The Universal Declaration of Human Rights – Has the Declaration Been Able to Protect Women under Dictatorships and Religious Regimes?

Although the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is considered soft law, it is widely regarded as Customary International Law, binding states. It nevertheless fails to guarantee even the minimum human rights for women under authoritarian or religious regimes. In such contexts, women are often treated as property, subjected to forced marriage, sexual slavery, and systemic degradation, frequently without legal consequences. To form a holistic view of the circumstances and to strengthen protections for women, this research adopts a doctrinal, qualitative, and interdisciplinary approach to examine how International Law functions - or fails to function - in these contexts. A critical focus lies on the psychological dimensions of power and the role of unfit leaders. Authoritarian rulers often exhibit narcissistic or psychopathic traits, facilitating the institutionalization of violence and lacking empathy. These autocratic regimes typically pursue absolute power and extreme wealth, often stealing the state’s resources and hiding them abroad, while impoverishing or brutalizing their own populations. In such environments, women and girls are systematically denied rights and protections. As the saying goes, “absolute power corrupts absolutely.” Current legal mechanisms lack the enforcement capacity to prevent or disrupt these abuses or hybrid wars. Therefore, proactive indicators of cruelty must be developed. For example, because financial gain is a major motivator, cutting off funding can be effective. Ultimately, this study argues that meaningful progress requires confronting not only legal deficiencies but also the psychological and economic systems. Maybe the International Criminal Court should have jurisdiction over hybrid wars employing sexual violence?