Protection of Women's Human Rights Under the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women

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.