Male-centric prison policies promote the marginalization of women prisoners where prison facilities deem them victims to stereotypical notions of the ideal woman. In cases where social rules are not adhered to, women experience exacerbated pains of punishment, such as psychological and physical trauma induced through violent strip searches often carried out by male officers. This alerts us to question how societal perceptions and correctional policies impact the way women are

(image downloaded from https://pixabay.com/illustrations/league-of-legends-soraka-janna-2808111/ ) TW: misogyny, sexual violence A watershed moment for the gaming industry was witnessed during a 2014 hashtag campaign. The #GamerGate movement was a war against feminism in video games. It included a deluge of rape threats, sexual harassment, and sexist remarks. The movement was about maintaining the game's purity by preventing the influx of social issues like inequality and s

The Potential Impact of the Nationality and Borders Bill on Women Trafficked to the UK (Metin Ozer, published 11th December 2019, downloaded from Unsplash, https://unsplash.com/photos/spFYbCSF-Ec [24/03/22]) Content Warning: discussion of human trafficking, sexual exploitation, and rape. The Nationality and Borders Bill will disadvantage victims of trafficking, especially female victims who face gender-specific difficulties. Clause 58 ignores the victim’s need for time to pr

Whether there exists a ‘human right to abortion’ is contested. Abortion is not defined along other internationally-accepted standalone rights, like health, life, or privacy. However, several rights contained within international human rights treaties are supportive of abortion rights, or vice versa are fulfilled through access to safe abortion. Abortion has thus been protected and advanced with reference to a framework of human rights, and through these avenues treaty bodies

This blog highlights the urgent need for legal protection for women facing sexual violence in Indonesia. The post identifies factors inhibiting the ratification of The Sexual Violence Elimination Bill (RUU PKS) in Indonesia and concludes that the problems of sexual violence must be overcome by ratifying RUU PKS so that access to justice for Indonesian women can be achieved.

This blog introduces the legal position of women in Malawi and highlights the efforts made by Malawi towards improving access to justice for women. The post explains developments to key statutes that have been made towards achieving this goal, such as the Citizenship Act, 1966 and concludes by identifying problems which must be overcome to secure gender equality in legislation.

The UK government signed the Istanbul Convention eight years ago, but has not yet ratified it. Using the government’s own reports on progress towards ratification, the post explains key areas in which the government is still not compliant with the Convention. The forthcoming Domestic Abuse Bill should bring the UK into compliance with Article 44, which relates to extra-territorial jurisdiction. However, the issue of support for migrant women leaves the UK still in non-compl

Article 14 requires that all of the rights and freedoms must be protected and applied without discrimination. Lockdown has contributed to increased reporting of domestic abuse, mental health disorders, and limited access to relevant services. The state has not introduced sufficient safeguards to protect individuals with mental health disorders or women to escape an indirect discrimination infringement of Article 14.

The policy of banning pregnant girls and adolescent mothers from schooling, or from returning to schools even after pregnancy in Tanzania finds place in the Education (Expulsion and Exclusion of Pupils from Schools) Regulations, 2002; and has continued since 1961. In addition to the ban, it entails the imposition of intrusive, routinely forced pregnancy testing on girls to continue with disciplinary actions and expulsions, putting an end to their education.

The “Q&A with…” series aims to tell the stories of practitioners in human rights and justice-related advocacy. Helen (Law, Pembroke College) was the Lead Convenor of the conference “The Development of Abortion Rights in a Changing Europe”, held in the Law Faculty in September 2018 and supported by the Cambridge University Centre for Law, Medicine and Life Sciences, and the Cambridge Centre for Public Law. Outside of Cambridge, she is the UK ambassador and Global Advisor for

On 12th of February, we had the pleasure of hosting an excellent panel of speakers who engaged in a lively discussion on the agenda to repeal anti-abortion laws in Northern Ireland. In conversation were Dr David Russell (Chief Executive of the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission), Dr Shona Wilson Stark (Cambridge academic with substantial research on abortion rights in Northern Ireland), Mr Darragh Mackin (solicitor on the Sarah Ewart case) & Helen Jennings (Cambridge fi