Congratulations to Simone Cusack, a former Fellow of our International Reproductive and Sexual Health Law Programme, and her colleague Alexandra Timmer, whose article on this CEDAW decision was recently published in the Human Rights Law Review. The brief abstract below explains the importance of the decision.
“Gender Stereotyping in Rape Cases: The CEDAW Committee’s Decision in Vertido v The Philippines’, (2011) 11(2) Human Rights Law Review 329-342.
Karen Tayag Vertido v. The Philippines, a decision of the CEDAW Committee, takes issue with the widespread problem of stereotypes in rape trials. It is the first case of the CEDAW Committee that is concerned primarily with wrongful gender stereotyping, and the leading decision of an international human rights treaty body in this as yet underdeveloped area of human rights. This case note critically reviews the decision according to three major themes: jurisdictional limitations under the Optional Protocol to CEDAW; naming gender stereotypes in rape cases; and, States Parties’ obligations under CEDAW to address wrongful gender stereotyping.
Full text of this article online
Karen Tayag Vertido v. The Philippines, Full text of the decision, UN Doc. (CEDAW/C/46/D/18/2008) in English and 5 other languages , beside “CEDAW/C/46/D/18/2008”
Response of the Philippines, online here.
Optional Protocol to CEDAW – informative new blog Sign up, or follow it on Twitter @opcedaw.
Simone Cusack’s recent blog post on the Vertido case.
reprohealthlaw blog 