Women, Gender and International Human Rights Law

blended course

The 8th Thessaloniki Summer Courses on "Women, Gender and International Human Rights Law" will focus on the rights of women and the various ways gender interacts with International Human Rights Law.
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 Courses 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.

Course leader

PAPADOPOULOU Lina (Professor of Constitutional Law, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki)

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

Target group

The 2023 Thessaloniki Summer Courses on “Women, Gender and International Human Rights Law” are open to undergraduate and postgraduate students, especially LLM students and PhD candidates, young academics, personnel of international organizations, researchers and practitioners from all over the world with a keen interest in women and gender related issues and International Human Rights Law.

Course aim

The Kalliopi Koufa Foundation has launched, beginning July 2015, an academic programme providing a unique experience for participants specializing in international law and human rights. The programme, under the title “Thessaloniki Summer Courses on International Law and Human Rights” offers, on a yearly basis, a ten-days intensive and highly stimulating summer course covering a variant of salient law and political issues in the relevant social sciences fields.
The courses are hosted by the Foundation in the historical city of Thessaloniki and they consist of lectures, workshops and seminars conducted by prestigious academics and practitioners from all over the world, aiming to bridge theory with practice and to nourish interactive dialogue. The main objective of the 2023 Thessaloniki Summer Courses on “Women, Gender and International Human Rights Law” is to give participants the chance to engage in an in-depth examination of the topic, discuss with some of the most renowned scholars in the field and get acquainted with cutting-edge research in the topic of Women, Gender and International Human Rights Law. This year’s hybrid format of the courses will give participants from all over the world the opportunity to interact with lecturers both in person and online.

Credits info

The Foundation awards a Certificate of Attendance to all participants who have regularly attended the courses, lectures and expert workshops. The Foundation will also award a Course Diploma. Only participants holding a law degree will be eligible to apply for the Diploma exam. To obtain the Diploma, participants will need to attend diligently the courses, lectures and workshops and successfully pass an examination in English on Thursday, 6 July 2023 in the afternoon. The Directors of the Summer Course reserve the right to make a choice of the most qualified candidates, based on their CV and qualifications, to sit in the exam. For practical reasons, the number of participants taking the exam will be limited.

Fee info

EUR 350: Closing date for application is 5 June 2023 and the application fee is 350€. Candidates will be notified on their admission and any decision on scholarship requests via e-mail until 12 June 2023. They will need to pay the application fee until 20 June 2023. There will be no reimbursement in case of withdrawal. The fee covers registration, attendance, course material and the appropriate certificate of attendance but does NOT cover accommodation, travel expenses and any meals. For excursions (optional participation), an extra fee will apply (more information will be available in due course).
Participation is subject both to approval of the application and due receipt of the payment of the fee.
EUR 300: Early-bird application: Candidates applying until 15 April 2023 will get a reduced application fee of 300€. They will be notified on their admission and any decision on scholarship requests via e-mail until 25 April 2023. They will need to pay the application fee until 5 May 2023. In case of withdrawal until 15 May 2023, 100€ will be reimbursed. There will be no reimbursement after that date. The fee covers registration, attendance, course material and the appropriate certificate of attendance but does NOT cover accommodation, travel expenses and any meals. For excursions (optional participation), an extra fee will apply (more information will be available in due course).
Participation is subject both to approval of the application and due receipt of the payment of the fee.

Scholarships

The Foundation may offer a limited number of scholarships upon its absolute discretion to candidates who are nationals of non-EU and non-OECD countries and hold a law degree at the time of application. Scholarship requests should be made upon application.