Chapter 2

Equality Doctrines and Gender Discrimination: The Evolving Jurisprudence of the UN Human

Rights Committee and the U.S. Supreme Court

Introduction to the Chapter

This chapter begins an examination of the way different state courts and international and

regional human rights bodies decide whether a statute treating women and men differently

violates provisions guaranteeing women equal rights and equal protection of the law. Many

state constitutions and international and regional treaties make these guarantees. Advocates

can turn to those bodies in seeking to invalidate sex-discriminatory laws. In doing so, they

need to know which body is most likely to rule in their favor and how to argue that the body

should adopt a more probing review if it is overly deferential to the state law. Thus, in this

and many following chapters we will be closely comparing the bodies’ different approaches to

deciding equality issues.

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Charter of the United Nations,

June 26, 1945, 59 Stat. 1031, T.S. 993, 3 Bevans 1153, entered into force Oct. 24, 1945.

UN High Comm'r for Human Rights

*Scroll to the end of the introduction for the text of the charter.

Universal Declaration of Human Rights, G.A. res. 217A (III), U.N. Doc A/810 at 71 (1948).
Original	PDF	External Link*
UN High Comm'r for Human Rights	PDF	External Link

*Scroll to and click on 217(III).

International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), G.A. res. 2200A (XXI), 21 U.N. GAOR Supp. (No. 16) at 52, U.N. Doc. A/6316 (1966), 999 U.N.T.S. 171, entered into force Mar. 23, 1976.
Original	PDF^	External Link*
UN High Comm'r for Human Rights	PDF	External Link

^The ICCPR begins on page 52

*Scroll to and click on 2200 (XXI). The ICCPR begins on page 52

ICCPR Optional Protocol , G.A. res. 2200A (XXI), 21 U.N. GAOR Supp. (No. 16) at 59, U.N. Doc. A/6316 (1966), 999 U.N.T.S. 302, entered into force March 23, 1976.
Original	PDF^	External Link*
UN High Comm'r for Human Rights	PDF	External Link

*Scroll to and click on 2200 (XXI). The Optional Protocol begins on page 59

^The Optional Protocol begins on page 59.

International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights, G.A. res. 2200A (XXI), 21 U.N.GAOR Supp. (No. 16) at 49, U.N. Doc. A/6316 (1966), 993 U.N.T.S. 3, entered into force Jan. 3, 1976.
Original	PDF	External Link*
UN High Comm'r for Human Rights	PDF	External Link