ACT NOW!, March 2, 1999

The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women was adopted in 1979, exactly 20 years ago; it entered into force in 1981. One hundred sixty States have ratified it to date and there is international pressure currently being brought to bear so that all United Nations Member States will have ratified it by 2000. It is the only international instrument that specifically focusses on women, which is why it is of such importance to the women's movement all over the world.

This Convention aims not only to achieve recognition of women's equality but also the exercise of women's equality. Article 1 states that "discrimination against women" means 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. Article 2 condemns discrimination against women in all of its forms.

The Convention contains a number of provisions, for example: the right to benefit from progress and development; protection of maternity; elimination of prejudices; recognition of the common responsibility of men and women with respect to the upbringing and development of children; suppression of all forms of traffic in women and the exploitation of the prostitution of women; the right to participate in the political and public life of the country; equal rights with men to acquire, change or retain their nationality; equal right to education; the right to work, equal remuneration, social security and protection of health and safety in working conditions; elimination of all forms of discrimination on the grounds of marriage or maternity (e.g. the right to precautionary cessation of work during pregnancy); the right to health care services; the right to family benefits; access to property and credit; the right to participate in sports, recreational activities and all aspects of cultural life; recognition of women's contribution to the economy (e.g. their unpaid labour); the right to participate in development; the right to adequate living conditions; access to justice; the right to freedom of movement; the right to enter into marriage only with their full consent and to freedom of choice with respect to maternity.

Why have a Protocol?

When a State ratifies a Convention, it makes a commitment to pass legislation and measures in conformity with the rights sets out in the Convention so that these rights are implemented. The Convention alone is insufficient however, because even ratifying States do not always act in conformity with the Convention as is the case with CEDAW. A Protocol is an essential tool for women and women's groups who need to exercise constant vigilance and pressure to force States to implement the rights set out in the Convention.

For this reason, the Protocol to CEDAW is one of the principal demands of the World March of Women in the Year 2000.

Pressure must be brought to bear now!

Negotiations have now resumed on the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women. Negotiations began on March 1, 1999, and will continue until March 12, 1999, at the Commission on the Status of Women.

We invite all participating groups in the World March of Women in the Year 2000 to exert political pressure on their governments to demand an Optional Protocol, for the following reasons:

- develop women-specific jurisprudence. CEDAW is the only human rights treaty that specifically focusses on women. The adoption of a complaint mechanism specifically designed to deal with complaints brought by women would enable the development of women-specific jurisprudence that is more responsive to women's real conditions. This is badly needed given the lack of gender focus to date of the other treaty bodies where women's human rights seem to be still poorly understood and poorly integrated.

- give the Convention a higher profile. Attaching an Optional Protocol to CEDAW is likely to give the Women's Convention a more serious profile among human rights treaties. This is also badly needed since women's human rights still do not enjoy equal attention or status.

- assist women in obtaining their rights. An Optional Protocol toCEDAW is likely to be better known among women and it is therefore more likely to provide a more ready avenue of remedy.

Demands for our governments

We invite all participating groups in the World March of Women in the Year 2000 to demand that their governments support the following positions:

Standing

It is essential to an effective Protocol that non-governmental organizations be permitted to make complaints on behalf of individual women or groups of women. If only those who are themselves the victims of violations can make complaints under the Protocol, it will not provide a practical and effective recourse for the most vulnerable and most disadvantaged women.

The language of the Protocol regarding standing should be sufficiently open to allow the Committee to accept complaints made on behalf of unnamed women. There are many circumstances where a law or practice is discriminatory on its face and where a named complainant is not necessary in order for a State to understand the particulars of the complaint and reply to it.

Finally, the obligation of naming the complainant could be extremely dangerous for women in some parts of the world.

Reservations

It is essential that the Protocol not permit reservations. This Protocol is already optional, requiring States Parties to the Convention to decide whether they will permit complaints to be brought against them. Further, there are more reservations to CEDAW by States Parties than there are to any other human rights treaty. More permission to make reservations should not be built in to the Protocol.

Inquiry Procedure

The inquiry procedure that allows the Committee to initiate an inquiry into systematic violations of the Convention is a core feature of the Protocol. For this reason, the Protocol should not permit States Parties to either opt in or opt out of that procedure.

Provisions

The Optional Protocol should apply to all of the provisions of the Convention, not just to the rights in the Convention. Because there is variation in the language of the Articles of CEDAW, rights may be too limiting to capture the range of obligations that States who are signatory to the Convention have agreed to.

Vote

We invite all participating groups in the World March of Women in the Year 2000 to urge their respective governments to support the adoption of the Protocol through a vote if necessary (apparently the tradition in these negotiations is to operate by consensus and avoid the necessity of voting) to block the efforts of a small minority of delegations to throw up barriers to successful conclusion of the Protocol negotiations.

WE WANT TO ENTER THE THIRD MILLENNIUM WITH ALL THE NECESSARY TOOLS FOR ELIMINATING ALL FORMS OF DISCRIMINATION AGAINST WOMEN IN HAND

DEMAND A PROTOCOL