Los estereotipos en la jurisprudencia del Tribunal Europeo de Derechos Humanos

Abstract

This chapter analyses stereotypes in the case law of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR). It focuses on gender stereotypes, understanding gender in a broad manner including sex/sexual orientation/gender identity. The chapter starts by discussing what stereotypes are, and how they can be understood as both cause and manifestation of discrimination. Next, the chapter outlines how in recent years an anti-stereotyping approach has emerged in the case law of the ECtHR. The chapter then explores the limitations of this approach. It develops three main critiques of the ECtHR’s approach to gender stereotypes: first, that the Court’s approach is inconsistent, second, that it has not yet adopted an intersectional approach in its consideration of stereotypes, and finally, more fundamentally, that it gravitates towards a binary cis-heteronormative perspective. The chapter closes with brief remarks regarding the ways forward in adjudicating stereotypes, which the authors propose consists in naming and contesting stereotypes from an intersectional perspective.