| This thesis explores questions about how law in general, and Canadian human rights law in particular, engage with women's struggles against social inequalities. The questions are framed within an extended discussion of human rights and feminist legal scholarship, with a focus on Canadian scholars. They include questions about law and social power, the "promise and practice" of human rights law, and legal conceptualizations of sex discrimination. These questions are then probed through an analysis of the Federation of Women Teachers' Associations of Ontario ("FWTAO") Membership Case. In this case, the Ontario Human Rights Code was invoked to challenge the right of FWTAO, a union and professional association, to represent all women public elementary teachers in Ontario. The thesis examines the social context in which the litigation proceeded, and provides a close examination of the legal processes involved in this litigation and the decisions of the human rights tribunal. |
