Established individual complaint and inquiry mechanisms under CEDAW, enabling enforcement of women's rights protections in international law.
Key Facts
- Adopted by UN General Assembly
- 6 October 1999
- Entry into force
- 22 December 2000
- Number of parties
- 115 states
- Number of signatories
- 80 states
- Parent treaty
- CEDAW
By the Numbers
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, adopted in 1979, lacked enforcement mechanisms allowing individuals to bring complaints or trigger investigations into systematic violations. States parties and advocates sought a supplementary instrument to give the convention's protections practical effect.
The UN General Assembly adopted the Optional Protocol to CEDAW on 6 October 1999. The Protocol grants the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women authority to receive complaints from individuals and to conduct inquiries into grave or systematic violations committed by states parties.
Once in force in December 2000, the Protocol led to committee decisions against member states on domestic violence, parental leave, and forced sterilization. It also enabled an inquiry into the systematic killing of women in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, and by October 2023 had attracted 115 parties.
Political Outcome
Protocol adopted and opened for signature, entering into force 22 December 2000 with 115 states parties as of October 2023
CEDAW lacked individual complaint or inquiry mechanisms
Individuals may submit complaints and the Committee may investigate systematic violations by states parties