Durbin Chairs Hearing on Ratification of Women's Rights Treaty

The first hearing on CEDAW held by the Senate since 1982 yesterday in Washington, DC.  Those who support its passage include Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, Actor Geena Davis, Ambassador Melanne Verveer - Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women's Issues, US State Department, and many others.

Assistant Senate Majority Leader Dick Durbin (D-IL) chaired a hearing today on U.S. ratification of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). CEDAW is the only international treaty to focus solely on the rights of women and it addresses issues such as violence against women, sex trafficking, the right to vote and equal access to education. Today’s hearing was the first ever Judiciary Committee hearing on whether to ratify a human rights treaty.

“CEDAW is about giving women all over the world the chance to enjoy the same freedoms and opportunities that American women have struggled long and hard to achieve,” Durbin said. “These are fundamentally American freedoms – the rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness – and CEDAW is a fundamentally American treaty. Women have been waiting for 30 years. It’s long past time for the U.S. to ratify this treaty and we should do so without further delay.”

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