United Nations and Women’s Rights: A Historical Analysis of CEDAW

Abstract

The problem of discrimination against women is pervasive. Peripheralization of women increased with time and was considered as normal in the culture ruled by males. Gender equality and justice based on the individuality of women was not the concern of international human rights legislations in the outset. Establishment of the United Nations as a champion of equality acts as a light to the proponents of equality and gender justice to struggle against the prevailing prejudice against women. With enshrining equality between sexes in its Charter, the United Nations enacted various policies and programmes pertaining to women. Over the years UN made various attempts to minimise the prejudice against women and to give equal opportunity to them. The most major success of the United Nations in this area was the adoption of the “Convention on the Elimination of All forms of Discrimination Against Women” (CEDAW) in 1979. The present paper traces the historical journey of CEDAW with analysing the initiatives taken by United Nations for the promotion and protection of women’s rights. The adoption of the CEDAW was most significant success and a key step in the United Nations' mission to end discrimination against women. The Convention addresses the hole caused by the non-recognition of women's individuality. It compensates for the international human rights law's failure to include non-state actors within its reach. CEDAW is an international agreement that defines worldwide norms and the internationally acknowledged ideal of gender equality.