Soft Enforcement: Inadequacies of Optional Protocol as a Remedy for the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women

This article argues that the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (the Women's Convention) has proven ineffective in ending gender discrimination. Consequently, the United Nations recently adopted an Optional Protocol to remedy the Convention's ineffectiveness. Despite introducing an individul right of petition, the article argues that the Optional Protocol will not, however, rectify the problems of the Women's Convention because the terms of the Optional Protocol encompass the same provisions as CEDAW, thereby allowing countries to continue discriminating against women. While the Optional Protocol will eliminate some of the discrimination against women (as th Women's Convention has done to some extent) it will not achieve the United Nations' goal of ending all gender discrimination around the world.