LC3S320 - Gender and the Law 01 Sep 2022 - 31 Aug 2028 | Version 1

Associated Module Information

Module Code: LC3S320
Module Title: Gender and the Law
Faculty: Faculty of Business and Creative Industries
Faculty Group: Law
Faculty Sub Group: Law
Module Leader: Clare Lewis
Module Team: Ismail Makda, Tassadaq Hussain, Hannah Coburn, Holly Evans
First Intended Intake: SEP 2022 Final Year of Intake: 2027
Date Closed:
Credit Value: 20 Credit Level: 6
Language: English
Percentage of Module Taught in Welsh: 0
Equivalent Module:
HECOS codes:
HECOS Code Weighting:

Document Version Information

Version 1
Valid From 01 Sep 2022
Valid To 31 Aug 2028

Module Aims

The module will provide students with an understanding of the range of feminist and other perspectives on law and legal processes,

The module will provide a basis for study for students to;
1. Critically debate feminist and other perspectives on law
2. Apply perspectives and critical argument to a range of subject areas and case studies.

Content Summary

This module explores the relationship of law to gender and will cover the following indicative content.

· The ways inequalities and differences between men and women are constructed and the part law plays in enforcing and breaking these down.
· Underpinning the module will be a focus on feminist jurisprudence, defined as “[a] branch of jurisprudence that examines the relationship between women and law, including the history of legal and social biases against women, the elimination of those biases in modern law, and the enhancement of women's legal rights and recognition in society.”

The module will examine topical legal issues through the lens of feminist perspectives including:

· Historical perspective on the evolving legal status of women.
· Sexual and gender based violence.
· Hate crime and sexual harassment.
· Equality, inclusion and non-discrimination.
· Women’s rights in employment.
· Gender and the legal profession.
· The problem of Prostitution.
· Women and the criminal legal process; the adversarial process, women as victims, women as defendants, sentenced as a woman, women as prisoners.
· Women’s rights as human rights; reproductive rights.

Learning and Teaching Methods

Activity Type Hours
Seminar 40
Independent Study 88
Directed Study 72
Total Hours Selected 200

Learning Outcomes

# Learning Outcome
LO1 Evidence detailed knowledge, understanding and critical analysis of a range of issues of the law relating to women.
LO2 Evidence self-directed research in the construction of critical argument in relation to the law relating to women and apply feminist perspectives as a tool of analysis.

Module Requisites

N/A

Assessment Criteria

Assessment Category Assessment Type Description Duration Word Count Weight (%) Best of? Pass Mark
Asynchronous Assessment Presentation (Asynchronous) 1 An oral presentation on a key issue relating to gender and the law 15 N/A 50 No 40
Asynchronous Assessment Case study 1 A critical essay and a reflective account on a single case or topic area relating to gender and the law. 0 2000 50 No 40

Assessment Matrix

Assessment Type Learning Outcomes
LO1 LO2
Presentation (Asynchronous) 1
Case study 1

Reading List

Feminist Philosophy: An Introduction, Elinor Mason 2022
Mary Wollstonecraft, A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, 1792
Donald Nicolson and Lois Bibbings, Feminist Perspectives on Criminal Law, 2000, Routledge
Misogyny online: A short and British History, Emma Jane, 2017 London Sage Publications
Women and the Law
Eve was framed: women and British justice 2005 Helena Kennedy
Eve was shamed: how British Justice is failing women 2018 London Chatto and Windus
Lorna Finlayson, 2016 Feminism: An Introduction Cambridge University Press
Women and the law, Sandra Fredman 1997
Women before the court: Law, Patriarchy in the Anglo Amercian world 1600-1800
Lindsay Moore 2019 Manchester University Press
Feminist Legal History: Essays on Women and Law, TJ Boisseau 2011
Married women and the law: coverture in England and the common law world, Tim Stretton and KJ Kesselring 2013 McGill Queen’s University Press
Feminist Perspectives on evidence, L Ellison and M Childs 2000
Feminist perspectives on employment law Anne Morris, T O’Donnell 1999
Feminist Perspectives in Criminology, L. Gelsthorpe and A Morris OUP 1990