In two recent submissions to the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), the ICJ called on CEDAW to address key barriers to justice faced by women.
The submissions came as the Committee embarks on drafting a General Recommendation on women’s access to justice.
In a joint submission, the ICJ and Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES) have called on the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) to reaffirm obligations on States to effectively regulate the activities of business actors in order to ensure women’s access to justice.
The submission focuses on the issue of women’s access to justice for infringements of rights committed by non-State actors, and more specifically in the context of business activities and operations.
It makes recommendations on how States might more effectively regulate business activities so as to ensure women’s protection against discrimination and inequality and access to effective and accessible remedies when they face abuses.
In a standalone submission, the ICJ presented an overview of key barriers women face across jurisdictions when seeking justice. This submission draws on findings from ICJ in-country initiatives exploring barriers to justice faced by women.
The first general discussion on the General Recommendation took place during the CEDAW’s 54th session in Geneva on 18 February 2013.
CEDAW-Submission-A2J-BHR-LegalSubmission-2013 (download joint submission by ICJ and FES)
CEDAW-Submission-Women’sA2JNormativeObstacles-LegalSubmission-2013 (download ICJ submission)