1. Greet everyone
2. Introduce yourself and the group members
3. BGS REFERENCE AND Quote: ‘’In the world outside, we are ignored, we are
invisible, we are not important ... We've got to change these attitudes
toward us — smilingly, if necessary, angrily if necessary, and aggressively if
necessary. Otherwise, there will be no such thing as true equality.’’ –
Elizabeth Reid
4. Content
5. The 70s was one of the most significant times for feminism in a global
context. The world was slowly starting to realize that feminism was not
about demolishing discrimination but to envision the benefits to the human
race of integrating the forgotten half of humanity in development. – 25,000
women, a tenth of the country’s population- 1970 was the first
international women’s year declared by UN
6. Overview
7. What is ratification
8. What is preamble
9. Definition
10.30 articles can’t be mentioned due to time shortage
11.Achievements: Awareness and advocacy : International Rural Women Day
on 15 October is observed
Government Accountability : This is why CEDAW committee consists of 23
experts on women’s rights around the world.
Policy reform: I’ll get back to it soon
12. According to National Organization for Women, United States
13.The right to health under article 12 of the CEDAW Convention includes the
right to bodily autonomy and encompasses women’s and girls’ sexual and
reproductive freedom. In addition, article 16 (e) protects 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. The Committee recalls that unsafe abortion is a
leading cause of maternal mortality and morbidity. It has repeatedly called
on States parties to the CEDAW Convention to remove punitive measures
for women who undergo abortion and to legalize abortion at least in cases of
rape, incest, threats to the life or health of the pregnant woman and girls and
severe foetal impairment.
14.Limitations:
1. CEDAW has received a lot of criticism for its numerous reservations, lack
of intersectionality, and specificity even though it is one of the most
important human rights conventions for gender equality. States can ratify
CEDAW with reservations, but they can only bind themselves to the articles
that they want to follow. CEDAW is one of the human rights agreements
with the most reservations since it has been ratified by 48 parties.
2. One of the parts with the greatest objections is Article 2, which describes
the steps that states must take to end discrimination. The reasons given by
the parties for not being able to follow the conditions include legal,
cultural, and religious ones. A party can continue to promote discriminatory
practices like female genital mutilation (FGM), virginity testing, and
domestic violence because they are able to avoid accountability. Due to
pressure from the CEDAW Committee, some nations have dropped their
objections, but the majority have kept them.
3. The CEDAW has also come under fire for its erratic treatment of
intersectionality. There are no rules that directly address the interactional
identities of women in it. This disparity supports a theory in which women
are only subject to gender discrimination rather than other types of
discrimination such as racism, classism, ethnocentrism, and heterosexism.
4. The agreement has also come under fire for not addressing the unique
requirements of women in circumstances that do not correspond to the
norms of the typical western lifestyle. For instance, Mali adopted CEDAW in
1985 with no objections. Mali, however, has not made FGM (Female
Genital Mutilation) illegal or even taken a strong stand against it because
the agreement does not cover the practice. In Mali, 88.6% of women
between the ages of 15 and 49 have experienced FGM in some capacity,
according to a 2018 survey. The 2020 Committee did not denounce Mali's
refusal to make FGM a crime until after it had published a report, at which
point it was charged with grave and persistent CEDAW violations.
Source: Berkley Journal of International Law
5. As an illustration, the Philippines approved CEDAW in 1981 without any
reservations. The Magna Carta of Women (MCW), which replicates the
requirements of the convention and similarly requires the state to amend
legislation to remove discrimination, was established by the Philippine
government in 2009. To attain a 50-50 gender balance, one of its objectives
was to increase the proportion of women in government jobs. The
Philippines has made some strides; for instance, from 28% in 2009 to 49%
in 2018, there were more female judges serving in lower courts. (16)
However, to aid in the evaluation of the state's compliance with CEDAW,
Philippine civil society organizations provided a report to the Committee in
2016. The government has to do more to prevent, document, monitor, and
follow up on incidences of discrimination based on sexual orientation and
gender, the research said, notwithstanding the MCW's passage and its
mention of sexual orientation and intimate relationships of LBT people.
Parties are prevented from really ending gender discrimination by a lack of
enforcement, a restricted authority to enforce, and lax accountability.
source: The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and
Development (OECD)