The Convention to End All Forms of
Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW)
During the past year, women's human rights have appeared frequently in the news, portraying the struggle of countless women around the globe to win equality. For instance, the Kuwaiti parliament has again voted against women receiving the right to vote. In Afghanistan, women cannot appear in public without male family members, attend school or work outside the home. In Zimbabwe, women can be stripped of their family home because of discriminatory traditional inheritance laws. And everywhere, women are victims of violence perpetrated by the state or by private actors in the community and in the home. Despite this, women all over the world are using a powerful tool to combat this discrimination. It is the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW).
What is CEDAW?
Often called the "Bill of Rights for Women", the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW or Women's Convention) is the most comprehensive and detailed international agreement which:
- Seeks the advancement of women's rights.
- Defines what constitutes discrimination against women.
- Establishes rights for women in areas not previously subject to international standards.
- Obligates those countries which have ratified it to take all appropriate measures to ensure the full development and advancement of women in all spheres of life, such as: politics, education, employment, health care, economics, law, marriage and family.
- Strives to modify the social and cultural patterns that perpetuate discrimination against women.
CEDAW was adopted by the UN in 1979, and as of 1999, 165 countries have ratified the Convention. Although the United States publicly promotes women's human rights around the world, it has not ratified the Convention and remains the only Western country that has yet to ratify.
Why Should the U.S. Ratify CEDAW?
- To provide the U.S. with credibility in the international community as a leader for human rights.
- To prevent back-sliding and measure our progress through reports which are required by ratifying countries and which evaluate accomplishments.
- To compare our efforts with those of other countries that share our goals in improving the status of women.
- To avoid embarrassment as the only major developed country not to have ratified the Convention.
- To help complete the stand against invidious discrimination we took when the U.S. ratified the UN Race Convention and the Civil and Political Rights Convention.
- To improve the lives of women thoughout the world and in the United States.
- To participate in the process of creating international law
There is great support, among communities in the U.S., for the ratification of CEDAW. To this date, 25 cities, 14 counties, and 11 states have passed resolutions in support of the U.S. ratification of CEDAW. San Francisco even passed an ordinance. As the number of CEDAW cities, counties and states increases, so does the pressure on the U.S. to ratify CEDAW.
Take Action
Contact your Senators (by phone or email) and encourage them to support the ratification of CEDAW. The Capitol Switchboard is (202) 224-3121.
All over the world, CEDAW is being used as a tool to promote rights for women. In Nepal, women are using CEDAW to pass a crucial bill concerning the right of women to inherit property as well as issues such as raising the minimum age for marriage and requiring stiffer penalties for rape. In Japan, women are using CEDAW to eradicate separate employment tracks, with jobs held primarily by women classified in lower level tracks and minimal opportunity for advancement. The Tanzania High Court cited CEDAW in a decision invalidating a customary law that prevented women from inheriting clan land from their fathers. In Botswana, Unity Dow, an attorney who was married to a foreigner and had three children, used CEDAW to challenge the 1984 Citizenship Act of Botswana. Under this act, children of a woman married to a foreigner were not entitled to citizenship, while children of a man married to a foreigner were entitled to citizenship. In Brazil, women used CEDAW to ensure that women's human rights protections were included in the process of redrafting the national constitution. Imagine the many ways women in U.S. could use CEDAW to improve women's rights once the U.S. ratifies CEDAW!
For more information
For more information, contact Sita Balthazar at Amnesty International Legal Support Network at 312-435-6381 or sbalthaz@aiusa.org.
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