The United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) turns 30 today. This treaty, designed to protect the rights of women worldwide, has been signed by 186 of the 193 United Nations member countries.
The United States has not signed CEDAW. Iran, Somalia, and Sudan are among the other six countries that have yet to ratify the treaty.
Despite most Americans’ myopic perception of their country as being a leader in all ways, the U.S. lags far behind much of the world in terms of viewing and treating women as full humans. In fact, the U.S. falls far behind many countries in terms of mobile and broadband technology, and it’s entirely possible the U.S. will attain the same level of technology as Japan or South Korea well before the U.S. achieves the same level of gender parity as the Scandinavian countries, or even matches India, Sri Lanka, and the Philippines, all of which have had women leaders, even if these countries are still working out the day-to-day practice of respecting women’s rights.
What CEDAW requires of signing countries is very simple. WomensTreaty.org clarifies that ratifying countries agree to do the following:
• Take measures to ensure that women can enjoy the same basic human rights and fundamental freedoms as men.
• Have in place legal and judicial procedures to protect the rights of women.
• Take measures to eliminate discrimination against women by individuals, organizations or enterprises.
• Submit national reports every four years to a United Nations advisory group of international experts, the CEDAW Committee, to ensure transparency on what measures the country has taken to implement the provisions of the treaty.
To learn more about CEDAW, and read an outstanding commentary on the United States and CEDAW, read Linda Tarr-Whelan’s op-ed Time for U.S. Senate to Act on U.N. Women’s Treaty, published at Women’s eNews.
WomensTreaty.org offers information about the treaty, tools for raising awareness about CEDAW, and an email list through which you can receive alerts about CEDAW activity and support in the United States.
Add your voice to the call for ratification by using this online form to send an email to your senator, encouraging them to support women’s rights by ratifying and accepting CEDAW in the United States.
We really can’t keep waiting.
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