Pass CEDAW

Off Our Backs, Mar 2000

The U.S. is the only industrialized country (along with Afghanistan, Iran, and Sudan) that has not ratified the United Nations Convention of the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), a document outlining the steps a country should take to end discrimination against women. Increasing attention is being drawn to the issue, however, both in Washington and by national organizations and activists.

On International Women's Day on March 8, NOW and allied organizations announced the U.S. kick-off of the World March of Women 2000, to be held October 15, 2000. NOW will be joined by more than 3,400 women's organizations representing millions of women around the globe. The march is intended to pressure political leaders to ensure equality between women and men, and to end poverty and violence against women.

"We live on a rich planet, yet most of the world's women are poor. Many are bound by rigid sex roles that limit their education, their employment, even their right to vote or receive medical care. Here in the United States, the vast majority of those living in poverty are women and children, but instead of making their lives better, lawmakers and policymakers blame them for a long list of societal ills," said NOW Executive Vice President Kim Gandy at the kick-off.

When women representing every nation participating in the World March meet with United Nations representatives on October 17, they will present a petition demanding equality for women. The petition's demands for women include:

Eliminate poverty and ensure a fair distribution of the planet's wealth between rich and poor, and between women and men;

Eliminate violence against women; and

Ensure equality between women and men.

See for the text of the petition.)

Later in the day, participants of the World March kick-off visited Sen. Jesse Heim's (R-NC) offices to protest his tactics to stall and block hearings in the Senate on ratification of the CEDAW.

Info from. Boston Globe, February 6, 2000 and National Organization for Women; March 9, 2000)