Lynn C. Woolsey: “this past Tuesday, December 18, marked the 22nd anniversary of the United Nations' adoption of the Convention on the…”

“this past Tuesday, December 18, marked the 22nd anniversary of the United Nations' adoption of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, otherwise known as CEDAW. Adopted by the U.N. General Assembly in 1979, CEDAW established a universal definition of discrimination against women and provides international standards to discourage sex-based discrimination. These standards encourage equality in education, health care, employment, and all other areas of public life. This comprehensive United Nations treaty serves as a powerful tool for all women as they fight against discrimination, and this treaty has led to substantial improvements for women's lives in countries including Japan, Brazil, Sri Lanka, and Zambia. In fact, when Brazil redrafted its constitution, they used CEDAW as a framework for their human rights for women. The Brazilian constitution now contains provisions on gender equality, gender-based violence, equality of rights within marriage, family planning, and employment, paralleling those contained in CEDAW. To date, 168 countries have ratified CEDAW. However, the United States is not one of those countries. In fact, the United States is the only industrialized nation that has not ratified CEDAW, a distinction that places us in the company of North Korea, Iran, and Afghanistan. The decision to abandon this embarrassing distinction is long overdue.”