Intersectional Discrimination in the Inter-American Court of Human Rights: an analysis of its sentences

uma análise de suas sentenças

Abstract

Intersectionality, a legal concept developed in 1989 by Kimberlé Crenshaw, aims to address how the confluence of two or more grounds of discrimination can affect an individual and how it originates an unprecedented form of discrimination. In order to adapt itself in the face of challenges imposed against the effective protection of human dignity, the Inter-American Human Rights Protection System, especially through the main organs of the Organization of American States, starts using discrimination theories, such as intersectionality, to understand such confluence. This article’s purpose is to understand and analyze the theoretical construction and affirmation and the application of intersectionality by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights. To achieve this objective, a qualitative research through the inductive method is carried out by using the specialized literature review and jurisprudential analysis techniques. It is concluded that the concept of intersectionality used by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights is aligned with the academic theoretical development on the matter, especially regarding the qualitative dimension of intersectionality. However, there is still room for improvement and a necessity to dwell on the conceptual delimitation of the structural character of intersectionality, aiming for immediate and future practical objectives that seek to ensure this theory’s efficiency as an instrument and method for the defense of human rights and the effective protection of human dignity.