Course:Law3020/2014WT1/Group K/Feminist Jurisprudence

The theory of Feminist Legal Perspective: Feminism is based upon a cluster of views - not a single school of thought. Feminist theory focusses on specific, concrete, and lived experiences of women. There are various different theories regarding feminism and the law, but they all have a common core. This includes an analysis of patriarchy as a starting point. Patriarchy is the system in which the world works and has worked for many of years. It's the systematic domination of women by men and it's invisible and this perpetuates it (people cannot change what they do not see!). Patriachy presents itself as being a natural embodiment of society, however, is constructed by us and maintained socially as our way of being. How does feminism and feminist theories relate to law?! It challenges traditional legal values and determines that they are falsehoods. Feminism also looks at the neutrality of law and how the rule of law affects women. Feminist theory challenges the idea that law is neutral, law is separate from politics, and law is separate from morality. The various theories of feminism bring forth different ideas under the same umbrella that aims to address the discrimination of women. - Liberal feminism: blocks can be removed to create equality, but the informal discrimination must also be recognized in order to acknowledge women's oppression. - Radical feminism: we need to change everything in order to change the system of discrimination. Children need to be socialized differently from the start. - Marxist feminism: this claims that the oppression of women is a necessary function of the capitalist system. - Postmodern feminism: Women are different and this should be embraced by society! - Relational feminism: Women's experiences are based on their relationships. These are the reality of women's experiences and need to be addressed for changes to occur.

In applying this theory to R v Khawaja: The legal system is created by a system of ideas that perpetuate the patriarchy. The anti-terrorism provisions within the Criminal Code were made within this patriarchal system where there is power by men over women, and the power relationship can be seen as transferred to other oppressed groups as well. When the provisions were created, if the lawmakers has taken into account the experiences and lived lives of individuals, including women and other oppressed groups, the law could have potentially looked very different. Most women are in a position of disempowerment and the same can be said for individuals in different oppressed groups. Khawaja is a young man as part of a minority group in Canada and belongs to a religion (muslim) that is contrary to the Christianity that Canadian society and Canadian laws are based upon. The power is in the hands of men in Canada, and they are creating the power that they have over other groups. The anti-terrorm provisions in the Code reflect the power imbalance between the group in power and the oppressed. In this case, decided by the Supreme Court of Canada, which is led by (a female) Chief Justice McLachlin, it is important to note that McLachlin is a good example of classic liberal feminism. She would agree that by taking away the blocks there is no reason why women cannot be equal. Justice L'Heureux Dube, however, who sits on the bench as well, can be seen as a liberal feminist as well, but in her decisions she implies that the relationships and experiences of women are important too, and the removal of the blocks is important but not the end of the story for creating equality for women.