Violence against women's health in international law

Violence against women is characterised by its universality, the multiplicity of its forms, and the intersectionality of diverse kinds of discrimination against women. Great emphasis in legal analysis has been placed on sex-based discrimination; however, in investigations of violence, one aspect has been overlooked: violence may severely affect women's health and access to reproductive health, and State health policies might be a cause of violence against women. Exploring the relationship between violence against women and women's rights to health and reproductive health, It theorises the new concept of violence against women's health in international law using the Hippocratic paradigm, enriching human rights-based approaches to women's autonomy and reflecting on the pervasiveness of patterns of discrimination. At the core of the book are two dimensions of violence: horizontal 'inter-personal', and vertical 'state policies'. Investigating these dimensions through decisions made by domestic, regional and international judicial or quasi-judicial bodies, De Vido reconceptualises States' obligations and eventually asks whether international law itself is the ultimate cause of violence against women's health.

Violence against women is characterised by its universality, the multiplicity of its forms, and the intersectionality of diverse kinds of discrimination against women. Great emphasis in legal analysis has been placed on sex-based discrimination; however, in investigations of violence, one aspect has been overlooked: violence may severely affect women's health and access to reproductive health, and State health policies might be a cause of violence against women. Exploring the relationship between violence against women and women's rights to health and reproductive health, Sara De Vido theorises the new concept of violence against women's health in international law using the Hippocratic paradigm, enriching human rights-based approaches to women's autonomy and reflecting on the pervasiveness of patterns of discrimination. At the core of the book are two dimensions of violence: horizontal 'inter-personal', and vertical 'state policies'. Investigating these dimensions through decisions made by domestic, regional and international judicial or quasi-judicial bodies, De Vido reconceptualises States' obligations and eventually asks whether international law itself is the ultimate cause of violence against women's health.

La violenza contro le donne è caratterizzata dalla sua universalità, dalla molteplicità delle sue forme e dall'intersezione di diversi tipi di discriminazione contro le donne. L'analisi giuridica ha posto grande enfasi sulla discriminazione basata sul sesso; tuttavia, nelle indagini sulla violenza, è stato trascurato un aspetto: la violenza può compromettere gravemente la salute delle donne e l'accesso alla salute riproduttiva, e le politiche sanitarie statali potrebbero essere una causa della violenza contro le donne. Esplorando il rapporto tra la violenza contro le donne e i diritti alla salute e alla salute riproduttiva, Sara De Vido teorizza il nuovo concetto di violenza contro la salute delle donne nel diritto internazionale utilizzando il paradigma ippocratico, arricchendo gli approcci all'autonomia delle donne basati sui diritti umani e riflettendo sulla pervasività dei modelli di discriminazione. Al centro del libro ci sono due dimensioni della violenza: quella orizzontale “interpersonale” e quella verticale “delle politiche statali”. Indagando queste dimensioni attraverso le decisioni prese da organi giudiziari o quasi giudiziari nazionali, regionali e internazionali, De Vido riconcettualizza gli obblighi degli Stati e si chiede infine se il diritto internazionale stesso sia la causa ultima della violenza contro la salute delle donne.