Resumen de A New ‘Gender’ Definition in International Law: the Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence

Francisco Agnello

• The Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence is one of the very first treaties providing for a ‘gender’ definition and the first ever introducing a definition based on the so-called ‘social theory of gender’. The present contribution is devoted to the study of this definition and of its philosophical, political and juridical implications, which are of great relevance for international and national law. It aims at demonstrating the high criticism implied in the choice to include a definition of the term ‘gender’ in this treaty and in the option to elect a ‘social definition’. It seems that defining gender this way and in this context caused many problems from the theoretical perspective, along with concerns of judicial and political nature for states parties, who are prevented from broadly taking part to the Convention, thus generating an important delay in the adoption of the Convention itself and putting in danger the protection of the rights it aims at.