Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW)

The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women was adopted by the UN General Assembly on 18 December 1979 in resolution 34/180 and entered into force on 3 September 1981. Its preamble is unusually direct about why it was needed. Grounded in the UN Charter's reaffirmation of human dignity and the equal rights of men and women, and in the Universal Declaration's proclamation that all human beings are born free and equal without distinction including distinction based on sex, it then records that despite these various instruments extensive discrimination against women continues to exist. It states that such discrimination violates the principles of equality of rights and respect for human dignity, and that the full and complete development of a country, the welfare of the world and the cause of peace require the maximum participation of women on equal terms with men in all fields.

Article 1 defines discrimination against women as any distinction, exclusion or restriction made on the basis of sex which has the effect or purpose of impairing or nullifying women's recognition, enjoyment or exercise of human rights and fundamental freedoms, on a basis of equality with men, in the political, economic, social, cultural, civil or any other field. Defining it by effect as well as by purpose is what brings unintended but discriminatory arrangements inside the Convention.

Articles 2 to 6 set the general obligations, and they reach beyond the state's own conduct. States Parties undertake to embody equality in national constitutions and legislation, adopt legislative and other measures prohibiting discrimination, establish legal protection through competent tribunals, refrain from discriminatory acts by public authorities, eliminate discrimination by any person, organisation or enterprise, modify or abolish discriminatory laws, regulations, customs and practices, and repeal discriminatory penal provisions. Article 4 makes clear that temporary special measures aimed at accelerating de facto equality are not discrimination and are to be discontinued once equality of opportunity and treatment is achieved, and that measures protecting maternity are not discriminatory. Article 5 goes further still and asks states to modify social and cultural patterns based on ideas of the inferiority or superiority of either sex or on stereotyped roles, and to ensure that family education recognises maternity as a social function with shared parental responsibility, the child's interest being primordial. Article 6 requires the suppression of all forms of traffic in women and exploitation of prostitution of women.

Parts II and III apply that general obligation domain by domain. In public life, women must have on equal terms with men the right to vote and stand for election to all publicly elected bodies, to participate in formulating government policy and hold public office, to take part in non-governmental organisations concerned with public life, and to represent their governments internationally. Nationality rights are equal, and marriage to a foreigner may not automatically change a woman's nationality. In education, the Convention requires the same conditions for career and vocational guidance and access to studies, the same curricula, examinations, teaching quality and facilities, the elimination of stereotyped concepts of gender roles including through revised textbooks, equal access to scholarships, continuing education and sports, the reduction of female drop-out rates, and access to family-planning information. In employment it names the right to work as an inalienable right, with equal opportunities and selection criteria, free choice of profession, promotion, job security and vocational training, equal remuneration and equal treatment for work of equal value, social security, and protection of health and safety including reproductive function. Dismissal on grounds of pregnancy or maternity leave is prohibited, paid maternity leave without loss of seniority is required, child-care services are encouraged, and women are to be protected during pregnancy from harmful work.

Article 14 is the article that most clearly distinguishes CEDAW from a general equality statute, because it addresses rural women specifically: participation in development planning, access to health care and family planning, benefit from social security programmes, access to education and training, the right to organise self-help groups and cooperatives, participation in community activities, access to agricultural credit and technology and equal treatment in land and agrarian reform, and adequate living conditions including housing, sanitation, electricity, water, transport and communications. Articles 12 and 13 secure equal access to health care including family planning and appropriate services in pregnancy, confinement and the post-natal period, free where necessary and with adequate nutrition, and equal rights to family benefits, bank loans and financial credit and to participation in recreational, sporting and cultural life.

Articles 15 and 16 address legal capacity and the family. Women have equality before the law, identical legal capacity in civil matters, equal rights to conclude contracts and administer property, equal treatment in courts and tribunals and equal rights of movement and choice of residence, and any contract restricting a woman's legal capacity is null and void. In marriage and family relations the Convention requires the same right to enter marriage and freely choose a spouse, the same rights and responsibilities during marriage and at its dissolution, the same rights and responsibilities as parents with the interests of children paramount, the same right to decide the number and spacing of children, the same rights over guardianship and adoption, the same personal rights including choice of family name, profession and occupation, and the same property rights. Child betrothal and marriage are to have no legal effect, a minimum age for marriage is to be specified, and registration of marriage made compulsory.

The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, of eighteen experts rising to twenty-three after the thirty-fifth ratification, receives reports within one year of entry into force and at least every four years thereafter, reports annually to the General Assembly through ECOSOC, and may issue general recommendations. Nothing in the Convention affects provisions more conducive to equality found in national law or other international agreements. Reservations incompatible with the object and purpose of the Convention are not permitted, though a state may reserve against the article sending disputes to arbitration or the International Court of Justice. The authentic texts are Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish.