5.2 An Intersectional Approach to International Law

Intersectionality is a term coined by Prof. Kimberlé Crenshaw. Originally, she used the term to analyse the multiple and overlapping forms of discrimination experienced by African American women in the United States. In the past few decades, UN human rights treaty bodies (committees of experts who monitor States' implementation of human rights treaties) and regional human rights systems have come to embrace intersectionality in their examination of human rights violations.

Case study: Gonzales Lluy et al v Ecuador concerned a girl, Talía, who, after contracting HIV following a blood transfusion that had not been tested for infectious diseases, was barred from attending school, suffered discrimination at the hands of school officials and teachers, and was evicted and forced to move with her family multiple times when landlords found out about her status. While this case does not address CRSV, it exemplifies how an intersectional approach can be used when dealing with persons subjected to multiple and overlapping forms of discrimination.

III.3 Special protection against CRSV is owed to persons facing compounded, intersectional forms of discrimination

Under article 1 of the American Convention, States must guarantee the Convention's rights and freedoms to all persons under their jurisdiction 'without any discrimination for reasons of race, color, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, economic status, birth, or any other social condition', including 'sexual orientation and real or perceived gender identity or expression'.

In the implementation of their obligations, States must be particularly mindful of persons experiencing discrimination compounded by multiple factors. For example, an Indigenous woman victim of rape who was unable to access protection because of her lack of knowledge of the official language.

III.7 Special protection against CRSV is owed to women facing multiple, intersecting forms of discrimination

The definition of discrimination contained in article 1 applies to all women and concerns all forms of discrimination. States should pay particular attention to women who face multiple, intersecting forms of discrimination: the discrimination of women based on sex and gender 'is inextricably linked with other factors that affect women, such as race, ethnicity, religion or belief, health, status, age, class, caste and sexual orientation and gender identity'.

Sexual violence may affect women belonging to such groups to a different degree or in different ways to men. States should:

III.5 Special protection against CRSV is owed to persons with disabilities facing multiple, intersecting forms of discrimination

'Respect for difference and acceptance of persons with disabilities as part of human diversity and humanity' is one of the principles of the CRPD. States should care for the specific needs of persons with disabilities and be mindful of the multiple, intersecting ways in which certain individuals are discriminated against, including on the grounds of 'age, disability, ethnic, Indigenous, national or social origin, gender identity, political or other opinion, race, refugee, migrant or asylum seeker status, religion, sex and sexual orientation'.

Women. In its Preamble, the CRPD emphasises the need to incorporate a gender perspective in all efforts to promote persons with disabilities' human rights and fundamental freedoms (such as their right to freedom from violence). States must also take all appropriate measures to ensure the full development, advancement and empowerment of women, to guarantee their human rights and fundamental freedoms, as set out in the Convention, including allocating appropriate human, technical and budgetary resources to that end.

III.7 Special protection against CRSV is owed to children facing multiple, intersecting forms of discrimination

Under article 2(1), States must respect and ensure the rights of children within their jurisdiction 'without discrimination of any kind, irrespective of the child's or his or her parent's or legal guardian's race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national, ethnic or social origin, property, disability, birth or other status'.

States should actively identify individual children and groups of children for whom special measures may be needed. States should be mindful of and accommodate the needs of those children facing multiple, intersecting forms of discrimination.