Paula Gerber
Biographic Data
| ID | 3587554 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Paula Gerber |
| GIVEN NAMES | Paula |
| FAMILY NAME | Gerber |
| SIGNATURE | GERBER P |
| AFFILIATIONS | Monash University |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-6292-6154 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 23 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 44 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 23 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1993 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2024 |
| H-INDEX | 4 |
Erasing trans people
The United States is witnessing a wave of laws targeting transgender people, ranging from prohibitions on participation in sport, denial of access to gender affirming health care and regulating bathroom access and what people wear. This anti-trans trend that we are seeing in the United States is sending shock waves through the trans community in Australia. Is Australia going to follow the US ‘hate manual’? Are trans and gender diverse people here…
Sexual and reproductive health care for trans and gender diverse people
In Australia today, trans and gender diverse people face daily indignities in a myriad of contexts, including when accessing sexual and reproductive health care. This article illuminates some of the barriers that trans and gender diverse people experience when seeking sexual and reproductive health care and illustrates how these obstacles violate human rights. It concludes with recommendations regarding reforms to better protect the rights and di…
Is the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child Doing Enough to Protect the Rights of LGBT Children and Children with Same-Sex Parents
Children often face discrimination, bullying and even violence because of their sexual orientation or gender identity, as do children raised by parents who are lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender (LGBT). This article considers what the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child is doing to protect the rights of LGBT children and children with LGBT parents. To make such an assessment, this article critically analyses the Committee’s Concluding Obse…
Protecting the rights of LGBTIQ people around the world
Discussions about the human rights of LGBTIQ people tend to centre around two vastly different issues, namely, marriage equality and the criminalisation of same-sex sexual conduct. However, looking only at these two high-profile issues ignores the many pressing concerns facing LGBTIQ people around the world. This article identifies and analyses eight other human rights issues that urgently need addressing, in order to respect the rights of LGBTIQ…
Assessing the Refugee Claims of LGBTI People
Although, in recent decades, the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex persons have been better protected, there remains significant room for improvement in the way claims for asylum based on sexual orientation, gender identity, and intersex status are assessed. Those claiming refugee status because they have a well-founded fear of persecution based on such issues continue to be asked inappropriate questions. The relatively …
Community, identity, orientation
The Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) escalated its community building project significantly over the last decade, culminating in the launch of a reformed and substantially integrated ASEAN Community at the end of 2015. This article considers what might follow from this newly reformed and rhetorically people-focused version of ASEAN for matters of sexual orientation and gender identity and expression (SOGIE). In claiming to be peopl…
The Evolution of Administrative Systems in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar
The dramatic plunge in oil prices since the second half of 2014 poses serious challenges for the oil dependent states of Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar, and revives their interest in accelerating the implementation of market-based reforms such as outsourcing, privatization, and public-private partnerships. This article challenges the assumption that these reforms offer a panacea for administrative change, and argues that while they might appear …
Human rights in Papua New Guinea
n\t\t\t\t\tAustralia has had a long, and at times tumultuous, relationship with our nearest neighbour, Papua New Guinea. This relationship took a twist in late 2012, with the re-opening of the off-shore processing centre on Manus Island, and again in February 2014, when Iranian asylum seeker Reza Berati was murdered by locals during a violent disturbance at the centre. The latest test of the strength and endurance of the relationship between PNG …
Life Imitating Art
It is a sign of how far we have come with respecting the rights of lesbian and gay people that there are currently several movies where the main themes revolve around the lived experience of gays and lesbians and their families. It is a sign of how far we still have to go, that the New South Wales government banned the screening of one of these movies in schools
Living a Life of Crime
The Commonwealth, which accounts for 30% of the world population, has shown a stubborn refusal to address the human rights of its lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex ('LGBTI') citizens
Burqa
The 2014 police raids on the homes of suspected ISIS supporters in Sydney and Brisbane, in response to concerns that they were planning to kidnap and behead random members of the public, has once again seen the Islamic community at the centre of attention. The spotlight has been on highly visible symbols of Islam, in particular, the facial coverings worn by some Muslim women. This is evident from Senator Jacqui Lambie's campaign to 'ban the burqa…
The UN Human Rights Committee and LGBT Rights
The United Nations Human Rights Committee has been praised as one of the most influential human rights bodies in the world; however, its track record for the protection of the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) persons has not yet been comprehensively or systematically examined. Individuals in many parts of the world face severe human rights violations because of their sexual orientation or gender identity. In many countries,…
Understanding Human Rights
Paula Gerber argues that international law can learn from the medical profession, which has long recognised that 'prevention is better than cure'. There is an urgent need for HRE to be recognised as one of the best ways of preventing future human rights abuses; it is, in essence, a prophylactic for human rights violations. The book explores the provenance of human rights education in international law before critiquing the UNs work in this area a…
Should Gay Men Still Be Labelled Criminals
Many men feel discriminated against and bear the burden of the days when it was illegal for them to have consensual gay sex. This is because they still carry a conviction for engaging in homosexual acts. These convictions may be for a number of different offences including indecent assault, sodomy, gross indecency and buggery. Having such a conviction, for an act which has been legal for years or even decades, may have a negative impact on an ind…
The New Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child
On 19 December 2011, the UN General Assembly adopted the Third Optional Protocol ('OP') to the Convention on the Rights of the Child ('CROC'), which establishes a system whereby children can bring a complaint alleging that a human right has been violated to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child ('CRC'). Prior to the adoption of this OP, the CRC was the only UN treaty committee without jurisdiction to receive communications alleging violatio…
Indigenous Australians’ access to birth registration systems
It has recently been discovered that there are significant numbers of Indigenous Australians who are unable to prove their identity — either because their birth was never registered, or because they cannot satisfy the requirements of the Registrar of Births, Deaths and Marriages for obtaining a birth certificate. The effect is to make such people legally invisible, preventing them from enjoying all the rights of citizenship that the majority take…
Education about Human Rights
Human Rights Education ('HRE') has been a focal point of the UN's work ever since the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was proclaimed in 1948. Article 26(2) of that seminal human rights instrument provides that: Education shall be directed to the full development of the human personality and to the strengthening of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms. It shall promote understanding, tolerance and friendship among all nations, r…
Recognition of the Human Right to Water
Unlike the right to food and housing, the right to water was not expressly acknowledged in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights ('UDHR') or the subsequent International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights ('ICESCR'). This omission generated debate about whether a human right to water exists at international law
Does the Right to Birth Registration Include a Right to a Birth Certificate
International human rights law has long recognised the right of every child to have their birth registered. However, what is less clear is what this right encompasses. For example, does the normative content of the right to birth registration include a right to a birth certificate? This is a question that has become very relevant to Indigenous Australians many of whom are experiencing difficulties acquiring a birth certificate. This article argue…
Jack & Jill or Jack & Bill
An increasing number of same-sex couples are raising children in Australia. Although there are a number of ways for same-sex couples to become parents – including heterosexual intercourse and assisted conception procedures – adoption is denied to same-sex couples in many Australian jurisdictions. For same-sex couples, adoption (either in the form of non-relative adoption or step-parent/second parent adoption) is a crucial and significant avenue f…
Making Indigenous Australians ‘Disappear’
Bradley Hayes is a 3 1 -year-old Indigenous1 man whose birth was never registered. He grew up as a ward of the state, not knowing his date of birth. From the authorities’ point of view, he did not exist. For almost ten years, he battled bureaucracy to enjoy the rights most of us take for granted, such as getting a driver’s licence or obtaining a passport. But without a birth certificate to prove his identity, he always came up against a brick wal…
Human Rights Reform in the United Nations
Recently there has been extensive criticism of the effectiveness of United Nations (UN) human rights bodies. In particular the Commission on Human Rights has been described as 'irrelevant' and 'positively destructive' because it has failed to act decisively when governments suppress human rights which they are legally bound to uphold. These kinds of accusations prompted Secretary General Kofi Annan to initiate a program of reform, a flagship of w…
Recommendation of the VDI on the integration of transdisciplinary studies into the engineering curriculum
The Evolution of Administrative Systems in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar
The dramatic plunge in oil prices since the second half of 2014 poses serious challenges for the oil dependent states of Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar, and revives their interest in accelerating the implementation of market-based reforms such as outsourcing, privatization, and public-private partnerships. This article challenges the assumption that these reforms offer a panacea for administrative change, and argues that while they might appear …
Community, identity, orientation
The Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) escalated its community building project significantly over the last decade, culminating in the launch of a reformed and substantially integrated ASEAN Community at the end of 2015. This article considers what might follow from this newly reformed and rhetorically people-focused version of ASEAN for matters of sexual orientation and gender identity and expression (SOGIE). In claiming to be peopl…
Protecting the rights of LGBTIQ people around the world
Discussions about the human rights of LGBTIQ people tend to centre around two vastly different issues, namely, marriage equality and the criminalisation of same-sex sexual conduct. However, looking only at these two high-profile issues ignores the many pressing concerns facing LGBTIQ people around the world. This article identifies and analyses eight other human rights issues that urgently need addressing, in order to respect the rights of LGBTIQ…
Living a Life of Crime
The Commonwealth, which accounts for 30% of the world population, has shown a stubborn refusal to address the human rights of its lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex ('LGBTI') citizens
The UN Human Rights Committee and LGBT Rights
The United Nations Human Rights Committee has been praised as one of the most influential human rights bodies in the world; however, its track record for the protection of the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) persons has not yet been comprehensively or systematically examined. Individuals in many parts of the world face severe human rights violations because of their sexual orientation or gender identity. In many countries,…
Does the Right to Birth Registration Include a Right to a Birth Certificate
International human rights law has long recognised the right of every child to have their birth registered. However, what is less clear is what this right encompasses. For example, does the normative content of the right to birth registration include a right to a birth certificate? This is a question that has become very relevant to Indigenous Australians many of whom are experiencing difficulties acquiring a birth certificate. This article argue…
Making Indigenous Australians ‘Disappear’
Bradley Hayes is a 3 1 -year-old Indigenous1 man whose birth was never registered. He grew up as a ward of the state, not knowing his date of birth. From the authorities’ point of view, he did not exist. For almost ten years, he battled bureaucracy to enjoy the rights most of us take for granted, such as getting a driver’s licence or obtaining a passport. But without a birth certificate to prove his identity, he always came up against a brick wal…
Erasing trans people
The United States is witnessing a wave of laws targeting transgender people, ranging from prohibitions on participation in sport, denial of access to gender affirming health care and regulating bathroom access and what people wear. This anti-trans trend that we are seeing in the United States is sending shock waves through the trans community in Australia. Is Australia going to follow the US ‘hate manual’? Are trans and gender diverse people here…
Human rights in Papua New Guinea
n\t\t\t\t\tAustralia has had a long, and at times tumultuous, relationship with our nearest neighbour, Papua New Guinea. This relationship took a twist in late 2012, with the re-opening of the off-shore processing centre on Manus Island, and again in February 2014, when Iranian asylum seeker Reza Berati was murdered by locals during a violent disturbance at the centre. The latest test of the strength and endurance of the relationship between PNG …
Indigenous Australians’ access to birth registration systems
It has recently been discovered that there are significant numbers of Indigenous Australians who are unable to prove their identity — either because their birth was never registered, or because they cannot satisfy the requirements of the Registrar of Births, Deaths and Marriages for obtaining a birth certificate. The effect is to make such people legally invisible, preventing them from enjoying all the rights of citizenship that the majority take…
Education about Human Rights
Human Rights Education ('HRE') has been a focal point of the UN's work ever since the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was proclaimed in 1948. Article 26(2) of that seminal human rights instrument provides that: Education shall be directed to the full development of the human personality and to the strengthening of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms. It shall promote understanding, tolerance and friendship among all nations, r…
Recommendation of the VDI on the integration of transdisciplinary studies into the engineering curriculum
Human Rights Reform in the United Nations
Recently there has been extensive criticism of the effectiveness of United Nations (UN) human rights bodies. In particular the Commission on Human Rights has been described as 'irrelevant' and 'positively destructive' because it has failed to act decisively when governments suppress human rights which they are legally bound to uphold. These kinds of accusations prompted Secretary General Kofi Annan to initiate a program of reform, a flagship of w…
Jack & Jill or Jack & Bill
An increasing number of same-sex couples are raising children in Australia. Although there are a number of ways for same-sex couples to become parents – including heterosexual intercourse and assisted conception procedures – adoption is denied to same-sex couples in many Australian jurisdictions. For same-sex couples, adoption (either in the form of non-relative adoption or step-parent/second parent adoption) is a crucial and significant avenue f…
Making Indigenous Australians ‘Disappear’
Bradley Hayes is a 3 1 -year-old Indigenous1 man whose birth was never registered. He grew up as a ward of the state, not knowing his date of birth. From the authorities’ point of view, he did not exist. For almost ten years, he battled bureaucracy to enjoy the rights most of us take for granted, such as getting a driver’s licence or obtaining a passport. But without a birth certificate to prove his identity, he always came up against a brick wal…
Indigenous Australians’ access to birth registration systems
It has recently been discovered that there are significant numbers of Indigenous Australians who are unable to prove their identity — either because their birth was never registered, or because they cannot satisfy the requirements of the Registrar of Births, Deaths and Marriages for obtaining a birth certificate. The effect is to make such people legally invisible, preventing them from enjoying all the rights of citizenship that the majority take…
Education about Human Rights
Human Rights Education ('HRE') has been a focal point of the UN's work ever since the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was proclaimed in 1948. Article 26(2) of that seminal human rights instrument provides that: Education shall be directed to the full development of the human personality and to the strengthening of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms. It shall promote understanding, tolerance and friendship among all nations, r…
Recognition of the Human Right to Water
Unlike the right to food and housing, the right to water was not expressly acknowledged in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights ('UDHR') or the subsequent International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights ('ICESCR'). This omission generated debate about whether a human right to water exists at international law
Does the Right to Birth Registration Include a Right to a Birth Certificate
International human rights law has long recognised the right of every child to have their birth registered. However, what is less clear is what this right encompasses. For example, does the normative content of the right to birth registration include a right to a birth certificate? This is a question that has become very relevant to Indigenous Australians many of whom are experiencing difficulties acquiring a birth certificate. This article argue…
The New Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child
On 19 December 2011, the UN General Assembly adopted the Third Optional Protocol ('OP') to the Convention on the Rights of the Child ('CROC'), which establishes a system whereby children can bring a complaint alleging that a human right has been violated to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child ('CRC'). Prior to the adoption of this OP, the CRC was the only UN treaty committee without jurisdiction to receive communications alleging violatio…
Understanding Human Rights
Paula Gerber argues that international law can learn from the medical profession, which has long recognised that 'prevention is better than cure'. There is an urgent need for HRE to be recognised as one of the best ways of preventing future human rights abuses; it is, in essence, a prophylactic for human rights violations. The book explores the provenance of human rights education in international law before critiquing the UNs work in this area a…
Should Gay Men Still Be Labelled Criminals
Many men feel discriminated against and bear the burden of the days when it was illegal for them to have consensual gay sex. This is because they still carry a conviction for engaging in homosexual acts. These convictions may be for a number of different offences including indecent assault, sodomy, gross indecency and buggery. Having such a conviction, for an act which has been legal for years or even decades, may have a negative impact on an ind…
Living a Life of Crime
The Commonwealth, which accounts for 30% of the world population, has shown a stubborn refusal to address the human rights of its lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex ('LGBTI') citizens
Burqa
The 2014 police raids on the homes of suspected ISIS supporters in Sydney and Brisbane, in response to concerns that they were planning to kidnap and behead random members of the public, has once again seen the Islamic community at the centre of attention. The spotlight has been on highly visible symbols of Islam, in particular, the facial coverings worn by some Muslim women. This is evident from Senator Jacqui Lambie's campaign to 'ban the burqa…
The UN Human Rights Committee and LGBT Rights
The United Nations Human Rights Committee has been praised as one of the most influential human rights bodies in the world; however, its track record for the protection of the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) persons has not yet been comprehensively or systematically examined. Individuals in many parts of the world face severe human rights violations because of their sexual orientation or gender identity. In many countries,…
Life Imitating Art
It is a sign of how far we have come with respecting the rights of lesbian and gay people that there are currently several movies where the main themes revolve around the lived experience of gays and lesbians and their families. It is a sign of how far we still have to go, that the New South Wales government banned the screening of one of these movies in schools
Human rights in Papua New Guinea
n\t\t\t\t\tAustralia has had a long, and at times tumultuous, relationship with our nearest neighbour, Papua New Guinea. This relationship took a twist in late 2012, with the re-opening of the off-shore processing centre on Manus Island, and again in February 2014, when Iranian asylum seeker Reza Berati was murdered by locals during a violent disturbance at the centre. The latest test of the strength and endurance of the relationship between PNG …
Assessing the Refugee Claims of LGBTI People
Although, in recent decades, the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex persons have been better protected, there remains significant room for improvement in the way claims for asylum based on sexual orientation, gender identity, and intersex status are assessed. Those claiming refugee status because they have a well-founded fear of persecution based on such issues continue to be asked inappropriate questions. The relatively …
Community, identity, orientation
The Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) escalated its community building project significantly over the last decade, culminating in the launch of a reformed and substantially integrated ASEAN Community at the end of 2015. This article considers what might follow from this newly reformed and rhetorically people-focused version of ASEAN for matters of sexual orientation and gender identity and expression (SOGIE). In claiming to be peopl…
The Evolution of Administrative Systems in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar
The dramatic plunge in oil prices since the second half of 2014 poses serious challenges for the oil dependent states of Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar, and revives their interest in accelerating the implementation of market-based reforms such as outsourcing, privatization, and public-private partnerships. This article challenges the assumption that these reforms offer a panacea for administrative change, and argues that while they might appear …
Is the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child Doing Enough to Protect the Rights of LGBT Children and Children with Same-Sex Parents
Children often face discrimination, bullying and even violence because of their sexual orientation or gender identity, as do children raised by parents who are lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender (LGBT). This article considers what the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child is doing to protect the rights of LGBT children and children with LGBT parents. To make such an assessment, this article critically analyses the Committee’s Concluding Obse…
Protecting the rights of LGBTIQ people around the world
Discussions about the human rights of LGBTIQ people tend to centre around two vastly different issues, namely, marriage equality and the criminalisation of same-sex sexual conduct. However, looking only at these two high-profile issues ignores the many pressing concerns facing LGBTIQ people around the world. This article identifies and analyses eight other human rights issues that urgently need addressing, in order to respect the rights of LGBTIQ…
Sexual and reproductive health care for trans and gender diverse people
In Australia today, trans and gender diverse people face daily indignities in a myriad of contexts, including when accessing sexual and reproductive health care. This article illuminates some of the barriers that trans and gender diverse people experience when seeking sexual and reproductive health care and illustrates how these obstacles violate human rights. It concludes with recommendations regarding reforms to better protect the rights and di…
Erasing trans people
The United States is witnessing a wave of laws targeting transgender people, ranging from prohibitions on participation in sport, denial of access to gender affirming health care and regulating bathroom access and what people wear. This anti-trans trend that we are seeing in the United States is sending shock waves through the trans community in Australia. Is Australia going to follow the US ‘hate manual’? Are trans and gender diverse people here…
Political science (20 works) · Law (18 works) · Sociology (17 works) · Law (16 works) · Human rights (13 works) · Politics (8 works) · International human rights law (7 works) · Criminology (6 works) · Gender Studies (6 works) · Human Rights and Development (6 works)