ECMI Publications Database

Minority women face several dilemmas when they seek redress for multiple discrimination through international human rights instruments. Although human rights instruments are universal in nature, they address either specific issues or they target specific categories of beneficiaries. A minority woman suffering multiple discrimination cannot, therefore, claim her rights in one place but must direct her petition to several instruments. Since this is rarely feasible, minority women may have to make the very hard choice between seeking redress as women, or as members of a minority, or as individuals experiencing specific discrimination. This is no small matter as minority women often suffer discrimination on multiple accounts as members of both social and cultural groups. This Issue Brief explores the legal obstacles that minority women encounter because of their complex human condition.