For the purposes
of the present Convention, the term ‘discrimination against women’ shall mean any
distinction, exclusion, or restriction made on the basis of sex which has the
effect or purpose of impairing or nullifying the recognition, enjoyment or
exercise by women, irrespective of their marital status, on a basis of equality
of men and women, of human rights and
fundamental freedoms to the political, economic, social, cultural, civil or any
other field
States Parties condemn discrimination against women in all its
forms, agree to pursue by all appropriate means and without delay a policy of
eliminating discrimination against women and to this end, undertake:
(a)
To embody
the principle of the equality of men and women in their national constitutions
or other appropriate legislation if not yet incorporated herein and to ensure
through laws and other appropriate means, the practical realization of this
principle;
(b)
To embody
the principle of the equality of men and women in their national constitutions
or other appropriate legislation if not yet incorporated herein and to ensure
through laws and other appropriate means, the practical realization of this
principle;
(c)
To
establish legal protection of the rights of women on an equal basis with men
and to ensure through competent national tribunals and other public
institutions the effective protection of women against any act of
discrimination;
(d)To
refrain from engaging in any act or practice of discrimination against women
and to ensure that public authorities and institutions shall act in conformity
with this obligation
(e) To take all appropriate
measures to eliminate discrimination against
women by any person, organization or enterprise;
(f) To take all
appropriate measures, including
legislation, to modify or abolish existing laws,
regulations, customs and practices which constitute discrimination against
women
(g) To repeal all national
penal provisions which
constitute discrimination against women
States Parties shall take in al fields, in particular in the
political, social, economic and cultural fields all appropriate measures,
including legislation to ensure the full development and advancement of women,
for the purpose of guaranteeing them the exercise and enjoyment of human rights
and fundamental freedoms on a basis of equality with men.
1.
Adoption by
States Parties of temporary special measures aimed at accelerating de facto
equality between men and women shall not be considered discrimination as
defined in the present convention, but shall in no way entail as a consequence
the maintenance of unequal or separate standards; these measures shall be
discontinued when the objectives of equality of opportunity and treatment have
been achieved.
2.
Adoption
by States Parties of special measures, including those measures contained in
the present Convention, aimed at protecting maternity shall not be considered
discriminatory.
States Parties shall take all appropriate measures:
(a)
To modify
the social and cultural patterns of conduct of men and women, with a view to achieving
the elimination of prejudices and customary and all other practices which are
based on the idea of the inferiority or the superiority of either of the sexes
or on stereotyped roles for men and women.
(b)
To ensure
that family education includes a proper understanding of maternity as a social
function and the recognition of the common responsibility of men and women in
the upbringing and development of their children, it being understood that the
interest of the children is the primordial consideration in all cases.
States
Parties shall take all appropriate measures, including legislation, to suppress
all forms of traffic in women and exploitation of prostitution of women
States
Parties shall take all appropriate measures to eliminate discrimination against
women in the political and public life of the country and, in particular, shall
ensure to women on equal terms with men, the right;
(a) To vote in all elections and public referenda, and to be
eligible for election to all publicly elected bodies;
(b) To participate in the formulation of government policy and
the implementation thereof and to hold
public office and perform all public functions at all levels of government;
© To participate in non-governmental
organizations and
associations
concerned with the public and political life of the country.
Article
8
States
Parties shall take all appropriate measures to ensure to women, on equal terms
with men and without any discrimination, the opportunity to represent their Governments
at the international level and to participate in the work of international
organizations.
Article
9
1.
States Parties shall grant
women equal rights with men to acquire, change or retain their nationality.
They shall ensure to particular that neither marriage to an alien nor change of
nationality by the husband during marriage nor change of nationality; by the
husband during marriage shall automatically change the nationality of the wife,
render her stateless or force upon her the nationality of the husband.
2.
States Parties shall grant
women equal rights with men with respect to the nationality of their children.
Article 10
States
Parties shall take all appropriate measures to eliminate discrimination against
women in order to ensure to them equal rights with men in the field of
education and in particular to ensure,
on a basis of equality of men and women.
(a) The same conditions for career and
vocational guidance for access to studies and for the achievement of diplomas
in educational establishments of all categories in rural as well as in urban
areas; this equality shall be ensure in
pre-school, general, technical, professional and higher technical education, as
well as in all types of vocational training;
(b) Access
to the same curricula, the same examinations, teaching staff with
qualifications of the same standard and school premises and equipment of the
same quality;
© The
elimination of any stereotyped concept of the roles of men and women at all levels
and in all forms of education by encouraging coeducation and other types of
education which will help to achieve this aim and, in particular, by the
revision of text books and school programmes and adaptation of teaching
methods.
(d) The
same opportunities to benefit from scholarships and other study grants.
(d)
The same opportunities for
access to programmes of continuing education, including adult and functional
literacy programmes, particularly those aimed at reducing at the earliest
possible time, any gap in education existing between men and women
.
(f)
The reduction of female
student drop-out rates and the organization of programmes for girls and women
who have left school prematurely.
(g) The
same opportunities to participate actively in sports and physical education
.
(h) Access
to specific educational information to help to ensure the health and well being
of families, including information and advice on family planning.
Article
11
1.
States Parties shall take all
appropriate measures to eliminate discrimination against women in the field of
employment in order to ensure, on a basis of equality of women and women, the
same rights, in particular
(a)The right to work as an inalienable right of all human
beings;
(b)The right to the same employment opportunities, including
the application of the same criteria for selection in matters of employment’
©The right to free choice of profession and employment, the
right to promotion, job security and all benefits and conditions of service and
the right to receive vocational training and retraining, including
apprenticeships, advanced vocational training and recurrent training.
(d)The right to equal remuneration, including benefits, and
to equal treatment in respect of work of equal value, as well as equality of
treatment in the evaluation of the quality of work;
(e) The right to social security, particularly
in cases of retirement, unemployment, sickness, invalidity and old age and other
incapacity to work, as well as the right to paid leave
2. In order to prevent discrimination
against women on the grounds of
marriage or maternity and to ensure their effective right to work, States
Parties shall take appropriate measures;
(a) To prohibit, subject to the imposition of sanctions,
dismissal on the grounds of marriage or of maternity leave and discriminate in
dismissals on the basis of marital status;
(b) To introduce maternity lave with pay or
with comparable social benefits without loss of former employment, seniority or
social allowance;
© To encourage the provision of the necessary
supporting social services to enable parents to combine family obligations
with work
responsibilities and participation in public life, in particular through
promoting the establishment and development of a network of child care
facilities
(d) To provide special protection to women
during pregnancy in types of work
proved to be harmful to them
3. Protective legislations relating to
matters covered in this article shall be reviewed periodically in the light of
scientific and technological knowledge and shall be revised, repeated or
extended as necessary.
Article
12
1. States
Parties shall take all appropriate measures to eliminate discrimination against women in the field of health care in
order to ensure, on a basis of equality of men and women, access to health care
services, including those related to family planning.
2.
Notwithstanding the provisions
of paragraph 1 of this article, States Parties shall ensure to women
appropriate services in connection with pregnancy, confinement and the post natal
period, granting free services where necessary, as well as adequate nutrition
during pregnancy and lactation
Article
13
1.
States Parties shall take all
appropriate; measure to eliminate discrimination against women in other areas
of economic and social life in order to ensure on a basis of equality of men
and women, the same rights, in particular: -
a)
The right to family benefits
b)
The right to bank loans,
mortgages and other forms of financial credit
c)
The right to participate in
recreational activities, sports and all aspects of cultural life
Article
14
1. States
Parties shall take into account the particular problems faced by rural women
and the significant roles which rural women play in the economic survival of
their families, including their work in the non-monetized sectors of the
economy and shall take all appropriate measures to ensure the application of
the provisions of this Convention to women in rural areas.
2. States Parties shall take all appropriate measures to eliminate
discrimination against women in rural areas in order to ensure, on a basis of
equality of men and women, that they participate in and benefit from rural
development and, in particular, shall ensure to such women the right;
(a) To participate in the elaboration and implementation of
development planning at all levels.
(b) To have access to adequate health care facilities, including
information, counseling and services in family planning
(c) To benefit directly from social security programmes.
(d)To obtain all types of training and
education, formal and non-formal, including that relating to functional
literacy, as well as, inter-alia, the benefit of all community and extension
services, in order to increase their technical proficiency.
(e) To organize self-help groups and
cooperatives in order to obtain equal access to economic opportunities through
employment or self-employment.
(f) To participate in all community activities
(g) To have access to agricultural credit and
loans, marketing facilities, appropriate technology and equal treatment in land
and agrarian reform as well as in land resettlement schemes
Article
15
1.
States Parties shall accord to
women equality with men before the law
2.
States Parties shall accord to
women, in civil matters, a legal capacity identical to that of men and the same
opportunities to exercise that capacity, In particular, they shall given women
equal rights to conclude contracts and to administer properly and shall treat
them equally in all stages of procedure in courts and tribunals.
3.
States Parties agree that all
contracts and all other private instruments of any kind with a legal effect
which is directed at restricting the legal capacity of women shall be deemed
null and void.
4.
States Parties shall
accord to men and women the same rights with regard to the law relating to the
movement of persons and the freedom to choose their residence and domicile.
Article 16
1. States Parties shall
take all appropriate measures to eliminate discrimination against women in all
matters relating to marriage and family relations and in particular shall ensure,
on a basis of equality of men and women;
(a)
The same right to enter into
marriage
(b)
The same right freely to
choose a spouse and to enter into marriage only with their free and full
consent
(c)
The same rights and responsibilities during marriage and at its
dissolution.
(d)
The same rights and
responsibilities as parents, irrespective of their marital status, in matters
relating to their children, in all cases the interests of the children
shall be paramount;
(e)
The same rights to decide
freely and responsibly on the number and spacing of their children and to have
access to the information, education and means to enable them to exercise these
rights;
(f) The same rights and responsibilities with
regard to guardianship, wardship, trusteeship and adoption of children, or
similar institutions where these concepts exist in national legislation;
in all cases the interests of the children shall be paramount
.
(f)
The same personal rights as husband
and wife, including the right to choose a family name, a profession and an
occupation;
(g)
The same rights for both
spouses in respect of the ownership, acquisition, management, administration,
enjoyment and disposition of property, whether free of charge or for a valuable
consideration.
2.
The betrothal and the
marriage of a child shall have no legal effect, and all necessary action,
including legislation, shall be taken to specify a minimum age for marriage and
to make the registration of marriages in an official registry compulsory.