Article Summary: Ratification of CEDAW

Please review this article to research more on the current implementations of CEDAW locally in the United States. Be sure to consider what can be addressed in solutions when in committee!

This is a great article to better understand the history of CEDAW and the popularity of its main principles across the country. It highlights the hypocrisy of American actions for women's rights abroad and how the United Nations has treated this treaty over the years. Additionally, it connects CEDAW with its United States equivalent, the Equal Rights Amendment, and explains how it could also be used today. 

It goes into depth on the actual effects of the local CEDAW ordinances adopted in cities across the country. Activists consider these ordinances as long-term alternatives to CEDAW being ratified, with the caveat, of course, that they only apply to their specific communities. The research detailed in this article focuses heavily on the implementations in San Francisco and Los Angeles and how their local governments have enacted significant changes because of it.

When looking at ways to ratify CEDAW, it is essential to know what has been attempted in the past and the outcome of those attempts. There have been multiple attempts to ratify CEDAW that have failed without new ideas on saving it. Even these local measures can only do so much without federal support. Therefore, we strongly encourage all delegates to be creative and focus on bipartisanship when it comes to determining solutions. Try and see if there is an angle that hasn’t been approached yet. Your senator may not have been in office the last time it was attempted; maybe you can be the change CEDAW needs. Try to see how you can bring both parties to the table in a way that holds true to your senator’s beliefs. Also, consider the following question: what can we learn from the local CEDAW ordinances about how to adapt the treaty to fit the culture and politics of the United States?