Professional Documents
Culture Documents
on
United nations declarations on
women rights
Submitted to:
Submitted by :
Bhawna
20/11
Semester 8 th
Acknowledgement
The success and outcome of this project required a lot of guidance and support
from many people and I am extremely fortunate to have got this all along the
completion of the project work. Whatever I have done is only due to such
guidance and I will not forget to thank them.
I respect and thank Dr. Dazy zarabi for giving me an opportunity to do the
project work and providing me all support and guidance which made me
complete the project on time.
CEDAW
The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against
Women (CEDAW), adopted in 1979 by the UN General Assembly, is often
described as an international bill of rights for women. Consisting of a
preamble and 30 articles, it defines what constitutes discrimination against
women and sets up an agenda for national action to end such discrimination.
The Convention defines discrimination against women as "...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."
The Convention provides the basis for realizing equality between women and
men through ensuring women's equal access to, and equal opportunities in,
political and public life -- including the right to vote and to stand for election -as well as education, health and employment. States parties agree to take all
appropriate measures, including legislation and temporary special measures, so
that women can enjoy all their human rights and fundamental freedoms.
The Convention is the only human rights treaty which affirms the reproductive
rights of women and targets culture and tradition as influential forces shaping
gender roles and family relations. It affirms women's rights to acquire, change
or retain their nationality and the nationality of their children. States parties
also agree to take appropriate measures against all forms of traffic in women
and exploitation of women.
Countries that have ratified or acceded to the Convention are legally bound to
put its provisions into practice. They are also committed to submit national
reports, at least every four years, on measures they have taken to comply with
their treaty obligations.
The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against
Women (CEDAW) was adopted in 1979 by the UN General Assembly and
entered into force on 3 September 1981. Australia has been a party to CEDAW
since 17 August 1983.
CEDAW has often been described as an international bill of rights for
women. Enshrined within its preamble and 30 Articles are key principles of
equality and an agenda for national action to end discrimination against
women. It is based on the belief that basic human rights include the true
equality of men and women. As of November 2008, 185 countries are parties
to CEDAW.
The rights enshrined in CEDAW broadly cover many aspects of womens lives.
Rights include political participation, health, education, employment, marriage,
family relations and equality before the law.
Rights contained in CEDAW
CEDAW defines discrimination against women as: 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
violence against women and domestic violence became the second legally
binding regional instrument on violence against women and girls but, unlike
other regional agreements, it can be signed and ratified by any State.
The UN General Assembly adopts bi-annual resolutions on the issue of
violence against women. The most recent resolutions adopted in 2012 include
www.un.org/Overview/rights.html
www.umn.edu/humanrts/instree/women/engl-wmn.html
www.un.org/documents/ga/res/48/a48r104.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Declaration_on_the_Elimination_of_Violen
ce_Against_Women
5. www.unfpa.org/resources/human-rights-women
6.