Gender Identity Equality before the European Court of Human Rights – Exploring the Court's Jurisprudence through Fredman's Four-Dimensional Approach to Substantive Equality
(2024) LAGM01 20241Department of Law
Faculty of Law
- Abstract
- This thesis examines the European Court of Human Rights’ jurisprudence on trans and intersex rights, including the right to non-discrimination, in the light of Sandra Fredman’s four-dimensional theoretical framework on substantive equality. While the Court historically has made some strives in promoting and protecting the rights of trans people, considerations of non-discrimination and equality have remained in the shadows in these cases. Therefore, the purpose of the thesis is to clarify the scope of trans and intersex rights within the Court’s jurisprudence and to explore how Fredman’s theoretical model can assist us in better understanding and improving the scope of protection for
these rights.
The first part of the thesis employs a... (More) - This thesis examines the European Court of Human Rights’ jurisprudence on trans and intersex rights, including the right to non-discrimination, in the light of Sandra Fredman’s four-dimensional theoretical framework on substantive equality. While the Court historically has made some strives in promoting and protecting the rights of trans people, considerations of non-discrimination and equality have remained in the shadows in these cases. Therefore, the purpose of the thesis is to clarify the scope of trans and intersex rights within the Court’s jurisprudence and to explore how Fredman’s theoretical model can assist us in better understanding and improving the scope of protection for
these rights.
The first part of the thesis employs a legal doctrinal method to establish what the law is. A case study of 30 judgments shows that the Court has made progress in the area of trans rights in establishing a foundational right to legal gender recognition for trans individuals, but that it has simultaneously allowed for intrusive requirements pertaining to this right. Furthermore, the Court has not found a right to legal recognition of an intersex gender identity, which is considered to be due to the Court’s use of its margin of appreciation doctrine and the lack of a European consensus on the matter. The first section also shows that the Court rarely examines claims of non-discrimination in the studied jurisprudence, and when it does, it remains within a formal understanding of equality.
The second part of the thesis employs a legal analytical method to analyze the established jurisprudence through Fredman’s four-dimensional theory. Fredman’s theory on substantive equality aims at redressing disadvantage (the redistributive dimension), recognizing stigma, stereotyping, prejudice, and violence (the recognition dimension), increasing participation for marginalized groups (the participative dimension), and transforming societal structures and norms (the transformative dimension). The theory allows for identifying and preventing different types of harm and disadvantage stemming from a protected characteristic. Through the redistributive dimension, it is argued that upholding the pathologization of trans individuals, and the requirement of forced divorce, disadvantages trans people. The recognition dimension shows that pathologization reinforces and entrenches the stigmatization of trans as an illness. Misgendering is also likened to misrecognition in this dimension. The participative dimension demonstrates how discrepancies between identification documents and the gender by which a person identifies hinder social participation. Lastly, the analysis under the transformative dimension finds how rather than forcing trans and intersex individuals to adapt to the prevalent cis norm, societal structures need to be changed to achieve gender identity equality. (Less) - Abstract (Swedish)
- Denna uppsats undersöker Europeiska domstolen för de mänskliga rättigheternas (Europadomstolen) praxis gällande rättigheter för trans- och intersexpersoner, inkluderat rätten till icke-diskriminering, mot bakgrund av Sandra Fredmans fyrdimensionella teori om reell jämlikhet (substantive equality). Även om domstolen historiskt sett har strävat efter att främja och skydda transpersoners rättigheter, har överväganden om icke-diskriminering och jämlikhet ofta hamnat i skymundan i dessa mål. Därför syftar uppsatsen till att klargöra omfattningen av trans- och intersexpersoners rättigheter i Europadomstolens praxis, och att undersöka hur Fredmans teoretiska modell kan hjälpa oss att förstå och förbättra omfattningen av skyddet för dessa... (More)
- Denna uppsats undersöker Europeiska domstolen för de mänskliga rättigheternas (Europadomstolen) praxis gällande rättigheter för trans- och intersexpersoner, inkluderat rätten till icke-diskriminering, mot bakgrund av Sandra Fredmans fyrdimensionella teori om reell jämlikhet (substantive equality). Även om domstolen historiskt sett har strävat efter att främja och skydda transpersoners rättigheter, har överväganden om icke-diskriminering och jämlikhet ofta hamnat i skymundan i dessa mål. Därför syftar uppsatsen till att klargöra omfattningen av trans- och intersexpersoners rättigheter i Europadomstolens praxis, och att undersöka hur Fredmans teoretiska modell kan hjälpa oss att förstå och förbättra omfattningen av skyddet för dessa rättigheter.
I uppsatsens första del används en rättsdogmatisk metod för att identifiera gällande rätt. En fallstudie av 30 domar från Europadomstolen visar att framsteg har gjorts på området genom fastställandet av en grundläggande rätt till juridiskt erkännande av könstillhörighet för transpersoner, men att domstolen samtidigt tillåtit vissa ingripande krav avseende denna rättighet. Vidare har domstolen inte funnit en rätt till juridiskt erkännande av en intersex könsidentitet, vilket anses bero på att medlemsstaterna ges en viss bedömningsmarginal, och att det saknas ett europeiskt samförstånd i frågan. Det första avsnittet visar också att domstolen sällan ägnar sig åt att undersöka frågor om icke-diskriminering i den studerade rättspraxisen, och när domstolen väl gör det stannar den inom en formell förståelse av jämlikhet.
I den andra delen av uppsatsen används en rättsanalytisk metod för att analysera den fastställda rättspraxisen genom Fredmans fyrdimensionella teori. Fredmans teori om reell jämlikhet bygger på fyra dimensioner, vilka syftar till att avhjälpa missgynnande (the redistributive dimension), erkänna stigma, stereotyper, fördomar och våld (the recognition dimension) öka socialt och politiskt deltagande för marginaliserade grupper (the participative dimension) och förändra samhälleliga strukturer och normer (the transformative dimension). Teorin gör det möjligt att identifiera och förebygga olika typer av skador och missgynnande som härrör från en viss diskrimineringsgrund. Genom the redistributive dimension argumenteras att domstolens upprätthållande av patologisering av transpersoner och krav på skilsmässa missgynnar transpersoner. The recognition dimension visar att patologisering förstärker och befäster stigmatisering och stereotypen av trans som en sjukdom. Felkönande liknas här även vid felaktigt erkännande. Genom the participative dimension visas hur skillnader mellan identitetshandlingar och det kön som en person identifierar sig med hindrar socialt deltagande. Slutligen identifierar analysen i the transformative dimension att samhällsstrukturer måste förändras för att uppnå jämlikhet för olika könsidentiteter, snarare än att tvinga trans- och intersexpersoner att anpassa sig till den rådande cis-normen. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/9156468
- author
- Andersson, Magda LU
- supervisor
-
- Anna Nilsson LU
- organization
- course
- LAGM01 20241
- year
- 2024
- type
- H3 - Professional qualifications (4 Years - )
- subject
- keywords
- European Court of Human Rights, European Convention on Human Rights, Gender Identity, Fredman, Substantive Equality, Non-discrimination
- language
- English
- id
- 9156468
- date added to LUP
- 2024-06-25 11:00:00
- date last changed
- 2024-06-25 11:00:00
@misc{9156468,
abstract = {{This thesis examines the European Court of Human Rights’ jurisprudence on trans and intersex rights, including the right to non-discrimination, in the light of Sandra Fredman’s four-dimensional theoretical framework on substantive equality. While the Court historically has made some strives in promoting and protecting the rights of trans people, considerations of non-discrimination and equality have remained in the shadows in these cases. Therefore, the purpose of the thesis is to clarify the scope of trans and intersex rights within the Court’s jurisprudence and to explore how Fredman’s theoretical model can assist us in better understanding and improving the scope of protection for
these rights.
The first part of the thesis employs a legal doctrinal method to establish what the law is. A case study of 30 judgments shows that the Court has made progress in the area of trans rights in establishing a foundational right to legal gender recognition for trans individuals, but that it has simultaneously allowed for intrusive requirements pertaining to this right. Furthermore, the Court has not found a right to legal recognition of an intersex gender identity, which is considered to be due to the Court’s use of its margin of appreciation doctrine and the lack of a European consensus on the matter. The first section also shows that the Court rarely examines claims of non-discrimination in the studied jurisprudence, and when it does, it remains within a formal understanding of equality.
The second part of the thesis employs a legal analytical method to analyze the established jurisprudence through Fredman’s four-dimensional theory. Fredman’s theory on substantive equality aims at redressing disadvantage (the redistributive dimension), recognizing stigma, stereotyping, prejudice, and violence (the recognition dimension), increasing participation for marginalized groups (the participative dimension), and transforming societal structures and norms (the transformative dimension). The theory allows for identifying and preventing different types of harm and disadvantage stemming from a protected characteristic. Through the redistributive dimension, it is argued that upholding the pathologization of trans individuals, and the requirement of forced divorce, disadvantages trans people. The recognition dimension shows that pathologization reinforces and entrenches the stigmatization of trans as an illness. Misgendering is also likened to misrecognition in this dimension. The participative dimension demonstrates how discrepancies between identification documents and the gender by which a person identifies hinder social participation. Lastly, the analysis under the transformative dimension finds how rather than forcing trans and intersex individuals to adapt to the prevalent cis norm, societal structures need to be changed to achieve gender identity equality.}},
author = {{Andersson, Magda}},
language = {{eng}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
title = {{Gender Identity Equality before the European Court of Human Rights – Exploring the Court's Jurisprudence through Fredman's Four-Dimensional Approach to Substantive Equality}},
year = {{2024}},
}