In 1971, the Supreme Court held that it was
all right for the government to punish James that way, because 1) the rummaging was not a search, 2) if it were a search, it was a reasonable one, and 3) even if it were an unreasonable search, by accepting the food money for her child, the mother had voluntarily waived any right against unreasonable searches--and all this at the height of the Court's liberal trajectory.
Reinforcing these polices, Article 2 of the ICESCR obligates signatory states to guarantee that
all rights outlined within the covenant "will be exercised without discrimination of any kind." Afghanistan even signed on August 14, 1980, the Covenant on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW)--a strong document that obligates its signatory states not only to allow education and employment of women but also to actively address the problems faced by women in securing these rights.