Living Condition of Women Since the Adoption of CEDAW

The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in the year 1979. The convention that is often been described as the international bill of rights for women consists of a preamble and 30 articles that defines what constitutes discrimination and puts forward an agenda for the global action to eliminate any gender discrimination against women all over the world. It has been 30 long years since the convention was adopted and it would be good if we would try to find out how effective it has been in changing the lives of women and girls all over the globe.

About 90% of UN members ratified the convention, but there is lot of difference between ratification and implementation. Though only a pessimist can say that the convention has been a failure and no progress has been made in the elimination of discrimination against women, one must acknowledge that there is a real need to increase global efforts to eliminate discrimination against women. The condition of women in a society is an indicator of societal development. This essay will try to explore certain women related issues to understand the extend of impact that the convention has made and the gaps that are to be reduced for the complete implementation of the convention.

1. Women and poverty – Statistics have shown that women are more prone to bear the brunt of poverty than men because of the discrimination they face in health care, education, employment and the control of assets. According to estimates 70 percent of world’s poor are women and in many occasions they are forced to live at places where they even don’t have basic human rights like drinking water, proper sanitation and good health care facilities. Women continue to remain in the vicious circles of poverty because of the systematic failure of economic and social systems in providing the means they want to live a good life. Women are less likely to get credit from financial institutions, though the success of micro credit system in countries like Bangladesh has shown that women are more credit worthy than men and show more interest in paying back the amount. Women are often paid less than men for the same work and estimates show that the average wage gap is about 17 percent. Professor of anthropology, Richard Robbins notes that women produce 75 to 90 percent of food crops in the world, do two-third of world’s work, yet earn only 10 percent of world’s income and own just 1 percent of assets. Trade policies and development strategies that various nations adopt also affect economic conditions of women.


2. Women and employment – Gender inequality and discrimination remain an issue in the global labour market. Women don’t have the same access to the labour markets or freedom to choose as men have and therefore their employment participation rate is quite less than that of men. Women workers are more concentrated in the agricultural sector where they are quite vulnerable to employment insecurity, low earnings and low productivity. Even those women who are privileged enough to have waged and salaried employment are not receiving the same remuneration as their male counterparts. Economic recession has put more pressure on women and there is larger danger of losing jobs for a majority of women, especially those in the unorganised sector. Even those who would manage to keep their jobs would possibly see a decline in their wage earnings which would have a negative impact on the economic conditions of women.


3. Women and violence - Women and girls suffer appallingly from violence during times of peace and war alike from individuals as well as the state. Violence against women is one of the most widespread attacks on human rights. It takes the form of physical, sexual and psychological violence and it cuts across all boundaries of race, age, culture and geography. Violence against women and girls manifests in various forms of domestic violence, workplace violence, abuse during pregnancy, female infanticide and the so-called honour killings. Violence and other forms of abuse takes place in homes, schools, work places, in the street, in refugee camps and during internal strife and conflict. Gender based violence is not only a violation of human rights but also a vice that hampers overall development of women and the whole society. The mental trauma that violence creates in the mind of a young girl is often beyond repair. A study conducted by World Bank in 1994 on ten risk factors facing girls and women found out that rape and domestic violence are more dangerous than war, malaria, vehicle accidents or cancer. Countries are making progress in addressing the issue of violence against girls and women. Many countries have legislation in place to address the issue of domestic violence and many other countries are having national plans of action to counter the menace. It is a sad truth that even in this 21st century there are societies around the world that follow the abhorrent practice of honour killings against girls and women. Governments of such nations have shown terrible irresponsibility in countering the practice of honour killings. Human rights organisations are pressurising such governments to come out with legislation and national policy to tackle this threat.


4. Women and reproductive rights – One of the pressing questions regarding women’s rights in the 21st century is about her reproductive rights. Debates are convened all over the world to discuss this issue concerning women. In many orthodox societies, women are not given the right to contraception. They are made to bear children against their wishes. Sometimes they face serious health hazards as they are forced to conceive without giving any attention to their failing health. There are also growing debate among societies about the right of a woman to IVF and other assisted reproductive techniques. Another subject of debate on this account is whether there is a need for a universal standard of basic reproductive rights or is it context dependent. One needs to assess these questions by taking into account various disciplines and perspectives.


5. Women in government – Various studies have shown that higher number of women in government generally contribute to stronger attention to women’s issues. A democracy will become strong and genuine only if there is equal participation for both women and men. Only then can we be able to call it a genuine democracy as it will contribute to women’s direct engagement in public policy making and decision making. If there is equal representation for both men and women then there will be greater accountability to the government and it’s policy making mechanism. At the same time the induction of more women to the government only will not be sufficient. In addition to that there should be a paradigm shift in the thought process of governments and they should make more gender-specific governance reforms. Today we have more women in government than in the last decade and there has been an increase of about 8 percent in the decade from 1998 to 2008. However women’s participation in democratic governance is quite limited even today. Only 17 heads of the state are women in this world. There are many hindrances for women’s participation in politics. Political parties are not known generally to support women’s causes and in many societies there are cultural barriers for women to enter politics. Quotas and reservation of seats for women are important measures that can be taken to make sure that more women are participating in the democratic governance of the country. On this regard the recent approval of Women’s Reservation Bill by the Upper House in India is a welcome move that aims at involving more women in the democratic governance in the largest democracy of the world.


6. Women and peace and security - Wars, internal strife and conflicts are quite frequent in many nations of the world and one common feature of all those menacing occasions is that they affect the womenfolk badly. Women are in minority when it comes to being combatants in conflicts or as perpetrators of wars. Yet they are in the majority when we consider their number as victims of conflicts and wars. During times of war they become soft targets for physical, sexual and psychological violence. They are often used as human shields and they often have to bear the responsibility of keeping the family together and to win bread for the family members. During such conditions they easily become target of sexual exploitation. Even when the condition is so, the participation of women in conflict resolution and peace building is quite less. Insofar as their plight is concerned, peace building missions hardly give them due consideration. Therefore there is a greater need to improve the participation of women in conflict resolution and peace building missions. When women are prevented from being a part of peace building missions they are denied their right of being the participants of those decision making bodies that take decisions that affect their life.


7. Women and human rights – The Universal Declaration of Human Rights proclaims that all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. But in many occasions in real life, women are denied basic human rights and dignity that their male counterparts are endowed with without any discrimination. All over the globe women face manifold violations of their human rights. They are denied the chance to participate in the decision making processes that affect their life, they are made to face discrimination in employment, they are often denied the right to own property and assets, they are made to suffer under violence at their home and at their workplaces, they are discriminated against in education and health care and even they are denied the chance to take birth as often they are killed before their birth by the terrible practice of female foeticide. Even when we live in societies with civilised ideas and developed conscience, women are discriminated against and their human rights are curtailed. Though several nations have vowed to tackle discrimination against women, on the implementation front severe gaps and bottlenecks exist. There need to be a concerted global effort to make sure that women are able to get all their basic human rights.

Despite the many progress made in the living conditions of women on account of the adoption of CEDAW, serious gaps exist in their implementation. It is imperative for the global community to do whatever possible to give a better future to the womenfolk – a future that brings in better hopes and aspirations and better material wealth and spiritual wellbeing. For that all have to work together – political parties, human rights organisations, NGOs and the civil society at large.

Image Courtesy: UNIFEM - The image is a quilt produced by more than 200 marginalized Kyrgyz women to commemorate the 30th anniversary of CEDAW.