Dr Meghan Campbell

Photo of Meghan Campbell

Birmingham Law School
Reader in International Human Rights Law
Associate Head of School

Contact details

Telephone
+44 (0)121 414 6315
Fax
+44 (0)121 414 3585
Email
m.campbell.1@bham.ac.uk
View my research portal
Address
Birmingham Law School
University of Birmingham
Edgbaston
Birmingham
B15 2TT
UK

Meghan Campbell is Reader in International Human Rights Law at the University of Birmingham. Her research explores how the international human rights system can best respond to gender inequality and poverty. Her monograph Women, Poverty, Equality (Hart Publishing, 2018) explores how the concept of equality in the UN Convention on the Discrimination on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women can be interpreted to address gender-based poverty. She has published peer-reviewed articles on gender equality, human rights, international legal system and public law and provided written evidence to the Joint Committee on Human Rights and Women and Equalities Committee on Brexit and human rights. 

Qualifications

  • LLB, University of Manitoba (2008)
  • Call to the Bar, Province of Manitoba, Canada (2009)
  • LLM (International Law), University of Edinburgh (2011)
  • DPhil, University of Oxford (2016)

Biography

Meghan Campbell is Reader in International Human Rights Law at the University of Birmingham. Her research focuses on women’s inequality in international human rights law and public law, focusing on women’s socioeconomic disadvantage. Her monograph Women, Poverty, Equality: The Role of CEDAW (Hart , 2018) explores how the concept of equality in the UN Convention on the Discrimination on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women can be interpreted to address gender-based poverty. Her monograph was shortlisted for the Socio-Legal Scholars Association Early Career Research Prize. She is the co-editor of two collections: Human Rights and Equality in Education (Bristol 2018) and Feminist Frontiers in Climate Change (Edward Elgar 2023). She is the founder and Managing Editor of the University of Oxford Human Rights Hub Journal which has been cited by the Indian and Canadian Supreme Courts. She is the Executive Producer of RightsUp podcast and of the World Health Organization documentary Right to a Better World. . 

Teaching

  • Canadian Constitutional Law - Module Leader
  • Public Law - Co-Module Leader
  • Foundations of International Law and Globalisation 

Postgraduate supervision

Gender Equality
International Human Rights Law
Socio-Economic Rights
Enforcement of Rights

Find out more - our PhD Law  page has information about doctoral research at the University of Birmingham.

Research

Meghan Campbell pursues several harmonious strands of research. Her research investigates how the international and national legal systems can respond to women’s poverty, focusing on the potential of equality and anti-discrimination law. Her research has touched upon the right to education, sexual and reproductive health rights, rural inequality and the procedural aspects of international accountability mechanisms. Her future projects offer a comparative critique of how apex courts adjudicate whether the State is constitutionally permitted to limit women’s equality.  

Other activities

Publications

Recent publications

Book

Campbell, M 2018, Women, poverty, equality: the role of CEDAW . 1st edn, Hart Publishing. https://doi.org/10.5040/9781509909704

Article

Campbell, M 2021, 'Might makes right: the two child limit and justifiable discrimination against women and children', Journal of Social Welfare and Family Law. https://doi.org/10.1080/09649069.2021.1999111

Campbell, M 2021, 'The austerity of lone motherhood: discrimination law and benefit reform', Oxford Journal of Legal Studies. https://doi.org/10.1093/ojls/gqab018

Campbell, M, Fredman, S & Reeves, A 2020, 'Palliation or protection: How should the right to equality inform the government’s response to Covid-19?', International Journal of Discrimination and the Law, vol. 20, no. 4, pp. 183-202. https://doi.org/10.1177/1358229120969611

Campbell, M 2019, 'Beyond the courtroom: accountability for grave and systemic human rights abuses', University of Oxford Human Rights Hub Journal, vol. 1, 5, pp. 55-86.

Campbell, M 2018, 'Monitoring women's socio-economic equality under ICESCR', Canadian Journal of Women and the Law, vol. 30, no. 1, pp. 82-116. https://doi.org/10.3138/cjwl.30.1.82

Campbell, M 2018, 'Reigniting the Dialogue: The Latest Use of the Notwithstanding Clause in Canada', Public Law.

Campbell, M 2016, 'The challenges of girls’ right to education: Let’s talk about human rights-based sex education', The International Journal of Human Rights, vol. 20, no. 8, pp. 1219-1243.

Campbell, M 2016, 'Women’s rights and the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women: Unlocking the potential of the Optional Protocol', Nordic Journal of Human Rights, vol. 34, no. 4, pp. 247-271. https://doi.org/10.1080/18918131.2016.1248002

Chapter (peer-reviewed)

Campbell, M 2022, Like birds of a feather? ICESCR and women's socio-economic equality. in R Cook (ed.), The Frontiers of Women's Equality .

Campbell, M 2021, Cooperating to continuously improve. in J Hohmann & B Goldblatt (eds), The Right to the Continuous Improvement of Living Conditions: Responding to Complex Global Challenges. 1st edn, Oñati International Series in Law and Society, Bloomsbury Publishing. <https://www.bloomsburyprofessional.com/uk/the-right-to-the-continuous-improvement-of-living-conditions-9781509947836/>

Chapter

Campbell, M 2020, The Distance Between Us-Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights of Rural Women and Girls. in Intersectionality and Human Rights.

View all publications in research portal

Expertise

Meghan Campbell has media experience in education rights, gender equality, international human rights law and human rights in the UK

Media experience

Expertise

 

  • Human rights in the UK 
  • Education rights
  • Gender equality 
  • International human rights law
  • Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
  • Duty of Cooperation