Séminaire «Santé, Médecine, Société» - cycle «Gender, Health and Law» 1/3 FEMINIST JUDGEMENTS: REWRITING JUDICIAL DECISIONS IN THE CONTEXT OF HEALTH AND MEDICINE FROM A FEMINIST PERSPECTIVE

5 February 2025

Prof. Sandra Hotz, UNINE

Prof. Mélanie Lévy, UNINE 

Prof. Sandra Hotz

Prof. Melanie Levy

Prof. Nesa Zimmermann

Organized by the Institute of Health Law at the University of Neuchâtel, the program aims to broaden the methodological skills of doctoral students (mainly in law, and others fields such as natural and social sciences) who participate in it and integrate an in terd isciplin ary an d in terp ro fessio n al p ersp ective o n "Health , Med icin e an d So ciety" to understand contemporary health problems and challenges.

The program's objective is to introduce participants to different legal theories and extralegal tools, methods and theories of the social sciences and humanities. The theme chosen for the 2024/2025 academic year is Gender, Health and Law.

The interdisciplinary emphasis is the signatur e strength of the program and constitutes an original and unique offer. The program is designed to tr ain participants to diversify their research focuses and skills and r eali ze original contributions in their disciplinary fields as well as in the broad area of public health and medicine.

1) The first seminar will be dedicated to Health Law and Gender. This session will examine various issues related to gender and health from a legal perspective, such as the implications of gender bias in healthcare, the legal rights of patients, and the influence of gender on health policy and law.

2) A second seminar will be an interactive session where participants will undertake a feminist reinterpretation of notable Swiss health law cases, such as the Yasmin Pills case. This ex ercise will allow the participants to apply the methods / approaches discussed during the first seminar. It will be directed by the two co -directors of the program, Professors Mél anie Levy and Sandra Hotz.

3) The last seminar will delve into the interdisciplinary nature of the subject. This seminar will feature a diverse panel of speakers from various fields, including public health, sociology, and medicine. The discussions will focus on how these different disciplines intersect with health law and gender.

8:15 – 8 :30 : Welcome and introduction (Prof. Sandra Hotz and Prof. Melanie Levy)

8:30 – 9:15 : Feminist rewriting of judicial decisions: general introduction (Prof. Nesa Zimmermann)

9:15 – 10:00 : Feminist rewriting of judicial decisions: relevance in the health and medicine context (Prof. Sandra Hotz and Prof. Melanie Levy)

10:00 – 10:30 : Coffee Break

10:30– 12:30 : Group work: initial discussion and design of writing plan for two or three key judicial precedents in the context of health and medicine (e.g., the Yasmin contraceptive pill case)

12:30 – 14:00 : Lunch

UNINE main building (Av. du 1er Mars, 26), classroom B29

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