Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2026

Publication Title

Tulane Law Review

Abstract

Although human rights law has established a clear prohibition on discrimination based on marital status, this prohibition is vastly underutilized. This Article argues that increased attention to human rights law's prohibition on marital status discrimination, accompanied by clearer, more consistent, and more robust analysis of this phenomenon, is needed to ensure that everyone whether they choose to remain unmarried or to marry, whether they file for divorce or are widowed-continues to have and enjoy the same human rights and fundamental freedoms as any other person throughout their lifetime. This Article specifically recommends a focus on harmful marital status stereotypes that could facilitate human rights mechanisms' ability to understand and address the root causes of unequal treatment, opportunities, and outcomes due to marital status. An additional theme of the Article and one of its primary contributions is that it is both possible and worthwhile to treat marital status discrimination as distinct from discrimination based on other protected statuses, such as sex or gender discrimination, sexual orientation discrimination, and discrimination against children born out of wedlock.

Volume

100

First Page

1023

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