Law, gender and society [DGENM301]

Objectives

Here are just a few of the many questions that the Law, Gender and Society course seeks to answer:
- What is the difference between 'sex' and 'gender'? How does the law deal with these two concepts?
- How does the law deal with the rights of trans* people? And the situation of people born intersex?
- Despite advances in non-discrimination law, why are women still de facto paid less than men? What responses does the law offer to combat feminicide?  

In so doing, the course addresses the question of how gender - as a notion referring to a political, social and cultural construction of sex difference - is understood by the law in contemporary societies.

The course therefore examines the impact of gender on the various branches of law.

The course focuses in particular on the transversality of the concept of gender in legal sciences, since fundamental rights - to which it is intimately linked - must now be approached not only from a vertical perspective (i.e. the relationship between individuals and public authority) but also from a horizontal perspective (i.e. the relationship between individuals themselves).

Content

The course is divided into seven main themes. Each of them is approached from the point of view of a specific problem and shows how the law provides a response. The course shows how the law takes account of national, European and international legal constraints to respond to gender-related issues. These themes cover, on the one hand, the formal legal sources (national, European and international) and the major principles (equality and non-discrimination, etc.) relating to the gender issue and, on the other hand, the key players in the understanding of gender issues (in particular the institutes focusing on gender issues such as the Institute for Gender Equality, for example).

The main themes analysed are as follows:

    Defining the concept of gender in law;
    Transsexualism, transgenderism, intersex and the law;
    Sexual orientation and gender;
    Reproductive rights and gender;
    Gender violence;
    Religions, law and gender;
    Work, business, public service and gender.