Gender Justice In the Americas

Overview

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Gender Justice in the Americas: A Transnational Dialogue on Sexuality, Violence, Reproduction & Human Rights took place February 23-25, 2011, at the University of Miami School of Law in Coral Gables, Florida.

This Convening provided a unique opportunity to promote a transnational dialogue among a key group of advocates and scholars working on gender and sexuality issues throughout North, South, and Central America and the Caribbean.

Participants examined recent law and policy developments at the local, national, and international levels in the areas of women's rights, gender and sexuality, the significance of these developments as well as the legal and advocacy strategies employed by the women's and human rights movements in the region to deepen their effect.

The Convening was designed to serve as a catalyst for a revitalization of the women's rights movement and to foster the development of a new network of advocates and scholars across the Americas engaged in using the international human rights framework as a tool for advancing gender and sexuality advocacy and scholarship in the region.

The Convening was highly participatory in nature, building on and benefiting from the deep expertise of each of the participants. To that end, participants played an active and substantive role in the event, serving as panelists, moderators, workshop coordinators, and break out session facilitators, among other functions.

The event was made possible thanks to funding provided by the Ford Foundation, Open Society Institute, the NoVo Foundation, and the Center for Reproductive Rights. The organizers would also like to thank the special contributions of Red Alas, Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA), and the Information Group on Reproductive Choice (GIRE) to the Convening.

Topics addressed included:

• (Re) emergence of national laws and policies banning or limiting reproductive rights
• Governmental and private sector responses to domestic violence and other forms of gender-based violence
• Law and policy developments concerning sexual orientation and LBGTQI rights
• Impact in transnational contexts of recent and forthcoming landmark decisions from the Inter-American Commission and Court of Human Rights, including: Jessica Gonzales v. U.S., Karen Atala v. Chile, and Gonzalez and Others v. Mexico (Campo Algodonero)
• Discourse and politics behind women's rights and gender developments in the Americas
• Common litigation and advocacy strategies to advance gender justice in transnational contexts
• The economic and social aspects of sexuality, violence against women and reproductive rights

Gender Justice Convening - Final Report

Click here to view the final Convening report (in both English and Spanish).

Miami Law Review Special Convening Edition

Click here to view the Miami Law Review special edition, Gender Justice and Human Rights in the Americas (Vol. 63, No. 3) (2011) published in commemoration of Gender Justice in the Americas: A Transnational Dialogue on Violence, Sexuality, Reproduction, and Human Rights.

Agenda & Participant Roles

Agenda

Participant Roles

Participant List

Click here to access a list of participants in the Convening.

Videos

Click here to access a list of videos from the Convening.

Sponsoring Institutions

University of Miami, School of Law, Human Rights Clinic: The Human Rights Clinic at Miami Law School, which launched in January 2011, focuses on transnational and international human rights litigation and advocacy in the U.S., Latin America, the Caribbean, and other regions. Click here for more information.

Center for Reproductive Rights (CRR): The Center for Reproductive Rights is a non-profit organization composed of women's rights advocates, based in New York. For more than 15 years, the Center for Reproductive Rights has used the law to advance reproductive freedom as a fundamental human right that all governments are legally obligated to protect, respect, and fulfill. Click here for more information.

Columbia Law School, Human Rights Institute: Founded in 1998, the Columbia Law School Human Rights Institute serves as the focal point for international human rights education, scholarship and practice at Columbia Law School. Click here for more information.

Diego Portales University, Human Rights Center, in Chile: The Human Rights Center of Diego Portales University in Chile promotes the study of human rights and hosts a human rights clinic specialized in public interest litigation. Click here for more information.