Since the late 1990s rights-based approaches (RBAs) in development have been advanced by the major institutional development actors such as the UN, multilateral and bilateral agencies, and international NGOs. A number of critiques of RBAs have emerged that question whether the emancipatory potential of rights discourse and practice will be realized within development. These critiques, however, have not sufficiently questioned the implication of rights discourse and practice for advancing a gender equality agenda and women’s autonomy.

This is an area that needs considerable research, and this publication explores some of the key issues at stake. The publication, based on contributions from different regions of the world, sheds light on the problematic of delivering on rights in a way that treats and sees women as entities in themselves and worthy of rights, and not simply in relation to a man and as subordinate within gender relations. The authors remind us that in order to practice rights, we need on the one hand to side with, promote and learn from the awareness of those deprived of rights, because it is their agency that will fuel and drive the struggle for rights. On the other hand, rights-based practice requires a politically engaged research, activist and development community in order to promote gender equality.

Table of Contents:

Acknowledgements; Acronyms; Introduction: Gender, Rights and Development—Maitrayee Mukhopadhyay and Shamim Meer; 1) Citizens or Mothers? The Marginalization of Women’s Reproductive Rights in the Struggle for Access to Health Care for HIV-Positive Pregnant Women in South Africa—Cathi Albertyn and Shamim Meer; 2) Talking Rights or What is Right? Understandings and Strategies Around Sexual, Reproductive and Abortion Rights in Nicaragua—Sarah Bradshaw, Ana Criquillion, Vilma Castillo Arumburu and Goya Wilson; 3) Leaving Our Fears Behind: Women Claiming Rights After the Bhopal Gas Disaster—Jashodhara Dasgupta; 4) the Empowerment of Women: Rights and Entitlements in Arab Worlds—Hania Sholkamy; 5) In Search of New Images: When Feminism Meets Development—Everjoice Win; Guide to the Annotated Bibliography; Annotated Bibliography: Author Index; Geographical Index; About the Authors.