While the Geneva Conventions contain gender-specific provisions, the reality of women's and men's experiences of armed conflict have highlighted gender limitations and conceptual constraints within international humanitarian law. Judgements at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) and International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) ad hoc tribunals have gone some way towards expanding the scope of definitions of sexual violence and rape in conflict. More recent developments in public international law, including the adoption of Security Council Resolutions 1325 and 1820 focused on women, peace and security, have sought to increase the visibility of gender in situations of armed conflict. This paper highlights important developing norms on women, peace and security. Although these norms are significant, they may not be radical enough to expand constructions of gender within international humanitarian law. This leaves existing provisions open to continued scrutiny.
The principal aim of gender mainstreaming is to achieve gender equality by implementing gender as a central component at all levels within the UN system. Previous work has focused on gender mainstreaming as an abstract concept, whereas this paper empirically examines efforts to implement UN Security Council Resolution 1325 (UNSCR 1325) and by doing so evaluates the process of mainstreaming. This paper suggests that gender mainstreaming has limited potential to achieve gender empowerment and equality. A lack of benchmarks and targets within UNSCR 1325 undermines the Security Council’s commitment to women’s experiences of armed conflict. Gender mainstreaming has largely not been implemented at a macro-level (within the UN), although at a micro-level, civil society organisations have made some attempts to use UNSCR 1325 to achieve gender empowerment. Ultimately, however, UNSCR 1325 is not radical enough to be used as a transformative gender mainstreaming tool.
AbstractThis article explores the implications of an absence of anti-discrimination legislation on the grounds of sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI) in Hong Kong. Strategic litigation has played an important role in securing legal protections for the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) community in the face of resistance from the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government, as well as religious and parental concern groups. Despite a growing body of evidence which outlines the self-reported daily discrimination experienced by LGBT individuals, the HKSAR government has resisted calls to adopt anti-discrimination legislation on the grounds of SOGI, focusing instead on self-regulation and education. Grounded in qualitative research interviews examining the feasibility of adopting anti-discrimination legislation on the grounds of SOGI in Hong Kong, this article explores the current legal landscape for LGBT rights, resistance, and possibilities for reform.
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