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Sex/Gender Segregation: A Human Rights Violation, Not a Protection
Tueller, Jessica
Tueller, Jessica
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Abstract
This Article argues that human rights law should be interpreted to
prohibit sex/gender segregation in all contexts, including education,
employment, bathrooms, prisons, and sports, because of the gendered harms it
produces. Prohibiting sex/gender segregation would constitute a departure from
the current approach of international and regional human rights mechanisms,
which has been to discourage sex/gender segregation in education and
employment, require it in bathrooms and prisons, and devote little attention to
it in other contexts, such as sports. This departure is needed because sex/gender
segregation, no matter the context, perpetuates and reinforces gender
stereotypes to the detriment of everyone, especially women and LGBTI
persons. Since international law requires States to modify harmful gender
stereotypes and eliminate wrongful gender stereotyping, States have an
international obligation to eliminate sex/gender segregation regardless of the
context in which it occurs. Common arguments in favor of sex/gender
segregation, arising out of protection, choice, and culture, do not prevent
human rights mechanisms from finding that international law prohibits
sex/gender segregation, but these concerns should be taken into consideration
when proceeding toward the elimination of sex/gender segregation.
Implementation of this prohibition on sex/gender segregation will need to be
gradual and context-specific.