by Cristina Casado
The United States is among a small number of U.N. member states that have failed to sign and ratify the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, also known as the Women's Convention. Adopted by the U.N. General Assembly in 1979, the convention, often described as the bill of rights for women, seeks to eliminate discrimination against women by providing them with equal civil, political, economic and cultural rights to those provided men.
As of late last year, 165 countries had signed and ratified the convention.
The committee
The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women was established in 1982 to monitor implementation of the Women’s Convention. The committee reviews oral and written reports from member states on how they have implemented the convention, and recommends ways each country can expand efforts to eliminate discrimination against women.
It is composed of 23 expert members elected by countries that have ratified the convention. These members represent various regions of the world and serve as individuals, not delegates or representatives of their home countries. Members serve four years and can be reelected.
The committee is scheduled to meet for three weeks once a year but has been meeting twice a year to catch up with reports from member nations. Each country reports to the committee every four years, and the committee reports to the U.N. General Assembly through the Economic and Social Council.
The optional protocol
After three years of negotiations, the Optional Protocol to the Women’s Convention was adopted March 12, 1999, by the U.N. Commission on the Status of Women. The protocol was created to strengthen the convention by providing a means for individuals and groups to bring complaints of violations of the convention to the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women.
The protocol was formally opened for signature Oct.6, 1999. It will enter into force as soon as 10 nation states ratify it, a process expected to take about three years.
When in force, the Optional Protocol will allow the committee to consider complaints against nations that have signed and ratified the protocol when complainants demonstrate they have exhausted available domestic measures.
It will allow committee members to initiate inquiries into grave or systematic violations in countries that have become party to the protocol.
Individuals will not be able to bring cases anonymously and cases cannot be brought on behalf of people who cannot give their consent, such as people who have been kidnaped, are deceased or cannot give their names for security reasons.
This means it will be difficult to bring cases against violations done to large numbers of people, such as mass rape cases or massacres, because it will be hard or impossible to get consent from each individual.
Cristina Casado is an intern with the Women's Division at the United Methodist Office for the United Nations. She is from Caracas, Venezuela.