Prospects for realizing international women’s rights law through local governance: the case of cities for CEDAW

How best to realize international human rights law in practice has proved a vexing problem. The challenge is compounded in the USA, which has not ratified several treaties including the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). The Cities for CEDAW movement...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Runyan, Anne Sisson (Author)
Contributors: Sanders, Rebecca 1975-
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
Published: 2021
In: Human rights review
Year: 2021, Volume: 22, Issue: 3, Pages: 303-325
Online Access: Presumably Free Access
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Keywords:
Local Government
Activism
Feminism
Cities for CEDAW
women’s rights
International Law
Description
Summary:How best to realize international human rights law in practice has proved a vexing problem. The challenge is compounded in the USA, which has not ratified several treaties including the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). The Cities for CEDAW movement addresses this deficit by encouraging cities to endorse and implement CEDAW norms. In doing so, it seeks to catalyze a local boomerang effect, whereby progressive political momentum at the local level generates internal pressure from below to improve gender equity outcomes across the country and eventually, at the national level. In this article, we trace the diffusion of Cities for CEDAW activism with attention to the case of Cincinnati and analyze its implications for advancing women’s rights principles. We argue that while Cities for CEDAW has potential to enhance respect for women’s rights in local jurisdictions, its impact on national policy remains limited.
ISSN:1874-6306
DOI:10.1007/s12142-021-00635-z