Gender Perspective in the Recent Case Law of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights

Abstract

Abstract For more than a dozen years, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACtHR) has paid special attention to cases involving gender-based violence and gender stereotypes. These two phenomena are closely linked, as prejudices, beliefs, cultural values and discriminatory stereotypes can be one of the factors that legitimise violence. Gender-based violence is directed against individuals because of their gender, particularly women and girls, and takes many forms. The purpose of this article is to provide an analysis of the evolution of the practice of the IACtHR from a gender perspective, based on selected judgments and advisory opinions. Each of these decisions addresses different aspects of the lives of individuals and concerns the groups that are most vulnerable to human rights violations. The common denominator is that the Court’s work contains, to a greater or lesser extent, an element of novelty or indication of new trends.