La Strada Documentation Center

CEDAW. The Treaty for the Right of Women. Rights that Benefit the Entire Community

Document number
1093
Date
2004
Title
CEDAW. The Treaty for the Right of Women. Rights that Benefit the Entire Community
Author/publisher
Leila Rassekh Milani, Sarah C. Albert, Karina Purushotma, Working Group on Ratification of the U.N. Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, United Nations (UN)
Availability
View/save PDF version of this document
Document type(s)
Research/Study/Analysis,
Keywords
Women's rights; International law; Protection;
Summary
Summarises the Treaty, lists ratifications, outlines CEDAW's position in the United States and the impact of CEDAW on violence, education, trafficking, HIV/AIDS, Terrorism & National Security, Women & Peace. Also answers to myths of CEDAW with regard to Sovereignty, Discrimination, Traditional Family, Women in Armed Combat, Family Interference, Single-Sex Schools, Prostitution, Same-Sex Marriages, Abortion, Mother’s Day & Motherhood, Lesbianism, The Koran, Gender Stereotypes, Children in Daycares, Sex,Education in Schools, Detailed Analysis Regarding Abortion, Understanding the Treaty for the Rights of Women, the Abortion Issue, The Role of CEDAW Committee. INTRODUCTION: More than half a century after Eleanor Roosevelt pioneered the drafting of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, her country still has not ratified the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW or Treaty for the Rights of Women). Sadly, more than two decades after that treaty entered into force, most Americans—including most lawyers— cannot articulate why United States’ ratification of that treaty is long overdue. In his first State of the Union address after September 11, 2001 President George W. Bush announced that “America will always stand for the non-negotiable demands of human dignity: the rule of law, limits on the power of the state, respect for women, private property; free speech, equal justice, and religious tolerance.”1 Yet at this writing, his administration remains curiously diffident about whether to endorse the ratification of the treaty.2 This book sets forth an array of arguments why there could be no more fitting way for the United States Senate to answer the President’s demand than by moving to ratify the universal treaty for the rights of women now.
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