Academic Source for Gender Issues versus Policy Process

There are two academic sources pick for the theme “Gender Issues versus Policy Process” are; firstly the “Treaty for the Rights of Women”, and secondly “The Treaty for Women’s Equality”. These two sources picked will be used separately with examples from the United States of America and also the Kingdom of Tonga.

Although the United States hasn’t sanctioned this treaty with the United Nations, however many if not most laws of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) already existed in the United States’ current enacted acts. According to the Amnesty International article on Treaty for the Rights of Women, CEDAW possibly ensue to authorize same-sex marriage. The United States had recently approved same-sex marriage in the federal level. The sanction of same-sex marriage wasn’t due to the rectification of CEDAW, but happened because the United States Supreme Court legalized it in June of this year.

The United States of America hasn’t legitimize CEDAW treaty to join other nations of about 187 that has fully ratified CEDAW.  There are many civil rights especially women’s rights that had been long legalized in the United States and most of all its legislations are well adopted and maintained in America. With that said, there is not much need for the United States to adopt a treaty that has been long standing in the women’s movement for equality.

In the Kingdom of Tonga the CEDAW treaty was passed at the Legislative Assembly although many women’s groups and groups from various churches marched the main street to abort this treaty. The King of Tonga decided not to approve this treaty. In accordance with the Treaty for Women’s Equality article who is in support of CEDAW mentioned that this treaty contains style of advocacy for women and girls. Two things were picked out of this article and they are domestic violence and inheritance rights.

There is a huge number of victims that suffer from domestic violence for both women and girls in Tonga. Women are not entitle to inheritance rights of land. One doesn’t understand as to why women’s groups march the streets of Tonga to seek non-approval and non-signage of the United Nation’s treaty on CEDAW, when domestic violence and rights to land of women are highly existed in Tonga. On the next assignment of “Real Life”, one will elaborate more on this issue with pictures and arguments that flooded the mass media of Tonga due to CEDAW.