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Washingtoi College of Law * The American University
New WCL Program E.xplores Womens issues
in Internatromd Law
bry Ayeshia Qayyum
4 ! traditional structures and deci-
sion-making processes for
advancing human rights are
inadequate to deal with the needs of
women throughout the world, says Lau-
ren Gilbert, Executive Director of the
Women & International Law Program
(W&ILP) at the Washington College of
Law. Launched in April 1994, W&ILP repre-
sents a first step in the attempt to incorpo-
rate Women's issues into the broader
framework of international law. Women
are still the poorest and least privileged in
most societies, asserts Gilbert, 'and are
rarely represented in national and global
decision-making processes. International
institutions have tended to marginalize
those issues that affect women. Gilbert
adds that the mission of W&ILP is espe-
cially important because legal education
has similarly failed to foster scholarship
and teaching about the importance of
gender in understanding international
law and practice.
The Program has three major goals.
First, it is geared towards strengthening
the international legal studies curriculum
to take a greater account of the condition
of women. Second, it is designed to
contribute to a growing body of legal schol-
arship on the rights of women in interna-
See page 3 for ex
in Ierview with Yugosa'th t\*ac
1 nimes Tribunal Pros cutor
* Richacc Gol&'-tone
tional law. Finally, it aims to develop pro-
grams in training and advocacy to make
domestic and international laws more
effective tools for advancing women's
claims. Gilbert explains- that W&ILP was
established to address the systematic
engendering of international law [and)
the ways international institutions could
be Used more effectively to address wom-
en's human rights and needs.'
Claudio Grossman, Dean of Graduate
Studies and co-sponsor of the Program.
maintains that the creation of W&ILP is a
necessary frerequisite' to further work in
the field of human rights. Grossman
insists that women's problems must be
examined in an international context;
the domestic approach alone cannot
resolve the issues raised. The Program
therefore, is designed to create opportu-
nities for faculty and students to be
engaged in shaping a new area of law in a
responsible, exciting way . according to
Professor Ann Shalleck, Director of the
Women and the Law Program at WCL and
co-sponsor of W&ILP.
In the long term, W&ILP aims to initi-
ate a mutually instructive dialogue between
academics and practitioners in internation-
al law and to deepen our understanding-
of legal theory while enhancing how we
practice law. says Shalleck. She adds that,
since a multi-faceted curriculum is the
core of any vibrant academic community,
the integration of gender perspectiles
into international law and international
perspectives into women's rights law pre-
sents the possibility of developing and
transforming both. e
Volume 2, Number 1* Fall 1994
WomEn's Human
Rights: A Prospective
Look
by Donna Sullivan
he results of the Cairo Internation-
al Conference on Population and
Development (ICPD) reflect the
success of efforts b activists worldwide to
bring women's empowerment to the fore-
front of international debate on sustain-
able and social development and popula-
tion policies. [see related story, page 6].
Activists at the ICPD built on the
progress achieved at the 1993 World
Conference on Human Rights in Vienna,
which witnessed the extraordinary suc-
cess of a global campaign to end the
historic disregard of women's human
rights. The World Conference on Human
Rights significantly expanded the human
rights agenda to include gender specific
continued on page 14
iNs rDE
New Trenid in Addreding
Violence Agiinst.Women
Reproductive Rights
Conference at
-the .Aieiican University
MDLI at Monteide o
Cairo Populationiand -.
Deelopment Conferejice.
Pcint. CouInterpoint:
Woniens Humr&an Rigrhts
Page
Page 2
-Page. 5.
?age 6
Page 8
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