GENDER JUSTICE JURISPRUDENCE Unit 2.pptx

Gender Justice in
International Conventions
and Declarations

• The Achievements of the United Nations in the field of Women’s right
1. Universal Declaration on Human Rights, 1948.
2. Convention on the Political Rights of Women, 1953.
3. Convention on the Nationality of Married Women, 1957.
4. Declaration on the Elimination of Violence Against Women, 1993
5. Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against
Women, 1979.
6. Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination
Against Women, 1999.
7. Commission on Status of Women.

Convention on Political Rights of Women
• The United Nation adopted this convention on 20th
December, 1952, but came into force on
7th
July 1954.
• It intends to implement the principle of equality of rights for men and women on equal
terms.
• It also emphasis on the recognition of the principles of equality in the Public Employment
and also representation of the principle of equality in the public employment and also
representation of men and women equally in the government directly or indirectly by
means of freely chosen voting system.
• It also provides that women shall be entitled to vote in all elections on equal terms with
men and shall not be discriminated on any grounds.

• Women shall be eligible for elections to all elected institutions as provided under Article II.
• According to Article III, women shall be entitled to hold public office and perform public
functions on equal terms with men.
• According to Article 4,
1. this Convention shall be open for signature on behalf of any Member of the United
Nations and also on behalf of any other State to which an invitation has been addressed
by the General Assembly.
2. This Convention shall be ratified and the instruments of ratification shall be deposited
with the Secretary-General of the United Nations.
• Article 5
1. This Convention shall be open for accession to all States referred to in paragraph I of
article IV.
2. Accession shall be effected by the deposit of an instrument of accession with the
Secretary-General of the United Nations.

• Article 6
1. This Convention shall come into force on the ninetieth day following the date of
deposit of the sixth instrument of ratification or accession.
2. For each State ratifying or acceding to the Convention after the deposit of the sixth
instrument of ratification or accession the Convention shall enter into force on the
ninetieth day after deposit by such State of its instrument of ratification or accession.
• Article 7
• In the event that any State submits a reservation to any of the articles of this Convention
at the time of signature, ratification or accession, the Secretary-General shall
communicate the text of the reservation to all States which are or may become parties to
this Convention. Any State which objects to the reservation may, within a period of
ninety days from the date of the said communication (or upon the date of its becoming a
party to the Convention), notify the Secretary General that it does not accept it. In such
case. the Convention shall not enter into force as between such State and the State
making the reservation.

• Article 8
1. Any State may denounce this Convention by written notification to the Secretary
General of the United Nations. Denunciation shall take effect one year after the date of
receipt of the notification by the Secretary General.
2. This Convention shall cease to be in force as from the date when the denunciation
which reduces the Number of parties to less than six becomes effective.
• Article 9
• Any dispute which may arise between any two or more Contracting States concerning
the interpretation or application of this Convention which is not settled by negotiation,
shall at the request of anyone of the parties to the dispute he referred to the International
Court of Justice for decision, unless they agree to another mode of settlement.

Convention on Elimination of Discrimination
of All forms Against Women, 1979
• On 18 December 1979, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination
against Women was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly. It entered into force
as an international treaty on 3 September 1981 after the twentieth country had ratified it. By
the tenth anniversary of the Convention in 1989, almost one hundred nations have agreed to
be bound by its provisions.
• The Convention was the culmination of more than thirty years of work by the United
Nations Commission on the Status of Women, a body established in 1946 to monitor the
situation of women and to promote women's rights. The Commission's work has been
instrumental in bringing to light all the areas in which women are denied equality with men.
These efforts for the advancement of women have resulted in several declarations and
conventions, of which the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination
against Women is the central and most comprehensive document.

• Among the international human rights treaties, the Convention takes an important place in
bringing the female half of humanity into the focus of human rights concerns. The spirit of
the Convention is rooted in the goals of the United Nations: to reaffirm faith in fundamental
human rights, in the dignity, and worth of the human person, in the equal rights of men and
women. The present document spells out the meaning of equality and how it can be
achieved. In so doing, the Convention establishes not only an international bill of rights for
women, but also an agenda for action by countries to guarantee the enjoyment of those
rights.

• In its preamble, the Convention explicitly acknowledges that "extensive discrimination
against women continues to exist", and emphasizes that such discrimination "violates the
principles of equality of rights and respect for human dignity”.
• Discrimination is understood as "any distinction, exclusion or restriction made on the basis
of sex...in the political, economic, social, cultural, civil or any other field". The Convention
gives positive affirmation to the principle of equality by requiring States parties to take “all
appropriate measures, including legislation, to ensure the full development and advancement
of women, for the purpose of guaranteeing them the exercise and enjoyment of human rights
and fundamental freedoms on a basis of equality with men”(Article 3).
• The agenda for equality is specified in fourteen subsequent articles. In its approach, the
Convention covers three dimensions of the situation of women. Civil rights and the legal
status of women are dealt with in great detail.

• The legal status of women receives the broadest attention. Concern over the basic rights of
political participation has not diminished since the adoption of the Convention on the
Political Rights of Women in 1952. Its provisions, therefore, are restated in article 7 of the
present document, whereby women are guaranteed the rights to vote, to hold public office
and to exercise public functions. This includes equal rights for women to represent their
countries at the international level (article 8).
• Article I
For the purposes of the present Convention, the term "discrimination against women"
shall mean any distinction, exclusion or restriction made on the basis of sex which has
the effect or purpose of impairing or nullifying the recognition, enjoyment or exercise by
women, irrespective of their marital status, on a basis of equality of men and women, of
human rights and fundamental freedoms in the political, economic, social, cultural, civil
or any other field.

• States Parties condemn discrimination against women in all its forms, agree to pursue by all appropriate means
and without delay a policy of eliminating discrimination against women and, to this end, undertake:
(a) To embody the principle of the equality of men and women in their national constitutions or other
appropriate legislation if not yet incorporated therein and to ensure, through law and other appropriate
means, the practical realization of this principle;
(b) To adopt appropriate legislative and other measures, including sanctions where appropriate, prohibiting
all discrimination against women;
(c) To establish legal protection of the rights of women on an equal basis with men and to ensure through
competent national tribunals and other public institutions the effective protection of women against any act
of discrimination;
(d) To refrain from engaging in any act or practice of discrimination against women and to ensure that public
authorities and institutions shall act in conformity with this obligation;
(e) To take all appropriate measures to eliminate discrimination against women by any person, organization
or enterprise;
(f) To take all appropriate measures, including legislation, to modify or abolish existing laws, regulations,
customs and practices which constitute discrimination against women;
(g) To repeal all national penal provisions which constitute discrimination against women.

• States Parties shall take in all fields, in particular in the political, social, economic and
cultural fields, all appropriate measures, including legislation, to ensure the full development
and advancement of women , for the purpose of guaranteeing them the exercise and
enjoyment of human rights and fundamental freedoms on a basis of equality with men.
• Article 4
1. Adoption by States Parties of temporary special measures aimed at accelerating de facto
equality between men and women shall not be considered discrimination as defined in the
present Convention, but shall in no way entail as a consequence the maintenance of
unequal or separate standards; these measures shall be discontinued when the objectives of
equality of opportunity and treatment have been achieved.
2. Adoption by States Parties of special measures, including those measures contained in
the present Convention, aimed at protecting maternity shall not be considered
discriminatory.

• Article 5
States Parties shall take all appropriate measures:
(a) To modify the social and cultural patterns of conduct of men and women, with a view
to achieving the elimination of prejudices and customary and all other practices which
are based on the idea of the inferiority or the superiority of either of the sexes or on
stereotyped roles for men and women;
(b) To ensure that family education includes a proper understanding of maternity as a
social function and the recognition of the common responsibility of men and women in
the upbringing and development of their children, it being understood that the interest
of the children is the primordial consideration in all cases.
• Article 6
States Parties shall take all appropriate measures, including legislation, to suppress all
forms of traffic in women and exploitation of prostitution of women.

• Article 7
States Parties shall take all appropriate measures to eliminate discrimination against
women in the political and public life of the country and, in particular, shall ensure
to women, on equal terms with men, the right:
(a)To vote in all elections and public referenda and to be eligible for election to all
publicly elected bodies;
(b)To participate in the formulation of government policy and the implementation
thereof and to hold public office and perform all public functions at all levels of
government;
(c)To participate in non-governmental organizations and associations concerned
with the public and political life of the country.

• Article 8
States Parties shall take all appropriate measures to ensure to women, on equal terms
with men and without any discrimination, the opportunity to represent their
Governments at the international level and to participate in the work of international
organizations.
• Article 9
1. States Parties shall grant women equal rights with men to acquire, change or retain
their nationality. They shall ensure in particular that neither marriage to an alien nor
change of nationality by the husband during marriage shall automatically change
the nationality of the wife, render her stateless or force upon her the nationality of
the husband.
2. States Parties shall grant women equal rights with men with respect to the
nationality of their children.

• Article 10
States Parties shall take all appropriate measures to eliminate discrimination against women in order to
ensure to them equal rights with men in the field of education and in particular to ensure, on a basis of
equality of men and women:
a. The same conditions for career and vocational guidance, for access to studies and for the
achievement of diplomas in educational establishments of all categories in rural as well as in urban
areas; this equality shall be ensured in pre-school, general, technical, professional and higher
technical education, as well as in all types of vocational training;0
b. Access to the same curricula, the same examinations, teaching staff with qualifications of the same
standard and school premises and equipment of the same quality;
c. The elimination of any stereotyped concept of the roles of men and women at all levels and in all
forms of education by encouraging coeducation and other types of education which will help to
achieve this aim and, in particular, by the revision of textbooks and school programmes and the
adaptation of teaching methods;
d. The same opportunities to benefit from scholarships and other study grants;

e. The same opportunities for access to programmes of continuing education, including
adult and functional literacy programmes, particularly those aimed at reducing, at the
earliest possible time, any gap in education existing between men and women;
f. The reduction of female student drop-out rates and the organization of programmes for
girls and women who have left school prematurely;
g. The same Opportunities to participate actively in sports and physical education;
h. Access to specific educational information to help to ensure the health and well-being of
families, including information and advice on family planning.

• Article 11
1. States Parties shall take all appropriate measures to eliminate discrimination against
women in the field of employment in order to ensure, on a basis of equality of men and
women, the same rights, in particular:
(a) The right to work as an inalienable right of all human beings;
(b) The right to the same employment opportunities, including the application of the
same criteria for selection in matters of employment;
(c) The right to free choice of profession and employment, the right to promotion, job
security and all benefits and conditions of service and the right to receive vocational
training and retraining, including apprenticeships, advanced vocational training and
recurrent training;
(d) The right to equal remuneration, including benefits, and to equal treatment in respect
of work of equal value, as well as equality of treatment in the evaluation of the quality of
work;
(e) The right to social security, particularly in cases of retirement, unemployment,
sickness, invalidity and old age and other incapacity to work, as well as the right to paid
leave;
(f) The right to protection of health and to safety in working conditions, including the
safeguarding of the function of reproduction.

2. In order to prevent discrimination against women on the grounds of marriage or maternity and
to ensure their effective right to work, States Parties shall take appropriate measures:
(a) To prohibit, subject to the imposition of sanctions, dismissal on the grounds of pregnancy
or of maternity leave and discrimination in dismissals on the basis of marital status;
(b) To introduce maternity leave with pay or with comparable social benefits without loss of
former employment, seniority or social allowances;
(c) To encourage the provision of the necessary supporting social services to enable parents to
combine family obligations with work responsibilities and participation in public life, in
particular through promoting the establishment and development of a network of child-care
facilities;
(d) To provide special protection to women during pregnancy in types of work proved to be
harmful to them.
3. Protective legislation relating to matters covered in this article shall be reviewed periodically
in the light of scientific and technological knowledge and shall be revised, repealed or extended
as necessary

• Article 12
1. States Parties shall take all appropriate measures to eliminate discrimination against
women in the field of health care in order to ensure, on a basis of equality of men and
women, access to health care services, including those related to family planning.
2. Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph I of this article, States Parties shall ensure
to women appropriate services in connection with pregnancy, confinement and the post-
natal period, granting free services where necessary, as well as adequate nutrition during
pregnancy and lactation.
• Article 13
States Parties shall take all appropriate measures to eliminate discrimination against
women in other areas of economic and social life in order to ensure, on a basis of equality
of men and women, the same rights, in particular:

the same rights, in particular:
(a) The right to family benefits;
(b) The right to bank loans, mortgages and other forms of financial credit;
(c) The right to participate in recreational activities, sports and all aspects of cultural
life.
• Article 14
1. States Parties shall take into account the particular problems faced by rural women
and the significant roles which rural women play in the economic survival of their
families, including their work in the non-monetized sectors of the economy, and shall
take all appropriate measures to ensure the application of the provisions of the present
Convention to women in rural areas.

2. States Parties shall take all appropriate measures to eliminate discrimination
against women in rural areas in order to ensure, on a basis of equality of men and
women, that they participate in and benefit from rural development and, in particular,
shall ensure to such women the right:
(a) To participate in the elaboration and implementation of development planning at
all levels;
(b) To have access to adequate health care facilities, including information,
counselling and services in family planning;
(c) To benefit directly from social security programmes;
(d) To obtain all types of training and education, formal and non-formal, including
that relating to functional literacy, as well as, inter alia, the benefit of all community
and extension services, in order to increase their technical proficiency;

(e) To organize self-help groups and co-operatives in order to obtain equal
access to economic opportunities through employment or self employment;
(f) To participate in all community activities;
(g) To have access to agricultural credit and loans, marketing facilities,
appropriate technology and equal treatment in land and agrarian reform as
well as in land resettlement schemes;
(h) To enjoy adequate living conditions, particularly in relation to housing,
sanitation, electricity and water supply, transport and communications.

• Article 15
1. States Parties shall accord to women equality with men before the law.2. States Parties
shall accord to women, in civil matters, a legal capacity identical to that of men and the
same opportunities to exercise that capacity. In particular, they shall give women equal
rights to conclude contracts and to administer property and shall treat them equally in all
stages of procedure in courts and tribunals.
3. States Parties agree that all contracts and all other private instruments of any kind with
a legal effect which is directed at restricting the legal capacity of women shall be deemed
null and void.
4. States Parties shall accord to men and women the same rights with regard to the law
relating to the movement of persons and the freedom to choose their residence and
domicile.

• 1. States Parties shall take all appropriate measures to eliminate discrimination
against women in all matters relating to marriage and family relations and in
particular shall ensure, on a basis of equality of men and women:
(a) The same right to enter into marriage;
(b) The same right freely to choose a spouse and to enter into marriage only with their free and
full consent;
(c) The same rights and responsibilities during marriage and at its dissolution;
(d) The same rights and responsibilities as parents, irrespective of their marital status, in matters
relating to their children; in all cases the interests of the children shall be paramount;
(e) The same rights to decide freely and responsibly on the number and spacing of their children
and to have access to the information, education and means to enable them to exercise these
rights;

(f) The same rights and responsibilities with regard to guardianship, wardship,
trusteeship and adoption of children, or similar institutions where these concepts exist in
national legislation; in all cases the interests of the children shall be paramount;
(g) The same personal rights as husband and wife, including the right to choose a family
name, a profession and an occupation;
(h) The same rights for both spouses in respect of the ownership, acquisition,
management, administration, enjoyment and disposition of property, whether free of
charge or for a valuable consideration.
• 2. The betrothal and the marriage of a child shall have no legal effect, and all
necessary action, including legislation, shall be taken to specify a minimum
age for marriage and to make the registration of marriages in an official
registry compulsory.

• Article 17
1. For the purpose of considering the progress made in the implementation of the
present Convention, there shall be established a Committee on the Elimination of
Discrimination against Women (hereinafter referred to as the Committee)
consisting, at the time of entry into force of the Convention, of eighteen and,
after ratification of or accession to the Convention by the thirty-fifth State Party,
of twenty-three experts of high moral standing and competence in the field
covered by the Convention. The experts shall be elected by States Parties from
among their nationals and shall serve in their personal capacity, consideration
being given to equitable geographical distribution and to the representation of
the different forms of civilization as well as the principal legal systems.

2. The members of the Committee shall be elected by secret ballot from a list of
persons nominated by States Parties. Each State Party may nominate one person
from among its own nationals.
3. The initial election shall be held six months after the date of the entry into force
of the present Convention. At least three months before the date of each election
the Secretary-General of the United Nations shall address a letter to the States
Parties inviting them to submit their nominations within two months. The
Secretary-General shall prepare a list in alphabetical order of all persons thus
nominated, indicating the States Parties which have nominated them, and shall
submit it to the States Parties.

4. Elections of the members of the Committee shall be held at a meeting of States
Parties convened by the Secretary-General at United Nations Headquarters. At that
meeting, for which two thirds of the States Parties shall constitute a quorum, the
persons elected to the Committee shall be those nominees who obtain the largest
number of votes and an absolute majority of the votes of the representatives of States
Parties present and voting.
5. The members of the Committee shall be elected for a term of four years. However,
the terms of nine of the members elected at the first election shall expire at the end of
two years; immediately after the first election the names of these nine members shall
be chosen by lot by the Chairman of the Committee.

6. The election of the five additional members of the Committee shall be held in
accordance with the provisions of paragraphs 2, 3 and 4 of this article, following the
thirty-fifth ratification or accession. The terms of two of the additional members elected
on this occasion shall expire at the end of two years, the names of these two members
having been chosen by lot by the Chairman of the Committee.
7. For the filling of casual vacancies, the State Party whose expert has ceased to function
as a member of the Committee shall appoint another expert from among its nationals,
subject to the approval of the Committee.
8. The members of the Committee shall, with the approval of the General Assembly,
receive emoluments from United Nations resources on such terms and conditions as the
Assembly may decide, having regard to the importance of the Committee's
responsibilities.
9. The Secretary-General of the United Nations shall provide the necessary staff and
facilities for the effective performance of the functions of the Committee under the
present Convention.

• Article 18
1. States Parties undertake to submit to the Secretary-General of the United Nations, for
consideration by the Committee, a report on the legislative, judicial, administrative or other
measures which they have adopted to give effect to the provisions of the present Convention
and on the progress made in this respect:
(a) Within one year after the entry into force for the State concerned;
(b) Thereafter at least every four years and further whenever the Committee so requests.
2. Reports may indicate factors and difficulties affecting the degree of fulfilment of
obligations under the present Convention.
• Article 19
1. The Committee shall adopt its own rules of procedure.
2. The Committee shall elect its officers for a term of two years.

• Article 20
1. The Committee shall normally meet for a period of not more than two weeks
annually in order to consider the reports submitted in accordance with article 18 of the
present Convention.
2. The meetings of the Committee shall normally be held at United Nations
Headquarters or at any other convenient place as determined by the Committee.
(Amendment, Status of Ratification)
• Article 21
1. The Committee shall, through the Economic and Social Council, report annually to
the General Assembly of the United Nations on its activities and may make
suggestions and general recommendations based on the examination of reports and
information received from the States Parties. Such suggestions and general
recommendations shall be included in the report of the Committee together with
comments, if any, from States Parties.

GENDER JUSTICE JURISPRUDENCE Unit 2.pptx

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GENDER JUSTICE JURISPRUDENCE Unit 2.pptx