At the Intersection of Law, Gender and Religion: Qualifying the Right to Manifest a Religious Belief

The right to manifest a religious belief is enshrined in the European Convention on Human Rights and has been under some attack lately in a number of Contracting Party States. In response to increasingly visible religious pluralism, a number of States have created legislation which limits this right in certain instances through the criminalisation of religious manifestations. This thesis considers the representation of women, their right to manifest their religious belief and inclusion in policy by the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), employing a doctrinal analysis within a law in context approach. It will therefore include extensive case law analysis of the jurisprudence of the ECtHR and examine the language, content and legal concepts integrated in the areas of religious manifestations and gender equality. It also draws on the quantitative and qualitative research that has been conducted by researchers across Europe who have evidenced that women are disproportionately affected by such bans and documents the experiences and motives of the women affected. Using intersectional feminism, feminist judging and gender mainstreaming as a form of critical scholarship it concludes that the bans are based on outsider experiences and views and proposes a more inclusive framework for qualifying the right to manifest a religious belief.