Senate Foreign Relations Committee Votes for CEDAW Ratification

July 30, 2002

by NOW Staff

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee voted in favor of ratification of the U.N. Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) on Tuesday morning. This is the first time in 22 years that the treaty has made it out of committee in time for a vote by the full Senate. CEDAW requires all nations that are signatory to the treaty to condemn discrimination against women in all its forms and to institute legal frameworks (laws, policies and practices) that protect against discrimination. The Convention also endorses the adoption of temporary affirmative action measures to overcome the effects of past discrimination and accelerate the achievement of equality.

"It's time for the Senate to act on CEDAW," said NOW President Kim Gandy. "The women of this country have waited over two decades since President Jimmy Carter signed this treaty in 1980. We urge the Senate to take up the treaty right away and ratify it at last." CEDAW has been approved by 170 countries, with the U.S. as the only industrialized nation that has not ratified the convention.

Two Republicans, Sens. Smith (R-Ore.) and Chafee (R-R.I.), joined the Democrats in sending CEDAW to a full Senate vote. The Bush Administration has flip-flopped on the treaty. First it identified CEDAW as a "Category II Treaty," meaning it was "generally desirable and should be approved." But, reportedly in response to howls of protest from Bush's ultra-right-wing supporters, the State Department has now called the treaty "vague" and "complex" and wants John Ashcroft's Justice Department to review it before the Senate votes on it.

"Make no mistake," Gandy said. "Women will be watching the Bush Administration and Republican senators—and we'll respond to their votes on this treaty with our votes in November."