Intersectionality and Vulnerability: Insights from the Fireworks Factory Decision of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights and the Mahlangu Decision of the Constitutional Court of South Africa

Drawing on the theoretical frameworks on intersectionality and the related notion of vulnerability, this article analyses the Fireworks Factory decision of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights and the Mahlangu decision of the Constitutional Court of South Africa, considering them as significant examples of putting into practice the intersectional approach in the legal context. Both these judgments recognise the relevance of this analytical perspective in understanding discrimination on multiple grounds, focusing on their structural dimensions, related vulnerabilities and social inequalities. The article shows how intersectionality is used in these decisions as a tool to analyse the negative impacts of the interplay of various forms of discrimination, but also to grasp the specific subordination and oppression that arise from their intersection, which are often inadequately addressed by the law and its judicial enforcement.