Women and Gender Stereotypes in the Jurisprudence of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights

Abstract

Feminist theory and legal practice have highlighted how gender stereotyping can impair or nullify women’s human rights, make more difficult their access to justice and perpetuate subordination and discrimination that affect them disproportionately. The Inter-American Court of Human Rights is well known for its gender sensibility and for having identified how stereotypes can harm women’s lives. This paper studies gender stereotypes; the problems implied in their use by state authorities, especially by judges, in women’s rights issues; and how the Court, in its jurisprudence, deals with this problem.