The Koufa Foundation for the Promotion of International and Human Rights Law is pleased to announce the 8th Thessaloniki Summer Courses on “Women, Gender and International Human Rights Law”. The Summer Courses will be held in a hybrid format (in person and online via the zoom platform) from Wednesday 28 June 2023 to Friday 7 July 2023 in Thessaloniki, Greece.

International human rights law (IHRL) has brought about major improvements towards the legal recognition of equality and women’s rights as human rights. Under the influence of the feminist movement and the various feminist, gender, and queer theories, which have constantly challenged the dominant conceptualization of IHRL, women’s rights have been enshrined and mainstreamed in IHRL and practice and have been vindicated in the jurisprudence of international courts and quasi-judicial bodies. The concept of gender is constantly (re)shaping IHRL, challenging long embedded binary thinking. There remains, however, a huge gap between the law and the living experiences of billions of women, gender-nonconforming persons and other oppressed populations throughout the world. Immense challenges still exist not only in the effective implementation of legal rules, but mainly in undoing gender stereotypes, particularly in places where traditional religious and cultural values hold sway. Such challenges are exacerbated by the ongoing backlash against international law, human rights, women’s rights, sexual and other minorities and gender justice.

Against this background, the Summer Course on ‘Women, Gender and International Human Rights Law’ aims to take stock of the theory and practice of women’s rights as human rights and the various ways the concept of gender interacts with IHRL. In this vein, some of the most prominent human rights and feminist legal scholars will deliver lectures and seminars on gender and feminist legal theories, on the law, practice and contemporary developments concerning equality and non-discrimination, gender-based violence including domestic violence, sexual violence and trafficking as human rights violations, gender, bodily autonomy and human rights, gender, religion and human rights, the social rights of women and the situation of domestic migrant workers, sexual orientation and gender identity in IHRL and the human rights of LGBTIQ+ persons and families.

The directors of the 8th Thessaloniki Summer Courses are:

Lina Papadopoulou, Professor of Constitutional Law, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki

Aristoteles Constantinides, Associate Professor of International Law and Human Rights, University of Cyprus

The provisional line-up of confirmed speakers includes (lectures’ titles are tentative):

Keynote – Opening Ceremony

Judge Hilary Charlesworth (Judge of the International Court of Justice)

Lectures

Aristoteles Constantinides (Associate Professor of International Law and Human Rights, University of Cyprus)

“Introduction to International Human Rights Law from a Gender Perspective”

Felipe Gómez Isa (Professor of Public International Law, University of Deusto)

“Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women”

Lina Papadopoulou (Professor of Constitutional Law, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki | Holder of the Jean Monnet Chair in European Constitutional Law and Culture)

“Gender Equality and Non-discrimination”

Aspasia Tsaousi (Associate Professor of Sociology of Law, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki)

“Hidden Gender Bias in Law and Society”

Vladislava Stoyanova (Associate Professor of Public International Law, Lund University)

“Domestic Violence and Human Trafficking as Violations of the European Convention on Human Rights”

Natasa Mavronicola (Professor of Human Rights Law, University of Birmingham),

“Gender-based Violence as a Violation of Human Rights”

Tina Stavrinaki (Assistant Professor of Human Rights and International Law, Utrecht University | Vice-Chairperson of the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination | Rapporteur on the General Recommendation on racial discrimination and the right to health)

“Gender-based Discrimination and Hate Crimes”

Anna-Maria Konsta (Assistant Professor of Comparative Law, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki)

“Gender and Social Rights”

Andreas Ziegler (Professor of International Law, University of Lausanne)

“Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity and IHRL”

Alina Tryfonidou (Professor of European Law at Neapolis University Pafos | Visiting Professor of Law at the University of Reading)

“Sexual orientation and gender identity in European Family Law ”

Samia Bano (Reader in Law, SOAS University of London)

“Gender, Religion and Human Rights”

Sharon Cowan (Professor of Feminist and Queer Legal Studies, University of Edinburg)

“Feminist Legal Theory and Human Rights”

Nikoletta Pikramenou (Senior Researcher, Center for Figurational Studies, University of Warsaw | Legal Expert, Intersex Greece)

“Human Rights of Intersex Persons”

Máiréad Enright (Professor of Feminist Legal Studies | Head of Research Impact)

“Feminist Legal Theory and Human Rights”

You may find more information on the application process, fees and scholarships here.

Please, find the timetable here.

Please, find the poster and the leaflet here and here.

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