Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women

The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, often called the international bill of rights for women, is a United Nations human rights treaty adopted by the General Assembly in 1979. It entered into force on 3 September 1981 and has been ratified by 189 states, though the United States, Iran, Somalia, Sudan, Tonga and Palau are not parties and more than sixty ratifying states have entered reservations to specific articles. The convention defines discrimination against women as any distinction, exclusion or restriction made on the basis of sex that impairs women's recognition, enjoyment or exercise of human rights, and it obliges ratifying states to write gender equality into domestic law and eliminate discriminatory provisions across political and public life, economic and social protections, and equality within marriage and the family. A twenty three member Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women monitors implementation through state reporting and has issued thirty two general recommendations interpreting the treaty's obligations.