Tag Archives: CEDAW

CEDAW Call to Action: Building a Rights-Based System for Lasting Change

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Black Women’s Blueprint seeks justice-minded community organizations across the five boroughs of New York City to join the Grassroots Organizing SubCommittee of the NYC for CEDAW Campaign Coalition. We are expressly interested in campaign partners from a diverse array of identities and backgrounds that are able and committed to mobilizing their constituency in order pass a Women’s Bill of Rights right here at home.  This is an exciting opportunity to join a national campaign which proudly proclaims that women’s rights are human rights – and refuses to yield to the myriad of threats posed by the new Administration in Washington DC by building power and avenues for transformation and recourse at the city level.

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NYC4C’s speech to the Cities 4 CEDAW conference

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New York City has a population of 8.4 million people. We are the largest city in the United States and over twice the size of the 2nd, Los Angeles. One out of every 38 people residing in the United States lives in New York City. We have a larger population than 40 of the 50 states. We are incredibly diverse, with representatives from virtually every country in the world and virtually every language of the world is spoken in our city. This is the city that we wish to organize with NYC for CEDAW.

We have had to ask ourselves some very fundamental questions as we formulate a local law for Women’s Rights. New York City has a well-developed human rights law with Title 8 of the Administrative Code and the Human Rights Commission. Are we intending to highlight any rights that are not already covered in the law? How do we create a sustainable institution, not just a law? How do we create an institution that will survive beyond the next election and will have the support and, most importantly, the participation of New York City residents?

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Los Angeles Mayor Garcetti to issue Executive Directive on gender equity in city operations

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LOS ANGELES— Mayor Eric Garcetti will be celebrating Women’s Equality Day this evening by signing an executive directive calling on city departments to implement the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), which the City adopted in 2004.

“Our city only succeeds if everyone has an equal shot at success.  For too long, our women and girls have been left behind and counted out, and I want Los Angeles to lead in employing and empowering women,” said Mayor Garcetti.

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Happy Women’s Equity Day from NYC4C!

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It was a mere ninety-five years ago today when women were first given the opportunity to vote. Just ninety-five years ago women were first accepted as full citizens and participants in our democracy. On August 26th, 1920 the 19th amendment to the Constitution, enshrining women’s right to vote, was enacted. Yet, despite having the vote for ninety-five years, women are still not full and equal participants in our society.

Women still earn less than men for equal work. Women’s health issues, when they differ from those of men, are given short shrift. Women are victims of gender violence, whether as recipients of domestic violence, being abused by those they most love and trust, or as victims of trafficking and being involuntarily forced into menial work, whether as prostitution or sweat shops. Men are discouraged from taking family leave, leaving family responsibilities to women and therefore women get penalized for looking after children and aging parents.

New York City for CEDAW is working to enact a women’s bill of rights for New York City, based on the articles of CEDAW.

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Article: Women’s Treaty Trying Local Doors to U.S. Senate

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WASHINGTON (WOMENSENEWS)–After Fiji ratified a U.N. women’s rights treaty and began to adopt laws that mirrored its goals, good things began to happen politically for women.

The age for marriage for both men and women was raised to 18, finds a 2012 study commissioned by the World Bank. Divorce became easier to obtain and property was divided more equitably between men and women, measuring both financial and non-financial contributions to the family. Payments due after a divorce, such as alimony, became enforceable in law.

Women in many other countries have also benefited from the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women, or CEDAW.

For girls and women in the United States–where gun violence, rape, sex harassment and domestic violence are all major problems –treaty approval is unlikely any time soon. That’s because the United States is one of only a handful of countries–including Iran, Somalia and Sudan–that hasn’t ratified the longstanding, U.N.-backed treaty, which is continually updated to strengthen human and civil rights for women.

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A March for Gender Equality and Women’s Rights on International Women’s Day

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The March for Gender Equality and Women’s Rights is being organized by UN Women in collaboration with the City of New York, NGO-CSW, the Working Group on Girls, the Man Up Campaign and the UN Women for Peace Association. 
 
The march will take place on International Women’s Day (March 8) and commemorate the 20-year anniversary of the Fourth World Conference on Women and the adoption of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action. This event will celebrate the achievements women and girls have made around the world since 1995. It will also be an opportunity to underscore the need for political commitment to accelerate action to achieve gender equality by 2030.

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