CEDAW

(Convention on the Elimination of all

Forms of Discrimination Against
Women)
What is CEDAW?
 Known as the International Bill of Rights of Women, Convention on
the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women
(CEDAW) was adopted by the United Nations in 1979 and took
effect on 3 September 1981.
 The Philippines signed the CEDAW on 15 July 1980 and ratified it
on 5 August 1981, the first ASEAN country to do so. As of May
2015, the Convention has been ratified by 189 states.
 ThePhilippines also ratified the Optional Protocol to the CEDAW
on November 12, 2003, which established two mechanisms that
enable women to seek redress for violations of CEDAW through the
communication procedure and the inquiry procedure.
What is CEDAW?
 The CEDAW is the only human rights treaty which affirms the
reproductive rights of women and targets culture and tradition as
influential forces shaping gender roles and family relations. It
affirms women’s rights to acquire, change or retain their
nationality and the nationality of their children.
 The Convention 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 the
recognition, enjoyment or exercise by women, irrespective of their
marital status, on a basis of equality of men and women, of human
rights and fundamental freedoms in the political, economic, social,
cultural, civil, or any other fields.”
The CEDAW Convention is built on three
foundational principles:
 Non-discrimination is integral to the concept of equality. The
Convention seeks to eliminate discrimination against women in all
fields and spheres, and holds both state and non-state actors in the
case of violation of rights.
 Stateobligation embodies the elements, that is respect, protection,
promotion, and fulfillment of human rights. It also upholds the
concept of due diligence which demands ensuring the prevention,
investigation, and sanctioning of private acts of discrimination.
The legislature, executive and judiciary organs of government are
responsible for the fulfillment of all state obligations.
 Substantive equality acknowledges as products of
negative female stereotypes, and consequently seeks to
eliminate discrimination at the individual, institutional,
and systematic levels through corrective and positive
measures including enabling conditions and affirmative
actions. It seeks to correct imbalance and focuses on
achieving “equality of outcomes” by ensuring equal
opportunities, access and benefits for women.
 Aside from ratifying the CEDAW, the Philippines can be
credited for creating its first working draft through Dr. Leticia
Ramos-Shahani, who was working as a diplomat at the
Department of Foreign Affairs at the time and would eventually
become the Secretary-General of the World Conference on the
UN Decade of Women in Nairobi, Kenya in 1985 and the UN
Assistant Secretary-General for Social and Humanitarian
Affairs. Dr. Ramos-Shahani sought the support of Russian
delegate Tatiana Nikolaeva for the CEDAW draft, famously
earning the ire of then Foreign Affairs Secretary Carlos P.
Romulo. The CEDAW draft was successfully adopted as the
basic working paper.
CEDAW Goals

Thefull realization of women’s human rights

Equality of opportunities
Equality of access to them
Equality in and under the Law
Equality of results
How to achieve these goals?
By addressing in the public and private spheres:

 Discriminatory social practices and beliefs.

 Stereotypical roles of men and women
 Theneeds of women based on their biological
function of reproducing the human species
 Historical and structural discrimination
 Unintentional and direct discrimination