Rewriting Justice: Imagining Intersectional Judgments at the European Court of Human Rights

Courts are often imagined as neutral spaces, but every judgment reflects decisions about whose experiences count.In this concluding episode, human rights lawyer Nani Jansen Reventlow explores how embracing intersectionality could reshape the European Court of Human Rights itself. Contributors to the book “Intersectionality and Human Rights: Reimagining European Court of Human Rights Judgments” discuss the structural limits of current human rights jurisprudence and the possibilities opened by more intersectional approaches.From legal education to institutional culture, the episode considers how human rights are interpreted in European Court of Human Rights judgments today — and imagines how they could be in a not-so-distant future.Episode speakers: Lyn Tjon Soei  Len, Eddie Bruce-Jones, Nawal Mustafa. Edited and scored by Peter Coccoma.Artwork by Tamara-Jade Kaz.Scriptwriting and editorial support: Bianca Ferrari.Produced by ⁠⁠Systemic Justice⁠⁠. Learn more: ⁠⁠https://intersectionalrewrites.org/⁠⁠

What changes when we look at human rights cases through an intersectional lens?In this episode, human rights lawyer Nani Jansen Reventlow dives into three real cases brought before the European Court of Human Rights — and how activists, lawyers, and legal scholars reimagined them for the book “Intersectionality and Human Rights: Reimagining European Court of Human Rights Judgments”.From queer protest in Russia to climate activism in Romania and trans parenthood in Germany, authors and contributors explore how the legal system can overlook harm — and why it matters for those seeking justice.Episode speakers: Jonathan Ward, Sheena Anderson, Lisa Tatu Hey, Arpi Avetisyan, and Adam Weiss.Edited and scored by Peter Coccoma.Artwork by Tamara-Jade Kaz.Scriptwriting and editorial support: Bianca Ferrari.Produced by ⁠Systemic Justice⁠. Learn more: ⁠https://intersectionalrewrites.org/⁠

Europe’s top human rights court hears cases shaped by multiple forms of oppression — racism, sexism, migration, and poverty — but its judgments rarely reflect how these forces intersect. In this first episode, human rights lawyer Nani Jansen Reventlow introduces “Intersectionality and Human Rights: Reimagining European Court of Human Rights Judgments”, a book in which activists, practitioners, and academics revisit recent European Court of Human Rights cases through an intersectional lens.Tracing the roots of Black feminist thought, the episode explores how European legal systems still struggle to address overlapping forms of discrimination. Through reflections from the book’s contributors, it examines what could be done differently.Episode speakers: Adam Weiss, Lyn Tjon Soei  Len, and Nicolette Busuttil.Edited and scored by Peter Coccoma.Artwork by Tamara-Jade Kaz.Scriptwriting and editorial support: Bianca Ferrari.Produced by Systemic Justice. Learn more: https://intersectionalrewrites.org/