Topic:Convention On The Elimination Of

Discrimination Against Women(CEDAW)

PRSENTED BY : RUKMEEN SAH

 INTRODUCTION
• The Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against
Women (CEDAW) is an international treaty adopted in 1979 by the
United Nations General Assembly.
• It entered into force as an international treaty on 3 September 1981 after the
twentieth country had ratified it. By the tenth anniversary of the Convention
in 1989, almost one hundred nations have agreed to be bound by its
provisions.
• The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against
Women (CEDAW) is often referred to as the ‘women’s bill of rights’. It is one
of the core international human rights treaties of the United Nations treaty
system, which requires Member States to undertake legal obligations to
respect, protect and fulfill human rights
 HISTORY
• The preamble of the charter of the United Nations sets as a basic goal to reaffirm faith in
fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person in the equal rights of
men and women.
• Futhermore, Article 1 of the charter proclaims that one of the purposes of the United Nations is
to achieve international coopration in promoting and encouraging respect for human rights and
fundamental freedoms for the people without distinction as to race,sex, language or religion.
• As early as in 1946 the commission on the Status of Women was establishred to deal with
womens’s issues to monitor the situation of women and to promote women's rights.
• The Declaration of Human Rights had afffirmed the principles of the inadmissibility of
discrimination and proclaimed that ball human beings are born free and equal in dignity and
rights and that everyone is entiltled to all the rights and freedoms set forth therein, without
distinction of any kind, including distinction based on sex.
• The convention often described as an International Bill of Rights for Women came into force on
september3, 1981.
 Key Aspect:
• Among the international human rights treaties, the Convention takes an
important place in bringing the female half of humanity into the focus
of human rights concerns.
• The Convention gives positive affirmation to the principle of equality by
requiring States parties to take "all appropriate measures, including
legislation, to ensure the full development and advancement of
women.
• 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 core or
education.
 Implemention Procedure
• The implementation of the Convention is monitored by the Committee on the
Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). The Committee's mandate
and the administration of the treaty are defined in the Articles 17 to 30 of the
Convention. The Committee is composed of 23 experts nominated by their
Governments and elected by the States parties as individuals "of high moral
standing and competence in the field covered by the Convention".
• At least every four years, the States parties are expected to submit a national report
to the Committee, indicating the measures they have adopted to give effect to the
provisions of the Convention. During its annual session, the Committee members
discuss these reports with the Government representatives and explore with them
areas for further action by the specific country. The Committee also makes general
recommendations to the States parties on matters concerning the elimination of
discrimination against women.
 Optional Protocol to the convention
on Women
• In accordance with the optional protocol to thr CEDAW the committee is
mamndate:
1. Receive communication from individualsor 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 rights
3. The committee’s views and recommendations are transmitted to the
parties concerned. The state party is given six months time to consider
the views of the committee and to provide a written response,
including remedial steps taken.
 Conferences on Women
• In addition to the above conventions three conferences held during
the U.N.sponsored International Women’s Decade(1976-1985)
Mexico City,1975; Copenhagan, 1980 and Nairobi, 1985 and the Fourth
World Conference on Women held in Beijing in 1995, have greatly
enhanced international awareness of the concernes of women and
provided the groundwork for invaluable links between the national
women’s movements and the international community.
This conference considered issues of violence against women in public
and private life as human rights issues.
 Important Articles
• Article I
• For the purposes of the present Convention, the term "discrimination against women"
shall mean 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 field.
• Article2
• States Parties condemn discrimination against women in all its forms, agree to pursue by
all appropriate means and without delay a policy of eliminating discrimination against
women and, to this end, undertake: (a) To embody the principle of the equality of men
and women in their national constitutions or other appropriate legislation if not yet
incorporated therein and to ensure, through law and other appropriate means, the
practical realization of this principle;
• Article 10
• States Parties shall take all appropriate measures to eliminate discrimination
against women in order to ensure to them equal rights with men in the field
of education and in particular to ensure, on a basis of equality of men and
women.
• Article 11
• States Parties shall take all appropriate measures to eliminate
discrimination against women in the field of employment in order to ensure,
on a basis of equality of men and women, the same rights, in particular
• Article 12
States Parties shall take all appropriate measures to eliminate discrimination
against women in the field of health care in order to ensure, on a basis of
equality of men and women, access to health care services, including those
related to family planning.
• Article 13
• States Parties shall take all appropriate measures to eliminate discrimination against women in
other areas of economic and social life in order to ensure, on a basis of equality of men and
women, the same rights, in particular:
• Article 14
States Parties shall take into account the particular problems faced by rural women and the
significant roles which rural women play in the economic survival of their families, including their
work in the non-monetized sectors of the economy, and shall take all appropriate measures to
ensure the application of the provisions of the present Convention to women in rural area.
• Article 15
• States Parties shall accord to women equality with men before the law.
• States Parties shall accord to women, in civil matters, a legal capacity identical to that of men and
the same opportunities to exercise that capacity. In particular, they shall give women equal rights
to conclude contracts and to administer property and shall treat them equally in all stages of
procedure in courts and tribunals
• Article 16
• 1. States Parties shall take all appropriate measures to eliminate discrimination against women in
all matters relating to marriage and family relations and in particular shall ensure, on a basis of
equality of men and women.The same right to enter into marriage
 Nepal and CEDAW
• Article 38 constitution of Nepal
• MA 2020 changes after the ratification of CEDAW.
• Example: property participation, division, right to work and equal
treatment,etc
• Cases Laxmi Dikta, Meera Dhungana etc
• Maya Devi v state of Maharashtra
• Githa Hariharan v Researve Bank of India
 Conclusion
• The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against
Women (CEDAW) is often referred to as the ‘women’s bill of rights’. It is
one of the core international human rights treaties of the United Nations
treaty system, which requires Member States to undertake legal
obligations to respect, protect and fulfill human rights.
• The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against
Women (CEDAW) is often referred to as the ‘women’s bill of rights’. It is
one of the core international human rights treaties of the United Nations
treaty system, which requires Member States to undertake legal
obligations to respect, protect and fulfill human rights.