last updated 17 May 2007

The Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) was established as a commission of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) to prepare recommendations and reports on "promoting women's rights in political, economic, civil, social and educational fields" and to implement the principles of equal rights between men and women. The Commission on the Status of Women also makes recommendations on urgent issues to ECOSOC of women's human rights. Since 2000, the Commission's mandate has also included review of the progress made in the implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action. The Commission currently consists of 45 members, elected by the Economic and Social Council

Since the 1980s, the Commission on the Status of Women has had the authority to receive complaints on a limited basis. The communication procedure of the Commission on the Status of Women is different from that under the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, and leads to a different outcome for the victim or victims. The Commission on the Status of Women will not make a decision on the merits of a complaint, and thus the communication procedure does not provide an avenue for the redress of individual grievances. According to the Commission on the Status of Women, "the purpose of this communications procedure is to provide information about violations against women that can assist the Commission in its task of policy formulation and development of further strategies for the advancement of women."

The complaint procedure under the Commission on the Status of Women is also distinct from the 1503 Procedure which is also created by the Economic and Social Council. While the 1503 Procedure focuses on gross human rights violations in specific countries, the complaint procedure under the CSW "is designed to identify global trends and patterns concerning women's rights." Like the 1503 Procedure, however, the complaint mechanism, functions more like reporting in that its purpose is to provide information on patterns of human rights violations and not to redress individual wrongs.