Evolution of Intersectionality in the UN Treaty Bodies

Abstract

Abstract This chapter details the increasing attention to intersectionality theory within the work of the UN human rights treaty bodies, committees of experts who oversee implementation of the human rights treaties. Although scholars and activists have explored and advocated for intersectionality theory in the international human rights context for almost twenty years, the UN has been slow to incorporate and make use of intersectionality’s insights. Since approximately 2000, UN treaty bodies have cautiously begun to explore intersectionality as a theoretical framework for examining rights violations. The results of this trend are encouraging. When the treaty bodies embrace intersectionality, they are better able to reflect and remedy the complexity of human rights violations. Remedies focused only on one axis of discrimination, in contrast, provide only limited relief for victims and stymie a full and nuanced understanding of the violations at issue.