Ratify CEDAW, Women's Rights Treaty

Ask President Obama to take leadership to ratify CEDAW, the critically important women's rights treaty. President Obama should call upon the U.S. Senate to conduct hearings and finalize ratification of CEDAW. Sign our petition (to be delivered at the end of March, Women's History Month) or use our talking points in the background section to call the White House at (202) 456-1111 or fax them at (202) 456-2461.

On this International Women's Day, March 8, we are reminded that much remains to be done to advance the basic human rights of women in the United States and around the world. There is no Equal Rights Amendment in the U.S. Constitution and for more than 30 years the U.S. has failed to ratify CEDAW -- the most complete international agreement advancing basic human rights for women. Today, the National Organization for Women and NOW Foundation launch our campaign, RATIFY WOMEN!

Dear President Obama:

While our nation has made an undeniable progress in advancing women's rights in recent decades, we still have a long way to go. One significant milestone on our way to the equality will be the ratification of Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), the Women's Rights Treaty.

Women continue to be targets of sexual and domestic violence -- at home and abroad. We are discriminated against in the workplace and elsewhere. Women in the U.S. and every other nation suffer from more poverty, less access to health care, less access to a liveable wage, and barriers to equal education. The Women's Rights Treaty is a valuable instrument for combating these wrongs. CEDAW embodies the basic democratic values of fairness and equal opportunity. Ratification does not require any federal appropriations. Moreover, women across the political spectrum support CEDAW's ratification.

I urge you to take leadership on this critical women's rights issue. The public and the U.S. Senate must hear that you support women's human rights and that ratification of CEDAW should wait no longer.

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1-25 of 5173 signatures

Number	Date	Name	Location	Comments?
5173	Wed Sep 08 18:13:04 EDT 2010	Emily Buetow	Potomac, MD
5172	Wed Sep 08 17:19:04 EDT 2010	Jean Classon	Des Moines, IA
5171	Tue Sep 07 19:42:24 EDT 2010	Carol Epstein	Santa Cruz, CA	Although I agree that this nation has made some progress in advancing women's rights, we still have quite a long way to go. Ask yourself this, if this were a race issue rather than a women's issue, would More....you have supported it by now?
5170	Tue Sep 07 19:42:22 EDT 2010	Carol Epstein	Santa Cruz, CA	Although I agree that this nation has made some progress in advancing women's rights, we still have quite a long way to go. Ask yourself this, if this were a race issue rather than a women's issue, would More....you have supported it by now?
5169	Tue Sep 07 19:25:19 EDT 2010	Elizabeth Qualizza	Kansas City, MO
5168	Tue Sep 07 14:22:00 EDT 2010	Maddalena Romano	South Huntington, NY
5167	Tue Sep 07 13:56:37 EDT 2010	Lora Rose	Fremont, CA	It is time we catch up!
5166	Tue Sep 07 13:56:37 EDT 2010	Lora Rose	Fremont, CA	It is time we catch up!
5165	Tue Sep 07 13:09:28 EDT 2010	Toni Ortega Bradford	cumberland, MD
5164	Tue Sep 07 10:38:29 EDT 2010	Denise Leslie	Fennville, OK
5163	Tue Sep 07 10:28:10 EDT 2010	Meribeth Swartz	Valparaiso, IN
5162	Tue Sep 07 10:19:01 EDT 2010	Kimberly Hart	Marietta, OH
5161	Mon Sep 06 22:26:08 EDT 2010	David Hind	Westminster, CA
5160	Mon Sep 06 20:46:28 EDT 2010	Patricia Ezenwa	New York, NY
5159	Mon Sep 06 19:22:48 EDT 2010	Kathy Rogers	Long Beach, MS	President Obama: Please do this for your daughters and for women everywhere!
5158	Sun Sep 05 12:34:41 EDT 2010	Anonymous	Lansdale, PA
5157	Sun Sep 05 04:11:00 EDT 2010	Nancy Coulthard	Bellaire, TX
5156	Sun Sep 05 01:15:26 EDT 2010	Louise Calabro	Bayside, NY
5155	Sat Sep 04 20:28:12 EDT 2010	Nicole Johns	Lansdowne, PA
5154	Sat Sep 04 16:29:03 EDT 2010	Louise OBryan	Jackson Heights, NY
5153	Sat Sep 04 12:40:18 EDT 2010	Anonymous	Wassaic, NY
5152	Fri Sep 03 21:39:22 EDT 2010	Diane Speiker	The Woodlands, TX
5151	Fri Sep 03 17:40:29 EDT 2010	MyraSands Lusk	Alexandria, VA
5150	Fri Sep 03 16:25:24 EDT 2010	Anonymous	Kansas City, MO
5149	Fri Sep 03 12:59:10 EDT 2010	Christine Blunt	Scottsdale, AZ

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Background:

CEDAW stands for The United Nations Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women and the convention (or treaty) has been ratified by 185 nations. Despite our 30 years of foot-dragging, the United States was one of the key leaders in drafting this treaty which was adopted by the U.N. General Assembly in 1979. Yet today we stand outside of the mainstream international community and are no longer a world leader in human rights by our failure to ratify the Women's Rights Treaty. The United States is the only industrialized nation to not have ratified CEDAW and, as a result, joins with such objectionable outliers as Sudan, Iran and Somalia.

Failure by the largest, most powerful and wealthiest nation in the world to ratify this critically-important Women's Rights Treaty is absolutely shameful. NOW, NOW Foundation and our Global Feminist Issues and Strategies Committee want you to turn up the pressure on the Administration by asking President Obama to take leadership in getting CEDAW ratified.

There are many websites that provide information on CEDAW. You can read the text of the treaty, its history and more about how other nations use CEDAW.

Below are a number of talking points from our RATIFY WOMEN! Campaign for you to stress in advocating for ratification

Why It's Important

CEDAW is the most comprehensive international agreement on the basic human rights of women and girls
U.S. ratification would lend weight to the treaty and the principle that human rights of women are universal across all cultures, nations and religions and worthy of being guaranteed through international human rights standards
Until the U.S. ratifies CEDAW, it can neither credibly demand that others live up to their obligations under the treaty, nor that it is a leader in the global human rights community

What CEDAW Has Helped Achieve in Other Countries

Reducing the sexual enslavement and trafficking of women and girls
Securing basic legal recourse to women and girls against violence and abuses of their human rights
Freeing access to primary education and health care where it had previously been denied
Saving lives during pregnancy and childbirth
Acknowledging the basic right to own and inherit property, including helping to secure essential development loans to poor women

Ratifying CEDAW is a Pledge to do the Right Thing for Women

Take concrete action to improve the status of women in the U.S. and around the world
Take measures to ensure that women enjoy basic human rights and fundamental freedoms
Establish judicial procedures to ensure the effective protection of the rights of women
Take appropriate measures to eliminate discrimination against women by individuals, organizations and enterprises
Submit national reports every four years on actions taken to comply with the treaty's pledge to protect and promote the rights of women and girls in the U.S.

Now is the time to act. The year 2010 marks the 15th anniversary of the Beijing Platform for Action, and with International Women's Day on March 8, this is the perfect opportunity to raise your voice. We need you to tell President Obama that we have waited long enough. Ask the President to make it known to Senate leaders that the U.S. should ratify CEDAW NOW!