Defending Women’s Rights in the Contemporary World – A Faith Perspective

More than thirty years after the adoption of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), many girls and women still do not have equal opportunities to realize rights recognized by law. We are also all too conscious of increasing violence against women due to climate change, war, etc. While 189 countries have ratified CEDAW the United States is among the eight countries which has not done so. Women and girls around the world are still married as children or trafficked into forced labor and sex slavery. They are refused access to education and political participation, and some are trapped in conflicts where rape is perpetrated as a weapon of war. Globally, deaths related to pregnancy and childbirth are needlessly high, and women are prevented from making deeply personal choices in their private lives, as noted in the overturning of Roe v. Wade. In some patriarchal societies, religion or tradition can be used as a barrier for equal rights.