August 29, 2025
by Georgios A. Serghides[i] *** A note from the team: To celebrate the 15th anniversary of the Strasbourg Observers Blog, we organised an in-person symposium with scholars, practitioners, and members of the ECtHR on 8–9 May 2025 in Ghent. Connecting in person with so many regular contributors was a wonderful experience and led to engaging […]
August 26, 2025
by Dr Dolores Morondo Taramundi *** To celebrate the 15th anniversary of the Strasbourg Observers Blog, we organised an in-person symposium with scholars, practitioners, and members of the ECtHR on 8–9 May 2025 in Ghent. Connecting in person with so many regular contributors was a wonderful experience and led to engaging dialogue with current and […]
August 22, 2025
by dr. Stefanos Xenofontos On 3 July 2025, the European Court of Human Rights (‘ECtHR’ or ‘the Court’) delivered its judgment in the case of N.T. v. Cyprus, unanimously finding violations of Articles 3, 8, and 14 of the European Convention on Human Rights (‘ECHR’) arising from the Cypriot authorities’ failure to effectively investigate and […]
August 13, 2025
By Sophie Girardini In B.T. and B.K.Cs. v. Hungary, the ECtHR addressed the removal of a Romani child from his mother just three days after birth. The Court found a violation of Article 8 of the Convention due to the flawed decision-making process of the Hungarian authorities in removing the child from family custody. However, it […]
June 10, 2025
By Dr. Katarzyna Sękowska-Kozłowska The judgment in X v. Cyprus of 27 February 2025 marks a significant contribution to the European Court of Human Rights’ developing anti-stereotyping approach in cases of sexual violence. While building on its earlier judgments, particularly J.L. v. Italy (commented on here), which exposed victim-blaming stereotypes and re-victimisation, it brings added […]
November 02, 2023
By Dr. Betül Durmuş I remember the first time I learned about Article 132 of the Turkish Civil Code (‘TCC’) in the family law classes in Turkey. This provision imposes a 300-day waiting period for divorced women to remarry unless they medically prove they are not pregnant. As a young woman and a law student, […]
January 24, 2023
By Dr Alice Margaria What is the role of and what is expected of a (legal) father? From a legal perspective, this question that goes well beyond the scope of family law, and the recent judgment in Beeler v Switzerland, decided by the Grand Chamber on 11 October 2022, is a case in point. In […]
January 03, 2023
By Eva Sevrin and Emma Várnagy G.M. and Others v The Republic of Moldova concerns the imposition of abortions and contraceptive measures upon women with intellectual disabilities. In finding an Article 3 violation, the Court has not only added to its case law on reproductive rights, but also contributed to disability rights under the convention, […]
September 14, 2022
By Sofia Balzaretti Introduction In the case Patrício Monteiro Telo de Abreu v. Portugal, the Strasbourg Court held that the judicial domestic authorities had not taken sufficient account of the context in which Patricio Monteiro Telo de Abreu, the applicant, had published satire cartoons depicting sexist stereotypes on his blog and that they had thus […]
September 06, 2021
By Margarita S. Ilieva, a strategic equality/human rights litigator with extensive experience in negative stereotyping. The violent misogyny case of J.L. c. Italie (27.05.2021) is one of few in which the Court expressly addressed revictimisation (neglectful/actively injurious treatment of a survivor by those expected to address the original harm). Prior cases whereby this concept was […]
August 18, 2021
By Lisa Maria Weinberger* On 15 June 2021, the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) rendered its judgment on the domestic violence case Kurt v Austria. This case concerned a woman in Austria who experienced domestic violence at the hands of her husband, which resulted in his murdering their son. Based […]
March 24, 2021
By Jonas Deweer-Vanmeerhaeghe, lawyer at the Belgian federal Institute for the Equality of Women and Men, where he specializes in insurance discrimination and the protection of the rights of transgender and intersex persons. Jonas is a founding member of GenderSpectrum, a non-profit advocating on behalf of gender diverse persons, and he also volunteers for UTSOPI, […]
September 28, 2017
Those interested in stereotyping and intersectional discrimination might not want to miss the Court’s judgment in Carvalho Pinto de Sousa Morais v. Portugal. The compensation awarded domestically to a 50-year-old woman who could not have sexual relations after a failed operation was reduced, partly, because of age and gender stereotypes. After rejecting the use of […]
April 20, 2016
Those who think stereotypical beliefs about rape are a thing of the past will probably be surprised to read the domestic reasoning in cases that have recently reached Strasbourg. Allusions to women’s “immoral” behavior in I.P. v. the Republic of Moldova and insinuations that women should have resisted “by scratching or biting” in Y. v. […]
March 03, 2016
By Fleur van Leeuwen, LL.M. Ph.D., human rights researcher and lecturer. On 14 January 2011 Selma Civek was murdered by her husband. It was the denouement of years of battering and abuse. Last week the European Court of Human Rights (the Court) ruled that Turkey had violated Civek’s right to life. It deemed it unnecessary […]
May 20, 2015
By Yaiza Janssens In the recent case of I.P. v. the Republic of Moldova, the European Court of Human Rights examined state responsibility to establish an effective legal and judicial framework with regard to rape under Articles 3 and 8 of the Convention. In this post, I show that the Court failed to acknowledge that […]
July 03, 2014
By Saïla Ouald Chaib and Lourdes Peroni This week, the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights published its long-expected judgment in S.A.S. v. France. The case concerns a ban on the wearing of face veils in the public space. Although the outcome of such highly debated cases is always unpredictable, we hoped […]
February 18, 2014
This guest post was written by Yaiza Janssens, PhD researcher and teaching/research assistant at the Human Rights Centre of Ghent University. Yaiza works on a project on the regulation of sexism in Belgian Law. Cusan and Fazzo v. Italy concerned a challenge to transmission of the father’s surname to his children. The applicants in this […]
November 29, 2013
On Wednesday, our research team attended the Grand Chamber hearing at the European Court of Human Rights in the case of S.A.S. v. France, in which we submitted a third party intervention on behalf of the Ghent University Human Rights Centre. The case concerns the French law banning the face veil, a highly debated piece […]
November 11, 2013
The Human Rights Centre of Ghent University organizes a seminar on the topic of Stereotyping as a Human Rights Issue. The seminar will take place in Ghent on 4 December 2013. The purpose of this seminar is to explore the topic of stereotyping from a wide human rights perspective. We will address questions like: How […]