“Tobacco Industry Corporate Malfeasance and Women’s Rights Violations: Are Human Rights Mechanisms the Antidote?” was authored by Kelsey Romeo-Stuppy, Managing Attorney of Action on Smoking and Health (ASH), who has worked on global tobacco control since 2013. She leads ASH’s program on liability, pursuing criminal and civil cases against the tobacco industry. ASH’s human rights program is under her purview; this includes drafting reports and advocating with the United Nations Human Rights Council and other international human rights treaty bodies. ASH has drawn attention to successful marketing campaigns to attract racial minorities and women, campaigns that are increasingly effective worldwide.
Kelsey trains advocates to use legal and human rights arguments to further their tobacco control efforts, and she has been a presenter and organizer of public health, tobacco control policy, liability, and human rights events around the world. Kelsey also serves on the External Advisory Board for the Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education at the University of California San Francisco. Having published numerous articles in peer-reviewed journals, she has received praise for her legal writing and advocacy. Kelsey holds a J.D. from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law, where she also earned a certificate in International and Comparative Law.
In “Tobacco Industry Corporate Malfeasance and Women’s Rights Violations,” Romeo-Stuppy outlines how transnational tobacco corporations sell cigarettes in countries lacking legal protections for women consumers and workers. While sales of cigarettes have declined in the US because of public health efforts, the banning of cigarette advertising, and the imposition of tobacco taxes, a vast potential market of women smokers exists in the Global South. The same strategies used to market cigarettes to US women are being redeployed in countries where most women do not yet smoke. The chapter examines tobacco marketing targeting women, particularly those in lower- and middle-income countries, tracks evolving tobacco use, and outlines strategies, specifically strategies employing human rights mechanisms, to address Big Tobacco’s persistent criminal activities. The chapter discusses additional issues that directly impact women’s health and human rights, including tobacco production hazards to workers, exposure to second-hand smoke, economic development impacts on women, and the environmental consequences of tobacco product waste.
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