The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination does not contain a right of petition and therefore does not have an enforcement mechanism on its own. However, an optional protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women entered into force in 2000. The Optional Protocol establishes a mechanism through which individuals or groups in a ratifying State party may submit complaints to the Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (the Committee). Upon receipt of a notification, the Committee is entitled to request the State party to take interim measures to protect the victim of a human rights violation from further harm. While grassroots movements have done so much to bring about change, we can be much stronger when everyone unites to support women`s rights. By working with individual and local activists, as well as through our own targeted campaigns, movements like Amnesty International can be an impressive vanguard in the fight for women`s rights. On 6 January 2014, the Syrian Women`s Charter was established in Damascus, which advocates for an end to violence and Syrian unity to create a Syria that further recognizes and defends the fundamental human rights of its nation. [21] They made active proposals for civil society participation and cooperated despite political affiliations and personal differences. In addition, the Syrian Women`s Political Movement was founded, which aims for a 30% quota to ensure women`s participation in conflict resolution processes. [18] The “It Takes a Woman” campaign was launched by UN Women in 2017 to raise awareness among Syrian women activists involved in formal and informal peace processes and to highlight public debate on women`s right to participate in ongoing peace processes.
[22] The following international human rights instruments specifically address women`s rights: “Violence against women is an obstacle to the achievement of the goals of equality, development and peace. Violence against women violates and impedes or destroys women`s enjoyment of human rights and fundamental freedoms. The long-standing failure to protect and promote those rights and freedoms in cases of violence against women is a concern for all States and should be addressed. Knowledge of their causes and consequences, as well as their frequency and the measures to be taken to combat them, has improved considerably since the Nairobi Conference. In all societies, women and girls are more or less exposed to physical, sexual and psychological abuse across income, class and cultural boundaries. Women`s lower social and economic status can be both a cause and a consequence of violence against women. (para. 112) What do we mean when we talk about women`s rights? What are we fighting for? Here are some examples of the rights that activists have fought for over the centuries and today: The protection and promotion of all political and civil rights is particularly important for the work of women human rights defenders.
Recognizing this special relationship, the Committee on Social, Humanitarian and Cultural Affairs of the United Nations General Assembly called on States to protect women human rights defenders from human rights violations and to protect themselves from impunity for offenders. 68/181 [on the report of the Third Committee (A/68/456/Add.2)], Promotion of the Declaration on the Right and Responsibility of Individuals, Groups and Organs of Society for the Promotion and Protection of Universally Recognized Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms: protection of women human rights defenders, United Nations document A/C.3/68/L.64, 30 January 2014. The United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) is the most comprehensive treaty on women`s rights. It condemns all forms of discrimination against women and reaffirms the importance of guaranteeing women and men equal rights to political, economic, social, cultural and civil rights. See Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (adopted 18 December 1979, entered into force 3 September 1981), 1249 UNTS 13. As of May 2014, 188 states were parties to 193 UN member states.