Canada and the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW): An Overview

This document provides a basic overview of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) and of the Convention's Optional Protocol. The Optional Protocol permits individuals or groups to petition the Convention's monitoring committee with respect to alleged treaty violations and also permits the committee to make inquiries with respect to serious violations by States Parties. With respect to individual or group petitions, the document states how a communication (petition) must be made in the Canadian legal system, given existing methods of redress for human rights violations in Canada. [Descriptors: Applying Human Rights Law - Domestic, CEDAW Convention, Canada]