L: Professor Linda Reif
R: International Institute for the Sociology of Law, Oñati, Spain
Professor Linda Reif presented a paper entitled "Gender and Ombuds Institutions: Protection and Promotion of Women's Rights" at a workshop on "The Ombudsman and Administrative Justice: From Promise to Performance" held on June 8 and 9 at the internationally recognized International Institute for the Sociology of Law in Oñati, Spain, located southeast of Bilbao in the Basque region.
The workshop brought together ombuds scholars from around the world, whose papers are set to become chapters in the upcoming book Research Handbook on the Ombudsman, coedited by Professors Marc Hertogh (University of Oxford) and Richard Kirkham (University of Sheffield), to be published by Edward Elgar Publishing in 2018.
Reif's chapter will address the ways in which national human rights ombuds institutions (also classified as national human rights institutions) and classic ombuds institutions apply (or could potentially apply) international human rights law, and international women's rights law in particular, to protect and promote women's rights.
The chapter will also explore ways in which gender equality could be improved both in public administration and ombuds institutions, and how ombuds institutions are able to strengthen women's access to justice.