Saturday, March 7, 2009

Will the USA sign the Women's rights pact?

The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) was adopted by the UN 30 years ago. It was adopted by 184 countries out of 192. The USA was one of the countries that refused to ratify it along countries like Iran, Soudan and Somalia. The US senate failed to reach 67 votes needed.

As bizarre as this may sound, one of the major issues holding the vote is "abortion", since this convention contains language that would remove some of the restrictions on abortion that are still in place in the US.

Other source of disagreement is that the US military does not use women in combat units and CEDAW would force them to do so if a women wants to integrate one of these units.

But the most ironic issue, is that CEDAW would force US businesses to pay women for maternity leave!! Even though most corporate do provide this benefit, it is still not mandatory and a lot of small businesses in the US won't pay a dime for a women on a maternity leave.

It is going to be interesting to see if the democrats now in charge can get a closure on the issue and get the pact signed, because it is really a shame for the USA.

More informations here

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