This article explores the tension between
the standards in the Convention on the
Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination
Against Women (CEDAW) and identity-based
legal regimes on family law, which often
discriminates against women. The authors
use the CEDAW Committee's initiative to
adopt a General Recommendation on the
Economic Consequences of Marriage and De
Facto Relationships and Their Dissolution
as a case study. This Recommendation aims
to address women's rights in the context
of the gendered and unequal economic
consequences of family relations and their