Supervisor Leland Yee: Support the CEDAW Treaty

On Aug. 7 this year, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, on a 12 to 7 vote, recommended ratifying a treaty the United States helped write more than two decades ago: the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW).

CEDAW is the most comprehensive international agreement ever written on the basic human rights of women. 170 nations throughout the world have signed the treaty and are implementing its provisions. Internationally, the implementation of CEDAW has helped improve the lives of women in ratifying nations by overcoming barriers to women in education, employment, health care, politics and economics. The treaty does not supercede local laws, but rather acts as a framework within which a country can reassess and improve women's rights.

The United States was a primary drafter of CEDAW in 1979 and the treaty was signed by President Jimmy Carter in 1980. President Carter then sent the treaty to the Senate for ratification. However, CEDAW has languished in the United States Senate for more than 20 years without being ratified. The United States remains the only industrialized nation that has not ratified the convention. Since the United States is demanding an end to human rights abuses against women elsewhere in the world, it is incumbent on our government to demonstrate formally its own commitment to women's rights by ratifying the treaty it helped create.

Here in San Francisco, we have a special relationship to CEDAW. In 1998, San Francisco became the first city in the United States to adopt CEDAW as part of its municipal code. That action reflects the City and County's commitment to women's rights and sends a message that gender-based discrimination is not acceptable in our city.

This is the first time in many years that the Senate has reconsidered the ratification of CEDAW. In San Francisco, the Board of Supervisors has added its collective voice to the appeal for ratification. The SF Board of Supervisors unanimously adopted a resolution I introduced urging our senators to do their utmost to ensure ratification of the treaty. The Department on the Status of Women has also been active and articulate about the importance of this treaty to reconfirm internationally America's commitment to end gender discrimination.

California's Sen. Barbara Boxer and Chairman Joseph Biden (D-Del.) took the lead on the issue in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Both are to be commended for their excellent work in successfully bringing the CEDAW treaty forward to the full Senate for ratification. However, the treaty isn't ratified yet. The full Senate must still ratify the treaty by a two-thirds vote and send the approved Treaty to the President for his signature. The vote is to be held before Congress ends its session this October.

Our Senators, Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein, will do their best to try to convince their colleagues in the Senate to support the Treaty. If you would like to let them know you appreciate their good efforts, contact them at their local offices. Sen. Boxer's local office number is (415) 403-0100. Sen. Feinstein's local office number is (415) 393-0707.

The Bush Administration has written to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that the CEDAW treaty is "generally desirable and should be approved," although some members of the administration have suggested that the treaty needs more "review." Surely 22 years of review is enough. You might also like to contact the president to voice your support for ratification of the treaty. The number for comments to the White House is (202) 456-1111 (Washington, DC ­ definitely not a local call).

Ratification of the CEDAW treaty will not directly affect United States law, but it will strengthen this country's credibility internationally. We should certainly join the 170 other nations, including every industrialized country in the world, that have supported CEDAW and given this additional formal recognition to women's rights.

If you have questions or comments about this or any other issue, please contact me by e-mail at leland.yee@sfgov.org, by phone at (415) 554-7752 or by fax at (415) 554-7751.

San Francisco Supervisor Leland Yee represents District 4.