International Legal Protection of Women in Latin America and the Caribbean

Abstract

The issue of international protection of women’s rights has gained relevance in recent years. However, the Inter-American mechanisms are underestimated by scholars of international law. This research represents an overview of academic articles, books, documents of international organizations, and court decisions that create an image of the genesis of Inter-American mechanisms of women’s protection and expand on the current situation with women’s rights in the Americas. When we talk about the Inter-American system, we deal with all the member states of the Organization of American States (OAS), including the United States, Canada, and the thirty-three Latin American states. It is important to mention that Nicaragua withdrew from the OAS in November 2023; however, the state did not denounce any regional human rights treaties. While Cuba, whose government was excluded from the OAS in 1962, remains a dejure member of the Organization, since it has never denounced the OAS Charter and is bound by its international human rights obligations. These legal and political features need to be mentioned to accurately understand the real number of the OAS member states (at the current date, thirty-four), which may vary in different normative acts and research papers. However, in this article the author mostly focuses on the latter, considering the proactivity of Latin America and the Caribbean in establishing gender agenda and the accession of these states to the core regional human rights treaties, including the Inter-American Convention on the Prevention, Punishment, and Eradication of Violence against Women (the Belém do Pará Convention). The Inter-American system has offered a unique regional set of mechanisms for the protection of women from gender-based violence and discrimination. Thanks to the efforts of the Inter-American Commission of Women and the Follow-up Mechanism for the Implementation of the Inter-American Convention on the Prevention, Punishment, and Eradication of Violence against Women (MESECVI), it has become easier to hold the states accountable and monitor their compliance with international obligations. The jurisprudence of the Inter-American Court and its advisory jurisdiction have allowed it to enshrine such notions as “feminicide” in regional legal practice and prompted the states of the region to undertake steps toward the criminalization of domestic, sexual, psychological, and physical violence against women. While the region is on its path to adopting laws that penalize these crimes, Latin America is still known to be one of the most dangerous places for women. Although the OAS and its special bodies have done a lot to improve the life of women in the Americas, Latin American women are still a long way off from calling their home a safe place.