts and scholars have paid little attention to the constitutional foundation of parental rights. Focusing on the structural/political function of parental rights, this article argues that a gestational mother has a constitutional claim to be recognized as a legal parent.

The article first discusses the "unwed father cases." Despite believing that natural sex differences justified distinctions in parental rights, the Supreme Court crafted a test giving men parental rights if they established relationships with their biological …

Hurricane Katrina And Collective Identity: Seeing Through A "Her-Storical Lens", Deleso Alford Washington

Journal Publications

This paper will explore the black wombman's intersection of race, class, and sex during the early twentieth century, specifically as it relates to the pursuit of federal anti-lynching legislation. The central focus will be on the courageous efforts of black women to protect life by virtue of nommo, which means power of the spoken word.

Introduction, Arthur S. Leonard

NYLS Law Review

No abstract provided.

New Jersey’S Civil Union Law: A Constitutional “Equal” Creates Inequality, Thomas H. Prol

NYLS Law Review

No abstract provided.

Informed Consent For Routine Infant Circumcision: A Proposal, David Solomon

NYLS Law Review

No abstract provided.

Falling To Pieces: New York State Civil Legal Remedies Available To Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, And Transgender Survivors Of Domestic Violence, Sharon Stapel

NYLS Law Review

No abstract provided.

Rocks, Hard Places, And Unconventional Domestic Violence Victims: Expanding Availability Of Civil Orders Of Protection In New York, Sarah E. Warne

NYLS Law Review

No abstract provided.

Mapping Alimony: From Status To Contract And Beyond, Gaytri Kachroo

The University of New Hampshire Law Review

[Excerpt] “With the introduction of no-fault divorce, one spouse could unilaterally petition for divorce, in most states, by demonstrating a period of separation or the impossibility of reconciliation. The possibility that a marriage can be dissolved without a showing of fault has obliterated the need to seek consent from the other spouse contesting it. This can preclude the need for a mutually designed financial arrangement. Courts now play a greater role in such financial arrangements and are more likely to conform such financial arrangements to statutory standards. From state to state, despite the prevalence of such conforming by courts, resulting …

Battered Women, Homicide Convictions, And Sentencing: The Case For Clemency, Carol Jacobsen, Kammy Mizga, Lynn O'Orio

UC Law SF Journal on Gender and Justice

For battered women who are forced to kill their attackers, unequal treatment by the law and gendered modes of punishment often lead to unfair convictions and sentences. In a study conducted by the Michigan Battered Women's Clemency Project, startling levels of discrimination in the courts against women who were victims of domestic violence were revealed. In this study, victims of domestic violence had higher conviction rates and longer sentences than all other defendants charged with homicide. The criminal and legal systems have failed to protect battered women from being killed or being forced to kill. Clemency remains the only hope …

Emerson Family Values: Claims To Duration And Renewal In American Narratives Of Divorce, Love And Marriage, Mae Kuykendall

UC Law SF Journal on Gender and Justice

Themes in American family life contain contradictions between a public narrative of duration and a private narrative of renewal. This seeming conflict in values, in combination with a high divorce rate, might be thought to indicate that the marital vows are a culturally hollow ceremony. In fact, Americans' disposition in matters of family seemingly to waver between vows of duration and belief in renewal can be accounted for as well as given moral weight by the thinking and influence of Ralph Waldo Emerson. Dismissed at times as an idealist, a proponent of unthinking American individualism, and an irresponsible wordsmith, Emerson …