What a 'Private Life' Means for Women

Abstract

The Inter-American Court of Human Rights has emphasised the right to privacy as it includes an obligation not to interfere in private life. As the Court has expanded upon the definition of the right to privacy, it has determined that as much as there is an inherent negative obligation for the state to respect the right to privacy, there is equally a positive duty for the state to protect and promote the right to private life. In the context of women’s rights, where a considerable number of rights violations occur in the private sphere, regulation of private life in the form of protection from discrimination and violence is fundamental to the promotion of women’s human rights. However, as it stands, regulation in the private sphere is most often concerned with interference in women’s decisionmaking and autonomy. While the Court has included in the definition of the right to privacy provisions for women such as reproductive health services, it has failed to apply this definition to subsequent women’s rights violations. Despite developments in rhetoric, the Inter-American Court has been reluctant to traverse the divide that exists between the public and private spheres, which can ultimately prove detrimental to the advancement of women’s enjoyment of their rights in the region.