Suchergebnisse

Durante los últimos 50 años, la evolución de los principios de los que forman parte los derechos humanos ha tenido importantes repercusiones en el derecho international humanitario y en el derecho international en general. En los últimos añios, el movimiento en favor del reconocimiento de la igualdad de derechos de las mujeres ha ejercido, con cierto resultado, su propia influencia en los derechos humanos. En 1979, por ejemplo, la comunidad international aprobó la Convención sobre la Eliminación de Todas las Formas de Discriminación contra la Mujer, de la que son Partes actualmente 155 Estados. Se está examinando la aprobación de un protocolo facultativo en el que se prevería la posibilidad de presentar quejas ante la Comisión para esa Convención. Las organizaciones gubernamentales y no gubernamentales nan centrado cada vez más su atención en los derechos humanos de la mujer y, como resultado, hay una amplia gama de estudios, informes y recomendaciones sobre varios aspectos de la cuestión. Así pues, el tema de la mujer es un punto firmemente establecido en el orden del día international de los derechos humanos.

The development in the last 50 years of the principles that comprise human rights law has had a major impact on international humanitarian law and indeed on international law generally. In more recent years, the movement for recognition of the equal rights of women has been exerting its own influence on human rights law and to some effect. In 1979, for example, the international community adopted the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), to which 155 States are now party. Consideration is currently being given to the adoption of an Optional Protocol that will allow for individual and group complaints to be brought before the CEDAW Committee. Governmental and non-governmental organizations have increasingly focused on women's human rights. As a result, a wide range of studies, reports and recommendations on various aspects of the issue is available. The topic of women is thus firmly established on the international human rights agenda.

The aim of this article is to extend the critique of human rights law by feminist scholars to humanitarian law—or the law of armed conflict, as it is more traditionally known. When reflecting generally on the role that international law plays in providing protection for women from the effects of violence the obvious starting point is the regime of human rights. So much of human suffering in today's world occurs, however, in the context of armed conflict where to a large extent human rights are in abeyance and individuals must rely on the protections offered by the law of armed conflict.1The debate that has been taking place for some years in the context of human rights as to the extent to which that system takes account of women&s lives needs to extend to the provisions of the law of armed conflict. Although commentators have convincingly demonstrated the limitations of the existing body of human rights law adequately to take account of the reality of women&s experience of the world,2the law of armed conflict is even more deficient. Moreover, despite the recent focus on rape in armed conflict as a result of the international outrage at the sexual abuse of women in the armed conflict in the former Yugoslavia, these shortcomings remain largely unaddressed.3At first glance this seems somewhat surprising until the special difficulties that flow from certain characteristics of the law of armed conflict are appreciated.