Article 3 of CEDAW and Gender Equality

Now, of the documents covered in the last month or so including The Universal Declaration of Human Rights in the Preamble, Article 16, and Article 25(2), Convention Against Discrimination in Education (1960) in Article 1, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (1966) in Article 3 and Article 13, and the Istanbul Convention Article 38 and Article 39, and Article 1 and 2 of the CEDAW.The purpose of the CEDAW or the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women is based on the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). It is a set of independent experts who function as a body. That body is responsible for the monitoring of the implementation of the convention.

There are, internationally, 23 experts from around the world who have specializations in women’s rights. Inside of the convention, there are several instantiations, important ones, of women’s protections and the need for their equality.

There are other prominent documents devoted to the fundamental human rights and protections of the bodies of women. As stated in some other recent work, the documents around the world are integral to the maintenance of the increased equality and freedom for women.

In the opening section of Article 3, the standard operators are the states or the “States Parties” with the emphasis on the individual country and its duties and responsibilities for the protection of the individual citizens. With respect to the domains of discourse for these protections, we find the cultural, economic, political and social areas. These are important.

With the protections of the equality of women, we cannot simply espouse in one area on the international stage representative of a nation. The goal is to protect women in the areas of the culture, e.g., the media and in the home. The economic life of the individual woman, e.g., the access and possibility to be involved in some fashion within the world of work.

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