Beyond the Rhetoric: Strategies for Effecting Change in Women's Human Rights'

Abstract

Nearly twenty years have passed since the entry into force of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (The Convention). Heralded as the most progressive international instrument on women's rights, the Convention drew worldwide attention to a long-neglected area within the human rights movement. Parting strategies with previous international instruments of general human rights protection, the Convention envisioned a broader notion of equality between the sexes, beyond the norm of anti-differentiation. It aspired to eliminate the subordination of women in political, economic, legal, and cultural spheres, and obliged states to craft systemic responses to ensure that equality.