Inter-American Court recognizes care as a human right
The Inter-American Court of Human Rights has recognized care as a human right since June 2025. UCERF (Utrecht Centre for European Research into Family Law) provided input for this in 2023.
On June 12, 2025, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights that care can be considered a human right. Care, as a human right, protects both caregivers and those cared for. The Court states that unpaid care is disproportionately performed by women. This unpaid care affects the extent to which women have access to education, work, rest, and social security. Consequently, the burden of care contributes to economic inequality between men and women and restricts women's freedom of choice.
Appeal from the Court on fair division of care responsibilities
The court calls for the recognition, reduction, and redistribution of these unpaid care responsibilities. Contracting states are expected to take measures to achieve a fair distribution of care responsibilities. Even though the Netherlands is not a contracting state, experts believe this advisory opinion also contains valuable insights for the Netherlands.
Input of UCERF-researchers
In the fall of 2023, UCERF researchers Susanne Burri, Susanne Heeger, Wendy Schrama, Fiore Schuthof, and Jet Tigchelaar submitted a commentary to the Inter-American Court of Justice on the question of whether care could be considered a human right. In their commentary, they argued that care should be facilitated and compensated for in areas such as family law, pension law, tax law, labor law, and social security law. They also indicated that the gender dimension of caregiving should be taken into account.
Links to sources
of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights
Commentary of UCERF for the Inter-American Court in 2023
Interview Jet Tigchelaar for the special issue of the Family Law Review of Argentina