Like earlier human rights mechanisms, the main text of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), entered into force in 1981, did not explicitly include language on violence against women.[1] However, CEDAW’s primary focus, in which State Parties agree to “condemn discrimination against women in all its forms,”[2] was interpreted as covering violence against women. As described by Rashida Manjoo, the current UN Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women, “States must acknowledge that violence against women is not the root problem, but that violence occurs because other forms of discrimination are allowed to flourish.”[3] This view of violence against women as the most extreme manifestation of discrimination led the Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, the monitoring body of CEDAW, to adopt General Recommendation Number 19.[4] This recommendation explicitly includes gender-based violence as a form of discrimination covered by CEDAW, saying:

“The definition of discrimination includes gender-based violence, that is, violence that is directed against a woman because she is a woman or that affects women disproportionately. It includes acts that inflict physical, mental or sexual harm or suffering, threats of such acts, coercion and other deprivations of liberty. Gender-based violence may breach specific provisions of the Convention, regardless of whether those provisions expressly mention violence.”[5]

Recommendation 19 also specifically addresses domestic violence as a form of discrimination against women, stating:

“Family violence is one of the most insidious forms of violence against women. It is prevalent in all societies. Within family relationships women of all ages are subjected to violence of all kinds, including battering, rape, other forms of sexual assault, mental and other forms of violence, which are perpetuated by traditional attitudes. Lack of economic independence forces many women to stay in violent relationships. The abrogation of their family responsibilities by men can be a form of violence, and coercion. These forms of violence put women's health at risk and impair their ability to participate in family life and public life on a basis of equality.”[6]

In 1999, the General Assembly adopted the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women.[7] The Optional Protocol created two procedures to monitor compliance with CEDAW. First, it established a communications procedure for individual women, or groups of women, to submit claims of violations of CEDAW after exhausting domestic remedies, or remedies within their own country.[8] Second, the Optional Protocol created an inquiry procedure which enables the Committee to investigate situations of “grave or systematic violations” of women’s rights.[9] The decisions for such communications and inquiries are published on the UN Women website.[10] Both procedures can only be used in cases where the State is a party to the Convention and the Optional Protocol. Currently, 114 countries are parties to the Optional Protocol.[11]