CEDAW

Temporary special measures

Article 4 provides that temporary special measures accelerating de facto equality between men
and women, such as affirmative action measures, will not be considered discriminatory. Such
measures may last for as long as inequalities exist, but may not lead to the maintenance of
unequal or separate standards, and must be discontinued when equality of both opportunity and
treatment have been achieved. Special measures aimed at the protection of maternity are non-
discriminatory.

Prejudices, customary and other practices based on the idea of stereotyped roles for men
and women

Article 5 requires States parties to modify social and cultural patterns of men and women to
eliminate practices based on the idea of sex role stereotyping or the inferiority or superiority of
either of the sexes. States parties must also ensure that family education incorporates a proper
understanding of maternity as a social function and the common responsibility of men and
women with respect to their children. Traffic in women and exploitation of prostitution Article 6
requires States parties to take appropriate measures, including legislation, to suppress traffic in
women and the exploitation of prostitution in women.

Women’s rights in public and political life

Article 7 requires States parties to eliminate discrimination against women in public and
political life. Women must be entitled to vote and be eligible for election on equal terms with
men, to participate in the formulation of Government policy, and hold public office.
They must also be able to participate on an equal basis with men in non-governmental
organizations and public and political associations, such as trade unions and professional
associations.
Article 8 states that women are also to be given equal opportunity to represent their
Governments and participate in the work of international organizations, such as the United
Nations, and its associated organizations, specialized agencies, funds and programmes.
Nationality
Article 9 requires States parties to grant women equal rights with men to acquire, change or
retain their nationality. States must ensure that a woman’s nationality will not be automatically
affected by her marriage to an alien nor by the fact that her husband changes his nationality.
Marriage should not entail compulsory adoption of the husband’s nationality nor render women
stateless. States are also required to ensure that women have equal rights with men with respect
to the nationality of their children.
Elimination of discrimination in education, health, economic, social and cultural life
Education
Article 10 requires States parties to eliminate discrimination against women in education, in
respect of access to studies at the pre-school, general, technical, professional, higher, technical
and vocational training levels.
- Women and girls are to be provided, in both urban and rural areas, with access to the same
curricula, examinations, and qualified teaching staff, premises, and equipment of the same
quality as men and boys. Stereotyping shall be eliminated from education, including through
encouraging coeducation and the revision of textbooks and programmes.
- Women and girls shall be given the same opportunity for scholarships and study grants as
men and boys, and the same access to continuing education, especially those programmes
aimed at reducing the education gap between men and women.
- Efforts are to be made to reduce the number of female students who drop out, and
programmes should be provided for girls and women who have left school prematurely.
- Girls and women should be provided with the same opportunities as men and boys to
participate actively in sports and physical education, as well as the same access to specific
educational information to help ensure the health and well-being of families, including
information and advice on family planning.

Employment
Article 11 obliges States parties to take all appropriate measures to eliminate discrimination
against women in employment. Women are to be provided with the right to work on the basis of
equality with men; the right to the same employment opportunities; to free choice of profession
and employment; job security; benefits and vocational training and retraining, and
apprenticeships.
Steps are to be taken to ensure women the right to equal remuneration, including benefits, and
equal treatment to work of equal value, as well as equality of treatment in the evaluation of the
equality of work. Women are to be provided with the right to social security on the same basis as
men, and the right to protection of health and safety at work, including in relation to
reproduction.
Specific measures are to be taken to prevent discrimination against women in employment on the
basis of marriage, or maternity. Dismissal on the grounds of pregnancy, maternity leave or
marital status, is to be prohibited, subject to sanctions.
Maternity leave with pay or comparable social benefits without loss of former employment,
seniority or social benefits is to be introduced. States are also called on to encourage the
provision of support to enable parents to combine work and family responsibilities, as well as
participation in public life, through the establishment of a network of childcare facilities. Special
protection must be provided to women during pregnancy in types of work proved to be harmful
to them. Article 11.3 requires States parties to review protective employment legislation in the
light of scientific and technological knowledge with a view to its revision, repeal or extension.

Health
Article 12 requires States parties to take measures to eliminate discrimination against women in
health care in order to ensure that women have access to health care services, on the same basis
as men, including those relating to family planning. States are also required to ensure that
women have appropriate, and where necessary, free services with regard to pregnancy,
confinement, and the post-natal period. They should also be provided with adequate nutrition
during pregnancy and lactation.
Article 13 requires States parties to eliminate discrimination against women in economic and
social life. They are to be granted the same rights as men to social benefits, bank loans,
mortgages, and other forms of financial credit. They are also to enjoy the same rights as men to
participate in recreational activities, sports, and all aspects of cultural life.

Discrimination against rural women Article 14, the only international treaty obligation which
deals with the specific needs of rural women, requires States parties to take account of their
particular problems, and the significant roles they play in the economic survival of their families,
including their work in the non-monetized sectors of the economy.
States parties are called on to ensure that the Convention as a whole is applied to rural women,
and to ensure that they participate in and benefit from rural development on the same basis as
men. They are to have the same right to participate in the elaboration and implementation of
development planning, have access to adequate health-care facilities, including family planning,
to benefit from social security programmes, obtain all types of training and education, to
organize self-help groups and cooperatives and to participate in community activities.
Rural women are also to have equal access with men to agricultural credit and loans, marketing
facilities, appropriate technology and equal treatment in land and agrarian reform and land
resettlement schemes. Rural women are also to be accorded equal rights with men to enjoy
adequate living conditions, including housing sanitation, electricity, water supply, transport and
communications.

Equality before the law and in marriage and family law

Article 16 obliges States to eliminate discrimination against women with respect to marriage and
family relations. Women are to be given the same right as men to enter marriage, on the basis of
full and free consent and choose a spouse. They will have the same rights and responsibilities
during marriage and on its dissolution, the same rights and responsibilities as parents, and 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 exercise these rights.
Women will have the same personal rights as husband and wife, including with regard to choice
of family name, profession and occupation and with respect to their property. States parties also
agree that the betrothal and marriage of a child shall have no legal effect and that steps, including
legislation, shall be taken to specify a minimum age for marriage and to make the official
registration of marriages compulsory.