Monitoring Women's Socio-Economic Equality under the ICESCR

Abstract

Little attention has been paid to the monitoring tools of women's socio-economic rights (SER). Can the established monitoring tools used by the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR) be reformed to detect all of the ways women's SER are undermined or is it more conceptually sound to establish a new gender equality monitoring standard? This article argues for both approaches. Incorporating a gender equality framework into traditional monitoring tools enriches accountability. To detect the complex ways women experience violations of their SER, it is necessary to develop an independent evaluative tool. This article proposes that Sandra Fredman's four-dimensional model of equality be used for monitoring women's rights under the ICESCR.