Women and International Law

On 10 April 2025, at 3-5.30 pm (UTC+3), the International and Comparative Law Research Center and the Ural State Law University named after V. F. Yakovlev will hold a round table “Women and International Law”. The event will be held in hybrid format (in-person and online participation available) at the ICLRC Library located at 14 b. 3 Kadashevskaya Embankment, Moscow.

International law has been critically analysed from different perspectives. For example, one approach offers a women's focus and has both supporters and critics. Among its representatives are prominent jurists, members of the International Court of Justice and the UN system, and government officials, e.g., Hilary Charlesworth, Christine Chinkin, and Dianne Otto. In their writings, they suggest that women's experiences should be considered when analysing the structure, processes, and methodology of international law.

The principles of this approach are reflected in a number of international instruments, such as the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (1979), the Belém do Pará Convention (1994), the Istanbul Convention (2011), the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa, known as the Maputo Protocol (2003), the UN Security Council resolutions 1325 (2000) and 1889 (2009), the Declaration on the Elimination of Violence Against Women (1993), the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, as well as in the activities of specialised structures such as UN Women and the UN Commission on the Status of Women. Special attention should be paid to Sustainable Development Goal 5, which enshrined gender equality as one of the global priorities of the international community.

However, in the Russian academic tradition, the women's perspective in analysing the theory and practice of international law has not yet received widespread attention.

The discussion sessions will present the theoretical foundations and assessment of the impact of the women's perspective on international law, the relationship with other humanitarian disciplines, and the experiences of international law practitioners.

Seats are limited. Registration is required.

For enquiries related to the event, please contact events@iclrc.ru.