Cedaw's General Recommendation No. 37: A Sweeping Reconceptualization Of Women’S Rights In The Climate Crisis And A Tool To Assess State’S Compliance With Them, Ingrid Nifosi-Sutton

American University Journal of Gender, Social Policy & the Law

INTRODUCTION: Climate change is one of the most formidable challenges of our time that threatens our way of life and the very existence of humankind. While climate change has negative impacts on all persons, it affects women and girls disproportionately. During floods and severe storms fueled by climate change, for example, women are more likely to die than men because they lack access to essential information on how to survive in these emergencies. In certain regions of the world—such as Sub-Saharan Africa—women smallholder farmers are bearing the brunt of climate change because, in the aftermath of droughts, these women have …

What Is “The Nation’S History And Tradition?”: Using History To Redefine “Liberty” And Applying A New Deeply Rooted Test To Transgender Rights, Kaori Kawaguchi

American University Journal of Gender, Social Policy & the Law

INTRODUCTION: “In a Constitution for a free people, there can be no doubt that the meaning of ‘liberty’ must be broad indeed.” In Roe v. Wade, the Court considered a woman’s liberty right to decide whether to continue a pregnancy or have an abortion and recognized the constitutional validity of a liberty right to abortion as part of the right to privacy. In Roe, the Court concluded, “[o]nly personal rights that can be deemed ‘fundamental’ or ‘implicit in the concept of ordered liberty’ are included in the guarantee of a right of personal privacy.” Liberty should be “left to …

Extending Appellate Immigration Jurisdiction: Providing Additional Pathways Of Review For Discretionary Determinations Regarding Extraordinary Circumstances For Victims Of Spousal Abuse, Ayashah Anwar

American University Journal of Gender, Social Policy & the Law

INTRODUCTION: Lucila Magana-Magana lived a life marked by tragedy. At the age of fifteen, Lucila was sexually assaulted and became pregnant. As a young pregnant woman with no ability to leave, Lucila was forced to live with her assailant and had more children with him until his death. After several years on her own, she entered another relationship with her work supervisor, Rafael Camacho, but that relationship soon turned abusive. Camacho became addicted to drugs and alcohol, and eventually Lucila was forced to escape the relationship. Out of fear, Lucila fled Mexico to the United States. Once again, Lucila found …

Protecting Pregnancy: From The Pregnancy Discrimination Act To The Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, L. Camille Hébert

American University Law Review

Women have long faced challenges in balancing their employment with childbearing, facing loss of employment opportunities because of their potential for pregnancy and loss of actual employment when they became pregnant. Over the past six decades, Congress and the U.S. Supreme Court have taken actions with the potential to provide equal employment opportunity for women affected by pregnancy, but those efforts have largely failed because of the actions of lower federal courts in interpreting legislation and the Court’s decisions in ways to reduce protection for pregnancy. The most recent congressional action to protect pregnancy, the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, was …

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.

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.

The Victimization Of Immigrant Adolescents, Stephanie Vargas

Theses and Dissertations

Immigrant adolescents may experience social and structural challenges that increase their vulnerability to victimization and influence long-term developmental outcomes. However, there is little longitudinal research has examined whether immigration generation is associated with adolescent victimization and adult behavioral outcomes using nationally representative data. This study used data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health) to examine the relationships among immigration generation, adolescent victimization, and adult criminal justice, mental health, and substance use outcomes. Logistic regression analyses were conducted to examine whether first- and second-generation immigrants differed from third-generation respondents after controlling for race/ethnicity, family structure, …

Let’S Talk About The Biological Reality Of Sex, Baby, John Parsi

FIU Law Review

Sex is at the very core of individual identity. It affects the conception of the self and the way others view the individual. Every day, one’s sex may open and close doors, access to communities, and opportunities. Laws that define sex may affirm scientific knowledge and protect people, or threaten to unravel the facts and the reality of sex. A deep unmooring of sex is underway, and this Article aims to halt it. On day one of the current presidential term, January 20, 2025, President Trump signed an Executive Order on “Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological …

Reproductive Wrongful Convictions: The Making Of "Unfit" Mothers, Valena Beety

Articles by Maurer Faculty

This Article draws a straight line from wrongful convictions of women in the past to criminal charges based on pregnancy and parenting behaviors today. Faulty forensic evidence and biased evidence based on sex-stereotypes have, in combination, been used to convict innocent women, particularly in situations where an accident or health event was misconstrued to be a criminal act. Seventy-four percent of known exonerated women were wrongly convicted where no crime occurred. Similarly, in criminalizing pregnancy behaviors, police, medical personnel, or prosecutors erroneously label a non-criminal event, such as a miscarriage or stillbirth, as criminal. Criminal charges are being brought against …

The Right To Seek Joy, Tyler Rose Clemons

Faculty Publications

Within the past three years, roughly half of American states have restricted access to gender-affirming medical treatment for children. In this article, I argue that these bans violate transgender children’s right to liberty guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment’s Due Process Clause. I do so by excavating the Framers’ understanding of liberty as the right to seek joy. Rooted in the philosophies of John Locke and Epicurus, the Framers understood liberty as the right to make important life decisions according to one’s subjective preferences without undue interference from the government. Based on this understanding, I develop a new framework for substantive …

Gender Therapy False Equivalency, Scott Skinner-Thompson

Publications

One critical dispute surrounding the rights of LGBTQ people and societal recognition of their existence is the legal debate regarding very different types of gender therapy. On the one hand, several states have banned the provision of gender-affirming medical care to transgender youth, positing that it is a dangerous form of mutilation. A separate set of states has banned the practice of so-called gay or gender conversion therapy that seeks to transform youth away from their queer identities, concluding that it is a form of abuse. Both sets of laws have been challenged in courts with the Supreme Court recently …

The Un-Bridged Pipeline: Leading And Preparing Women Of Color To Senior-Level Higher Education Administration, Jacqueline D. Slater

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Despite increased educational attainment among Black women, representation in senior‑level leadership positions within higher education remains limited. This qualitative study examines the experiences of Black women who serve or have served in senior‑level academic administrative roles and explores how those experiences inform guidance, preparation, and decision‑making for future Black women leaders. The study focuses on practical barriers, workplace realities, and strategies that shape leadership entry, advancement, and retention.

Using a descriptive case study design, five Black women with professional experience as presidents, provosts, vice provosts, and academic deans participated in semi‑structured interviews lasting 45 to 75 minutes. Purposeful sampling ensured …

The Implementation Of An International Treaty Across A Small Island Developing State: The United Nations Convention On The Elimination Of All Forms Of Discrimination Against Women (Cedaw) In Cabo Verde, Lydia Landim

Graduate Doctoral Dissertations

The UN Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) was adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1979. To date, it is the most comprehensive international treaty for women’s rights. Cabo Verde, a small island developing state located off the west coast of Africa, ratified CEDAW in 1980. As an archipelago, Cabo Verde serves as a unique case study for treaty implementation, particularly, as literature on small island developing states has established that these states face unique challenges when it comes to implementation of laws, policy, and to governance overall, all of which heavily intersect …

3l Jayden Boudreau Earns Prestigious Skadden Fellowship, Maurer School Of Law - Indiana University

Keep Up With the Latest News from the Law School (blog)

The Skadden Fellowship Foundation announced this week that 3L Jayden Boudreau is one of only 34 law students from across the country—and the only one from an Indiana law school— that has been selected as a 2026 Skadden Fellow, one of the most prestigious honors in public interest law.

The award will support Boudreau’s innovative ACLU LGBTQ & HIV Project, focused on protecting the rights of queer and transgender youth in school settings through legal advocacy and systemic policy engagement. He will spend two years in New York City, working at the national headquarters of the American Civil Liberties Union.

Orenstein To Receive 2026 John Henry Wigmore Award For Lifetime Achievement, Maurer School Of Law - Indiana University

Keep Up With the Latest News from the Law School (blog)

Professor Aviva A. Orenstein, the Karen Lake Buttrey and Donald W. Buttrey Chair at the Indiana University Maurer School of Law, has been named the recipient of the 2026 John Henry Wigmore Award for Lifetime Achievement.

The John Henry Wigmore Award, presented by the Evidence Section of the Association of American Law Schools (AALS), honors individuals whose careers have made exceptional contributions to the field of evidence law. Previous recipients include leading scholars in evidence whose work has shaped teaching, scholarship, and practice.

“The award is presented to evidence scholars who have made leading contributions to the understanding of …

Law School News: Rwu Law Honorees Recognized With National Aals Award For Integrating Doctrine And Diversity Initiative 12-10-2025, Helga Melgar

Life of the Law School (1993- )

No abstract provided.

A Comparative Analysis Of The Lack Of Contractual Protections In Female Dominated Opportunities: Collegiate Competitive Dancers And Cheerleaders Compared To Ncaa Student-Athletes And National Pageant Organization Titleholders Compared To Employees/Independent Contractors, Abigail Church

Michigan Journal of Gender & Law

The lack of contractual protections and regulations throughout female-dominated opportunities is abundantly clear in the collegiate competitive dance & cheer and the national pageant organization titleholders. Collegiate competitive dancers and cheerleaders have no standardized contractual requirements regarding their commitment to an academic institution or their engagement in NIL opportunities. Their NCAA recognized student-athlete counterparts, on the other hand, have extensive regulations and protections in place for both categories of contracts. In the pageant industry, pageant titleholders have no protection against the all-too-common procedural and substantive unconscionability of their service agreements, which can be found in confidentiality and arbitration clauses. In …

Gender And Consensus On The Courts, Kaleigh A. Ruiz

Michigan Journal of Gender & Law

During group deliberation, women tend to be the harbingers of compromise, vying for consensus on even the most contentious topics. However, women cannot succeed in this endeavor if gender bias prevents their voices from being heard. In federal courts, collaboration is essential to reaching the simple majority needed to resolve a case. While the courts already function under norms of collegiality during deliberations, the practice of writing a separate opinion to acknowledge disagreement with a majority opinion remains relatively common. In this Article, I test two competing theories as to the effects of women judges on consensus. On one hand, …

Health Care Civil Rights: Addressing The American Maternal Mortality Disparity Through Health, Law, And Policy, Victoria Pedri

Michigan Journal of Gender & Law

The United States is facing a pressing issue in maternal health, standing out as uniquely dangerous among similarly situated nations, with significant disparities in maternal mortality rates, particularly affecting Black American pregnant people. This paper, “Health Care Civil Rights: Addressing the American Maternal Mortality Disparity Through Health, Law, and Policy,” argues that by addressing the root cause of the Black Maternal Mortality Disparity (BMMD)—structural racism—and implementing rigorous, enforced standards of care, the United States can ensure safer childbirth experiences for Black pregnant people. Utilizing intersectional and anti-racist frameworks, the analysis identifies inferior medical care, particularly in diagnosing and treating preventable …

Reclaiming Bodily Autonomy Through Gullah Geechee Natural Healing, Tamaray Yvonne White

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In today’s sociopolitical climate, restrictive reproductive laws continue to disproportionately target Black women, reinforcing historic patterns of racialized and gendered oppression. This thesis argues that Black women will recommence their usage of traditional herbal healing as both a survival strategy and an act of reclaiming bodily autonomy in defiance of hostile legal, financial, and medical systems. The Gullah Geechee community serves as a blueprint for this transition, offering cultural continuity, intergenerational knowledge, and a model for community-based healthcare and resistance. By tracing the historical necessity of herbal medicine among Gullah Geechee women, this study situates ancestral natural healing within contemporary …

Self-Determination Through Children's Rights: Resisting The Paradoxical Pretext Of Parents' Rights Legislation, Jeremiah Chin

Washington Law Review

Washington state law balances the interests of parents and the state in education, healthcare, and the general wellbeing of children. Despite the fact that children are at the center of emerging controversies, children’s rights are rarely discussed in state legislation debating the obligations and relationships between the state of Washington and parents. In education, for example, RCW 28A.605.005 finds “[p]arents are the primary stakeholders in their children’s upbringing.” While this may be true relative to the state, it overlooks the fact that children are the primary actors, agents, and rights bearers in their own personhood. This Article therefore considers ongoing …

United States V. Skrmetti: L’Identité De Genre Dans Le Droit Et La Politique De L’Égale Protection, Olatunde C.A. Johnson

Faculty Scholarship

In French
L'article analyse l’arrêt United States v. Skrmetti, dans lequel la Cour suprême américaine juge que l’interdiction, par le Tennessee, des bloqueurs de puberté pour les mineurs trans ne viole pas la clause constitutionnelle d’égalité, dite clause « d’égale protection ». Refusant de considérer qu’il s’agit d’une discrimination fondée sur le sexe, la Cour applique le contrôle le plus déférent (base rationnelle) et accepte l’argument de l’État selon lequel il protège les mineur·es de risques médicaux incertains. L’auteure montre ici que cette approche s’inscrit dans un contexte plus large de lois et de décrets fédéraux visant les personnes …

From Medical Exceptions To Reproductive Freedom, David S. Cohen, Greer Donley

Michigan Law Review

Since the Supreme Court overruled Roe v. Wade in 2022, there has been a significant focus on pregnancy complications. This focus has created some risks. Highlighting medically indicated abortion stories could stigmatize the vast majority of abortion seekers who lack medical reasons for abortion and result in narrow remedies that do nothing to undermine abortion bans. This Article presents a way to convert these risks into an opportunity: to use pregnancy complications as a wedge to challenge abortion bans more generally and make abortion more accessible for everyone. We present a long-term strategy to dismantle abortion bans, using several legal …

Myth Busters: A Review Of “Debt’S Grip”, Susan Block-Lieb

Brooklyn Journal of Corporate, Financial & Commercial Law

Debt’s Grip follows a long line of literature that looks to combat legal and cultural myths about consumer debt and consumer bankruptcy with quantitative and qualitative analysis on these topics. Who files for bankruptcy and why? Fighting longstanding myths is tough work, but Pamela Foohey, Robert M. Lawless and Deborah Thorne have marshalled a strong set of tools, and strong intellectual allies, to support this epic battle.

Parenting While Mad: Altered States, Carceral Psychiatry, And The Fight For Abolitionist Access, Stefanie Lyn Kaufman-Mthimkhulu

Journal of Law and Policy

Legal and psychiatric systems respond to parents in distress-oriented altered states (often labeled “postpartum psychosis”) in ways that reveal deep structural failures. Rather than providing genuine care, these states are criminalized, pathologized, and met with coercive treatment, family separation, and surveillance. Drawing on Silvia Federici’s Caliban and the Witch, this article traces these systems to the rise of colonial-capitalist-patriarchy, when land was enclosed, reproductive labor weaponized, and community healing knowledge expropriated. Clinical mental health and family regulation systems continue this legacy today, punishing Madness, disempowering caregivers, and undermining community capacity to respond to distress. The author examines cases of postpartum …

Sterilization, Haunting And The Future Of Disability Law, Linda Steele

Journal of Law and Policy

This article proposes that a methodology of ‘haunting’ could be used by disability rights lawyers and disability law scholars to challenge structural injustice against disabled people. The author make this argument through the example of forced sterilization. Forced sterilization pursuant to eugenics laws in the United States during the early to mid-twentieth century is a profound injustice perpetrated on disabled people which is yet to be fully reckoned with and repaired. While eugenics sterilization laws have been repealed, and some states have additionally made public apologies and introduced compensation programs, forced sterilization of disabled people continues to be perpetrated pursuant …

The Heteronormative Language Of Law: The Win In Bostock And The Loss For Title Ix, Negar Khalaf

Journal of Law and Policy

The struggle for equality in education begins with language. Legal categories like “sex” and “gender identity” shape who is protected and who is left behind. When the Supreme Court decided Bostock v. Clayton County, it extended protection to LGBTQ+ workers but offered no definition robust enough to secure similar rights for students under Title IX. Subsequent efforts by the Department of Education to bridge that gap—culminating in Tennessee v. Cardona and constrained by Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo—reveal the limits of agency action in a post-Chevron era. This Note calls for a legislative solution: an amended Equality Act Bill (“EAB”) …

The Equal Pay Act’S Hidden Loophole: Eliminating Prior Compensation As A “Factor Other Than Sex”, Madeleine Bol

Fordham Law Review

The Equal Pay Act of 1963 (EPA or the “Act”) prohibits employers from engaging in sex-based wage discrimination. The Act includes four exceptions that allow an employer to circumvent liability, the last of which allows for pay disparities when the “differential [is] based on any other factor other than sex.” The language of this exceedingly broad exception raises questions among courts on what “other than sex” entails—specifically, whether a court can rely on an employee’s prior compensation to justify a pay disparity between employees of the opposite sex. This Note examines how federal circuit courts have interpreted this catchall exception. …

Should The Army Be Involved In Divorce? Re-Examining The Pre-Divorce Defaults For Spousal Support, Artem M. Joukov, Thomas Godfrey

MC Law Review

Army Regulation 608-99 assigns a large portion of a Soldier’s paycheck to the spouse upon marital separation. The assignment occurs without a hearing, discovery, or consideration of critical evidence which might moderate the amount of support. The obligation rests on the Soldier to obtain a court order or spousal agreement to reduce the financial burden. The adversarial nature of modern divorces renders these requirements unrealistic. Amending the regulation would ease the burden of the Soldier, which is desirable in light of the ongoing recruitment crisis and the need to attract recruits and retain those already in the service.

From Fairy Tales To Fascist Nightmares: Countering Ron Desantis’ Florida, Ronald Mize, Et. Al

University of Miami Race & Social Justice Law Review

The recent spate of anti–‘woke’, don’t say gay, anti–trans, and anti–immigrant legislation, led by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, puts the sunshine state in the unenviable position of serving as the nation’s test case for Republicans’ neofascist agendas. This paper explores the exclusionary, targeting, and banning aspects of these culture war assaults on public education and outgroups. The specific banning of Critical Race Theory is discussed alongside cis–heteronormative efforts to target queer and trans communities, as well as DeSantis’ executive memoranda of transporting those at the border to sanctuary cities and S.B. 1718 aimed at excluding immigrant communities from public life …