Abstract

Decisions on Art.9(2) of the European Convention on Human Rights –the right to religious manifestation- evidence the importance of intersectional considerations of gender, religion and even nationality. This article uses QCA in order to find patterns of litigation victory and defeat by intersectional groups in their claims of violation of this provision. Our analyses show that intersectionalization of the analysis, operated through a methodology particularly well-suited to do so, was essential to render visible important patterns in the judicial arena. These patterns show the very different outcomes of litigation by intersectional groups. In particular, Muslim women, whose cases frequently had a clear dimension of ‘claim intersectionality’ related to religious clothing, systematically were defeated before the European Court of Human Rights. This contrasts with cases brought about by male Muslims, a very successful category of litigants, therefore emphasizing the importance of the gender dimension when understanding cases on religious manifestation.