The Declaration on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (abbreviated as DEDAW) is a

human rights Human rights are moral principles or normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for certain standards of hu ...

proclamation issued by the

United Nations General Assembly The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA or GA; french: link=no, Assemblée générale, AG) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN), serving as the main deliberative, policymaking, and representative organ of the UN. Curr ...

, outlining that body's views on

women's rights Women's rights are the rights and entitlements claimed for women and girls worldwide. They formed the basis for the women's rights movement in the 19th century and the feminist movements during the 20th and 21st centuries. In some countri ...

. It was adopted by the General Assembly on 7 November 1967. The Declaration was an important precursor to the legally binding 1979 Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). Its aim was to promote gender equality, specifically for protection of the rights of women. It was drafted by the Commission on the Status of Women in 1967. To implement the principles of the declaration, CEDAW was formed and enforced on 3 December 1981.

Summary

The Declaration follows the structure of the

Universal Declaration of Human Rights The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) is an international document adopted by the United Nations General Assembly that enshrines the rights and freedoms of all human beings. Drafted by a UN committee chaired by Eleanor Roosevelt ...

, with a preamble followed by eleven articles. Article 1 declares that discrimination against women is "fundamentally unjust and constitutes an offence against human dignity".Declaration on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
Article 1. "Discrimination" is not defined. Article 2 calls for the abolition of laws and customs which discriminate against women, for equality under the law to be recognised, and for states to ratify and implement existing UN human rights instruments against discrimination. Article 3 calls for public education to eliminate

prejudice Prejudice can be an affective feeling towards a person based on their perceived group membership. The word is often used to refer to a preconceived (usually unfavourable) evaluation or classification of another person based on that person's per ...

against women. Article 4 calls for women to enjoy full electoral rights, including the right to vote and the right to seek and hold public office. Article 5 calls for women to have the same rights as men to change their

nationality Nationality is a legal identification of a person in international law, establishing the person as a subject, a ''national'', of a sovereign state. It affords the state jurisdiction over the person and affords the person the protection of the ...

. Article 6 calls for women to enjoy full equality in civil law, particularly around marriage and

divorce Divorce (also known as dissolution of marriage) is the process of terminating a marriage or marital union. Divorce usually entails the canceling or reorganizing of the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage, thus dissolving the ...

, and calls for child marriages to be outlawed. Article 7 calls for the elimination of gender discrimination in criminal punishment. Article 8 calls on states to combat all forms of traffic in women and exploitation of prostitution of women. Article 9 affirms an equal

right to education The right to education has been recognized as a human right in a number of international conventions, including the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights which recognizes a right to free, compulsory primary education for ...

regardless of gender. Article 10 calls for equal rights in the workplace, including non-discrimination in employment, equal pay for equal work, and paid

maternity leave Parental leave, or family leave, is an employee benefit available in almost all countries. The term "parental leave" may include maternity, Paternity (law), paternity, and adoption leave; or may be used distinctively from "maternity leave" an ...

. Article 11 calls on states to implement the principles of the Declaration.

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External links

Declaration on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women

{{International human rights legal instruments Women's rights instruments United Nations General Assembly resolutions Proclamations 1967 in law 1967 in the United Nations 1967 in women's history November 1967 events

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External links