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Gender and the Law Research Guide

Introduction

This research guide was prepared to assist your research in gender and the law. It facilitates access to selected legal, governmental, public policy and international resources on aspects of gender and the law. Members of the Georgetown University community can seek additional assistance at the reference desk or online.

Gender and the law is a relatively modern area of legal research. Black's Law Dictionary (8th ed.) cites an article by Gary Minda in Postmodern Legal Movements, in which Minda attributed the first published use of the phrase "feminist jurisprudence" to Professor Ann Scales in 1978. Despite this recency, however, there has been significant growth in scholarly research on this aspect of law and there is a wealth of resources in a variety of formats. In addition to print sources, the library also facilitates access to electronic databases, journals, newsletters and blogs. The following search terms or phrases are useful when searching the library catalog or databases and other online sources:

  • feminism and the law
  • feminist jurisprudence
  • feminist legal theory
  • gender and justice
  • gender and law
  • legal feminism(s)

Secondary Sources:

Textbooks, Treatises and Casebooks

The following textbooks, treatises and casebooks, provide some background and overview on the main issues relating to this area of law.

  • Equal Protection of the Law? : Gender and Justice in the United States. Mary Welek Atwell. KF478.A98 2002
  • Feminist Jurisprudence. Patricia Smith K644.Z9 F457 1993
  • Feminist Legal Theory: Readings in Law and Gender. Katharine T. Bartlett & Rosanne Kennedy (eds.) K644.Z9 F46 1991
  • Feminist Perspectives on Law and Theory. Janice Richardson & Ralph Sandland KD734.F46 2000
  • Gender and Justice. Ngaire Naffine K349.G46 2002
  • Gender and Law: Theory, Doctrine, Commentary. Katharine T. Bartlett & Deborah L. Rhode K478.A4B37 2006
  • Gender Justice, Development, and Rights. Maxine Molyneux & Shahra Razavi (eds.) HQ1236.G4615 2002
  • Gender Perspectives on Property and Inheritance: A Global Source Book. Sarah Cummings et al (eds.) HB715.G45 2001
  • Gendered (in)justice: Theory and Practice in Feminist Criminology. Pamela J. Schram & Barbara Koons-Witt (eds.) HV6030.G463 2004
  • Home Knitted Law: Norms and Values in Gendered Rule-Making. Hanne Petersen K349.P48 1996
  • Introduction to Feminist Jurisprudence. Hilaire Barnett K349.B37 1998
  • Introduction to Feminist Legal Theory. Martha Chamallas K349.C49 2003
  • Law as a Gendering Practice. Dorothy E. Chunn & Dany Lacombe KE4399.L39 2000
  • Legal Feminism: Activism, Lawyering and Legal Theory. Ann Scales K349.S296 2006
  • Sexing the Subject of Law. Ngaire Naffine & Rosemary Owens (eds.) K349.S49 1997
  • Sourcebook on Feminist Jurisprudence. Hilaire Barnett K349.B37 1997
  • The Gender Line: Men, Women and the Law. Nancy Levit KF475.L48 1998
  • The Law of Violence Against Women. Margaret C. Jasper KF9322.J37 2007

Casebooks are helpful in the research process because they often contain references to important cases, statutes and secondary materials such as journal articles. Like textbooks and treatises, casebooks provide a broad overview of the subject area and often outline details on the current and emerging issues. The library has the following casebooks:

  • Cases and Materials on Feminist Jurisprudence: Taking Women Seriously. Mary Becker et al KF478.A4 B43
  • Family Law, Gender and the State: Text, Cases and Materials. Alison Diduck & Felicity Kaganas KD750.D53 1999
  • Sexuality, Gender and the Law. William N. Eskridge, Jr. and Nan D. Hunter KF9325.A7 E84 2004

Law Journals, Law Review Articles and General Journals on Gender

The library has excellent electronic and print sources with respect to law journals and general journals on gender. In addition, there are also very good indexes to facilitate your search for legal periodicals and law review articles. Commercial databases such as Lexis and Westlaw are also useful sources to locate law review articles.

  • Law Journal Indexes such as Legal Trac (TV imageTutorial) and Legal Periodicals and Books (TV imageTutorial) are very good sources for finding articles.
  • Lexis:
    • ALLUS Combined United States law materials and bar journals. Coverage from 1982 onwards.
  • Westlaw:
    • JLE Full coverage from 1994 onwards. Contains documents from law reviews, CLE course materials and bar journals.
  • E-Journal Finder (TV imageTutorial) is also a useful tool in your research if you know the name of a specific journal. Listed below are just some of the journals relating to gender and the law which are available through e-journal finder:
    • Berkeley Journal of Gender, Law and Justice
    • Duke Journal of Gender, Law and Policy
    • Gender Issues
    • Gender Journal
    • Gender Matters Quarterly
    • Gender Studies News and Views
    • Harvard Journal of Law and Gender (formerly Harvard Women's Law Journal)
    • Journal of Gender, Social Policy and the Law (formerly American University Journal of Gender and the Law)
    • Michigan Journal of Gender and Law
    • The Georgetown Journal of Gender and the Law
    • Yale Journal of Law and Feminism
  • The library's Interlibrary loan service is available for access to journals which the library does not have.

Reports

Reports can be found by searching the library's catalog, using the search terms mentioned in the introductory section of this guide. In addition, the following databases are also very useful for locating reports, working papers and policy briefs:

Columbia International Affairs Online (CIAO). Provides access to scholarly articles from a number of international relations research centers.

CQ Researcher. This is also a useful database for finding reports. Using search terms such as "gender and the law" will yield a number of reports on this topic.

DocuTicker. This database offers a "selection of resources, reports and publications from government agencies, NGOs, think tanks and other public interest organizations".

PolicyFile. This database facilitates access to abstracts of data from think tanks and university research programs.

Below are some of the reports available in the library:

Gender and Justice: Implementing Gender Fairness in the Courts: Implementation Report

Prepared by the Judicial Council of California's Advisory Committee on Access, Fairness, Gender Fairness Sub-Committee (1996). KFC696.A83 C33 1996

Gender and Justice: Implementing Gender Fairness in the Courts: Progress Report

Prepared by the Nebraska Supreme Court's Gender Fairness Implementation Committee (1998). KFN411.7.N43 1998

Gender and Justice in the Colorado Courts: Annual Report (2000)

Prepared by the Colorado Judicial Department (2000).KFC2211.7.G46

Databases

Contemporary Women's Issues

This database covers women's issues drawn from approximately 1,500 sources published by organizations around the world. Full-text access is provided and coverage spans 1992 through to the present.

Gender Watch

This full-text database provides access to scholarly journals, magazines, newspapers, books, pamphlets, proceedings, government, NGO and special reports with focus on a wide range of gender-related subjects.

IInternational Encyclopedia of the Social and Behavioral Sciences.

This source has a good coverage of gender studies, broken down by various sub-topics. A word of caution, however on currency, since the database was last updated in 2004.

Woman Stats Project

Started in 2001, the project compiles statistics on the status of women globally. While the database is free, registration and login are required.

Organizations (National and Regional)

American Bar Association's Commission on Domestic Violence

The aim of the Commission is to provide "individualized support to attorneys representing victims of domestic violence, sexual assault and stalking".

National Organization for Women (NOW)

Founded in 1966, NOW's goal is to work towards equality for all women.

National Women's Law Center

The Center's mission is "to protect and advance the progress of women and girls".

The Center for Gender and Refugee Studies (CGRS)

The Center, established in 1991, is housed at the University of California, Hastings College of the Law. It aims to "impact the development of law and policy to protect women fleeing gender-based violence". Publications include the Center's annual reports (2004-2006) and newsletter (Spring 2006-).

United States National Committee of the United Nations Fund for Women

This committee supports UNIFEM's efforts to assist women with respect to poverty, violence and inequality.

WomensLaw.org

The mission of this organization is "to provide easy-to-understand legal information to women living with or escaping domestic violence".

Women's Law Project

The Women's Law Project is "a non-profit, public interest legal advocacy organization that seeks to advance the legal, social, and economic status of women through litigation, public policy, advocacy, public education and individual counseling".

 

Organizations, Conferences (Regional and International)

Commonwealth Secretariat's Gender Page

The organization's vision is "to work towards a world in which women and men are valued as equal and able partners in establishing social justice, equity, democracy and respect for human rights".

Research Centre for Law, Gender and Sexualtiy

Based at Kent Law School in the United Kingdom, the Center's focus is "to pioneer and facilitate work that analyses, investigates and deepens understanding of the relationship between gender, sexuality and the law".

United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM)

UNIFEM "works to foster women's empowerment and gender equality throughout the world".

USAID's Gender and Law Project

The program assists NGOs in India to protect women's legal rights.

World Bank's Gender Website

This is a very useful site for gender statistics and other research tools.

Treaties and Declarations

Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (University of Minnesota Human Rights Library). The Declaration is the product of the Fourth World Conference for Women, held in Beijing, China in 1995.

Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW)

Convention on the Political Rights of Women

Inter American Convention on the Granting of Civil Rights to Women

Inter-American Convention on the Granting of Political Rights to Women

Inter-American Convention on the Prevention, Punishment and Eradication of Violence Against Women

 

Created by: Yasmin Morais

Updated 3/11/09 - Links and Content (YM)

Page last saved 23-Sep-2011