Bridging national policies and international commitments: the question of the status of women.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted 50 years ago, focussed the world's attention on the importance of human rights. The development of two major Covenants - the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights - provided an initial mechanism for compliance with the broad range of human rights.

Before long, however, those concerned with human rights issues recognized the need to develop specialized instruments, and from this grew the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, which entered into force on 3 September 1981. By 1998, over 160 parties had ratified the Convention.

Almost 17 years on, although most nations acknowledge the need to promote and protect human rights for women, some may find it difficult to accept that there remains a need for a specialized human rights Convention devoted solely to this topic.

The answer is to reflect on the trends of discrimination drawn from States reports to the Committee established under the Convention. The knowledge and experience gained from these reports demonstrate that, when there are violations of human rights or States fail to abide by commitments made under the Convention, both men and women will suffer. But the effect on women will be different and often significantly worse.

Generally speaking, violence against women is a serious problem in every Part of the world, whether it is State perpetrated, or condoned or committed by individuals against individuals in everyday life. Whether the violence is in the family, sexual assaults on girl children or adult women by female genital mutilation, murder by family members, or son preference, it has taken its toll on the lives and health of countless women living in rich and poor countries, and in every part of the world. Women, and the children for whom they are responsible form a disproportionate number of the world's refugees, must scrabble to provide shelter and food, and protect themselves and their children from the violence of war.

Throughout the world, structural adjustment programmes have often had a beneficial effect on economies. But when Governments reduce spending on health and education, and employment is dislocated, women bear the greatest economic burden. In regimes where fundamentalist forces have political clout, women are obliged to take a second place in the family and in society at large. Where population policies are imposed, women will bear the brant and, lacking information to protect themselves or powerless to refuse sexual relations, they are increasingly infected with HIV/AIDS. In the affluent countries, the thirst for more and more sex workers has given rise to huge problems of trafficking in girls and young women from their native lands.

The fact that the Convention is heavily ratified indicates a strong international support for and recognition of the importance of protecting human rights for women. Compliance with the wideranging obligations which States assume when they ratify the Convention, however, is both difficult and complex. At a practical level, many States enter reservations because the domestic law does not yet comply with the Convention, or standards set under it are not yet achievable.

There are also States which enter reservations for reasons which are unclear and instances where national constitutions prohibit treating women differently if the impact is discriminatory. Reservations to Article 2, which proscribes discrimination, are entered nonetheless. One commentator notes that "nearly 40 per cent of the parties to CEDAW (Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women) have entered reservations, many of them substantial in scope".

Some States after ratification appear to remain in a state of suspended animation, making no progress towards the removal of reservations. It seems that for a number of States, ratification is an end in itself and reservations, even if incompatible with the Convention, are rarely reviewed and removed.

As universal ratification of the Convention approaches, the focus of attention will turn inevitably to ensuring that States work towards full compliance with the Convention by removing reservations.

To assist States' compliance, the Committee publishes General Recommendations, which are the means by which the jurisprudence under the Convention is developed. General Recommendations, which are an important source of information for States, represent the Committee's analysis of many States reports and its interpretation of the Convention in the light of that experience.

Recent substantive General Recommendations have dealt with women's status in the family and women in public and professional life. At present, the Committee is working on a wide ranging General Recommendation on women's right to health.

One of the most significant general recommendations in recent years was that devoted to combating violence against women. The Committee noted the strong international support for proposals to eliminate such violence and drew a comprehensive General Recommendation which read into the Convention the widely acknowledged notion that violence against women is a human rights violation.

Since publication, States reports have been enhanced by reference to General Recommendation 19, and national policy development has been assisted as a consequence.

There is a further means of enhancing States' compliance with the Convention. An Optional Protocol to the Convention, which at present is being undertaken by the Commission on the Status of Women, will draw an experience gained under three other human rights treaties.

Because of the particular concerns for the safety of the many millions of women who suffer violence within the family, there is a pressing need to ensure that the Optional Protocol permits groups of women to lodge complaints, either because they are directly affected or on behalf of other women for whom it would be unsafe to take such action. The vast majority of States acknowledge and understand that the protection of women's human rights is critical to the welfare of every community. The adoption of an Optional Protocol to allow individual women or groups to complain on their behalf will do much to help reach the objective of protection and promotion of human rights for all women.

Ratifying States, therefore, have an obligation to ensure that the Convention is widely disseminated and that the Committee's concluding comments on States reports are publicized domestically.

There are many measures which a ratifying State can take: translation of the Convention; development of programmes to combat violence against women; policies directed at increasing women's participation in political life; education directed at increasing women's literacy; and targeting groups which can implement the Convention, such as the police, health professionals and the judiciary. Many of these measures have been implemented in various States. The information which the Committee gleans from these programmes is invaluable in the development of national policy and breathes life into an instrument which enjoys wide international support.

Over 16 years since the Convention came into force, the international community has shown its resounding support both by a steadily increasing ratification of the Convention and by widespread non-governmental interest. Sadly it seems unlikely that even with universal ratification the Convention's work will have been done. Widespread violations of women's human rights continue, with new and terrible examples emerging every year. It remains urgent for States to ensure that their commitment to the principles of the Convention is supported by action, both domestically and internationally Close adherence to all of the substantive Articles in the Convention will go a long way towards improving the status of women throughout the world.

Justice Cartwright contributed this article at the request of the UN Chronicle.