Human rights working for women

International human rights law has been criticised for its failure to fully and adequately address the concerns of women. Even those provisions that do seem to bear upon women's rights have been criticised as too vague to provide any tangible standards. This thesis will show instead that international human rights law can be applied to provide relevant guiding norms for State Parties with respect to women's rights.In this thesis, the author focuses on women's rights to equality with men in the field of employment. The relevant international human rights norms are interpreted in the context of the gender inequality, specifically the gender pay gap, of a particular State---the United Kingdom. From this, practical norms and standards are derived to enable the Government of that State to meet its international obligations. The same technique may be applied to establish international human rights standards for any State.The thesis begins with consideration of the international human rights norms as they bear upon women in employment. The main reference is to the work of the Committee for the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women. However, the work of other human rights treaty bodies and the International Labour Organisation is also relevant. This provides the basis from which to consider how the United Kingdom can "respect," "protect" and "assist and fulfil" these rights.Considerable analysis follows of the discrimination laws in the United Kingdom, the extent and causes of the gender pay gap in employment and aspects of the tax and welfare system which compound women's relative disadvantage. This analysis provides sufficient understanding of the context from which the content of "all appropriate measures" can be appreciated. "All appropriate measures" are proposed in the final chapter that would be in accordance with the requirements of international human rights laws regarding gender equality in employment.