Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women — international bill of rights for women
CEDAW is the primary international legal instrument establishing equal rights for women, ratified by 189 states since its adoption in 1979.
Key Facts
- Adopted by UN General Assembly
- 18 December 1979
- Entered into force
- 3 September 1981
- States that have ratified
- 189 states
- Countries with reservations
- Over 50 countries
- Rejected enforcement article 29
- 38 countries
- Non-signatories
- Holy See, Iran, Somalia, Sudan, Tonga
By the Numbers
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
Widespread legal and social discrimination against women persisted globally through the mid-twentieth century. International efforts to address gender inequality, including the 1967 Declaration on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, laid groundwork but lacked binding legal force, prompting the United Nations to develop a comprehensive enforceable treaty.
On 18 December 1979, the United Nations General Assembly adopted CEDAW, a binding international treaty defining discrimination against women and obligating signatory states to eliminate it across political, economic, social, cultural, and civil life. The treaty established a monitoring committee and entered into force on 3 September 1981.
With 189 ratifying states, CEDAW became one of the most widely adopted human rights treaties, creating legal obligations to reform discriminatory laws and practices. However, widespread reservations — particularly rejections of the dispute-settlement article — limited uniform enforcement, and several states including the United States have not ratified it.