ABSTRACT
Equality on the basis of sex would seem to be at the heart of the United Nations mission. Article 1 of the Charter sets out three main purposes of the United Nations, the last of which includes, ‘to define and protect the rights and freedoms of every individual regardless of race, sex, language or religion’. The United Nations Universal Declaration on Human Rights of 1948 included the proclamation that all human rights and freedoms are to be enjoyed equally by women and men without distinction of any kind. Article 2, for example, states that:
All the general human rights conventions at regional and international level have provision for equality and non-discrimination on the basis of sex.2 This international commitment to equality stands in contrast to the economic, political, and social marginalisation of women in most countries of the world. It also stands in contrast to the under-representation of women and women’s rights in human rights machinery, from international institutions to non governmental organisations (apart, of course, from those focusing explicitly on women’s rights).
