​CEDAW

“I fully agree with the President’s report. We need a Women’s Bill of Rights formally enshrined in our legislation. For too long the legal system has left women behind especially marginalised and disadvantaged women that I represent in the courts everyday. I endorse the President’s reflections on the need for change within the family court system as women are discriminated against and silenced. This cannot continue. Parliament needs to listen carefully and reflect on the arguments for change. We cannot standby as more women are denied equal access to justice”. 

Dr Charlotte Proudman (Barrister)

‘Equality for women and girls has been discussed for decades.  The recommendations in this report provide an opportunity to move from words to actions. Placing rights into domestic legislation is crucial to ensure promises are delivered.  I welcome this report and encourage the government to demonstrate leadership by adopting the recommendations to show the UK is serious about equality of women and girls rights.’

(Kevin Hyland, OBE Former UK Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner and  former head of the London Metropolitan Police Service’s Human Trafficking Unit now working with the Santa Marta group.)

Suzy Lamplugh Trust welcomes the report of the CEDAW People’s Tribunal, including recommendations for legislation to address VAWG crimes holistically. Systemic change is urgently needed to ensure all women and girls can live life safely wherever they are without fear of violence or aggression”.

Best wishes,

Saskia Garner

“The Report of the CEDAW People’s Tribunal provides convincing evidence that CEDAW Convention should be domesticated as soon as possible into UK law to address the continuing wrongs of gender discrimination.”

Dr Rebecca Cook University of Toronto

Women in politics are targets of violence, harassment and intimidation. They face sexism and other forms of discrimination, from the very moment when they express their political ambition and become candidates or activists. And this does not get better over the course of their careers. Formally incorporating CEDAW in the UK legislation will contribute to eliminate the remaining institutional and cultural barriers for women’s political participation and democratic representation.  

Dr Sofia Collignon (Royal Holloway. University of London)

“In Northern Ireland, a Bill of Rights was promised as a part of the Good Friday Agreement more than 23 years ago, yet this has still not been fulfilled by the UK Government. Women in Northern Ireland have been consistently afforded less human rights protections than their counterparts in the rest of the UK and Ireland, and it is time we had our own Bill of Rights in Northern Ireland where international mechanisms such as CEDAW can be incorporated; particularly as this is something the people of NI already voted overwhelmingly in favour of in 1998. As a devolved nation, we believe a strong Bill of Rights for NI would benefit all citizens, and a Women’s Bill of Rights across the rest of the UK would continue to raise human rights standards and ensure women are able to access and enjoy robust human rights protections. The UK government is the duty bearer for human rights, and they must incorporate CEDAW and other international mechanisms into domestic law, while recognising existing commitments to a Bill of Rights for Northern Ireland through the Good Friday Agreement.”

Rachel Powell. (Women’s Resource and Development Agency)

It is extraordinary - and irreconcilable with progress - that a country that produced Mary Wollstonecraft, has still not adopted a Women's Bill of Rights. CEDAW is that international bill of rights and the British government's failure to adopt it places it in the same pariah category as other non-signatories such as Iran and the Taliban's Afghanistan. At a time when women's hard won sex-based rights are under assault in the most modern of societies, CEDAW provides comprehensive clarity about the nature of sex-based discrimination against women and the duties of states to overcome it.

I welcome the CEDAW Tribunal's report and recommendations. Coming in the year that the UK hosts COP26, the most significant UN climate summit of our times, and recognising the disproportionate gendered impacts that climate change can have on women and girls, I hope the UK COP26 Presidency will commit to adopting CEDAW as a mark of its commitment to women's rights and equality, without any equivocation.

Malini Mehra, Chief Executive, GLOBE International secretariat
 

'The fragmented approach to recognising women's autonomy and independence in UK law has gone on long enough. Directly incorporating CEDAW into British law would offer an opportunity to fill these gaps and pave a better, stronger path for future generations of women and girls.'

Dr Kasey McCall-Smith (Edinburgh University)