Security Councils and Symphysiotomy

Law School Library

In class, we discussed implementation, reservations, and derogations when it comes to international law. Basically, the question for the day was “In what ways do lawyers and human rights organizations enforce an International law, and how are violations dealt with?” Essentially, we found out that the two main ways in which the UN Security Council handles violations are through sanctions and military action. I already knew a lot about military intervention and monetary/commercial sanctions, so I didn’t have to worry about being confused. Still, a lot of our discussions were content heavy and touched on a variety of topics including negative versus positive rights and whether there is a clear distinction between the two. The difference between binding hard law and non-binding soft law and whether they can both be effectively used as evidence in court even if there are officials that don’t recognize the former was another major talking point.

What I found most interesting however was an in-class assignment that we were handed regarding survivors of Symphysiotomy in Ireland.  Symphysiotomy is basically a surgical childbirth procedure that gained popularity in Ireland in the early 1900s. The procedure slowly replaced cesarean sections due to Medical ambition and the Church’s criticism of C-sections for serving as a birth control.

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We watched a video in which survivor Rita McCann described the excruciating pain and difficulty that she had experienced during and after giving birth. Because the cartilage of the pubic symphysis is divided to widen the pelvis in Symphysiotomy, lifelong disabilities and trouble walking, playing sports, and going to work isn’t uncommon among the 1500 or so women who were subjected to the torture. The worst part is the majority of them did not in any way agree to the approach and it ended up being a major human rights violation that got cast aside by the Irish Government.

I highly doubt that I would have been taught this incident at El Cerrito High School. Don’t get me wrong, I appreciate all of my teachers and believe that they have played a significant role in getting me here in the first place, but we don’t have the resources available to go into depth like in my course here at Cornell. Sure, it’s not fair to compare the two, but I can’t help noticing and being excited about the realization that I’ve learned and challenged myself more in these two days than the entire school year back home. I will gladly be sharing my notes and observations with students in my own community and encouraging them to participate in life changing opportunities such as these.

My course lasts Mondays through Fridays from 9:30 AM to 12:30 PM and on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays we have additional TA discussion periods from 2:30 PM to 3:00 PM. I will be attending our TA, Diogo’s sessions because my last name falls into the A-L category. Diogo has got a great sense of humor and a way of making students feel comfortable. I thoroughly enjoyed the subjects that we touched on today, whether that was our thoughts on the right to Internet access being human rights or what a right is in the first place.

In between the morning and afternoon classes, I eat at Trillium dining hall. They have plenty of options available. Robson and I usually get the same thing, because we have a hard time deciding. We opted for burritos today, but finished with an hour or two to spare. Luckily, it gave me time to walk to the Cornell Store and purchase school supplies that I hadn’t thought to bring with me. Everything inside the store tempted me, but I knew that I couldn’t and shouldn’t be spending $38 on a pair of shorts while it was pouring outside. The weather here in Ithaca is confusing. It starts raining and getting colder out of nowhere. It was worse today because I hadn't been feeling the best. We were drenched by the time we walked back to the Law School, but I made a friend along the way so it didn’t suck as much. Her name is J’nai, she’s from Brooklyn, NY and we’re taking the same class. We had dinner together at around 5:30 PM and then studied in the Mary Donlon lounge, snacking on sour candies. I’m finding more and more people that I enjoy spending time with, and it’s encouraging me to look forward to the encounters that I have with others. Am I more independent and self-aware? Definitely, and it has only been a few days!