Le risque des langues grammaticalement genrées pour l’égalité entre hommes et femmes: retour sur une étude internationale entre droit et économie

Caroline Perrin and Pierrick Bruyas ()
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Caroline Perrin: University of Oxford, BM = WB - La Banque Mondiale = The World Bank - WBG = GBM - World Bank Group = Groupe Banque Mondiale
Pierrick Bruyas: CERDACC - Centre européen de recherche sur le risque, le droit des accidents collectifs et des catastrophes - CERDACC - UR3992 - Université de Haute-Alsace (UHA) - Université de Haute-Alsace (UHA) Mulhouse - Colmar

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Abstract: Abstract: This article examines the hypothesis that the grammatical structure of languages, when relying on intensive gender marking, constitutes a risk factor for legal equality between women and men. The notion of "linguistic risk" is employed to qualify this structural vulnerability, without resorting to linguistic determinism. The study combines two dimensions. First, a theoretical review of the cognitive and normative role of gendered languages through an extensive state of the art. Second, an empirical analysis based on the econometric exploitation of international data. Drawing on the World Atlas of Language Structures (WALS) and the Women, Business and the Law database (World Bank), covering nearly two hundred states over more than half a century, the authors demonstrate a robust correlation between the degree of grammatical gender marking and lower levels of legal equality, particularly in the areas of family law, labor law, and economic rights. While no effect is observed with regard to legislation on violence against women, the results nevertheless suggest that language is one explanatory variable, among others for persistent inequalities. These findings call for targeted normative responses, such as linguistic neutralization, the integration of "language and equality" impact assessments, or sectoral semantic audits, in order to reduce this risk while preserving the requirements of legal clarity and certainty.

Keywords: EU Law; Interdisciplinarity; Econometry; International Law; Law and language (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025-12-01
Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://hal.science/hal-05668173v1
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Published in Riseo : risques études et observations, 2025, 2025 (2), pp.6-20

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