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Rebecca Cook

The In Visibility interview series celebrates the inspiring feminists who fight for gender equality and the elimination of violence against women.

Rebecca Cook is Professor Emerita in the Faculty of Law, the Faculty of Medicine and the Joint Centre for Bioethics at the University of Toronto, and Co-Director, International Reproductive and Sexual Health Law Program, University of Toronto. She is Legal and Ethical Issues co-editor of the International Journal of Gynaecology and Obstetrics and serves on the editorial advisory board of Human Rights Quarterly. Her published books include: Frontiers of Gender Equality: Transnational Legal Perspectives (2023), Abortion Law in Transnational Perspective: Cases and Controversies (2014); Human Rights of Women: National and International Perspectives (1994); and Gender Stereotyping: Transnational Legal Perspectives (2010). She is a Member of the Order of Canada, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, and the recipient of the Certificate of Recognition for Outstanding Contribution to Women’s Health by the International Federation of Gynaecology and Obstetrics.

1. What is one reading you would recommend to others interested in supporting action to achieve gender equality?

José E. Alvarez and Judith Bauder, Women’s Property Rights Under CEDAW­­­­­­­­­­­­­ is visionary. I learned so much about how human rights, property law, family law, social benefits law, foreign investment law and international institutions interact and could interact more productively to ensure women’s equal access to the various components of land, material and other forms of property.

2. What are the top cases (1-3) from around the world – global, regional and/or national – that you believe have been paramount in tackling violence against women? (I’m especially interested in cases from the international and regional jurisprudence and whether there’s an impact on how women and girls live)

A selection criteria for “top” cases are those that hold states accountable for failing to provide abortion services to sexually abused women and girls. In 2025, the UN Human Rights Committee held Ecuador, Guatemala and Nicaragua responsible for failing to ensure availability of abortion services in the cases of rape. Peru has been held responsible by both the UN CEDAW Committee in 2011 and the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child in 2023 for its failure to make abortion services available to sexually assaulted minors. Poland was held accountable in 2012 by the European Court of Human Rights for similar violations. These decisions and more can all be found by clicking this link.

3. Were there any role models, acts of advocacy or social movements that influenced your journey?

There are many and they come in various forms, such as:

4. Is there a specific moment in your career that is most memorable to you?

I played soccer as a child and relished the exhilaration of team sports. As a result, memorable moments for me include those where I can play on a team literally and figuratively. For example, one of the ways I got through COVID was to put a wonderful team of scholars and advocates together virtually to discuss what has been accomplished in different treaty systems to eliminate gender discrimination that resulted in an edited volume, Frontiers of Gender Equality.

5. What advice do you have for advocates and/or civil society organisations currently working to end gender-based discrimination?

I learn so much from reading and rereading Sandra Fredman, Discrimination Law.

6. Do you think there are any underused opportunities that can be used to impact change on the ground?

I appreciate checking in with friends and colleagues in civil society organizations. As an academic, I appreciate the way they hold my feet to the fire to make sure I generate scholarship that is accessible and useful to their work.

7. What do you believe is the biggest challenge to achieving gender equality today?

A huge challenge remains religious, cultural and political ideologies that reinforce gender discrimination.

8. Are there any advocates or civil society organisations you believe are doing exceptional work to tackle violence against women?

I am inspired by Satang Nabaneh”s strategic advocacy to address female genital mutilation in Africa and her most recent edited volume, Female Genital Mutilation in Africa: Politics of Criminalisation.