CONVENTION ON ELIMINATION DISCRIMINATION AGAINST WOMEN

(CEDAW)
Background
It is to the best of our knowledge that the IBHR which comprises of the UDHR,
ICCPR, ICESCR and their optional protocols have clearly stated that the rights stipulated are
applicable to all persons, regardlessof any distinction including sex. Additionally, each
Covenant specifically binds acceding or ratifying States to undertake measures to ensure that
women and men have equal opportunity to the enjoyment of all the rights they establish.

However, the fact of women’s humanity proved insufficient to guarantee them the
enjoyment of their internationally agreed rights, hence the need to establish a treaty
specifically on the rights of women. The call for a treaty for the Rights of Women emerged
from the First World Conference on Women in Mexico City in 1975.
Apparently, the UN General Assembly on December 18, 1979, adopted the
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW).
The treaty entered into force as an international treaty on 3 rd September 1981 after
ratification by the twentieth country.The Convention comprises of 6 parts and 30 articles
which are founded on 3 foundational principles of non-discrimination, state obligation and
substantive equality. It was the culmination of more than thirty years of work by the United
Nations Commission on the Status of Women, a body established in 1946 to monitor the
situation of women and to promote women’s rights. The CEDAW spells out the meaning of
equality and how it can be achieved. The convention has 99 signatories and 189 parties

The Convention defines the term discrimination as “any distinction, exclusion or

restriction made on the basis of sex which has the effect or purpose of impairing or nullifying
the recognition, enjoyment or exercise by women...in the political, economic, social, cultural,
civil or any other field.” State parties are bound with the responsibility of taking all measured
to ensure the full realization of these rights as provided for in the treaty. The Convention
covers three dimensions of the situation of women which include;
a. Civil Rights and Legal Status of women
b. Reproductive Rights
c. Influence of culture and tradition on restricting women’s enjoyment of their
fundamental rights.

CIVIL RIGHT AND LEGAL STATUS OF WOMEN

Article 9 of the convention addresses the issue of nationality of women in marriage
and grants equal rights to men and women with respect to the nationality of their children.
Articles 10, 11 and 13, respectively, affirm women’s rights to non-discrimination in
education, employment and economic and social activities.

The convention asserts the full equality of women in civil and business matters,
demanding that all instruments directed at restricting women’s legal capacity ‘’shall be
deemed null and void”. Finally, the Convention addresses the issue of marriage and family
relations, but goes further than the UDHR, by asserting the equal rights and obligations of
women and men with regard to choice of spouse, parenthood, number and spacing of their
children , family name, profession and occupation, personal rights and command over
property inter alia.

REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS
Notably, CEDAW is the first human rights treaty to mention family planning. The
convention obligates state parties to take adequate measures to safeguard the right to
protection of health and safeguarding the function of reproduction. State parties are equally
obliged to provide adequate services in connection with pregnancy, confinement and the
post-natal period, granting free services where necessary, as well as adequate nutrition from
the period of pregnancy to lactation.
Accordingly, provisions for maternity protection and child-care are proclaimed as
essential rights and are incorporated into all areas of the Convention, whether dealing with
employment, family law, health care or education. States parties are obliged to include
advice on family planning in the education process and to develop family codes that
guarantee women’s rights “to decide freely and responsibly on the number and spacing of
their children and to have access to the information, education and means to enable them to
exercise these rights”.
INFLUENCE OF CULTURE AND TRADITION ON WOMENS FUNDAMENTAL
RIGHTS
The CEDAW acknowledges the influence of culture and tradition on restricting
women’s enjoyment of their fundamental rights. These forces take shape in stereotypes,
customs and norms which give rise to the multitude of legal, political and economic
constraints on the advancement of women. To address this issue, the convention implores
states parties to work towards the modification of social and cultural patterns of individual
conduct in order to eliminate “prejudices and customary and all other practices which are
based on the idea of the inferiority or the superiority of either of the sexes or on stereotyped
roles for men and women”.
Article 1O(c) mandates the revision of textbooks, school programmes and teaching
methods with a view to eliminating stereotyped concepts in the field of education.
 Formerly, it was believed that men are the pilots of the society while a woman's
domain is in the kitchen and though this issue is gradually being liberalized, some male
chauviniss still uphold this view. Once, I was listening to a radio session where the
involvement of women in politics was being discussed and when the airlines were open for
public contribution, one of the callers gave this assertion" female presidents, but not in
Nigeria". When he was asked to explain why he said so, he said that he doubts a woman can
ever emerge as president in Nigeria because they are the weaker sex and are likely to
malfunction if given such political position.
This is really an appalling issue of gender discrimination of which CEDAW seeks to
liberalize. Consequently, the Convention has been able to provide a frame work for
challenging the various forces that have created and sustained discrimination based on sex
and cultural patterns which defines the public realm as a man's world and the domestic
sphere as women's domain.

OPTIONAL PROTOCOL
The Optional Protocol was adopted by the UN General Assembly on 6 October 1999
and entered into force on 22 December 2000. The Optional protocol comprises of 21 articles
and currently it has 80 signatories and 114 parties.
The Optional Protocol to CEDAW allows women to bring complaints about breach of
rights under CEDAW to the committee. To bring a complaint, the country of such individual
must be a party to the convention and the protocol and it must first be shown that all
remedies available through the law in that country have been exhausted.
However, the protocol includes an opt-out clause which allows states upon ratification
or accession to declare that they do not accept the inquiry procedure. Article 17 of the
protocol explicitly provides that no reservations may be entered to its terms.
COMMITTEE ON MONITORING THE CEDAW
The implementation of the treaty is monitored by the Committee on the Elimination
of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). The committee's mandate and administration
of the treaty are defined in Articls 17 - 30 of the convention. It comprises of a body of 23
independent experts on women’s rights from around the world. Though nominated by their
governments, the experts serve in their individual capacities and not as delegates or
representatives of their countries of origin. Since its inception, and with only one exception,
the Committee has always been composed entirely of women.
Countries that have become party to the treaty (States parties) must submit regular
reports to the Committee on how the rights of the Convention are being implemented. During
its public sessions, the Committee reviews each State party report and addresses its concerns
and recommendations to the State party in the form of concluding observations. In
accordance with the optional protocol the Committee shall:
1. Receive communications from individuals or groups of individuals submitting claims
of violations of rights protected under the Convention to the Committee.
2. Initiate inquiries into situations of grave or systematic violations of women’s rights.
These procedures are optional and are only available where the State concerned has
accepted them.
3. The Committee also holds days of general discussion and formulates general
recommendations; these are suggestions and clarifications directed to States that
concern articles or themes in the Conventions
In addition, in response to the CEDAW Committee’s concluding observations, China
took measures to curb cases of non-medical foetus sex identification and sex-selective
abortion and to change stereotypes leading to son preference and Sri Lanka introduced
gender-responsive budgeting for rural economic development projects. The Committee
continues to work to protect the rights of women around the world.

BENEFITS OF THE CEDAW

The treaty has contributed to the development of:

 Citizenship rights in Botswana and Japan;
 Inheritance rights in Tanzania;
 Property rights and political participation in Costa Rica.
 The CEDAW Committee has also fostered adoption of:
 A law on gender equality in Mongolia;
 A law in Rwanda prohibiting sex-based discrimination in access to land;
 Domestic violence laws in Turkey, Nepal, South Africa, and the Republic of Korea;
 Legislation criminalizing all forms of violence against women in Burkina Faso and
femicide in Panama;
 A national inquiry into missing and murdered indigenous women in Canada;
 Anti-trafficking laws in Ukraine and Moldova.