The Women's Convention Turned 30

The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women is a treaty for all girls and women in this world. After 30 years it is still valid and necessary both in developed and in developing States. This image is clearly conveyed by the authors of this book, who represent a wide variety of national and cultural backgrounds, and who have put the implementation of the provisions in the Convention to the test both in modern and in traditional societies. In addition, some chapters pay attention to issues that are not contained in the treaty itself but that greatly impact the realization of women’s human rights, such as gender mainstreaming, gender-based violence, and corruption. The strengths and weaknesses, and the future potential of the Convention as well as the work of its monitoring body are critically analyzed and compared to other human rights treaties and organs. It becomes clear that, irrespective of the existing flaws, the Convention is the best option for achieving women’s equality.

With contributions by Margreet de Boer, Martine Boersma, Marjolein van den Brink, Fons Coomans, Tilly Draaisma, Cees Flinterman, Gerard-René de Groot, Sille Jansen, Menno T. Kamminga, Jasper Krommendijk, Pauline Kruiniger, Fleur van Leeuwen, Phyllis Livaha, Zoé Luca, Nishara Mendis, Jule Mulder, Rolanda Oostland, Kate Rose-Sender, Samira Sakhi, Dagmar Schiek, Jennifer Sellin, Laura Visser, Lisa Waddington, Antonia Waltermann, Ingrid Westendorp, Anja Wiesbrock, Marjan Wijers.