Women's Human Rights Resources Database

This article examines the role of CEDAW and its potential power as a treaty monitoring body in increasing access to modern contraception. The author points out that while modern contraception has been widely recognized as a reproductive right under international human rights law, unmet needs for it remain high, particularly in developing countries. The author draws on empirical research, the example of CEDAW’s influence on abortion rights, and the domestic politics theory of treaty compliance to centre CEDAW as a potential changemaker. The author argues that in certain conditions, CEDAW can pressure member states to reduce unmet needs by mobilizing domestic actors to influence national policies, laws, and investments aimed at increasing access to contraception. Finally, the author highlights specific CEDAW enforcement mechanisms that are especially effective and argues that the body should focus its attention on Sierra Leone and Haiti in particular due to their high unmet needs for contraception and high maternal mortality rate.

This article is a feminist interpretation of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (the Women's Convention). It sets out to examine the ability of universalism to protect and promote women's human rights and analyzes the ability of liberal equality to accomplish the realization of women's human rights. The author classifies the Women's Convention as being grounded in liberal political theory and on the side of universalism in the wider universalist/relativist debate. Part I sets out the main aspects of the universalism/relativism debate taking place under international human rights law, analyzes the differences between equality and equity as theories for realizing women's human rights, and discusses the various schools of feminist legal theory. Part II serves the dual function of outlining the position of women's human rights prior to the implementation of the Women's Convention and discussing its place in international law. In Part III the author turns to theory, providing a feminist analysis of the Women's Convention according to its key substantive provisions and highlighting the androcentric foundation of the Convention. Finally, Part IV calls for a greater inclusion of women in deciding their own fate and an equitable view of women's human rights and outlines a series of recommendations to make this happen.

This article concerns the intersecting topics of gender equality and marriage equality. It argues that in modern marriages, gender equality is a right which is why it should be pursued as a public goal and not left up to private parties to navigate. Current marriage and employment laws in the United States cannot assure gender equality, so parties should seek confirmation of these rights from the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). True gender equality in marriage would mean solving the work/family conflict and assuring that mechanisms like parental leave are available to working parents.

This article analyzes the intersection and conflict between Western feminist ideas of the emancipated women as outlined in CEDAW and Islamist feminist discourse in the context of Sudan since 1989. The author discusses the way in which Islamist feminists in Sudan struggle for their rights in the public sphere while in the private sphere they accept existing Sharia structures of family law. She explores the difference between fighting for gender equality and for gender equity. The author discusses why some Islamic women reject CEDAW because they see it as founded upon western feminist notions, which are incompatible with Islam, and, therefore, undesirable in Sudan. Tonnessen further argues that Western and Islamic feminist discourses are intertwined and help to mutually define each other.

This article examines whether the Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women’s (“CEDAW Committee”) General Recommendation No. 35 fundamentally contributes towards accountability for women’s human rights. Although the General Recommendation No. 35 reaffirms the global commitment towards eliminating gender-based violence, the author emphasizes that the CEDAW Committee lacks in providing a clear and in-depth analysis and in its ability to guide the States on their obligations and how to fulfill them. Nevertheless, General Recommendation No. 35 must be read with General Recommendation No. 19 and some of the other General Recommendations. Even with its flaws, the author concludes that General Recommendation No. 35 is likely to help reduce gender-based violence by directing States on the existing policies, legislation, and practical reforms necessary to support victims and prevent impunity.

This article starts by explaining ratification rates by time span and region, as well as rates of reservation to particular provisions of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). Then the authors argue that nation-states are not autonomous entities but rather constructed from and influenced by world models of progress and justice set forth as universalistic scripts for authentic nation-statehood. The authors hypothesize that mechanisms through which nation-states are influenced by the broader world include world meetings and conferences, policy emulation, their embeddedness in the broader world, their level of modernization, and nation-state dependency on more powerful actors. All of these factors are argued to favour ratification of CEDAW. Using event history analysis the authors found that the first three of the hypothesized mechanisms had some support, while the last two did not. [CEDAW Convention -International]