ABSTRACT
When the Commission on Human Rights was formed in 1946 as part of the United Nations, it included a subcommission, the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW). This commission began work on identifying and addressing discrimination and human rights violations that it saw as directed primarily toward women. Although the Universal Declaration of Human Rights speaks of “all human beings” and in almost every one of its articles speaks of “everyone,” this commission claimed that some forms of discrimination were especially relevant to women—for example, forced marriages and limitations on active political participation. As early as 1952, the CSW was able to have resolutions passed by the UN General Assembly to address such concerns. During the 1960s and 1970s, an expansion of claims concerning discrimination against women resulted in the 1979 passage of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), which was adopted by near-unanimous consent (with ten countries abstaining, but no countries opposing). Since its original adoption, even more countries have signed on to CEDAW. A number of countries, however, have filed “reservations,” stating that they are not bound by particular sections or articles contained in CEDAW (e.g., sections that run counter to certain domestic family laws within those countries). In addition, there have been more than forty “sessions” (held now by the high commissioner for human rights as part of the United Nations) focused on reviewing CEDAW and assessing its implementation.
