Abby Hasselbrink, Special to The Denisonian—
The United Nations Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) is one of the biggest efforts to advance women’s rights. So why has no one ever heard of it? CEDAW is known around the world as the International Women’s Bill of Rights. Adopted by the UN in 1979, it provides a framework for non-discrimination, equality, and justice for women through a highly intersectional lens and is the only international human rights treaty that focuses on women’s rights. CEDAW focuses on issues such as domestic violence, education, human trafficking, healthcare, childcare, economic security and opportunity, paid family leave, and equal pay. Notably, CEDAW does not mention abortion.
Although President Jimmy Carter signed CEDAW in 1980, it was never ratified by the Senate. Thus, CEDAW has been ratified by all but seven nations around the world – one of them being the United States. CEDAW provides an outline with which governments can align their national policies.
To date, more than 60 counties, cities, and states across the United States have adopted resolutions and ordinances in support of CEDAW. Two of these ordinances were right here in Ohio – both Cincinnati and Toledo have adopted CEDAW.
CEDAW ordinances generally require a gender analysis of city operations, an oversight body to monitor implementation, and funding to support proper implementation. Other cities in the United States that have conducted a gender analysis have partnered with local universities to carry out this research. For example, the city of Cincinnati partnered with the University of Cincinnati for its gender analysis. The village of Granville might choose to take advantage of its relationship with Denison to do this.
Granville needs to adopt CEDAW because of the continued attacks on women’s rights in the United States and around the world. Furthermore, women’s economic development continues to be a problem in the U.S. In the United States, women typically earn 82 cents for every dollar a White man makes, but this does vary by the woman’s race (Pew Research Center). For example, Black women earn 70 cents on the dollar, and Hispanic women earn 65 cents. This is just the United States; according to the UN Women Economic Empowerment of Women brief, in the majority of countries around the world, women earn between 70% and 90% of what men make. Furthermore, UN Women reported that 2.7 billion women worldwide are not allowed to have the same choice of jobs as men. Finally, UN Women stated that women disproportionately take on unpaid care work, including domestic responsibilities and family care.
By instituting a CEDAW resolution or ordinance, Granville makes itself part of the national conversation on women’s rights and justice and takes a stand to protect the women who make this town the amazing place it is today.
This week, I attended a Village Council meeting in Granville to advocate for a CEDAW resolution. I hope that the Village Council takes concrete action to implement CEDAW, and I look forward to reporting the proposed resolution’s progress in the coming weeks.