Home » Notes » The Emperor Is Still Naked: Why the Protocol on the Rights of Women in Africa Leaves Women Exposed to More Discrimination
The Emperor Is Still Naked: Why the Protocol on the Rights of Women in Africa Leaves Women Exposed to More Discrimination
PDF · Kristin Davis ·
Jul-11-2012 ·
42 VAND. J. TRANSNAT'L L. 949 (2009)
The Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa entered into force in 2005. Met with much celebration for the protection it would provide African women, the Protocol was heralded as one of the most forward-looking human rights instruments. Now, fifteen years after it was conceived, the Protocol deserves a full assessment of the issues that it has faced in accession and will face in implementation. This Note analyzes the way in which the Protocol was developed and the effect the Protocol’s language will have on its ability to achieve its object and purpose. This Note contends that certain language is too narrow, creating an over-specificity that will deter necessary countries from joining. However, this Note also asserts that certain aspirational provisions of the Protocol are overly broad, creating legal obligations that States Parties will be unable to meet. Ultimately, African countries with questionable women’s rights records will refuse to sign—States Parties will either be unable or unwilling to protect women to the extent required, leaving women in the same position as before. Worse yet, some States Parties may implement extreme measures that could increasingly disadvantage women over time. By relying on Western ideas of women’s rights and without explicitly determining how or if customary law will be considered in implementation, the Protocol faces serious obstacles on the domestic level. This Note concludes by asserting that unless States Parties consider a more grassroots, community-oriented approach to implementing the Protocol, the instrument’s requirements will remain unrealized, and women in Africa will remain marginalized.
This entry was posted
on Wednesday, July 11, 2012 at 5:30 pm and is filed under Notes, Vol. 42 No. 3, Volume 42, Volumes.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
Announcements
The Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law hosted a symposium called “The Role of Non-State Actors in International Law” at Vanderbilt University Law School in February 2013. The October issue of the Journal will showcase articles by distinguished symposium guests including:
Mr. Ian Smillie, “Blood Diamonds and Non-State Actors”
Professor Jean d’Aspremont, “Cognitive Conflicts and the Making of International Law from Empirical Concord to Conceptual Discord in Legal Scholarship”
Professor Peter J. Spiro, “Constraining Global Corporate Power: A Very Short Introduction”
Professor Suzanne Katzenstein
Professor Peter Margulies
Professor Harlan G. Cohen
We are pleased to announce our annual award recipients for 2012-2013.
Masamichi Yamamoto Second-Year Editor Award: Kennedy Meier
Outstanding Third Year Editor Award: Alex Rinn
Grace Wilson Sims Medal in Transnational Law: Molly Chen
Grace Wilson Sims Prize for Student Writing in Transnational Law: Margaret Artz
Note Selections for 2013-14
The Publication Committee is pleased to announce the 2L student Notes selected for publication in the 2013-14 issues. Please follow this link: Note Selections for 2013
A special congratulations to Stella Forcehimes, who successfully “Noted-on” to the Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law. Please congratulate her if you see her around school.
The Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law is now ranked the 9th best international law journal according to the Washington & Lee School of Law Library Law Journal Rankings. For more information, please visit: Washington & Lee Journal Rankings
The Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law is excited to announce the 2013-2014 Board of Editors. We had an exceptional pool of candidates to choose from and were very impressed by the enthusiasm and thoughtfulness this class displayed throughout the selection process. Please join us in congratulating them!
Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals cites Head of State Immunity As Sole Executive Lawmaking by Lewis Yelin, written for the 2011 Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law Symposium: Foreign State Immunity at Home and Abroad. Yousuf v Samantar Opinion (4th Circuit)
Vanderbilt University law professor Ingrid Wuerth has been selected as a reporter for the Restatement (Fourth) of the Foreign Relations Law of the United States, published by the American Law Institute. She will work on the immunities chapters, along with David Stewart, a visiting professor of law at Georgetown Law and former State Department official.
View the most recent Jonathan I. Charney Distinguished Lecture in Public International Law, presented by Fatou B. Bensouda.
Explore Other Vanderbilt Law Resources
