July 14, 2005

The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) , adopted in 1979 by the UN General Assembly, is often described as an international bill of rights for women. Consisting of a preamble and 30 articles, it defines what constitutes discrimination against women and sets up an agenda for national action to end such discrimination.

Countries that have ratified or acceded to the Convention are legally bound to put its provisions into practice. They are also committed to submit national reports, at least every four years, on measures they have taken to comply with their treaty obligations. "The United States actively participated in the drafting of CEDAW and signed the treaty in 1980. ... the Senate Foreign Relations Committee voted in favor of ratification in 1994." (Pres. Clinton, March 11, 1998) United States of America

  • not a party to CEDAW convention
    • posted by techsmith 19 years ago
    • I remember the 'Year of the Woman' letterhead that the province of Ontario used for years before finding something else. I think it was when we went metric that women were shunted aside.
    • STATES THAT BECAME PARTIES IN 2000 Saudi Arabia                 7 September 2000 Is this some kind of joke?
    • The convention, or the Saudi Arabian government? (A couple of years ago the Saudi government actually stiffed my business out of $300 in goods, if you can believe that)</axegrind>
    • Afghanistan? This thing *is* a joke.
    • UN Conventions are as powerful -- or as much of a joke -- as its signatories provide. So while the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is mostly upheld around the world, there are glaring signatories who don't maintain its principles (ie, the US in Guantanamo, or various violations committed by Iraq). So too with CEDAW -- those who sign should keep their word. Those who don't are lying shysters who don't deserve to run governments (like nearly all ruling officials). The primary question for those of us in the US is how well our government abides by its stated obligations -- and which obligations it agrees to uphold. Our absence from CEDAW is truly sad.
    • Countries that have ratified or acceded to the Convention are legally bound to put its provisions into practice. I hate to sound like a republican, but I really fail to see why we should sign something that legally binds us to follow laws or rules created by someone other than our government. We have plenty of our own anti-discrimination laws on the books and, by and large, they work. And to try to twist this around so the US is the villain and KSA the hero when it comes to womens' rights, well... I cant think of an end to that sentence.
    • I need to be able to slap my wife on the arse occasionally.
    • This has been controversial for years. In fact, the issue is so old that it is often referred to as the "Rip Van Winkle Treaty"
    • drjimmy: on the other hand, if we sign a treaty or an agreement, we should uphold it without trying to weasel around it or out of it. No exceptions. *cough* geneva convention *cough* *cough* u.n. dues *cough*
    • I agree wholeheartedly that we should respect the Geneva Convention. Guantanamo sucks and people need to go to jail for what they're doing there. However, the geneva Convention applies to prisoners of war- war is an international issue. I see no need to sign treaties that deal with matters covered under our domestic laws.
    • by and large, [anti-discrimination laws] work You were lucid until you said that. Do you also believe that, by and large, racism is absent in America; by and large, gays and straights are treated equally; by and large, class mobility is achievable; by and large, religious and ethnic discrimination is a thing of the past; by and large, America is a land of opportunity?
    • d'oh! Republican logic!
    • Just hope that the promise of female liberty given by the United States happens a bit quicker than it managed to in the the US itself. (See second one down.)
    • *examines smile lines in mirror* sugarmilktea, please be more careful as you speak.