The Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence – selected constitutional issues

The article focuses on issues related to ratification in Poland of the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence. It includes an analysis of constitutionality of the certain provisions of the Convention. In the author’s view, the Convention does not contain any provisions inconsistent with the Constitution of Poland. However, he claims that proper interpretation of this document requires analysis of its authentic texts in English and French.

For over a decade, Iceland has been ranked first among countries around the world in the field of equality between women and men, both in the legal and social aspects. But such a spectacular achievement is not the result of legal regulations developed today or even in the last few decades. This is the final achievement of consistent, over a century of work - especially of women - for the proper and equal treatment of people, regardless of gender, and other differentiating factors. And although it is probably not realistic to create an ideal model, the Icelanders managed to work out a very difficult thing. Coexisting at the intersection of great attachment to tradition and the church, they noticed the subjectivity of each individual, as well as the right of this individual to be an equal subject of human rights and liberties. So, what is the concept of equality shaped in contemporary Iceland, and what legal and social processes have Icelanders undergone to achieve such exemplary standards? Pointing it out is the aim of this article.

The right to the protection of life and health is one of the fundamental human rights. Therefore, it cannot be restricted on the basis of gender, especially when we are dealing with a pregnant woman. Meanwhile, in Poland, since the 1990s, there has been a process of limiting access to legal abortion. Democratically elected authorities have the right to shape the legal system in this area as well, however, by virtue of a ruling of the Polish Constitutional Tribunal in 2020, abortion has been outlawed in cases where pregnancy threatens a woman’s life or health. The number of cases where doctors refuse to help pregnant women is increasing, and there is even a loss of a woman’s life as a result of doctors’ passivity. In these circumstances, it is necessary to analyse the regulations in force in Poland and determine what is currently the scope of a woman’s rights, what is the scope of a doctor’s duties, and whether the regulations do not excessively hinder access to legal abortion.

When considering the issues related to the fight for women’s political it is not possible to disregard some of the most important factors determining the level of women’s participation in political life. As regards scientific discussion on the presence of women in government roles, the most frequently cited reason contributing to lesser representation of women are biological, social, ideological, structural, cultural, religious and economic factors. 100 years have passed and women, who account for slightly more than a half of the Polish society, still have too low representation in the parliament, in many cases their salaries are lower than those of men at similar positions, they play specific social and professional roles assigned on the grounds of sex, and still some people try to marginalize them professionally and deprive of their freedoms. The aim of this text is to analyze premises for the establishing of the Association of Congress of Women and results achieved over the past ten years. The main objectives adopted for purpose of the text include the verification of demands set by the Association and their implementation, and the analysis of its activity in terms of socio-political changes. Content analysis was used as the method.

Establishing the Right to Abortion in the Constitutional Principles of Privacy, Equality and Freedom in the US and the Arguments of the Constitutional Tribunal of October 22, 2020

The U.S. Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade ruling was pivotal in American women’s fight for the right to abortion. It was based on the constitutional principle of the right to privacy and was criticized that it would be more appropriate to base it on the principle of equality. The aim of the article is to compare the way in which the U.S. Supreme Court rulings legalizing abortion have been argued with the Polish Constitutional Tribunal’s 2020 ruling limiting the already restrictive right to abortion. The article analyzes the judgment of the Constitutional Tribunal and presents its potential effects in terms of women’s rights, gender equality and freedom. In its conclusion, the article points to possible legal solutions to the abortion dilemma and addresses the issue of gender discrimination.

Feminist deconstruction of the traditional image of women in Qiu Jin’s works

Women’s issues are a significant subject of study in the realm of Chinese literature. In many works, it can be seen to oppose stereotypes or norms imposed on the female gender and to take measures leading to the emancipation of the individual. Such literature is symptomatic of a desire for change in society, that is, the overthrow of the patriarchal system and the introduction of equal rights between the sexes. An example of such prose is the works of China’s first feminist, Qiu Jin, who decided to fight for women’s rights. She was sentenced to death for her revolutionary activities. However, her texts introduced a completely new image of women into the public sphere - different from the one that had been reproduced for hundreds of years in ancient China. The poet chose to endow her heroines with charisma, courage, intelligence and the will to fight for a better life. Her aim was to make women aware of their situation in life, their social role, and to encourage them to leave the male-dominated world. Michalina Koniuk, in the chapter “Feminist Deconstruction of the Traditional Image of Woman in Qiu Jin’s Works”, proposes to analyse Qiu Jin’s works and present that the characters created by the writer oppose and destroy the image of the obedient and uneducated woman that existed in ancient China. First, the social role imposed on women in Chinese society has been described, namely that of obedient daughter, wife and daughter-in-law. The requirements and rules expected of Chinese women have been presented, and how Confucian norms contributed to the belittling of women’s role and position in Chinese society. As the poet was inspired by her own life experiences, Qiu Jin’s life were briefly introduced. Her childhood, during which the first signs of dissatisfaction with the obligations and social norms imposed on girls could be observed. An unsuccessful marriage mobilised the feminist to fight for women’s rights, to oppose the doctrines of Confucius and to leave home and go abroad. This was a great act of courage and at the same time a struggle for freedom and independence in the life of a feminist. That part was followed by an analysis of Qiu Jin’s works, whose female characters exemplify the kind of norms and behaviours that Qiu Jin rebelled against. At the same time, these characters deconstruct the traditional image of a woman and introduce a new one of a strong and independent individual. In this chapter, all poems and quotations have been translated by the author from Chinese into Polish.