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2023 U. Oxford Hum. Rts. Hub J. 1 (2023)

handle is hein.journals/uoxhruj2023 and id is 1 raw text is: Engendering the Right to Work in International Law: Recognising Menstruation and Menopause in Paid Work Sydney Colussi, Elizabeth Hill and Marian Baird* Abstract It is widely accepted in international law that pregnancy and parenthood should not prevent women from exercising their human right to work. Across various international conventions, special labour rights and protections have been enshrined for pregnancy, childbirth, and childrearing to 'engender' the right to work and remedy workplace inequalities that arise in relation to these reproductive issues. However, other reproductive (and post-reproductive) issues, specifically menstruation and menopause, have not received adequate attention in international law despite their direct relationship to gender inequality in paid work. In this article, we argue this narrow approach to the reproductive body needs to be revisited. If the right to work is to be properly 'engendered', then menstruation and menopause must be acknowledged as important processes that, like pregnancy and parenthood, shape the capability of ciswomen and all people who experience menstruation and menopause to realise this right. Applying Fredman's substantive equality framework to these specific issues, this article develops a critical feminist reading of the right to work in two key human rights conventions, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) and the Convention to Eliminate All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), to argue for an expanded understanding of the reproductive body and its significance for workers over the life course. Sydney is a PhD candidate at the University of Sydney; Elizabeth Hill is Associate Professor of Political Economy at The University of Sydney; Marian Baird is Professor of Gender and Employment Relations and a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences in Australia. Thank-you to Beth Goldblatt and the anonymous reviewers for their feedback.

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