SOC on CEDAW

Among those who spoke out in favor of U.S. ratification, in anticipation of mid-November Senate subcommittee hearings on CEDAW, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, was Sandra Day O'Connor (right), the 1st woman ever to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court. (hat tip)
The November 17 letter to U.S. Sen. Richard Durbin (D-Ill.) by the former Justice, who served from 1981 to 2006, deserves quotation at length. Here goes:

In my view, this is an important treaty, and it is appropriate that it be considered by the Senate. CEDAW currently has 186 countries which have ratified, including our closest allies. The United States is the only country to have signed, but not ratified, the Convention. Our non-ratification leaves us in the company of the few remaining non-party countries, including Iran and the Sudan. This is not the company we normally keep, and this fact should inform the Senate's consideration of CEDAW.
The United States has made great strides in supporting women's rights. I support CEDAW not because I think it would require changes in women's rights within the United States. Rather, ratification of CEDAW would enhance the authority of the United States to advocate on behalf of women's rights in countries, including both CEDAW parties and non-parties, that do not respect women's rights to the same extent that the United States does. The Senate's failure to ratify CEDAW gives other countries a retort when United States officials raise issues about the treatment of women, and thus our non-ratification may hamper the effectiveness of the United States in achieving increased protection for women worldwide.
A number of countries have ratified CEDAW with reservations, understandings, and/or declarations. The number includes countries like Australia, which has a federal system similar in some ways to our own. It also includes France, Germany, Ireland, and the United Kindgdom. To the extent that Senators have serious concerns about the substance of particular provisions of the Convention, perhaps their concerns could be addressed with a carefully crafted package of reservations, understandings, and declarations.

Next Senate steps regarding efforts toward U.S. ratification of the almost 31-year-old treaty (prior IntLawGrrls posts) are uncertain: a post-hearing Google search points to the same pro and con camps as always.

Go On! Hearings on the Ratification of CEDAW

This Thursday, Nov. 18, in the Dirksen Senate Office Building, Room 226, the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Human Rights & the Law will hold hearings on U.S. ratification of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). The Committee is chaired by Senator Richard J. Durbin (D-Ill, right).


By way of background, the United Nations adopted CEDAW in 1979, and the U.S. played an important role in the drafting of the treaty. President Jimmy Carter signed the treaty on July 17, 1980, and transmitted it to the Senate for consideration in November 1980.
The Senate Foreign Relations Committee has twice voted favorably on CEDAW with bipartisan support: in 1994 (with a vote of 13-5) and in 2002 (with a vote of 12-7). Nonetheless, the treaty has never been brought to the Senate floor for a vote.

Thursday's event is the first hearing on CEDAW since 2002 and the first such hearing in this particular Committee.
Information about the campaign to encourage the U.S. to ratify CEDAW is available here. The ratification record is available here.

Prosecuting Human Trafficking in U.S. Courts

U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Tom Coburn, M.D. (R-OK) today introduced legislation -- S. 1703, the Trafficking in Persons Accountability Act -- to allow prosecution of non-U.S. citizens for human trafficking committed outside the United States. Under current law, federal prosecutors can only prosecute trafficking that is committed within the United States or by a U.S. citizen abroad. According to Durbin, "[w]e cannot allow our contry to continue providing safe haven for those trafficking in human misery." Citing the recently released U.S. State Department's Trafficking in Persons Report 2007 (TIP Report), Durbin noted that the "number of countries who are not doing enough to combat trafficking has increased. If these countries won't prosecute those who engage in human trafficking, the United States should be empowered to bring justice to those traffickers who are in the United States."
The annual State Department TIP Report ranks countries based on their efforts to comply with a set of U.S. minimum standards on trafficking (established in the U.S. Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000). Countries that are not making significant efforts to comply are ranked Tier 3, and may be subject to U.S. sanctions (few ultimately are). This year, there are 48 countries on Tier 3; last year, there were 44, and the year before there were 41. The U.S. minimum standards focus on the prosecution prong of the U.S.'s "3P's" policy on trafficking (prosecution of traffickers, protection of trafficked persons, and prevention of trafficking). But it's not entirely clear how far an emphasis on prosecution -- at least to the relative neglect of the other 2P's -- gets us...