Browsing by Author "Karjala, Tuuli Maria"
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- ItemSixty years of silence : Gender discrimination under International Refugee Law(Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2016-03) Karjala, Tuuli Maria; Rudman, Annika; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Law. Dept. of Public LawENGLISH ABSTRACT : Gender-related violence is a global pandemic affecting millions of women worldwide. Yet, in many instances, states continue to tolerate and indirectly condone the various forms that it takes. In cases where the gender-related violence amounts to persecution because of its severity and the lack of state protection, victims are left with a drastic solution: to flee and seek refuge in another country. However, international refugee law, as one of the final mechanisms to protect basic human rights, has proved to be inadequate to provide sufficient protection for victims of gender-related persecution. This dissertation argues that the definition of ‘refugee’ under international refugee law is obsolete and in dire need of reconceptualisation in order to adequately encompass the unique persecution that women face because of their gender. Therefore, this dissertation seeks to establish the reasons behind the inadequate protection of victims of gender-related persecution. To examine this question, the dissertation carries out a detailed analysis of various aspects that have an impact on the interpretation and implementation of the international refugee law framework. As a result of this analysis, the dissertation demonstrates how the historical events that took place at the time of the drafting of the main international refugee law instruments impacted their substance and resulted in a heavily androcentric focus. Similarly, this dissertation reveals how the patriarchal nature of the international law regime as a whole has had a negative impact on gender-related asylum claims. Moreover, it discloses the asylum adjudicators’ gender-biased construction of ‘persecution’ and analyses the difficult fit between gender-related persecution and the nexus requirement under the 1951 Refugee Convention. Furthermore, this dissertation takes the important step of examining the manners in which the current protection afforded by international refugee law to victims of gender-related persecution can be improved and developed, and it analyses best practices. Ultimately, based on this in-depth analysis, this dissertation’s key contribution to the field of international refugee law is the identification of the emerging recognition of gender as an independent category of persecution to the existing ‘refugee’ definition. This addition will have a fundamental impact on the gender-equal application of international refugee law and, importantly, on the protection of women’s human rights worldwide