ABSTRACT
The structure and institutions of the international legal order set up under the United Nations reflect and ensure the continued dominance of a male perspective. Many generally applicable international human rights principles are inherently biased against women. An important aspect of international human rights law is that, like many national legal systems, it operates primarily in the public sphere, that is, within the world of government, politics, economics, and the workplace, areas traditionally associated with men. The traditional construction of civil and political rights, then, obscures the most consistent harms done to women. It might be thought that "second" generation rights—economic, social, and cultural rights—by their nature transcend the dichotomy between public and private spheres of life and thus offer more to women's lives. The theoretical and practical development of third generation rights has, in fact, delivered very little to women.
