Beyond gender equality? Anti-gender campaigns and the erosion of human rights and democracy
| Date | 01 March 2021 |
| Published date | 01 March 2021 |
| DOI | 10.1177/0924051921996697 |
| Author | Lorena Sosa |
| Subject Matter | Column |
Column
Beyond gender equality?
Anti-gender campaigns
and the erosion of human
rights and democracy
Lorena Sosa
Universiteit Utrecht, Utrecht, the Netherlands
Abstract
Although resistance to the incorporation of ‘gender’ in human rights law and policies is not new,
since 2013 anti-gender campaigns have articulated as movements and increased their visibility.
More recently, the transnational dimension of the anti-gender offensive has become visible as a
challenge to human rights standards, including the anti-violence against women project, and a
process of democratic erosion. In this column, I make a short overview of this social and political
phenomenon and describe how these anti-gender campaigns have entered the human rights
systems and their discourse has shifted from religious justifications towards legal ones. I conclude
with generalsuggestions to strengthenthe resilience of the human rightssystems to these processes.
Keywords
Anti-gender campaigns, gender ideology, gender equality, gender diversity, gender-based violence
1. INTRODUCTION
‘Rather than (as I had mistakenly thought) becoming clearer over time, gender has become more
elusive; the site of contestation, a disputed concept in the arena of politics’.
Scott, 2013:65.
The last 40 years have seen significant developments in relation to gender equality and the
protection of women from violence, larg ely the result of women successfully orga nising and
advocating for their rights. The United Nations (UN), the Organization of American States (OAS),
the European Union (EU), and the Council of Europe (CoE) have engaged with women’s
Corresponding author:
Lorena Sosa, Universiteit Utrecht, Heidelberglaan 8, 3584 CS Utrecht, the Netherlands.
E-mail: l.p.a.sosa@uu.nl
Netherlands Quarterly of Human Rights
2021, Vol. 39(1) 3–10
ªThe Author(s) 2021
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DOI: 10.1177/0924051921996697
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