Thesis (J.C.L.)--Catholic University of America, 1994. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 61-65).

Thesis (J.C.L.)--Catholic University of America, 1998. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 66-72).

Thesis (J.C.L.)--Catholic University of America, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 60-62).

Previously, our workplaces were characterised by serious hardships emanating from labour laws which did not always cater for all areas of the employment relationship. South African female employees were without a clear legitimate remedial right precluding any severe violation and infringement to their fundamental rights resulting from their pregnancy; a task they did not opt for in the first place, but was instead, naturally imposed on them as a result of their gender category. Undoubtedly, many female employees were victims of unfair discrimination. The legislature therefore saw it fit to democratise the workplace by making rapid statutory interventions. As a result, a number of significant changes in various spheres of our labour laws were brought in. Amongst the greatly notable valuable changes was the introduction of the Employment Equity Act 55 of 1998. This piece of legislation has generally reformed our industrial society by bringing in the elimination of unfair discrimination and thereby enhancing the principle of equity in the workplace. The act has further touched a place within hearts of female employees for fear of discrimination as a result of their pregnancy status or any reasons related to their pregnancy. The act further codified Industrial Court decisions that were already established under the discrimination law jurisprudence from the Labour Relations Act 28 of 1956. The application of the provisions of the Act has made the employment relationship no longer to be a comfort zone for employers. These general changes to the law also impact on the dismissal law regime. The purpose of this treatise is to give an overview of the applicable legislation and contributions made by the Labour Courts in developing pregnancy dismissal and discrimination law. The Labour Courts have handed down few judgements that have helped in clarifying the provisions of both the current Labour Relations Act and the Employment Equity Act around the topic. One should hasten to say that this has never been a smooth process by the courts. It is further shown in this treatise that some of the court decisions were not well accepted in the light of other important considerations, such as the equality provisions of the Constitution. For the purpose of effectively dealing with this topic, this treatise contains a discussion of the historical context of discrimination law in the form of common-law position, and the discrimination law before the Bill of Rights and the Constitution. It then endeavours to identify the legislative provision of the Act when it comes to discrimination law provisions. At the same time the important court decisions that were made are identified and examined.

University of Macau / Faculty of Law

In this thesis, I focus on the relationship between gender and nation in post-colonial India, through the lens of Muslim women, who are located on the margins of both religious community and nation. The contradictory embrace of a composite national identity with an ascriptive religious identity, has had critical consequences for Muslim women, to whom the state has simultaneously granted and denied equal citizenship. The impact is felt primarily in the continuing disadvantage of women through the denial of gender equality within the family. The state's regulation of gender roles and family relationships in the 'private sphere', inevitably has determined women's status as citizens in the public sphere. / In this context, the notion of citizenship becomes a focus of any exploration of the legal status of Muslim women. I explore the idea of citizenship as a space of subaltern secularism that opens up the possibility for Indian women of all faiths, to reclaim a selfhood, free from essentialist definitions of gender interests and prescripted identities. I evaluate the realm of constitutional law as a counter-hegemonic discourse that can challenge existing power structures. Finally, I argue for the need to acknowledge the hybridity of culture and the modernity of tradition, to emphasise the integration of the colonial past with the postcolonial present. Such an understanding is critical to the feminist emancipatory project as it reveals the manner in which oppositional categories of public/private, true Muslim woman/feminist, Muslim/Other, Western/Indian, and modern/traditional, have been used to deny women equal rights.

LL.D. / This thesis critically evaluates the position of pregnant women (and women who have recently given birth) in the context of South African Labour Law and social security law, from both a comparative and a South African perspective. The fact that women fall pregnant and give birth to children, while men do not, raises issues of theoretical and practical importance in regard to equality issues. Pregnancy has historically been both the cause of and the occasion for the exclusion of many women from the workplace because of the practical difficulties many women face in reconciling the demands of paid work with family responsibilities – although there is no logical reason why women’s giving birth to children necessarily means that they should have primary responsibility for childcare. The underlying premise which underpins the subject matter of this thesis is that pregnant women are unfairly discriminated against in the workplace. While it cannot be denied that men and women are different and that the biological fact of pregnancy is a state unique to women, this “difference” has resulted in gender discrimination, and, more germane to this thesis, in pregnancy discrimination in the jurisdictions to be considered, namely, the United Kingdom, the European Union, SADC and South Africa. This thesis concentrates on various issues pertaining to pregnancy and maternity protection and emphasises the seemingly irreconcilable dichotomy between the desire to recognise and accommodate women’s unique role as child-bearers and the desire to achieve parity between the sexes in regard to conditions of employment, remuneration and general benefits. The central dilemma is whether women can be treated as equal to men in regard to opportunities, entry to the workplace and remuneration, on the one hand, and yet be treated in a special way when it concerns childbearing and childrearing, on the other. In this thesis it is argued that men and women are different and that social justice cannot therefore be achieved by equal treatment. In facing this challenge, legislatures and courts have become ensnared in the dichotomy of equality and distinction, and the question considered here is whether South Africa is fulfilling its constitutional and international obligations regarding the equal treatment, and the granting to them of equal opportunities and reasonable accommodation. This thesis develops an appropriate and relevant paradigm for pregnant women in the workplace. It identifies and highlights the existing deficiencies and lacunae in the South African legal system inherent in both labour law and social security law, and develops proposals for the possible amendment of the existing legislative framework by drawing largely on international, supranational, foreign and regional jurisdictions and by critically evaluating the current South African maternity terrain, particularly in the light of South Africa’s developing constitutional jurisprudence.

No description available.

[pt] O presente estudo tem como objeto as particularidades na implementação da Política Nacional de Enfrentamento à Violência contra as Mulheres no contexto local, através da atuação do Centro de Referência de Mulheres da Maré-Carminha Rosa (CRMM-CR), localizado na Vila do João, sub-bairro do conjunto de favelas da Maré, no município do Rio de Janeiro. Considerando a violência de gênero contra as mulheres como um constructo social, histórico e multifacetado que fere os Direitos Humanos das mulheres e gera impactos na vida dessa população no Brasil, o estudo busca identificar como uma política formulada pela esfera federal é implementada no contexto local da Vila do João – Maré. A pesquisa foi desenvolvida a partir da metodologia qualitativa e os instrumentos utilizados para produção de dados foram entrevistas semiestruturadas realizadas com 6 profissionais que integram a equipe do CRMM-CR. Os dados produzidos foram analisados a partir de uma perspectiva interseccional, articulando as três categorias fundantes das desigualdades no modo de produção capitalista patriarcal: gênero, raça e classe. Os principais resultados apontam para a necessidade de ampliar a compreensão sobre proteção às mulheres em situação de violência de gênero, olhando não só para violências domésticas e interpessoais, mas também para as violências estruturais, urbanas e aquelas perpetradas pelo Estado. Destaca-se nesse sentido, o papel fundamental do CRMM-CR como porta de entrada para a PNEVC nesse território e articulador da Rede de Atendimento. / [en] This study has as its object the particularities in the implementation of the National Policy to Combat Violence against Women in the local context, through the performance of the Maré-Carminha Rosa Women Reference Center (CRMM-CR), located in Vila do João, sub-neighborhood of the Maré favelas, in the municipality of Rio de Janeiro. Considering gender violence against women as a social, historical and multifaceted construct that hurts the human rights of women and impacts on the lives of this population in Brazil, the study seeks to identify how a policy formulated by the federal sphere is implemented in the local context of Vila do João - Maré. The research was developed from the qualitative methodology and the instruments used for data production were semi-structured interviews conducted with 6 professionals who are part of the CRMM-CR team. The data produced were analyzed from an intersectional perspective, articulating the three founding categories of inequalities in the patriarchal capitalist mode of production: gender, race and class. The main results point to the need to broaden the understanding of protecting women in situations of gender-based violence, looking not only at domestic and interpersonal violence, but also at structural, urban and perpetrative violence by the State. In this sense, the key role of CRMM-CR as a gateway to the NPCVW in this territory and articulator of the Service Network stands out.

[pt] Os estereótipos de gênero permeiam a vida social sendo, muitas vezes, de difícil percepção, tamanha a naturalização que estes conseguem atingir. Este processo de naturalização ocorre por meio do entendimento de que os atos de fala são meramente descritivos, quando, na verdade, estes são a forma por meio da qual a linguagem constitui a realidade, o que é chamado de ato performativo. Assim, torna-se fundamental o recurso à teoria de Austin, para que, por meio desta, se possa compreender o alcance desses atos de fala. Esses atos performativos foram incorporados pela teoria feminista para desmitificar as identidades de gênero, muitas vezes afirmadas ou com base em uma suposta essência, masculina ou feminina, ou por meio de uma biologização dessas noções. Isto permite entender como a linguagem é constitutiva dos corpos, e também do gênero, ponto fundamental para analisar-se o processo de construção do ideário de mulher e do movimento feminista no Brasil ao longo dos dois últimos séculos. Tendo como marco a Constituição Federal, pilar maior no processo de conquista de direitos na história recente do país, tomam-se por base as discussões travadas ao longo da Assembleia Nacional Constituinte, de 1987-1988, para, novamente recorrendo ao arsenal teórico aqui mencionado, explicitarem-se as ideias em torno das noções de gênero que se fizeram presentes naquele debate e as consequências que estas tiveram na luta e constituição de direitos das mulheres. / [en] Gender stereotypes that permeate social life are often difficult to detect, because of the process of naturalization that they can achieve. This naturalization process occurs through the understanding of speech acts that are merely descriptive, when, in fact, they are the means by which language constitutes reality, what is called a performative. Thus, it becomes essential to use Austin s theory, through this, one can understand the scope of these speech acts. These performative acts were merged by feminist theory to demystify gender identities often asserted or based on a supposed essence, male or female, or through a biologization of these notions. This allows us to understand how language is constitutive of bodies, and also the gender, essential to analyse the process of construction of the notion of women and the feminist movement in Brazil over the past two centuries. Starting from the Federal Constitution, bigger pillar in the process of conquering rights in recent history of the country, discussions during the National Constituent Assembly of 1987-1988 are taken for, resorting to the theoretical arsenal herein, emphasize the ideas around the notions of gender that were present at the debate and the consequences they had on the struggle and establishment of women s rights.