Senator Boxer Urges Ratification of Women’s Rights Treaty

At a Senate hearing on women and the Arab Spring on Wednesday, witnesses emphasized the importance of U.S. ratification of the Convention for Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) for women’s government reform efforts in the Middle East and North Africa, leading Senator Boxer of California to strongly endorse U.S. ratification of the treaty. The United States is currently one of only six nations in the world that has not ratified CEDAW.

The witnesses at the hearing described this as a moment with tremendous and unique potential, but also tremendous risk, for women in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, and other countries in the region where activists are seeking fundamental reforms ensuring women’s participation in new governments and the protection of women’s interests. They explained how women’s full participation in government and society was necessary to achieve stability and prosperity in the region. And they also made clear that U.S. ratification of CEDAW would provide real assistance to these women’s efforts. Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women’s Issues Melanne Verveer testified that everywhere she travels, she is asked why the United States has not ratified CEDAW, and that some governments use the fact that the U.S. has not ratified the treaty as a pretext for not living up to their own obligations under it. Ratifying CEDAW would do away with that excuse, Ambassador Verveer stated. Mahnaz Afkhami, President of Women’s Learning Partnership, a network of women’s rights activists and organizations primarily based in the Middle East and North Africa, testified that activists in the region had made clear to her that U.S. ratification of CEDAW would meaningfully reinforce their efforts to fully implement the treaty’s guarantees of gender equality in their own countries.

In response to Ambassador Verveer’s testimony, Senator Boxer, who co-chaired the hearing, vowed to do everything in her power to fight for ratification of CEDAW—which led to an unusual (and officially forbidden) outbreak of spontaneous applause in the hearing room. The women of the world can’t wait. The Senate should ratify CEDAW now.

Interested in learning more? Watch the hearing online. In particular, listen to the exchange beginning at minute 73.