Rewriting the Rules: Gender-Responsive Lawmaking for the Twenty-First Century - Paperback

by Ramona Vijeyarasa (Author)

A free ebook version of this title is available through Luminos, University of California Press's Open Access publishing program. Visit www.luminosoa.org to learn more.

Rewriting the Rules considers what it would look like to write women's lives into law. Examining both where the law stands today and the ground left to walk if it is to be truly equitable, Ramona Vijeyarasa takes readers on a global journey of gender-responsive lawmaking across seven legal domains: gender-based violence, parental leave, corporate board representation, small-scale mining, budgeting, modern slavery, and artificial intelligence. A legislative tour of good and bad practice from every continent, this book reconceptualizes lawmaking and demonstrates how rewriting the rules can be a lever for equality.

Back Jacket

A compelling and empowering read for anyone trying to understand how the law can be better deployed for gender equality. Ramona Vijeyarasa addresses the persistent challenge of gender-blind laws, expanding our views to new fields such artificial intelligence in ways that will undoubtedly propel a new stride in women's rights.--Rangita de Silva, Distinguished Adjunct Professor of Law and Global Leadership, Penn Carey Law School, University of Pennsylvania, and member of the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW Committee)

"A brilliant and timely contribution. Broadening her analysis to chronically overlooked jurisdictions, Vijeyarasa brings a feminist legal imagination and a truly impressive body of research to the essential task of charting a path forward for gender-responsive law."--Meghan Campbell, author of Women, Poverty, Equality: The Role of CEDAW
"A thoughtful, refreshing, and innovative account of feminist approaches in law, regulation, and policymaking. This is a must-read for anyone who wishes to move beyond Global North Anglocentric perspectives and pursue solutions to pressing social issues that are championed by the people most directly affected."--Andrew Byrnes, Emeritus Professor of International Law and Human Rights, University of New South Wales

"The insights of this book are profound and instructive. Anyone interested in gender justice will want to study the questions of strategy and policy that have arisn in past law reform initiatives, as well as their distributive consequences. Vijeyarasa accomplishes that challenging task with remarkable thematic breadth: from labor law to family law to criminal law to many other domains. This book is especially noteworthy in centering the Global South and the remarkable achievements of Global South-based feminist movements strategizing about the legal architecture of social change. It is relevant to scholars, activists, legislators--indeed, anyone grappling with the challenges of law reform work will find this book richly rewarding."--Vasuki Nesiah, author of International Conflict Feminism: Theory, Practice, Challenges

Author Biography

Ramona Vijeyarasa is Professor of Law at the University of Technology Sydney. She is author of The Woman President: Leadership, Law and Legacy for Women Based on Experiences from South and Southeast Asia and Sex, Slavery and the Trafficked Woman: Myths and Misconceptions about Trafficking and Its Victims.