“Equality, Development and Peace for All Women Everywhere”? : An Analysis of Sexual Violence Against Women and Concurring International Conventions Concerned with Protecting the Rights of Women

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Linköping University | Department of Management and Engineering Master’s thesis, 30 credits | Master of Science in International and European Relations Spring 2020 | ISRN-number: LIU-IEI-FIL-A--20/03492--SE

“Equality, Development and Peace

for All Women Everywhere”?

–

An Analysis of Sexual Violence Against Women and Concurring

International Conventions Concerned with Protecting the Rights of Women

by

Annika Sophie Müller

Supervisor: Charlotte Fridolfsson Examiner: Khalid Khayati

Linköping University SE-581 83 Linköping, Sweden +46 013 28 10 00, www.liu.se

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I. Abstract

Violence against women continues to be an issue that severely impacts women worldwide.

Since the global spread of the #MeToo movement in 2017, debates regarding this issue

significantly increased. Yet the precise ways in which women are impacted by violence, heavily

influenced by their unique and diverse aspects of identity, are often disregarded. By focusing

on two of these aspects of identity, namely gender and nationality, and comparing the

circumstances of sexual violence against women in Germany, Nigeria, and South Korea, this

thesis aims to showcase the diverse experiences of ‘being a woman’ and what this implies

regarding the issue of sexual violence against women. With an additional analysis of four

important international conventions aimed at ameliorating women’s lives (UDHR, CEDAW,

DEVAW, and BPfA) regarding their acknowledgement of this diversity and guided by three

theories, namely Multi-Ethnic Feminism, Feminist Postcolonialism, and Intersectionality, this

thesis highlights the necessity of including everyone and their unique experiences with all kinds

of discrimination to adequately tackle an issue such as sexual violence against women.

Keywords: Feminist Theory, Multi-Ethnic Feminist Theory, Postcolonial Theory, Feminist Postcolonial Theory, Intersectionality, Violence Against Women, Sexual Violence, CEDAW, UDHR, DEVAW, BPfA, Germany, South Korea, Nigeria, International Conventions, Women’s Rights, Thematic Analysis, Problem-Solution Discourse, ‘What is the Problem Represented to Be’

Approach, WPR Approach, ‘Motifs, Issues, Representations, and Implications’ Approach, MIRI Approach

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II. Acknowledgements

First and foremost, I would like to thank my family for their unwavering support over the

last few years, be that by comforting me with encouraging words or by backing my decision to

study-abroad. Another thanks goes to my friends, those who have known me for a long time,

but also those who I have met along the way. Meeting each and everyone of you has helped me

grow as a person and for that, I will forever be thankful.

I am also grateful to my supervisor Charlotte Fridolfsson, who has been there for me through

every step of the way of this thesis. She always made me feel like I could come to her with any

questions I had, and her feedback truly helped to make this thesis into what it is today.

I would also like to express my gratitude towards both Linköping University as well as my

exchange university in Guelph, which have allowed me to pursue my interests. Especially the

University of Guelph and the courses I took there have shaped this thesis in undeniable ways.

Finally, I want to thank those who came before me. Those individuals who made it possible

for me to exercise my right to vote. Those activists that fought for my right to education and

without whom this thesis would have never existed in the first place. Those fighters that have

paved the way for me and so many others to be able to be our true selves. Without your

herculean work and your unbending will to fight for more equality, I would not have the same

possibilities to live my life as I do now. In the same vain, I want to thank those that will come

after me, that will speak up against the continuing inequalities of the world and that will not

remain silent in the face of injustice.

“It is not our differences that divide us. It is our inability to recognize, accept, and celebrate those differences.”

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III. Abbreviations and Glossary

BPfA Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action

BJ-G Twenty-fifth Anniversary of the Fourth World Conference on Women and Adoption of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (1995): Report of the Federal Republic of Germany

BJ-N National Beijing +25 Review (Nigeria)

BJ-SK National Review on the implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (1995) and the outcomes of the twenty-third special session of the General Assembly (2000) (South Korea)

CEDAW Convention of the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women

Committee Committee on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination

COR-G Consideration of reports submitted by States parties under article 18 of the Convention: Seventh and eighth periodic reports of States parties due in 2014 (Germany)

COR-N Consideration of reports submitted by States parties under article 18 of the Convention: Seventh and eighth periodic reports of States parties due in 2014 (Nigeria)

COR-SK Consideration of reports submitted by States parties under article 18 of the Convention: Eighth periodic report of States parties due in 2015 (Republic of Korea)

CO-G Concluding observations on the combined seventh and eighth periodic reports of Germany

CO-N Concluding observations on the combined seventh and eighth periodic reports of Nigeria

CO-SK Concluding observations on the eighth periodic report of the Republic of Korea

DEVAW Declaration on the Elimination of Violence Against Women

EU European Union

FGM Female genital mutilation

GBV Gender-based violence

IR International Relations

MIRI ‘Motifs, Issues, Representations, and Implications’ approach PSD Problem-Solution Discourse

UDHR Universal Declaration of Human Rights

UN United Nations

VAW Violence against women

WHO World Health Organization

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1. Introduction

“No woman in the world is secure against violence. Throughout the world, women’s bodies are vulnerable to a range of violent assaults that include domestic violence, rape within marriage, rape by acquaintances or dates, rape by strangers, rape in wars and communal conflicts, honor killing, trafficking and forced prostitution, child sexual abuse, female infanticide, female genital mutilation, and sex-selective abortion.”

Martha C. Nussbaum (167)

As Nussbaum’s quote highlights, violence against women [VAW] is a serious issue that affects every woman worldwide. An estimate by UN Women shows that around 35 percent of

women worldwide have experienced partner or non-partner violence throughout their lifetimes,

excluding sexual harassment (Facts and Figures). Some national evaluations report even higher

numbers. Additionally, many survivors of gender1-based violence [GBV] are reluctant to report

such crimes and even if they do, often the perpetrator is not appropriately, if at all, punished

(Nussbaum 169). While available data regarding this issue has increased in recent years (UN

Department of Economic and Social Affairs 140), it is still severely lacking and most definitely

inaccurate (Nussbaum 169).

The World Health Organization [WHO] has classified VAW as “a significant public

health problem, as well as a fundamental violation of women’s human rights.” (Global and Regional Estimates of Violence Against Women) Moreover, programs and initiatives by

governments as well as various organizations on all levels, from the international to the local,

1_{It is important to highlight the discourse surrounding the terms gender and sex. Sex is a term that generally}

refers to a binary concept based on biological factors. Upon birth, a child is typically assigned a sex (either male or female) based on the genitals they are born with and the chromosomes they have. People who are born with anatomy that does not fall precisely into one of these two categories are often forced to undergo corrective medical procedures at an age where they are unable to give their informed consent to the procedure.

Gender, on the other hand, is a more complex concept. It is heavily influenced by society’s gender roles and expectations. Importantly, gender is not binary but more like a spectrum. People can also identify as nonbinary, genderqueer, agender, or other gender identities. This concept is apparent in non-Western societies as well, for example the two-spirit community within indigenous American cultures. (Sex and

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have been, at least partly, implemented worldwide to tackle this issue. Yet GBV continues to

exist and severely impact women. As Nussbaum further states:

[T]he fact is that no woman who is rational is ever utterly free of the fear of such violence, whether she has ever experienced violence herself or not. This fear, itself a form of psychological violence, takes its toll on women’s lives. (168)

Dissecting this issue is therefore not only important because it is a violation of fundamental

human rights, but because this violation impacts all women everywhere.

However, the way in which women are impacted by this persistent violence varies. What

has become clear over the years is that some women, depending on certain aspects of their

identity, such as but not limited to nationality, culture, class, or sexuality, are more vulnerable

to suffer GBV. Feminist and other scholars all over the world have analyzed the issue of VAW,

each with their own focus on aspects they find most critical. These studies have shown that

these aspects of identity correlate to certain privileges and disadvantages each woman incurs,

which heavily influence the ways in which VAW impacts these women. Equally important is

how these privileges and disadvantages affect the applicability and appropriateness of

programs, initiatives, and conventions meant to tackle this issue. While recent international

conventions such as the Beijing Declaration state that their goal is to ameliorate the lives of all

women everywhere, these conventions tend to be influenced by, what postcolonial scholars call,

Eurocentrism. This worldview that is centered on Western ideals, norms, and gender

stereotypes therefore disregards the existence of other ways of life and the experiences and

circumstances fostered by these non-stereotypical Western environments. Initiatives and

conventions guided by this Eurocentrism can hence be criticized for not being applicable or

appropriate to ameliorate the lives of all women everywhere.

1.1. Thesis Aim and Research Questions

Based on the assumption that the initiatives currently in place to tackle the issue of VAW

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is to reveal if and how the circumstances of women in regard to sexual violence differ depending

on the women’s nationality, and whether concurring international conventions to tackle sexual violence against women are taking these diverse circumstances into account. Furthermore, it

aims to critiquethe prospective acknowledgement of these varying circumstances within these

conventions by employing Multi-Ethnic Feminist, Feminist Postcolonial and Intersectional

Theory.

To fulfill this aim, the following research questions will be applied:

1) How do the circumstances of sexual violence against women differ depending on

whether they live in and are citizens of the Federal Republic of Germany, the Federal

Republic of Nigeria, or the Republic of Korea?

2) How are these differences acknowledged within the Universal Declaration of

Human Rights [UDHR], the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of

Discrimination Against Women [CEDAW], the Declaration on the Elimination of

Violence against Women [DEVAW], as well as the Beijing Declaration and

Platform for Action [BPfA]?

3) How could the prospective acknowledgement of these diverging national

circumstances in these international conventions be critiqued using Multi-Ethnic

Feminist, Feminist Postcolonial, and Intersectional Theory?

1.2. Previous Research

There have been many studies focusing on different issues that women face. Of note

regarding the topic of this thesis are those that have concentrated on the issues of VAW as well

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Important contributions to the study of the intersection of gender and race were made

by, to name a few, Patricia Hill Collins, bell hooks, and Kimberlé Crenshaw. Theorists such as

Chandra Mohanty, Leela Gandhi, and of course Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak have contributed

important works to the study of gender in a postcolonial context. Other scholars have focused

on further aspects of identity, like race, gender, class, and sexuality (Fogg-Davis), dis/ability,

sexuality, and gendering (Garland-Thomson), or dis/ability, race, culture, and colonialism

(Kliewer and Fitzgerald). Several of these authors’ contributions to the three theories used

within this thesis will be further discussed in chapter 3.

Additionally, various scholars have already analyzed and critiqued the conventions

investigated in this thesis, such as Jennifer Ulrich, Hilary Charlesworth, Kjersti Skarstad,

Shazia Qureshi, Darren Rosenblum, Rikki Holtmaat, Holtmaat and Paul Post, Laura Shepherd,

S. Anuja, Mary Treuthart, Alice Edwards, Rebecca Cook, Dianne Otto, Susan Moller Okin, and

Tarsis Brito. Their contributions will be further discussed in chapter 5.

The authors named here present only a fraction of the continuous work concerned with

the theme of women’s rights and the issues they face. However, especially within the sub-field

of International Relations [IR], there still remains a need for more research regarding these

topics.

1.3. Thesis’ Structure

This thesis is structured in the following way: first, the methodology that is being

applied within this thesis will be outlined. This includes a brief mention of the nature of data as

well as a description of the data sampling method that are being used. Moreover, the employed

research design will be defined. This is followed by an outline of three qualitative data analysis

methods that have been combined into one method, namely the MIRI approach, created

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with the three theories that are at the forefront of this thesis. This is then followed by an analysis

concerned with examining reports regarding the situation of sexual violence against women in

three different countries, as clarified in research question 1. Because this analysis is primarily

factual in nature, the three theories will not be applied within this chapter. Instead, the analysis

in chapter 4 serves as an empirical justification of the application of the theories in chapter 5.

Said chapter deals with the prospective acknowledgment of these diverse circumstances within

four international conventions that are aimed at establishing women’s rights and tackling the

issue of gender inequality; this chapter also offers a critique of this prospective

acknowledgment when viewed through the lens of the three theories, thereby addressing

research questions 2 and 3. Finally, a brief conclusion will be provided at the end of this thesis.

1.4. Limitations

Before delving further into the main parts of this thesis, it is important to point out a few

limitations as well as information that will inevitably influence this thesis and its results.

First, there are several reasons why these three specific countries have been chosen as

cases for the following analyses. For one, it is their differences that are very suitable for this

thesis. Germany, South Korea, and Nigeria all have various historical backgrounds, diverging

geographical and economic positions, as well as dissimilar presumed status quos of the

circumstances and rights of women, which create diverse circumstances and daily lives for their citizens. Moreover, while Germany is considered a ‘developed country’ within global politics, South Korea is currently seen as still being in the process, albeit very close, to becoming one

as well. Nigeria, on the other hand, is still considered a ‘developing country’. Additional information regarding these countries can be found in appendix I.

Furthermore, the four conventions analyzed within this thesis have been chosen due to their importance for human and especially women’s rights as well as their varying emphasis on

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the issue of VAW. Also of interest is their historical timeline, with the UDHR being the first of

these four conventions to be implemented and the Beijing Declaration being the most recent

one.

Violence against women can occur in many different forms and places. To narrow down

this broad issue, this thesis will focus solely on sexual violence against women in non-conflict

situations instead of other types of violence, such as but not limited to physical or emotional

violence, or sexual violence particularly in conflict situations. A definition of VAW, in

particular sexual violence, can be found in appendix II. Due to the limitations of a master’s

thesis, the focus will furthermore only be on the influence of nationality on the circumstances

of women. Other factors such as sexual orientation or religion, while undoubtedly very

interesting in this context, are often not specified in the data utilized within this thesis.

It is important to highlight that even though the availability of data regarding sexual

violence against women has increased recently, it is still rather difficult to collect this kind of

data due to the nature of this issue. Sexual violence against women is a highly sensitive topic

and many women, for various and entirely valid reasons, decide to not come forward or are

forced to keep quiet. Moreover, those that do report incidents of sexual violence might be in

danger of being triggered and therefore (re-)traumatized if those offering support and help are

not adequately trained. Cultural and societal expectations can also heavily influence the

availability of data. Therefore, while sufficient data has been collected to analyze the

above-outlined research questions, one must note that this data is likely very incomplete. This does

not interfere with the validity of the results provided in this thesis because, as stated, sufficient

data has been collected and a qualitative approach to analyze this data has been chosen instead

of a quantitative one – but it is nevertheless an important factor to highlight. This conundrum

also adds to the necessity of studies such as the one at hand which showcase the graveness of

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Finally, it is important to point out that the author of this thesis has, like every human

being, certain privileges and disadvantages. Necessary to know for this thesis is that the author

is a white woman that has never been discriminated against because of her skin color or

ethnicity. This fact must be highlighted since all three countries and particularly South Korea

and Nigeria have citizens that are women of color. The author wants to clarify that this thesis

is in no way or form meant to speak for these women. Instead, the aim is to use the author’s

privilege to shed light on this important issue and on the fact that the circumstances surrounding

sexual violence against women differ very much depending on various factors. It is the author’s

hope that, by shining a light on this issue, this will help increase discussions about this issue

and its complexity and, most importantly, highlight the necessity to include everyone and their

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2. Methodology

2.1. Data and Data Collection

2.1.1. Nature of the Employed Data

There are two types of data, primary and secondary, and although there is no clean-cut

distinction between these two types (Bryman 13-14), each type nonetheless exhibits certain

unique inherent characteristics.

Primary data can be defined as data that has been collected or observed directly from

within or close by to the phenomenon, issue, or problem that is being investigated, and is hence

often classified as being ‘first-hand’ (Walliman 63). Secondary data, on the other hand, is the –

often written – interpretation of such primary data. The most common types of secondary data

are published books, journal papers, or articles, that outline information about previously

collected primary data. This data can hence be classified as being ‘second-hand’ (Walliman

63).

The official documents regarding the international conventions aimed at ameliorating women’s rights and tackling issues such as sexual violence against women are considered primary data. This is due to the fact that these documents themselves are one of the focal points

to be analyzed within this thesis. Additionally, the reports provided by United Nations [UN]

agencies’ websites as well as by national governments are being considered secondary data.

2.1.2. Sampling Method

To collect the above-outlined data, two types of sampling are being used: purposive and

an approach inspired by snowball sampling. Purposive sampling is a method in which data is

collected in a purposive manner based on specific criteria (Walliman 212). Said criteria can be

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such as pre-existing knowledge or theories (Ritchie, Lewis, and Elam 80). Based on these

criteria, the researcher uses purposive sampling to collect emblematic samples (Walliman 79).

The second method is inspired by the snowball sampling approach, which is a

nonprobability sampling method that, like purposive sampling, does not aim to collect random

samples. Instead, the first step of this method is deciding on a small sample of individuals which

is likely to provide answers to the researcher’s inquiries. This first sample serves as a guide for

the researcher to gain more data based on the referrals made by or within the first sample group.

This first wave of referred individuals can then in turn be used to gain further data (Bryman

424). Metaphorically speaking, this sample “subsequently expands wave by wave like a

snowball growing in size as it rolls down a hill” (Heckathorn 356); hence the term snowball

sampling. Similar to this snowball sampling method, for this thesis, data is being gathered from

an initial purposive sample. However, instead of individuals, this sample consists of articles,

reports, or books related to the issue at hand. The referrals made to other scholars and texts

within this first sample are then being used to find further concurring samples to gather

additional data. To tackle the potential drawback of non-diverse data that this approach incurs

(Ritchie, Lewis, and Elam 79), special care is being taken to ensure that the data is being

gathered from not just one initial purposive sample group, but instead several initial and

purposively chosen samples that reflect diverging standpoints regarding the issue under

investigation. This method of sampling is being employed until sufficient and diverse data has

been collected.

2.2. Research Design: Comparative Case Study

The focal point of a case study is one or more so-called case(s). A case can be defined

as “an instance of a class of events of interest to the investigator” (Bennett 20-21), which is often taking place within a single location. The setting of a case therefore tends to be a vital

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part of its examination (Bryman 67). Each case can be analyzed by observing more than one of

its characteristics or variables (Bennet 20).

A case study can be defined as a selective, multi-perspective analysis in which the

researcher considers not just the voice and perspective of the ‘actors’, but also of the relevant

groups of actors and particularly the interaction between them (Tellis 6). Moreover, case studies

can be used both for theory generation as well as theory testing (Bryman 71).

Critics of case studies claim that their biggest disadvantage is the inability to be

representative (Bennett 43). Due to the nature of most case studies, it is indeed difficult to apply

the results of a case study, especially a single-case study, to the general population. However,

the aim of most case studies is not to widely generalize a problem. Instead, most researchers

that use case studies as their research design are focused on “the goal of providing the strongest possible inferences on particular theories or of using deviant cases to help identify left-out

variables.” (Bennett 43) It is this focus on causality and the possibility to explain the occurrence of certain phenomena that makes the case study method so appealing to IR researchers (Bennett

38). Moreover, case studies can be seen as providing “contingent generalizations that apply to

cases that are similar to those under study” (Bennett 43).

Another reason why this approach is being utilized within this thesis is that it allows for

both a more detailed focus on certain concepts and the development of new variables and

hypotheses (Bennett 35). Indeed, within the field of political science, concepts such as

inequality are difficult to measure and analyze when disconnected from the specific contexts in

which they occur. Using a case study method allows for not only a detailed analysis of complex

concepts, but also for their assessment within either similar or diverse contexts (Bryman 74),

which is precisely why this research design is highly beneficial for a thesis concerned with

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suitable when the researcher aims to examine a complex concept in contrasting and/or similar

contexts, using more or less identical methods (Bryman 72), as is the case within this thesis.

2.3. Qualitative Data Analysis

In order to provide as much of a detailed analysis as possible, three qualitative data

analysis methods will be combined within this thesis: thematic analysis, problem-solution

discourse, and the ‘What is the Problem Represented to Be’ approach. In the following, each of these three methods will be briefly outlined.

2.3.1. Thematic Analysis

The first method that is being employed to analyze the qualitative data used within this

thesis is thematic analysis. This method is “used to classify and organise data according to key

themes, concepts and emergent categories.” (Ritchie, Spencer, and O’Connor 220)

While analyzing a document, the researcher takes note of certain patterns that reveal

themselves during the process. Most patterns tend to be based on specific conversation topics,

vocabulary, expressions of emotions, or recurring activities (Aronson 2). Once collected, these

patterns are then combined and grouped into thematic units. These themes or sub-themes tend

to be informed by categories identified by the researcher which relate to the research issue at

hand. They are then likewise sorted and organized, which is most sufficiently done by creating

a matrix. This matrix can be used to not only list and group the data into themes but can also be

helpful for noting the number of occurrences of certain patterns, such as sentences or particular

words, as well as a preliminary interpretation of the sentiment behind this data. This helps the

researcher to infer the predominance of themes as well as their initial positive or negative

connotation (Roberts 263). This method is very well suited for providing a certain framework

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2.3.2. Problem-Solution Discourse

The second method is the so-called problem-solution discourse [PSD]. This method is

based on and incorporates interrogative insertion, which is the analysis of a text by inserting

implied questions into said text. The answers to these questions are then provided by the text

itself, whereby the specific representation of themes within the text and the concurring

implications of this are revealed to the researcher (Walliman 140).

PSD further develops this method by closely analyzing these implications. Nicholas

Walliman claims that “[m]ost statements can be read to have one of two implications. The first is the assertion of a fact or a report of a situation, the second is a call for action or a command.” (140) By applying PSD, statements within a text are analyzed and sorted into four categories:

the situation, the problem, the response, and the result and/or evaluation (Walliman 140). Either

of these four categories may be more detailed than the others, most likely in connection with a

deeper interest into one or more of these categories. From a linguistic point of view, it is likely

that the statements entail a positive evaluation of at least one of the provided solutions (Navas

Brenes 3). When applying this method, it is important for the researcher to keep this linguistic

aspect in mind since it could potentially manipulate the results of a problem-solution discourse

analysis.

2.3.3. ‘What is the Problem Represented to Be’ Approach

Finally, the following method is being employed: developed by Carol Bacchi, the

‘What’s the Problem Represented to Be’ [WPR] approach can be used for critical analysis of documents. As stated by Bacchi, “[i]t starts from the premise that what one proposes to do about

something reveals what one thinks is problematic (needs to change).” (21) While Bacchi has

applied this approach to mainly policy proposals, it can also be utilized when analyzing reports

and conventions, as is the case within this thesis. The basis of this approach is the assumption

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can convey important implications regarding not only the statement, but also the originator of

said statement (Bacchi 21).

The WPR approach is built upon seven steps, six of which are based on the application

of questions, as showcased in figure 1.

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As will be further outlined in sub-chapter 2.4., steps one, two, four, five, and six are

being utilized within this thesis.

2.4. MIRI Approach

To summarize, the data used within this thesis is being analyzed by combining three

qualitative data approaches together, namely thematic analysis, PSD, and the WPR approach.

This combination is applied by employing the following steps, outlined in figure 2:

The above-outlined steps constitute a qualitative approach that will henceforth be called the ‘Motifs, Issues, Representations, and Implications’ approach, or in short, the MIRI approach.

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Within this thesis, this approach is operationalized in the following way: first, after

collecting data relevant for this topic, these documents are being divided into four clusters. One

cluster consists of the four international conventions at the forefront of this thesis, namely the

UDHR, CEDAW, DEVAW, and the Beijing Declaration. The other three clusters relate to the

empirical data analyzed in chapter 4. These three clusters are being sorted into three categories:

the national reviews by each of the three governments compiled for the 25th anniversary of the

Fourth World Conference on Women2, the national reports submitted by each country to the

United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women [Committee],

and the concluding observations of these reports by the Committee.

Each document is then analyzed by focusing on recurring themes prevalent in all documents

of a cluster. For the cluster consisting of the international conventions, the identified themes

are equality, diversity, health and well-being, the presentation of women, as well as ideology.

For the other three clusters, the recurring patterns are divided into the following themes:

legislative measures, conduct regarding the aftermath of GBV, matters concerning the

government, cultural aspects, education, health care, trafficking in persons, country-specific

issues, as well as current major challenges and priorities for the next five years, as outlined in

the national Beijing+25 reviews. For each theme, the outlined situation is then briefly

summarized, followed by its analysis using the questions specified in step 4 of figure 2.

However, due to the different nature of the documents analyzed, the interpretation of the

results of these analyses will vary. The clusters of the reports providing empirical data by the

national governments and the Committee are looked at from a more factual point of view,

whereas the analyses of the conventions are deeply intertwined with and guided by the three

2_{This anniversary of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action was planned to be the focal point of the 64}th

session of the Commission on the Status of Women, scheduled to take place from March 9 to 20, 2020, but suspended until further notice due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. See:

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theories used in this thesis. Moreover, the results of the empirical data will be directly

compared, i.e. the circumstances in each country will be contrasted to one another in regard to

each individual theme. Concerning the conventions, however, while a comparison between the

documents will be presented, this is not done in regard to each individual theme but rather as a

comparison of the conventions and their inclusivity as a whole. Therefore, while the MIRI

approach is being applied to all of these documents, specific and varying focal points are being

put on the interpretations of the results acquired by employing the MIRI approach, due to the

differing nature of these documents as well as their connection to the three theories. Due to the

limitations of this thesis, only the results of these analyses will be provided in chapters 4 and 5.

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3. Theoretical Framework

Before outlining each theory, it is important to note that these theories are being interpreted

in a way that particularly suits the issue and modes of analysis of this thesis. The interpretations

of these three theories as presented here by the author are only one of many. Specifically, within

this thesis Multi-Ethnic Feminism is being viewed as being primarily feminist with an

additional focus on nationality, whereas Feminist Postcolonialism is considered as being

primarily concerned with the aspect of nationality with an additional focus on gender and

feminist issues. In contrast to these theories, Intersectionality is considered to be neither

primarily feminist in nature nor postcolonial. Instead, both aspects are considered equally

important since it is the intersection of these two characteristics that is believed to influence the

diverse situations being analyzed within this thesis. This particular reading of the theories has

been chosen due to its specific alignment with the research aims of this thesis and is in no way

meant to imply the incorrectness of other interpretations.

3.1. Multi-Ethnic Feminist Theory

Feminist theory is generally understood as stemming from and being part of grassroots

social justice movements. Compared to other theories, such as liberalism or realism, feminist theory’s inclusion into academia is relatively recent – beginning in the 1970s and 1980s (Zalewski 18). Following the UN Decade of Women which lasted from 1975 to 1985, the late

1980s saw a notable rising interest in feminist studies, at a time when the so-called second wave of women’s movement activism was at its height in many countries (Enloe 107).

The concept of feminist theory is not easily defined since there are many types of

feminist theory. Each of these types has its advantages and disadvantages and it very much

depends on the individual researcher which feminist theory they deem most appropriate to

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invisible visible, bringing the margin to the center, rendering the trivial important, putting the

spotlight on women as competent actors, [and] understanding women as subjects in their own

right rather than objects for men” (qdt. in Tickner 7). By including these perspectives, feminist scholars, as Cynthia Enloe eloquently expresses, “also [make] ‘men-as-men’ visible and

masculinity problematic. […] In short, feminism is a complex set of understandings about how power operates, how power is legitimized and how power is perpetuated.” (99)

Just as there is no single universally agreed upon feminist theory, there is no single

feminist research method. Nevertheless, there are four methodological guidelines that generally

inform feminist research: a deep concern that influences which research questions are being

posed and why, wanting to do research that is useful for women (and men), a focus on

reflexivity and especially the subjectivity of the researcher, as well as viewing knowledge as

emancipation (Tickner 4). Particularly noteworthy here is the belief that a researcher must be

aware of their own position, i.e. their privileges, background, and influences, to create true

objectivity.

To summarize, feminist scholars aim to “challenge dominant assumptions about what is

significant or insignificant, or what are central or marginal concerns” (Mertus 324), by listening

to women and realizing “how the subjective meaning they attach to their lived experiences are so often at variance with meanings internalized from society at large” (Tickner 4). It is this

interdependence of the concepts of masculinity and femininity, indeed gender and its

significance itself, that feminist scholars aim to analyze (Peterson 6).

Around the same time feminist studies in general gained prominence, the first generation

of feminist scholars within the field of IR began to challenge the conventional ontological and

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While the subsequent generation of feminist researchers within IR aimed to make gender a

central focal point of analysis, the third generation

[m]ore cautious and precise in its analytic use of the concept of gender, and more closely tied to developments in critical international theor[ies], […] provides empirical support for first-generation challenges, while also generating new theoretical insight on the gendering of global politics. (True, “Feminism” 216)

Feminist theory’s relationship with the field of IR has been from the beginning, and

continues to be, an ambiguous one. This is partly due to the fact that feminist IR theory as a

concept itself is difficult to narrow down and classify. As Christine Sylvester states, this theory

“has many types and shifting forms. It is non-uniform and non-consensual; it is a complex matter with many internal debates” (qdt. in True, “Feminism and Gender Studies” 7). Another reason is this theory’s non-conformity to typically used methodologies within IR. The lack of a commonly agreed upon methodology for feminist IR studies continues to be a much-debated

topic within IR (Zalewski 5). Indeed, as of today, there is no unanimously agreed upon “body

of literature on methodologies that would enable feminist scholars to learn from one another.

As a result, the significance of methodology for feminist IR and the study of global politics is

not well understood or appreciated.” (Ackerly et al. 2)

Since the first feminist contributions to IR by scholars such as Ann Tickner, Spike

Peterson, or Sylvester in the early 1990s, feminist IR theory has challenged conventional modii

operandi of this sub-field. Feminist theory can thus be perceived as being positioned on the margins of IR’s mainstream as a theory that is present but not often engaged with (West 2). Feminist IR scholars criticize the mainstream’s assumption of “pre-dominantly

male-constructed reality as a given, and thus as the beginning and end of investigation and

knowledge-building.” (Youngs 77) They believe that not only global politics but the field of IR

itself are deeply influenced by the notion of gendered hierarchies which privilege men (Peterson

6). While concepts like rationality, objectiveness, and the public sphere are associated with

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femininity. This automatically devalues these notions due to the perceived superiority of

masculinity over femininity. This heavily influences the way IR scholars perceive global

politics as well as integral concepts such as security, violence, and power (Zalewski 3).

Feminists therefore believe that the way knowledge within this field is currently constructed

must be analyzed and challenged to uncover these skewed assumptions (Mertus 324). The most

innate goal of this is to make women and their realities visible within IR, not just as objects,

but as social, economic, and especially political subjects (Steans 435). Only by analyzing and

understanding the existing unequal gender relations that influence every aspect of IR, they

claim, can this target be achieved (True, “Feminism and Gender Studies” 1).

While white feminist activism gained momentum, there were also many feminist

organizations and groups consisting of primarily women of color. Within the United States,

these were women of African American, Native American, Asian American, or Latin American

heritage (Zinn and Dill 328). Yet for a long time, within academia, the experiences and wisdoms

of these women have been ignored in favor of focusing entirely on the struggles of what can be

described as the ‘stereotypical white Western woman’, i.e. a woman that is white, straight,

cisgender, able-bodied, educated, and oftentimes also middle-class and Christian, that was

likewise born and lives in a developed country. This so-called White Feminism3 assumes that

every woman shares the same experiences as this stereotypical white woman. In reality, of

course, this is far from the truth. Over the years, feminist scholars had to ask themselves: “Who

is included and who excluded in current definitions of ‘woman’ and ‘feminism’? Who is

empowered to represent or speak for ‘women’? Whose interests (which actual women and men) are served by context-specific feminist or women’s movement agendas?” (Peterson 2).

3_{White Feminism can be defined as feminism aimed particularly at improving the lives of stereotypical white}

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In reality, women are not only disadvantaged because of their gender and society’s

negative connotations of femininity. Instead, criteria such as ethnicity, sexuality, dis/ability, or

religion can also lead to discrimination (True, “Feminism and Gender Studies” 10). Therefore,

if one aims to uncover the nuances of gender inequality and advance women’s rights, these

different experiences of ‘being a woman’ must be included in these efforts.

There are a variety of ways this sentiment has expressed itself within feminist academia.

In the United States, for example, the feminist theory that concerns itself with the special

circumstances of women of color, particularly of African American or Latina heritage, is

typically called Black Feminism (Thompson 338). Beginning in the late 1960s, scholars of this

theory have criticized the exclusion of women of color from feminist scholarship as well as the

overbearing ignorance and misunderstanding regarding the particular experiences of women of

color (Zinn and Dill 321). As Maxine Zinn and Bonnie Dill highlight, it “is the centrality of

race, of institutionalized racism, and of struggles against racial oppression that link the various

feminist perspectives within this framework. Together, they demonstrate that racial meanings

offer new theoretical directions for feminist thought.” (321)

Another theory, Feminist Internationality, thrives to acknowledge and confront these

differences amongst women (True, “Feminism” 231), while Multiracial Feminism is based on

“situating women and men in multiple systems of domination.” (Zinn and Dill 323-324) Another frequently used term is Third-World Feminism. This theory, while sharing the same

sentiments with the previously named theories, also focuses on crucial issues such as “cultural

identity, language, nationalism and the position of women within the newly-emerging nation

states, female self-representation, and critical interrogations of white, bourgeois western

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To label the type of feminist theory that advocates the inclusion of the diverse realities

of ‘being a woman’, many terms can be used. The different feminist scholars “speak in many

voices, with inconsistencies that are born of [their] different social locations.” (Zinn and Dill

326) Yet they all share the same unifying believe that

women and men throughout the social order experience different forms of privilege and subordination, depending on their race, class, gender, and sexuality. […] At the same time that structures of race, class, and gender create disadvantages for women of color, they provide unacknowledged benefits for those who are at the top of these hierarchies – whites, members of the upper classes, and males. (Zinn and Dill 327)

Within this thesis, the theory that is being employed is Multi-Ethnic Feminist Theory.

As defined by Judith Lorber, “multi-ethnic feminism [shows] that gender, ethnicity, religion,

and social class are structurally intertwined relationships.” (25) Like the other briefly mentioned feminist theories, Multi-Ethnic Feminism is concerned with the multiple systems of domination

and oppression human beings are interconnected with (Lorber 26). These feminists do not view

women as a single group which has an inherent commonality. Instead, it is the interplay between

specific categories which differentiate these women that is of interest in this theory (Beasley

103).

It is important to note that all these feminist theories are very similar and sometimes

even indistinguishable from one another. The terms that are being used to describe the criteria

that differentiate these women from each other, such as black, white, or ethnic, “are used in a

number of ways depending on the cultural context of the commentator. These terms are always

political and locally differentiated.” (Beasley 105) The label Multi-Ethnic Feminism has hence been chosen not because it excludes certain aspects of, for example, Black or Third-World

Feminism, but because this study focuses not just on the different experiences of white and

black women or not just between white women and those from a previously colonized country.

By using the term multi-ethnic, it is hoped to adequately address the diversity of the women at

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3.2. Feminist Postcolonial Theory

As the name implies, postcolonial theory is concerned with the continuing effects of the

– mostly European – colonization of large parts of the world, starting in the 15th_{century. At}

first coined as a ‘civilizing mission’, i.e. spreading morals and values deemed proper by the European powers to other societies, a large aspect of the colonial process was also the political,

societal, and economic incorporation of these ‘outsiders’ into the European model of life (Olaniyan 269). This incorporation, however, was by no means voluntary on account of the

colonized and certainly not based on the premises of equality. Instead, “colonial rule operated

by setting up visible, rigid, and hierarchical distinctions between the colonizers and the

colonized. The physical and symbolic separation of the races was deemed necessary to maintain

social distance and authority over subject peoples.” (Mohanty 59) Of interest in this regard is

the Colonizing Structure as defined by Valentin-Yves Mudimbe. This structure is said to

include three main plains of operation: “the domination of physical space, the reformation of natives’ minds, and the integration of local economic histories into the Western perspective.”

(Olaniyan 270)

Nowadays, a lot of discussions within academia, and especially within the field of

political science, are primarily concerned with the economic legacy of colonialism, particularly

with the issue of “the continued economic exploitation and underdevelopment of erstwhile colonized regions.” (Olaniyan 270) While this is certainly an important aspect of colonialism that must be highlighted, scholars tend to forget to include the first and second plains of the

Colonizing Structure in their discussions. Postcolonial theory aims to remedy this by criticizing

and challenging the prevalent Eurocentrism within, in this case, academia. Originating in the

study of colonial literature in the late 1970s and early 1980s, “postcolonialism has developed a body of writing that attempts to shift the dominant ways in which the relations between western

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One of the pioneers of this theory is Edward Said, who published his groundbreaking

book Orientalism in 1978. Said looks at the relationship between the colonizers and the

colonized with a focus on the influence of colonialism on knowledge building (McLeod 25). He claims that “colonialism continuously perpetuated itself: colonial power was buttressed by the production of knowledge about colonised cultures which endlessly produced a degenerate

image of the Orient for those in the West, or Occident.” (McLeod 26) The power of the

colonizers thereby lies within their ability to create an image of the ‘Orient’ that is entirely

influenced by the preconceptions of those scholars traveling within these societies and not at

all informed by those considered native (Ahluwalia 43). In this regard, the ‘Orient’ is seen as

“a political vision whose structure promoted a binary opposition between the familiar (the West/us) and the strange (the Orient/them).” (Abrahamsen 115) This negative connotation and othering of the ‘Orient’ simultaneously serves to justify the West’s superiority and therefore

their purpose to ‘help the lesser Orient’ (McLeod 39). For Said, there are three important ways to tackle this perception of the world order: first, a restoration of the community or nation that

is considered to be part of the ‘Orient’. Second, ‘writing back to the Occident’, i.e. providing

an alternative version of what the ‘Orient’ is, one that is informed by those actually living in

the ‘Orient’. Third, moving away from the notion of separatist nationalism and instead turning towards global community (Ahluwalia 45).

Another important contributor to postcolonial theory is Frantz Fanon. Writing at the

height of the previously colonized countries’ struggle for independence, Fanon, amongst other

writers such as Aimé Césaire and Mahatma Gandhi, depicts “the multiple forms of violence

entailed in colonial oppression, and [exposes] its impact on cultures, identities, and forms of

resistance.” (Abrahamsen 113) In his book Black Skins, White Masks (1952), Fanon highlights how colonialism has distorted the mind of the colonized, inevitably “[ingraining] within their souls an inferiority complex which arises out of the death of their cultural origins” (Ahluwalia

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39) and thereby justifying their presence and predominance in the countries of the colonized

(Nair 71). He even goes so far as to say that the dehumanizing and objectification of the

colonized has rendered them incapable of being human (Ahluwalia 39). Fanon believes that

decolonization means not merely the removal of the colonizer, but rather a “war of liberation,

whereby the colonised nation is able ‘to rediscover its own genius, to reassume its history and assert its sovereignty’” (Ahluwalia 41). Moreover, he claims that although elements of colonial cultural and social forms persist within these colonized countries, there is no pure

pre-colonial culture which survives (Ahluwalia 41).

Additionally, postcolonial theory has also been influenced by the field of Subaltern

Studies.4_{Most influential of these texts is Spivak’s Can the Subaltern Speak? (1988), in which}

she first debates poststructuralist thinkers such as Michel Foucault and Gilles Deleuze on their

beliefs that human beings do not construct their own identities. They instead argue that humans

have their identities written for them by “the shifting discourses of power which endlessly ‘speak through’ us, situating us here and there in particular positions and relations.” (McLeod 128) Spivak disagrees with this reasoning and especially its implications for the representation

of the oppressed: “According to Foucault and Deleuze (in the First World, under the standardization and regimentation of socialized capital […]) the oppressed, if given the chance […], and on the way to solidarity through alliance politics […], can speak and know their conditions” (78) – but the same cannot be said for the Subaltern5. Spivak believes that,

following Foucault’s and Deleuze’s argumentations, the Subaltern can never be the

4_{Subaltern Studies are concerned with the historiography of India, particularly with retelling history from the}

point of view of the colonized. Based on the believe that history is told by the winner/powerful, in this case the colonizers, Subaltern Studies scholars offer an alternative version of history by focusing on the experiences of the colonized. (Abrahamsen 13)

5_{The Subaltern, a term coined by Antonio Gramsci, refers to “the people and cultures which existed, by}

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Subject6, because this notion belongs entirely to the colonizers; it is essentially a Western model

(75). In Spivak’s words, “[i]t is impossible for contemporary French intellectuals to imagine

the kind of Power and Desire that would inhabit the unnamed subject of the Other” (75) and “[f]or the ‘true’ subaltern group, whose identity is its difference, there is no unrepresentable subaltern subject that can know and speak itself” (80). The irrepresentability of the Subaltern Subject means that by trying to give “visibility and voice to the subaltern, ironically the

subaltern actually disappears and is silenced.” (McLeod 129) This is even further complicated

by the inclusion of gender, due to women’s subordinate positions in patriarchal societies (McLeod 129). Can the Subaltern Speak? is not meant to imply that the Subaltern as female is

unable to physically speak. Instead, it highlights that because knowledge is being created and

recreated entirely within the Western dominant point of view, there are simply no tools to

properly interpret the experiences of these women (McLeod 131) and that they are

automatically and continuously “rewritten […] as the object of patriarchy or of imperialism” (McLeod 130).7 Spivak concludes that scholars concerned with the muteness of these women

“[r]ather than making the subaltern as female seem to speak, […] must bring to crisis the

6_{The Subject can be considered as the knower or self as opposed to the known or object. Within Marxist theory,}

the Subject is considered as an identity or sense of selfhood that is socially constructed by dominant sociocultural and ideological processes. Foucault defines the subject as an effect of power relations. Its counterpart is the Other: a person or group defined as different from oneself or one’s own group, often with a negative connotation. Within postcolonial theory, the Other are those that have been colonized and depicted as lesser beings by the colonizers. (Chandler and Munday 306; 411)

7_{Spivak exemplifies this by discussing the Indian concept of sati, the Hindu widow sacrifice, by highlighting}

that the British saw this practice as immoral and believed its abolition was just (Spivak deems this to be a case of “White men saving brown women from brown men”), whereas the Indian nativist argument was that these women wanted to sacrifice themselves. Yet the women who did and/or wanted to partake in this ritual were not able to share their own opinion on the matter: “Between patriarchy and imperialism […], the figure of the woman disappears, not into a pristine nothingness, but into a violent shuttling which is the displaced figuration of the ‘third-world woman’ caught between tradition and modernization.“ (102) The other example Spivak gives is that of a young woman named Bhuvaneswari Bhaduri, who hanged herself in

her father’s apartment in North Calcutta in 1926. Bhaduri, knowing that her death would be interpreted as the outcome of an illegitimate affair, i.e. pregnancy, waited until she was menstruating to go through with the act, thereby providing a “subaltern rewriting of the social text of sati-suicide” (104), since widows had to wait until the end of their periods to partake in sati. Yet strikingly, when asking another scholar, a Bengali woman, about the motivations of Bhaduri, Spivak only got two responses: 1) Why are you interested in her, when her sisters led full and wonderful lives? 2) It appears it was a case of illicit love. This example, according to Spivak, truly showcases that “[t]he subaltern as female cannot be heard or read.” (104)

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representational systems which rendered her mute in the first place, challenging the very forms

of knowledge that are complicit in her silencing.” (McLeod 130) It is therefore important to point out that within this thesis, the aim is not to create yet another voice to speak for women

who have suffered sexual abuse, be they German, Nigerian, or South Korean. Instead, what is

being critiqued is precisely the notion of knowledge regarding these women and their situations

as being homogenous and stemming entirely from a Western point of view.

Based on these pioneering works, postcolonial theory can thus be described as a

certain kind of interdisciplinary political, theoretical and historical academic work that sets out to serve as a transnational forum for studies grounded in the historical context of colonialism, as well as in the political context of contemporary problems of globalization. (Young, “Ideologies” 4)

The term postcolonial itself is quite contested since it implies that colonialism is a relic of the

past, yet those in favor of it defend it by claiming that rather than indicating the end of

colonialism, the term refers to the critique of colonialism and its continued legacies (McEwan

94).

As briefly mentioned above, this theory problematizes the concepts of knowledge and

knowledge building, believing them to be profoundly influenced by Western ideologies

(Chowdhry and Nair 12). Additionally, “[d]iversity and difference are central values here – to

be acknowledged and respected, not erased in the building of alliances.” (Mohanty 7) Postcolonial theory is concerned with those at the margins of society, recognizing them, their

needs and experiences, as well as their ability to provide alternative ways of thinking, acting,

and being (Abrahamsen 120). While “it begins from a fundamentally tricontinental,

third-world, subaltern perspective and its priorities always remain there” (Young, “Postcolonialism” 114), postcolonial theory also recognizes that colonialism has led to the disappearance of pure

cultures (Ahluwalia 95). It therefore seeks to break down the binaries and barriers that serve to

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transformational politics […] dedicated to the removal of inequality – from the different degrees of wealth of the different states in the world system, to the class, ethnic, and other social hierarchies within individual states, to the gendered hierarchies that operate at every level of social and cultural relations. (Young, “Postcolonialism” 114)

Applying this approach to the field of IR, postcolonial theory provides insight into how

global politics and especially the construction of power and power relations are still heavily

influenced by imperial and colonial ideologies (Chowdhry and Nair 12). Moreover,

postcolonial theorists claim that the interpretation of these structures is also still very much

imbedded in Western-centric thinking (Abrahamsen 111). They therefore encourage shifting

the attention within IR away from the traditional concepts of states, militaries, and diplomacy, towards “the critical intersections of empire, race/ethnicity, gender and class (among other factors) in the workings of global power” (Nair 69). Power within postcolonial theory is not

merely associated with economic and military means and located within a state or a union of

states, but it is rather understood as something complex and multifaceted (Abrahamsen 115).

Postcolonial theory therefore offers de-centered, non-Eurocentric examples and

perspectives to analyze the international system with the goal of incorporating a more just and

representative view of global politics within IR (Benabdallah 125). While postcolonial theory

is not an unknown theory within IR, it nevertheless, like feminist theory, remains at the margins

of the field and “leading journals and key textbooks will reveal that IR remains a discipline of the rich West, paying scant attention to approximately three quarters of the world’s population living in the poorer countries of the South.” (Abrahamsen 111)

As can be seen by Spivak’s importance to the theory of postcolonialism, gender and gender issues are of great significance for this theory. Gender issues are not just seen as

theoretical but as practical means directed towards acknowledging and tackling inequalities and

unfulfilled needs (Young, “Ideologies” 4). The type of postcolonial theory specifically focusing

on gender issues within the postcolonial context is the so-called Feminist Postcolonial Theory.

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in the different contexts of women’s lives with a special focus on how these issues are influenced by colonialist and neocolonialist ideologies (Rajan and Park 53).

Moreover, Feminist Postcolonial scholars are interested not only in the concepts of

colonialism and the postcolonial nation state, but also in reconciling the nationalist anticolonial

struggle that women of color are a part of with the fight against gender inequality (Chanda 493).

Especially the notion of a ‘global sisterhood’ is inappropriate to them since the term implies a universal solidarity of all women which entirely disregards the diverse realities of women all

over the world, varying due to their specific unique circumstances (Chowdhry and Nair 14). By

seamlessly assimilating these women and their experiences into a universal feminist discourse,

this type of feminism robs these women of their agency (Mohanty 39). Feminist Postcolonial

scholars are therefore challenging “both the idea of universal ‘woman,’ as well as the reification

of the Third World ‘difference’ that produces the ‘monolithic’ Third World woman” (Rajan

and Park 54), i.e. the implicit objectification as well as the interpretation of women of color as

exotic (Rajan and Park 56).

They advocate instead for the inclusion of cultural and historical contexts into feminist

discourse by focusing on the interconnectedness of race, ethnicity, nationality, class, and gender

(Nair 73). Colonial relations and structures of power therefore form the basis for these Feminist

Postcolonial theorists, asserting that “[p]ostcolonial feminism has never operated as a separate entity from postcolonialism” (Young, “Postcolonialism” 116) and that this theory “begins from the perception that its politics are framed by the active legacies of colonialism, by the

institutional infrastructures that were handed over by the colonial powers to elite groups, or

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3.3. Intersectionality

The third theory that is being employed within this thesis is Intersectionality, based on the

analogous term coined by Crenshaw to highlight “the various ways race and gender interact to

shape the multiple dimensions of black women’s employment experiences” (qdt. in Gopaldas 90). While a detailed history of Intersectional research has not yet been published (Hancock

249), this theory’s specific origin can nevertheless be traced back to the late 1980s (Schuster

2). The concept of intersectionality itself has existed since as early as the 19th century, when

black feminists in the United States highlighted the implications of being a woman while being

black at the same time (Carastathis 305). The theory gained recognition through the discourse

of Black Feminist and Critical Race Theory scholars in the United States, such as Crenshaw,

who advocated for the appropriate engagement with the diversity of ‘being a woman’

(Carastathis 306). Based on Crenshaw’s claim that “social groups who find themselves on

‘intersections’ of multiple dimensions of discrimination (e.g. sexism, racism), are marginalized more severely and in different ways than groups who are confronted with single dimensions of

discrimination” (Schuster 2), subsequent scholars developed this concept into theoretical

frameworks and methodologies for, primarily, feminist research (Schuster 2).

The metaphor of intersecting roads in which each intersection stands for the double or even

multiple-layered oppression of individuals has been name-giving for the theory of

Intersectionality (Dhamoon 231). While similar expressions have appeared over time, such as

double-disadvantage or multiple jeopardy, it is the term Intersectionality that has gained the

most support, with some scholars even going so far as to declare that “intersectionality is the most important theoretical contribution that women’s studies, in conjunction with related fields,

has made so far.” (Simien 265)

While Intersectional Theory has become deeply ingrained in not only feminist, but also, for

“Equality, Development and Peace for All Women Everywhere”? : An Analysis of Sexual Violence Against Women and Concurring International Conventions Concerned with Protecting the Rights of Women