On December 18, 1979, the United Nations adopted the Convention
on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women.
The call for a Women's Convention emerged from the First World
Conference on Women in Mexico City in 1975. Until the UN 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. [Read
the History of CEDAW]
As of September 2003, 172 countries have ratified the Conventions
(see
listing),
pledging to give women equal rights in all aspects of their lives
including political, health, educational, social and legal. The
United States is among the 20 countries that have yet to ratify
the treaty - keeping company with such notorious women’s rights
abusers as Monaco and Sudan. [Read
the latest news on CEDAW]
Why Do We Need CEDAW?
The Convention is the most comprehensive and detailed
international agreement which seeks the advancement of women.
It establishes rights for women in areas not previously subject
to international standards. The Convention provides a universal
definition of discrimination against women so that those who would
discriminate on the basis of sex can no longer claim that no clear
definition exists. It also calls for action in nearly every field
of human endeavor: politics, law, employment, education, health
care, commercial transactions and domestic relations. Moreover,
the Convention establishes a Committee to review periodically
the progress being made by its adherents.
As a leading advocate for human rights, the United
States has a compelling interest to improve conditions for women.
Yet, 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. Ratification is called for in the concluding
documents of the Fourth World Conference on Women, the UN Conference
on Human Rights, and the Vienna/Helsinki agreements of the Organization
on Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). The United States
was a signatory to these documents. The United States also made
ratification of the Women's Convention one of its public commitments
at the UN Conference on Women in Beijing in September 1995. [Take
Action: Help Ratify CEDAW]
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