Gender, the environment and human rights: a study of their interconnectedness within the EU

Abstract

This thesis answers the question: “How can a gender-sensitive approach to the EU’s framework on human rights and the EU’s framework on the environment be beneficial, both legally and from a political perspective?” A literature review of existing literature on the topic of gender, human rights and the environment concludes that these topics are irrevocably connected, and within the EU all three topics have an important role, albeit it mostly separated in the literature. This thesis’ analysis has found that the extent to which gender plays a role is more or less constant in both frameworks on the environment, where gender plays a minimum role. In the legal framework on human rights, the role of gender is larger, but still not prominent. In the policy framework on human rights, the role of gender is highly prominent, showing a large degree of gender mainstreaming. Using a gender-sensitive approach to these EU frameworks has thus shown that there is a basis of EU recognition that gender, the environment and human rights are interlinked. By acknowledging the interconnectedness between these issues, the complete nature of the issues is recognized and no aspects are ignored, which benefits EU efforts for these issues individually.