Session 12 · August 2024

Anti-feminist Laws & Regulations

When the law is the patriarchy

↓ Materials ↓ Session structure

Three interconnected legal fronts — abortion rights, gender-based violence, and parental leave — framed this session on how legislation either reinforces or dismantles patriarchal structures. We examined the global rollback of abortion rights following the US Supreme Court ruling, the data on femicide and intimate partner violence across Europe, and what countries’ parental leave policies reveal about how much they actually value caregiving. Project 2025 featured prominently as a case study in policy as ideology.

Materials
Main
Supplementary
Session structure
  1. Abortion rights
    • Personal experiences and where each of us stands
    • Abortion regulations by country across Europe
    • Project 2025 — what it proposes and what it would mean for women
    • The EU citizen initiative My Voice My Choice — what it aims to enshrine
  2. Gender-based violence
    • The Istanbul Convention: what it is, and which countries have not signed
    • Femicide data across Europe — patterns and causes
    • Football tournaments and spikes in domestic abuse
  3. Parental leave
    • Definitions: maternity vs paternity vs shared parental leave
    • Country comparisons — who leads and who lags
    • Why paternity leave matters for gender equality at home

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