The U.S. Ratification of CEDAW: The Natural Next Step Forward for Women’s Rights

For well over a year, the world has heard the same single word from the Democratic Party: change.

I believe we should thank President Obama for sticking to that promise in one significant area. In just a few short weeks since he has taken office, change not only in health care and economy but also for the better protection of women has occurred.

Undoubtedly, the next step in establishing equality for women across the world is the ratification of the United Nation’s Convention of the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW).

A number of students at Northwestern have already written President Obama and our U.S. Senators, urging them to help in the ratification of this Convention. Being one of the only nations avoiding ratification is disturbing, placing us in the same category as Afghanistan, Iran and Sudan concerning women’s rights. As a start, President Obama signed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act into law. By doing so he is finally allowing American women and others who have been unjustly discriminated against in the workplace challenge their employers for the same pay as their coworkers, even if they do not find out about this disparity immediately.

This was a step in the right direction.

Another example of our new president taking action for women’s rights is his rescinding of the Mexico City Policy, better known as the Global Gag Rule. Organizations in countries all over the world will now receive the monetary aid the Bush administration once withheld for the family planning tools they need: birth control, condoms, and IUDs, to name a few. Repealing the Global Gag Rule was a relatively quick, simple and easy way to prevent the deaths of thousands of women all over the world. This is not enough.

The single best step toward providing women the equality, resources, and human rights protections they deserve under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is the ratification of CEDAW by the U.S. Senate. Many are fearful of the legal changes they believe might occur with the ratification of this convention. The voiced fears, however, are not founded in the realities of the Convention.

Many of the articles of CEDAW are already domestic laws here. Even in these cases, ratifying CEDAW is an important show of support, contributing to the common, broader goal of guaranteeing the rights of women across the world. Many women in the U.S. are fortunate that they do not have to deal with some of the daily atrocities that occur in other places; most women here do not have to worry about honor killings or rape by employers, and are legally protected from being burned by their husbands. This raises some questions in the minds of American women. We lack these atrocities here, so what ultimately is the reason for ratifying this convention? The fact that these atrocities exist means that the United States government has failed all women in a fundamental way. We need to stand in solidarity with women around the world to ensure this violence ceases to exist. The United States needs to tell the world it will join in a common stance against these atrocities, and this is difficult to do without joining this formal form of partnership and accountability.

For those of you who have been distracted by misinformation about the convention, let me point out a few things:

1. CEDAW takes no position on abortion. Even the U.S. State Department has identified the Convention as “abortion neutral.” Nowhere in the text is abortion mentioned.

2. CEDAW is in every way pro-family. Contrary to statements of its critics, the convention will not lead the government to the destruction of any “standard” family structure, by undermining the parents’ role, or transforming spousal relationships in any dangerous way.

3. CEDAW promotes what is in the best interests of the child and what equally pushes for the social equality of women.

4. CEDAW eliminates prejudicial practices that hinder the ability of women to gain full economic equality. CEDAW can help provide more protections for women in employment policies; it does not call for “special advantages.”

5. CEDAW does not call for the “legalization” of prostitution. It focuses on “decriminalization” in areas that prevent women fearful of prosecution to request medical and psychological help when needed, as well as educational resources and strategies to help prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted infections.

The United States calls itself a world leader in politics, humanitarian aid and development. President Obama and the U.S. Government have taken some very important and effective steps toward equality in the past several weeks, but there is one action that would signify the best step forward of all. If the United States truly wants to become a world leader in protecting the rights of women, it should immediately ratify CEDAW.

Kayleigh Wettstein

Human Development and Psychological Services

Northwestern University, Class of 2010

Kayleighwettstein2010@u.northwestern.edu

Open Letter to President Obama

We thank President Obama for signing into law the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act ("Obama signs first bill into law, making it easier for workers to sue for pay discrimination" Chicago Tribune Jan. 29) so early in his administration. The Fair Pay Act is an important step against economic discrimination against women, although it by no means solves the hardships and struggles women in the United States and other parts in the parts of the world face daily.

For this reason, we hope the Obama Administration and particularly Vice President Biden fulfills a long-standing commitment to ratify the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). While Chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, the Vice President demonstrated his advocacy for and understanding of this vital treaty, nearly leading to its ratification in 2002. There is no better time now build on the momentum from the Fair Pay Act and bring CEDAW to a vote before the full Senate.

We understand this is not necessarily an easy challenge. There are a few misconceptions that may prevent certain Senators from ratifying CEDAW. Let's, for instance, address three major concerns.

First, there are some who say that ratification of CEDAW would give too much power to the international community, and thus U.S. federal laws would take a second place when it came to our laws governing social and family relationships. Nothing could be further from the truth. Of all the nations associated with the UN, the only countries that have not ratified CEDAW include Afghanistan, Iran, Sudan…and the United States. Of all the other nations that have long ratified CEDAW, it would not be possible to find a single nation whose own laws were turned upside down by this symbolic embrace with the international community. Refinements based on mutual critiques yes, an overtaking of sovereign law, definitely not.

Next, some Senators based on the complaints of a few constituents may make the case that the term "family planning" signifies that CEDAW supports abortion, and would just solidify decisions made by the U.S. Supreme Court. However, the U.S. State Department correctly calls CEDAW "abortion neutral". In fact the Convention makes no mention of “abortion” whatsoever, and it has been clear that “family planning” refers to the right of women to make more careful decisions about having children, a point on which almost all Americans are likely to agree is a good thing. Countries where abortion is illegal, including Ireland and Rwanda, have ratified the Convention, and have received no criticism from the U.N. on this issue. As a leader of the free world economically, socially, and politically, the US gains little by standing with a few war-torn countries that have notoriously refused to recognize the equality of men and women.

Third, despite all of the positive and comprehensive ways that CEDAW addresses discrimination against women, critics are nervous that CEDAW will call for the legalization of prostitution. Decriminalizing certain aspects of prostitution is a world apart from legalizing the practice. No nation that has ratified CEDAW has been asked to promote sex work, only to protect women from compounding existing mental and physical harms associated with such sex work with ever more punitive forms of enforcement. Decriminalization of prostitution has been called for in specific countries, like China, where the mistreatment and trafficking of women and children is overwhelming. By regulating the system more effectively in specific countries, fearful women can become more likely to come forward to seek medical and psychological treatment, to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS, and to combat sexual slavery.

Finally, it is wholly inaccurate to characterize the intentions of CEDAW as an attempt to redefine what it means to be an American family. The Convention merely offers women the right to economic security, healthcare, political freedom, a right to education and access to necessary forms of information, just to name a few freedoms.


Lilly Ledbetter faced discrimination for decades. She eventually fought sex discrimination so that other women could get the treatment that they deserved even if they did not notice the disparities right away. CEDAW is not likely to dramatically change the structure of everyday life in the U.S. It is likely to guarantee that equality will be upheld in this nation. Our nation has long prided itself on fighting for the rights and freedoms of others in foreign places throughout the world. By opening ourselves to criticisms that could lead to additional protections for our own people - our mothers, sisters, daughters and friends –we strengthen our ability to encourage these protections everywhere.