ABSTRACT
This chapter surveys some practical challenges to the universality of human rights. We will frame our discussion around the following three sets of questions. The first concerns the principle of state sovereignty (and the associated principle of non-intervention). The values of human rights and state sovereignty are the two core normative pillars of international relations. Yet human rights and sovereignty can be at odds. When this happens, should the universality of human rights be dialled-back in concession to sovereignty, or should sovereignty be limited by human rights? Second, to what extent should human rights accommodate cultural differences? Is the fact of international cultural diversity a reason to limit the scope of human rights? And can cultural membership itself be a human right? The third set of questions is that of gender and rights. Are women’s rights already accounted for and protected by universal human rights for all, or ought there be special and specific women’s human rights? Is gender equality a human right and thus an international standard that all states must respect? And can gender and cultural rights come into conflict, and if they do, how do we adjudicate this tension from a human rights perspective?
