Two steps forward, one step back?: The field of women's human rights

This article offers an overview of the genesis of women's human rights and some of the debates surrounding them. It argues that, despite the considerable international activity relating to women's human rights, these rights have fragile protection. It begins by examining the development of women's human rights, and then moves to how women's rights are viewed today: with their articulation and expansion under Optional Protocols,regional Conventions and UN General Comments, and the critiques of general human rights norms from a feminist perspective. It ends with proposals for the future of women's rights, particularly the need to counter the perceived conflict between "culture" and women's rights, and to challenge conservative development via feminist methods to promote women's rights.