消除对妇女一切形式歧视公约任择议定书

The Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (OP-CEDAW) is an international treaty which establishes complaint and inquiry mechanisms for the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). Parties to the Protocol allow the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women to hear complaints from individuals or inquire into "grave or systematic violations" of the convention. The Protocol has led to a number of decisions against member states on issues such as domestic violence, parental leave and forced sterilization, as well as an investigation into the systematic killing of women in the Mexican city of Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua.

The Protocol was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on 6 October 1999, and in force from 22 December 2000. As of October 2023, the Protocol has 80 signatories and 115 parties.

Genesis

In 1979, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). The Convention outlawed discrimination against women, but did not include any mechanism by which this prohibition could be legally enforced.

An individual complaints mechanism was suggested during the original drafting of CEDAW, but was rejected at the time.……

Summary

The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women outlaws discrimination on the basis of gender, and obliges its parties to repeal discriminatory laws and guarantee equality in the fields of health, employment, and education. The Optional Protocol is a subsidiary agreement to the convention. It does not establish any new rights, but rather allows the rights guaranteed in the convention to be enforced.

Reservations and membership

A number of parties have made reservations and interpretative declarations to their application of the Protocol. Bangladesh, Belize and Colombia have exercised their right under Article 10 of the Protocol not to recognise the jurisdiction of the committee to investigate "grave or systematic violations" of the convention. Colombia declares that neither the Protocol nor the committee can require it to decriminalise "offences against life or personal integrity".

Individual complaints

The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women has considered eleven complaints against seven countries since the Optional Protocol came into force, on subjects such as domestic violence, division of property, forced sterilization and parental leave. Six complaints were rejected for lack of jurisdiction or because the complainants had not exhausted all domestic remedies. The other five decisions are summarised below:

Inquiries

The committee has also conducted one inquiry into "grave or systematic violations" under Article 8, in relation to the systematic killing of women in the Mexican city of Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua. This found "serious lapses in compliance" by the Mexican government and tolerance of severe and systematic abuses of women's rights.……

Impact and criticism

The impact of an international treaty can be measured in two ways: by its acceptance, and by its implementation. On the first measure, the Optional Protocol has gained widespread international acceptance. Most major states are parties, and the protocol is the second most-accepted enforcement mechanism after the First Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

On the second measure, the number of complaints dealt with by the committee has been limited.……