CEDAW

Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women

"…obtaining Senate advice and consent to the ratification of CEDAW is a top Administration priority during this [105th] session of Congress."

"…it is long past time for America to become party to the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women."

"Violence and discrimination against women don’t just victimize individuals; they hold back whole societies…Guaranteeing human rights is a moral imperative with respect to both women and men. It is also an investment in making whole nations stronger, fairer, and better."

BACKGROUND

On December 18, 1979, the United Nations adopted the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (Women’s Convention or CEDAW). The call for a Women’s Convention emerged from the First World Conference on Women in Mexico City in 1975. Until 1979, when the General Assembly adopted the Women’s Convention, there was no convention that addressed comprehensively women’s rights within political, cultural, economic, social, and family life. As of November 1999, 165 countries had ratified the Convention.

CURRENT STATUS

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee will hold a hearing on CEDAW on June 13, 2002. In June 1997 the Clinton Administration informed the Senate Foreign Relations Committee of its priorities for ratification of international treaties in the 105th Congress. The Women’s Convention is the only human rights treaty listed in Category 1: "Treaties for which there is an urgent need for Senate approval."

The United States was active in drafting the Convention and signed it on July 17, 1980. It was transmitted to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in November 1980. In the summer of 1990, the Committee held hearings on the Convention. In the spring of 1993, sixty-eight senators signed a letter to President Clinton, asking him to take the necessary steps to ratify the Women’s Convention. In June 1993, Secretary of State Warren Christopher announced at the World Conference on Human Rights in Vienna that the Administration would move on the Women’s Convention and other human rights treaties.

In September 1994, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee reported out favorably on the Convention, by a vote of 13 to 5 (with one abstention). Unfortunately, this occurred in the last days of the Congressional session, when several senators put a hold on the Convention, thereby blocking it from the Senate floor during the 103rd Congress. When the new Senate convened in January 1995, the Convention reverted to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. The committee has taken no action since then.

FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION, CONTACT
THE CO-CHAIRS OF THE WORKING GROUP ON THE WOMEN’S HUMAN RIGHTS TREATY:

Sarah Albert, General Federation of Women's Clubs
tel: (202) 347-3168
fax: (202) 835-0246

Leila Milani, Bahá'ís of the U.S.
tel: (202) 833-8990
fax: (202) 833-8988B
E-Mail: usnsa-oea@usbnc.org

Sixty-seven "yes" votes are required for the Senate to consent to ratification. Action by the House of Representatives is not required for ratification of international treaties. To date ten states have endorsed U.S. ratification in their state legislatures: California, Hawaii, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, North Carolina, South Dakota, and Vermont. The Connecticut State Senate and the Illinois House of Representatives have also endorsed U.S. ratification.

IMPORTANCE OF U.S. RATIFICATION

The Convention provides a universal definition of discrimination against women that provides a basis for every government’s domestic and foreign policy to combat discrimination. As one of the few nations that has failed to ratify the Women’s Convention, the United States compromises its credibility as a leader for human rights. The United States made ratification of the Women’s Convention by the year 2000 one of its public commitments at the UN Conference on Women in Beijing in September 1995. The United States must keep that commitment.

The Women’s Convention is a tool that women around the world are using in their struggle against the effects of discrimination: violence against women, poverty, lack of legal status, no right to inherit or own property, access to credit, etc. Women need the United States to speak loudly and clearly in support of the Women’s Convention so that the Convention becomes a stronger instrument in support of their struggles. Without US ratification, other governments can more easily ignore the Convention’s mandate and their obligations under it.

Violence against women seriously inhibits women’s ability to enjoy rights and freedoms on a basis of equality with men. But violence against women itself emerges from the phenomenon of discrimination against women which makes them a target of violence. To effectively combat the crime of violence against women, US policy must address this linkage of discrimination and violence. By ratifying the Women’s Convention, the United States will reinforce its commitment to eliminate discrimination and, therefore, move closer to effectively combating violence against women.

The Clinton Administration has developed a number of provisions that will be incorporated into US ratification of the Convention to ensure that there will be no inappropriate intrusion on states’ rights or into the private domain.

Ratification of the Women’s Convention will entitle the United States to nominate a U.S. expert to be a member of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women, which monitors reports of progress in the treatment of women from the countries that have ratified the Convention. In this capacity, the US expert could bring the benefit of US experience in combating discrimination against women to this international forum.

TREATY SUMMARY

Article 1: defines discrimination against women as any "distinction, exclusion or restriction made on the basis of sex which has the effect or purpose of impairing or nullifying the recognition, enjoyment or exercise by women, irrespective of marital status, on the basis of equality between men and women, of human rights or fundamental freedoms in the political, economic, social, cultural, civil, or any other field."

Article 2: mandates States Parties to condemn discrimination in all its forms and to ensure a legal framework, including all laws, policies and practices that provide protection against discrimination and embody the principle of equality; 5

Article 3: requires that States Parties take action in all fields -- civil, political, economic, social and cultural -- to guarantee women’s human rights;

Article 4: permits States Parties to take "temporary special measures" to accelerate equality;

Article 5: declares the need to take appropriate measures to modify cultural patterns of conduct as well as the need for family education to recognize the social function of motherhood and the common responsibility for raising children;

Article 6: obligates States Parties to take measures to suppress traffic in women and the exploitation of prostitution of women;

Article 7: mandates the States Parties to end discrimination against women in political and public life, and to ensure women’s equal rights to vote, be eligible for election, participate in the formulation of policy, hold office, and participate in associations and non-governmental organizations in these spheres;

Article 8: requires action to allow women to represent their governments internationally on an equal basis with men;

Article 9: mandates that women will have equal rights with men to acquire, change, or retain their nationality and that of their children;

Article 10: obligates States Parties to end discrimination in education, including in professional and vocational training, access to curricula and other means of receiving an equal education; as well as to eliminate stereotyped concepts of the roles of men and women;

Article 11: mandates the end of discrimination in the field of employment, including the right to work, to employment opportunities, to equal remuneration, to free choice of profession and employment, to social security, and to protection of health, including maternal health, and also in regard to discrimination on the grounds of marriage or maternity;

Article 12: requires steps to eliminate discrimination from the field of health care, including access to services such as family planning;

Article 13: requires that women be ensured the same rights as men in all areas of social and economic life, such as family benefits, mortgages, bank loans, and participation in recreational activities and sports;

Article 14: focuses on the particular problems faced by rural women, including the areas of women’s participation in development planning, access to adequate health care, credit, education, and adequate living conditions;

Article 15: obligates States Parties to take steps to ensure equality before the law and the same legal capacity to act in such areas as contracts, administration of property, and choice of residence;

Article 16: requires steps to ensure equality in marriage and family relations, including equal rights with men freely to choose marriage, equal rights and responsibilities toward children, including the right to decide freely and responsibly on the number and spacing of children and the means to do so, and the same rights to property;

Article 17: calls for the establishment of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) which will evaluate progress made in implementation of the Convention.

Article 18: establishes a schedule of reporting on progress by ratifying countries;

Article 19: establishes the ability of CEDAW to adopt rules of procedure and sets a two-year term for its officers;

Article 20: Sets annual CEDAW meetings to review States Parties’ reports;

Article 21: directs CEDAW to report annually to the General Assembly through ECOSOC, and to make suggestions and general recommendations based on the States Parties’ reports;

Article 22: allows for representation of the specialized agencies of the UN and for CEDAW to invite reports from them;

Articles 23-30: set forth elements of the operation of the treaty, including the manner by which the treaty comes into operation, the limits on the scope of permissible reservations, and the way in which disputes between States Parties can be settled.

ORGANIZATIONS THAT HAVE ENDORSED THE WOMEN’S CONVENTION (Partial list)

Action for Development
*American Association of Retired Persons
*American Association of University Women
*American Bar Association
American College of Nurse-Midwives
American Council for the United Nations University
American Federation of Teachers
*American Friends Service Committee
*American Jewish Committee
*American Nurses Association
American Veterans Committee
Americans for Democratic Action, Inc.
*Amnesty International USA
Association for Women in Development
Association for Women in Psychology
Anti-Defamation League of B’nai B’rith
*Bahá'ís of the United States
Black Women’s Agenda
*B’nai B’rith International
Bread for the World
*Business and Professional Women/USA
BVM Network for Women’s Issues
Catholics for A Free Choice
Center for Advancement of Public Policy
Center for Policy Alternatives
Center for Reproductive Law and Policy
Center for Women’s Global Leadership
Center of Concern
Chicago Catholic Women
Church of the Brethren, Washington Office
*Church Women United
Coalition on Religion & Ecology
Coalition for Women in International Development
Columban Fathers’ Justice & Peace Office
Commission on the Advancement of Women/InterAction
D.C. Statehood Solidarity Committee
Earthcommunity Center
Eighth Day Center for Justice
Episcopal Church
*Evangelical Lutheran Church of America
*Feminist Majority Foundation
Francois Xavier Bagnoud Center for Health and Human Rights
Friends of the U.N.
*Friends Committee on National Legislation
*General Federation of Women’s Clubs
Global Commission to Fund the UN
Gray Panthers
Guatemala Human Rights Commission
Hadassah
Health & Development Policy Project
Human Rights Advocates
Human Rights Watch/Women’s Rights Division
The Humane Society
International Center for Research on Women
International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission
International Human Rights Law Group
International Women’s Health Coalition
International Women’s Human Rights Law Clinic
International Women Judges Foundation
The J. Blaustein Institute for the Advancement of Human Rights
Jewish Council for Public Affairs
*Jewish Women International
Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund, Inc.
Lawyers Committee for Human Rights
*Leadership Conference of Women Religious
*League of Women Voters of the United States
Louisville Women-Church
Maryknoll Mission Association of the Faithful
Maryknoll Office of Global Concerns
Massachusetts Women-Church
Na’amat USA
*National Association of Commissions for Women
National Association of Social Workers
National Association of Women Lawyers
National Audubon Society
National Coalition Against Domestic Violence
National Coalition of American Nuns
*National Council of Negro Women
National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA
National Council of Women of the USA
*National Council of Women’s Organizations
*National Education Association
National Jewish Community Relations Advisory Council
National Women’s Conference Committee
*NOW Legal Defense & Education Fund
NETWORK - A National Catholic Social Justice Lobby
Older Women’s League
Oxfam America
Planned Parenthood Federation of America
*Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), Washington Office
Psychologists for Social Responsibility
Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Center for Human Rights
San Francisco Bay Area Women’s Ordination Conference
*Sierra Club
Sisterhood is Global Institute
Sisters of St. Joseph of Peace
Soka Gakkai International - USA
Society for International Development/Women in Development
*Soroptimist International of the Americas
Union of American Hebrew Congregations
*Unitarian Universalist Association, Washington Office
Unitarian Universalist Service Committee
United Church of Christ Office for Church and Society
*United Methodist Church
*United Nations Association of the United States of America
United States Committee for UNICEF
United States Committee for UNIFEM
Washington Office on Africa
Winrock International
Woman’s National Democratic Club
Women Empowering Women of Indian Nations (WEWIN)
Women of Reform Judaism
Women for International Peace and Arbitration
Women for Meaningful Summits
Women Law and Development International
*Women’s Action for New Directions/Women Legislators Lobby
Women’s Environment and Development Organization
Women’s Institute For Freedom of The Press
*Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom
Women’s Legal Defense Fund
Women’s Ordination Conference
World Citizen Foundation
*World Federalist Association
*YWCA of the U.S.A.

*Active National Membership Organizations November 1999