Keele Research Repository

There are two main strands into which feminist criticisms of human rights fall. The first is criticisms of the utility and efficacy of human rights laws specifically applicable to women, notably, treaties such as the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) and the Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women (DEVAW). The second strand postulates that 'human rights law' generally, is of only limited utility in achieving equality and combatting abuses faced by women. This chapter develops the thread of thinking about the role of human rights here, and provides an important contribution in the context of calls for a UN Convention on the Rights of Older People. Within the second strand are a number of ideas however the chapter focuses on two in particular the overly individualistic paradigm of the legal subject who is the traditional bearer of human rights, and the implications this first criticism has for the public-private debate.