Is separation between religion and the state essential to human rights? Meredith Tax says secular space is necessary for the protection of religious and sexual minorities, freedom of thought and expression, and women's rights. It might even be central to the survival of the planet.
Despite some progress in the treatment of single female asylum seekers in the UK, women in families frequently go unheard, dependent on their husband’s asylum claim. To protect them from persecution and domestic violence women must have their own voice.
Consistent promotion of gender equality has to drive foreign, security and development policy if sexual violence in conflict is to be stopped.
Syrian women refugees cite rape, or the fear of rape, as one of the main reasons they fled. A coalition of grassroots women and international advocates has formed to integrate services and advocacy, enabling women refugees to participate in formulating the political future they want to see
On international human rights day, Yakin Ertürk discusses the new vulnerabilities faced by women, including refugee women, and the new opportunities for remedy offered by the international human rights system.
Among Northern Ireland’s peacemakers Inez McCormack was unusual: she was an architect of the parallel peace process, which sought equality as the prerequisite of peace and reconciliation.
Rahila Gupta argues that the term ‘victim’ needs to be reclaimed by feminist politics; whilst 'survivor' is important because it recognises the agency of women, it focuses on individual capacity, but the notion of 'victim' reminds us of the stranglehold of the system.
While the proliferation of domestic violence legislation worldwide is a positive and much-needed development, the explicit criminalisation of marital rape needs to be central to these legal reform initiatives - ensuring that women’s rights are fully protected. Even within marriage.
The patriarchal framework of justice which reflects gendered stereotypes, cultural and traditional prejudice has to change. Whilst there is slow progress in implementation, international law is drifting inexorably into recognising the integrated role of human rights in addressing sexual violence.
Feminist and trades union activists are leading the fight back against neoliberal economic policies in Northern Ireland, arguing that genuine peace can only be built with women's participation in the economy on an equal footing, and within alternative, progressive and democratic economic systems.
There is no greater challenge to principled pacifism than intolerable oppression. The surge of nazism and fascism made the 1930s a testing time for those who, like the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom refused all military options.
Is the human rights movement just a couple of big Northern organisations? The emancipation of women is one of the greatest human rights issues, but Meredith Tax says experts still think they can answer these questions without taking women's human rights work into account
