Gender Equality and the Protection of Motherhood in Global Constitutionalism

Publication Date

2018

Journal

Law & Ethics of Human Rights

Abstract

Most of the world's constitutions contain clauses guaranteeing sex equality, and many also extend the special protection of the state to mothers. The constitutional protection of motherhood is undertheorized and neglected in global constitutional discourse, perhaps because jurisdictions like the United States view the special protection of women as contrary to gender equality. This Essay explores the feminist meanings and possibilities of constitutional motherhood clauses, by focusing on Germany, where they originated in 1919. While motherhood clauses have had complex relationships with a range of feminist agendas, they solidified the notion that social reproduction was a subject for constitutional lawmaking. Addressing twenty-first century gender inequalities requires a more robust engagement of women's disproportionate burdens in social reproduction. Having opened up a constitutional discourse around the challenges of social reproduction, motherhood clauses and gender equality guarantees can drive the search for new solutions.

Volume

12

Issue

1

First Page

151

Last Page

180

Publisher

De Gruyter Brill

DOI

https://doi.org/10.1515/lehr-2018-0002

Keywords

feminism, comparative constitutional law, gender equality, motherhood, women, legal history

Disciplines

Civil Rights and Discrimination | Comparative and Foreign Law | Fourteenth Amendment | Law | Law and Gender

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