CEDAW and liberal Denmark

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Rochester Area Right To Life

Denmark told to change laws by CEDAW Committee, raising fears in US

A familiar refrain of proponents of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) is that US ratification of the controversial UN document would not result in significant changes in US law. Since the United States already recognizes the equal status of women, they say, US ratification is necessary solely to bolster the standing of the Convention in the rest of the world. For instance, Senator Joseph Biden (D-DE), a CEDAW supporter, said at last week's Senate CEDAW hearing that it is "highly, highly, highly unlikely" that the Convention would have any important domestic impact.

In a June 18 article, New York Times columnist Nicholas D. Kristof repeated this point, stating that "frankly, the treaty has almost nothing to do with American women, who already enjoy the rights the treaty supports…Instead, it has everything to do with the half of the globe where to be female is to be persecuted until, often, death."

But the most recent examination of Denmark by the CEDAW Committee seems to contradict these arguments. At meetings beginning on June 12, the Committee concluded that even Denmark's extremely progressive laws and social policies were not sufficient, and that Denmark would need to make substantial changes in order to comply with the Convention.

According to a UN press release, one CEDAW expert asked "How often had the Convention been invoked in the country's courts?" Another expert pointed out "that Denmark's Constitution contained no specific provision on discrimination against women…It was important to fully integrate the country's domestic legislation with the Convention."

One Committee expert showed concern that, "although Danish women…were now allowed employment in all ranks of the…Armed Services, even if that involved direct participation in military operations or combat," women had not yet "reached the top level in the military."

A Committee expert also stated that "In order to protect women engaged in prostitution, the tendency should be to penalize those engaged in pimping even more heavily." To allay this concern, a Danish representative reported that "in 1999 the Parliament had amended the criminal code to decriminalize prostitution and passive pimping."

One expert wondered how Danish families divided household duties and chores. "It was gratifying to know that fathers were increasingly taking care of babies," but the expert "also wanted to know how they participated in bringing up older children and shared in housework." In response, a Danish delegate assured the Committee that "continuous monitoring was being carried out" on fathers and their household activities.

Wendy Wright, senior policy director at Concerned Women for America, told the Friday Fax that such statements by the CEDAW Committee show that it does not seek basic equality, but the radical transformation of society, and that it would make the same kinds of demands on the US, if it ratified CEDAW. "If even Denmark doesn't satisfy the CEDAW Committee and must change its constitution, then surely no country's actions will appease these 'experts' on genderless feminism," she said.

FRIDAY FAX
June 21, 2002 Volume 5, Number 26
Copyright - C-FAM (Catholic Family & Human Rights Institute).
Permission granted for unlimited use. Credit required.
Catholic Family & Human Rights Institute
866 United Nations Plaza, Suite 427
New York, New York 10017
Phone: (212) 754-5948 Fax: (212) 754-9291
E-mail: [email protected]       Website: www.c-fam.org  


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