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Time to Ratify Women's Treaty, Groups Urge
UNITED NATIONS - Rights activists in the United States are urging their newly-elected government to support global initiatives aimed at protecting women's rights.
"If Barack Obama wants one important thing to do for women, he will direct the U.S. Senate to ratify CEDAW," said Ritu Sharma, a leading women's rights activist.
CEDAW is the acronym for the U.N. Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, which has been endorsed by over 170 countries.
In the past three decades, U.S. policymakers rejected CEDAW by reasoning that women in the United States already enjoyed legal protections against violence and discrimination.
But rights activists counter that the U.S. refusal to ratify the treaty encourages repressive regimes to promote discriminatory practices against women.
"There is no reason for us to wait for the U.S. ratification of CEDAW," said Sharma, who leads the Women's Edge Coalition, which comprises hundreds rights groups worldwide.
Created about 30 years ago, CEDAW clearly defines what constitutes gender discrimination and sets an agenda for national action to end abuse of women's rights.
Many countries that are signatory to the treaty have improved their laws, but in most cases, have failed to protect women from everyday violence and abuse.
Numerous studies carried out by the U.N. and independent think tanks in recent years show that in many parts of the world millions of women continue to face discrimination of every description.
Researchers say every year hundreds of thousands of women are forced into prostitution, with many suffering beatings not only by pimps and customers, but also policemen.
And how many women repeatedly endure violence in the supposed safety of their own homes? No one really knows, not even those who specialize in this subject. In many countries, including those with high rate of education, domestic violence is still regarded as a "private" matter, which gives authorities a justification to look the other way.
Women's situation, according to U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon, is not going to change unless men, particularly those in power, are willing to change their behavior.
"Changing mindset and habits of generations is not easy," stated Ban on the eve of International Women's Day, which is observed all over the world on Sunday, Mar. 8.
"We must work together to state loud and clear, at the highest level, that violence against women will not be tolerated, in any form, in any context," he said.
Women's rights activists who work closely with the U.N. note that since the 1995 World Summit in Beijing, some progress has been made to protect women's rights. But many of them say there's still a long way to go for full recognition of women's rights as human rights.
As the U.N. Commission on the Status of Women convened its annual meeting last week, delegates said they were hopeful that the new U.S. leadership would act differently.
The past U.S. administration had imposed harsh conditions for funding to the U.N. agencies working to help improve women's life conditions in poor countries.
The George W. Bush administration refused to fund health programs in countries that recognized women's right to have abortion. As a result, hundreds of thousands of women died during pregnancy.
Ban was silent on the issue of the U.S. non-ratification of CEDAW. However, in a recent conversation with IPS, he said he appreciated the intentions of the new administration.
"I think it is going to be very positive," he said in response to a question about whether the Obama administration would be willing to sign U.N. treaties that the previous administration had either ignored or worked actively to undermine.
Last week, Ban ordered U.N. officials to organize special events all across the world in observance of International Women Day. The U.N.-sponsored events are supposed to include rallies, seminars, exhibits, film screening and concerts to create awareness about women's rights.
Women's rights activists say they are glad that the world community was consistent in trying to make progress on its agenda, but stress that in order to gain positive results a powerful country like the United States must be part of the movement.
Sharma hopes that the new U.S. secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, would play an important role in advancing the international agenda on women's rights.
Before taking charge of the State Department, Clinton stressed the importance of aiding women and girls, who are at greatest risk of being poor, and form seven in 10 of the world's hungry.
"Investing in our common humanity through social development is not marginal to our foreign policy but integral to accomplishing our goals," she said in a recent statement. In her view, "If half of the world's population remains vulnerable to economic, political, legal, and social marginalization, our hope of advancing democracy and prosperity will remain in serious jeopardy."
Though pleased with Clinton's position on women's rights, Sharma, like many other activists, said she would like to see the new administration take real and practical steps to cooperate more closely with the international community.
"Clinton's nomination as our third female secretary of state means that, once again, a woman will be the nation's chief diplomat and public face to the world, underscoring America's commitment to women's equality and empowerment worldwide," she said.
"But to take this commitment to the next level, this administration has to make U.S. international assistance a foreign policy priority and ensure that it benefits the world's women," she added. "Putting a real emphasis on investing in women would mean both women and men can contribute to lifting themselves from poverty."
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8 Comments so far
Show AllNobody seems to care about women here.
The war against women has been going on since Adam and Eve were around.
Hoa binh
"Clinton is the USA's chief diplomat & public face to the world"
Once women achieve their goals you rarely see them extend a hand to help others up out of the "pink ghetto". The USA refuses to sign the treaty (I haven't read it, I admit) because the majority of power elites are men and they want to keep it the way it is.
Women still earn on average 70cents to the dollar men make. Women also get stuck in jobs that pay less than minimum wage & rely on tips. Yet when we go to buy groceries we pay the same for a loaf of bread & gallon of milk as men.
Women are often the sole support of children, so in addition to having more expenses they are cheated every step of the way.
This discrimination against women in endemic in the USA. Go to a big box store and compare packages of women socks & mens socks, the price may be comparable, but the quality of the womens items are made less well, the fabric is sleazier and women usually have smaller feet.
I haven't bought a women's tshirt for decades. With mens' tshirts you have brand name quality, a pocket and they stand up better to repeated washings.
Then there are the costs to make yourself hireable, men can skip all the hair care & just shave their heads, all that costs is the price of a disposable razor.
No expensive cuts, dyes, shampoos conditioners, gel, spray, etc.
I'd like to see La Clinton get by on doing her own expensively coiffed hair, she probably takes a hair dresser with her everywhere she travels.
Sign the damn treaty -- maybe our military women, like LaVena Johnson, the first woman from Missouri to be killed since our aggression in Iraw & Afghanistan started. LaVena's death was ruled a suicide, even though she had been struck in the face with a blunt instrument that knocked her teeth back, had lye poured in her vagina in an effort to destroy dna left from the brutal rape she suffered, and her hand & back were set on fire.
She was found in a tent, occupied by subsidiary of KBR contractors, obviously dragged there and the army ruled her death suicide by shooting herself in the face. (This was in an article recently published by Truth Out)
The military don't worry about our female recruits being captured, they worry about their safety from our own troops & mercenaries.
If you think women have all the rights they need to make it in the world then we should definately sign the UN treaty, there is nothing to lose & we get to be a shining example to less "civilized" nations in the world.
have just read and signed the petition: "Justice for LaVena Johnson".
Please take a moment to read about this important issue, and join me in signing the petition. It takes just 30 seconds, but can truly make a difference. We are trying to reach 3000 signatures - please sign here: http://www.thepetitionsite.com/56/justice-for-lavena-johnson
Once you have signed, you can help even more by asking your friends and family to sign as well.
Thank you! Kate
http://www.care2.com/go/z/e/VdK7/qM../SAs4
Our soldiers, who put their lives on the line for their country, deserve much better than coverups. I just signed the petition myself.
In response to ezeflyer: I care.
I'm a man, and I've been a man long enough to know that men who hold women down do so out of a fear of being sexually rejected by them. That's really what it comes down to in the end, no matter how "civilized" a strata of society one is on, and it's continued to this day probably since the days of the cave men. Women are already empowered, they must be if they can arouse such fear in men, they just have to realize their own empowerment. Yes, there are abusive men out there, but don't forget about how many women out there remain uneducated and ignorant, and that's just as bad. I meet women whose only aspiration, in their own words, is to be "a pampered house wife," especially as a product of the sense of entitlement that the Bush administration inspired. I meet women just barely out of their teens, pushing baby carriages around with no father in sight. The representatives and role models of the women of my generation (and I'm only 24 myself) seem to be little more than Paris Hilton, music video "hos," the Kardashians, and shows like "My Super Sweet 16" on MTV, which British satirist Charlie Brooker said would make a good recruitment film for Al Qaeda, no doubt for the absolutely unabashed materialism that these young girls show.
Where are those voices for our young women that will inspire them to do things like take an education seriously and make an independent life for themselves doing something they enjoy and take pride in? Maybe I'm wrong, but I've seen a steep decline in respect for women over the years, whether it's men losing the respect, or the women losing the respect for themselves. Men may be the ones in power, but there are more women in the world than there are men, and treaties such as this one will never be ratified unless women band together and raise their voices. In the end, I know that I'm a man, and that I don't have to prove my masculinity to anyone by holding a woman down.
Ratify the treaty.
How could anyone believe that women in the United States enjoy equality with men? Just look around. How many of our representatives in government are female? Minority groups have claimed that if government is to represent us it should "look like" us. Women are more than 50% of the population.
FirstTakeNate comments that there are many "uneducated and ignorant" young women today, and he is right. I'd like to add that there are just as many "uneducated and ignorant" young men and that ignorance, perhaps, is the root of misogeny. I suspect that ignorance has existed since the very earliest of civilization. Perhaps even before the existence of misogeny.
Ratify the treaty!
"There is no reason for us to wait for the U.S. ratification of CEDAW,"
There is no reason for the world to wait for US ratification of anything. In fact, it will serve the world best to leave the USA behind in every respect. "There ain't no drag like the US drag".