CEDAW

Overview
Why is CEDAW important for the sex workers’ rights movement?
Resources
CEDAW Shadow Reports
CEDAW National Monitoring
Upcoming CEDAW Country Reviews

Overview

The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) is one of the world’s major human rights treaties. The convention was created in 1979 by the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW), the principal global intergovernmental body exclusively dedicated to the promotion of gender equality and the empowerment of women. It is often described as “an international bill of rights for women”. CEDAW established a number of different obligations that States must comply with in order to combat discrimination against women. While people of all genders sell sex, the majority of sex workers are women and sex work is often regarded in international law and policy discourses as a ‘women’s rights issue’.

In 2018, NSWP and the International Women’s Rights Action Watch Asia Pacific (IWRAW-AP) collaborated to create two resources which focussed on CEDAW. Shadow Report Guidelines on CEDAW and Rights of Sex Workers aims to provide guidance to nongovernmental organisations engaging with the CEDAW review process and providing alternative information to the CEDAW Committee on the theme of rights of sex workers. Framework on Rights of Sex Workers and CEDAW is intended to be a tool to inform the rights discourse on sex work in the context of CEDAW.

NSWP then created a Smart Guide that aims to provide NSWP members with increased understanding of CEDAW and its potential for use in advocacy work.

Why is CEDAW important for the sex workers’ rights movement?

Cis- and trans-gender women sex workers deserve the protections offered by CEDAW and are as entitled as any other group of women to the rights enshrined in the treaty. Sex work, and the rights of women sex workers as a group, are not specifically addressed in CEDAW. Article 6 of the Convention is, however, often discussed in debates about sex work. Article 6 states: “State Parties shall take all appropriate measures, including legislation, to suppress all forms of traffic in women and exploitation of prostitution of women.”

The vagueness of the language used in Article 6 of CEDAW and the potential for the Convention to be used to advance fundamental feminist and abolitionist groups’ perspectives on sex work means it is essential for sex workers and sex workers’ rights activists to engage with the Convention and shape the CEDAW Committee’s recommendations on sex work.

Not only can sex workers’ rights activists challenge the harmful interpretations of Article 6 that are proposed by fundamentalist feminists and abolitionist groups but they can also play an active role in claiming CEDAW as a human rights treaty that protects women sex workers rather than one that is used to support harmful policies and interventions. Activists can do this by documenting the human rights violations experienced by cis- and trans-gender women sex workers and explaining how these violate the obligations of states set out in CEDAW.

Resources

CEDAW Smart Guide image

Smart Guide: CEDAW, NSWP - 2018

Framework on the rights of sex workers

Framework on Rights of Sex Workers and CEDAW, NSWP & IWRAW-AP - 2018

Shadow Report Guidelines image

Shadow Report Guidelines on CEDAW and Rights of Sex Workers, NSWP & IWRAW-AP - 2018

CEDAW Shadow Reports

NSWP encourages and, when funds are available, provides support to sex worker-led organisations in engaging with the CEDAW review process at the UN with the submission of shadow reports. Shadow reports are written documents which provide the Committee with country-specific information on how the state is implementing (or failing to implement) the Convention. They are used to highlight areas where the State is failing in its obligations under the Convention and include recommendations for laws, policies and practices that need to be changed. Shadow reports prepared by sex worker-led organisations may detail the many ways in which the rights of women sex workers are infringed upon in their country, why this is in breach of CEDAW, and crucially, what must be done to address these rights violations.

Shadow reports must be submitted three weeks before the session at which they are to be considered. It is recommended that sex worker-led organisations submit their shadow reports for the review session itself rather than the pre-session working group.

Beside each Shadow Report we have added a link to the State Party reports, Concluding Observations on the OHCHR website, and a PDF of Concluding Observations of relevance to sex work. 

2020

Shadow Reports State Party Reports Concluding Observations Concluding Observations of Relevance to Sex Work
France CEDAW Shadow Report, 2023 Ninth periodic report submitted by France under article 18 of the Convention, due in 2020, 2022    
South Africa CEDAW Shadow Report, 2020 Fifth periodic report submitted by South Africa under article 18 of the Convention, due in 2015, 2019 Concluding observations on the fifth periodic report of South Africa, 2021 Excerpts from CEDAW Concluding Observations relevant to sex workers, 2021
Zimbabwe CEDAW Shadow Report, 2020 Sixth periodic report submitted by Zimbabwe under article 18 of the Convention, due in 2016, 2018 Concluding observations on the sixth periodic report of Zimbabwe, 2020 Excerpts from CEDAW Concluding Observations relevant to sex workers, 2020

 

2019

Shadow Reports State Party Reports Concluding Observations Concluding Observations of Relevance to Sex Work
Botswana CEDAW Shadow Report, 2019 Fourth periodic report submitted by Botswana under article 18 of the Convention, due in 2014, 2017 Concluding observations on the fourth periodic report of Botswana, 2019 Excerpts from CEDAW Concluding Observations relevant to sex workers, 2019
DRC CEDAW Shadow Report, 2019 Huitième rapport périodique soumis par la République Démocratique du Congo en application de l’article 18 de la Convention, attendu en 2017, 2018 Concluding observations on the eighth periodic report of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, 2019 Excerpts from CEDAW Concluding Observations relevant to sex workers, 2019
Mozambique CEDAW Shadow Report, 2019 Combined third to fifth periodic reports submitted by Mozambique under article 18 of the Convention, due in 2014, 2018 Concluding observations on the combined third to fifth periodic reports of Mozambique, 2019 Excerpts from CEDAW Concluding Observations relevant to sex workers, 2019
Serbia CEDAW Shadow Report, 2019 Fourth periodic report submitted by Serbia under article 18 of the Convention, due in 2017, 2017 Concluding observations - advance unedited version, 2019 Excerpts from CEDAW Concluding Observations relevant to sex workers, 2019
Seychelles, 2019 Sixth periodic report submitted by the Seychelles under article 18 of the Convention, due in 2017, 2018 Concluding observations on the sixth periodic report of Seychelles, 2019 Excerpts from CEDAW Concluding Observations relevant to sex workers, 2019
Kazakhstan, 2019 Fifth periodic report submitted by Kazakhstan under article 18 of the Convention, due in 2018, 2018 Concluding observations on the fifth periodic report of Kazakhstan, 2019 Excerpts from CEDAW Concluding Observations relevant to sex workers, 2019

 

2018

Shadow Reports State Party Reports Concluding Observations Concluding Observations of Relevance to Sex Work
Macedonia CEDAW Shadow Report, 2018 Sixth periodic report of States parties due in 2017, 2017 Concluding observations on the sixth periodic report of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, 2018 Excerpts from CEDAW Concluding Observations relevant to sex workers, 2018
Nepal CEDAW Shadow Report, 2018 Sixth periodic report of States parties due in 2015, 2017 Concluding observations on the sixth periodic report of Nepal, 2018 Excerpts from CEDAW Concluding Observations relevant to sex workers, 2018
New Zealand CEDAW Shadow Report, 2018 Consideration of reports submitted by States parties under article 18 of the Convention - Eighth periodic report of States parties due in 2016 - New Zealand, 2016 Concluding observations on the eighth periodic report of New Zealand, 2018 Excerpts from CEDAW Concluding Observations relevant to sex workers, 2018

 

2017

Shadow Reports State Party Reports Concluding Observations Concluding Observations of Relevance to Sex Work
CEDAW Shadow Report on the Situation of Women who use Drugs, Women Living with HIV, Sex Workers, and Lesbian, Bisexual Women and Transgender People in Ukraine, 2017 Consideration of reports submitted by States parties under article 18 of the Convention - Eighth periodic report of States parties due in 2014 - Ukraine, 2015 Concluding observations on the eighth periodic report of Ukraine, 2017 Excerpts from CEDAW Concluding Observations relevant to sex workers, 2017
KESWA and BHeSP, Kenya CEDAW Shadow Report, 2017 Eighth periodic report of State party due in 2015, 2016 Concluding observations on the eighth periodic report of Kenya, 2017 Excerpts from CEDAW Concluding Observations relevant to sex workers, 2017
Nigeria Sex Workers Association CEDAW Shadow Report, 2017 Combined seventh and eighth periodic report of States parties due in 2014, 2015 Concluding observations on the combined seventh and eighth periodic reports of Nigeria, 2017 Excerpts from CEDAW Concluding Observations relevant to sex workers, 2017
PION Norway CEDAW Shadow Report, 2017 Ninth periodic report of States parties due in 2016, 2016 Concluding observations on the ninth periodic report of Norway, 2017 Excerpts from CEDAW Concluding Observations relevant to sex workers, 2017
Project X, Singapore CEDAW Shadow Report, 2017 Fifth periodic report of States parties due in 2015, 2015 Concluding observations on the fifth periodic report of Singapore, 2017 Excerpts from CEDAW Concluding Observations relevant to sex workers, 2017
Empower Thailand CEDAW Shadow Report, 2017 Combined sixth and seventh periodic reports of States parties due in 2010, 2015 Concluding observations on the combined sixth and seventh periodic reports of Thailand, 2017 Excerpts from CEDAW Concluding Observations relevant to sex workers, 2017
CEDAW Shadow Report on Germany and New German Sex Work Legislation, 2017 Combined seventh and eighth periodic report of States parties due in 2014, 2015 Concluding observations on the combined seventh and eighth periodic reports of Germany, 2017 Excerpts from CEDAW Concluding Observations relevant to sex workers, 2017

 

Prior to 2017, reports were submitted by members independently as they worked with the CEDAW committee. 

2016

CEDAW Shadow Report on Canada, 2016  

CEDAW Shadow Report on the Status of Sex Workers in Bangladesh, 2016  

CEDAW Report Netherlands: Unfinished Business - Women’s Rights in The Netherlands, 2016  
 

2015

CEDAW Shadow Report Russia, 2015
 

2014

CEDAW Shadow Report on the Status of Sex Workers in India, 2014
 

2013

Sex-Worker Forum of Vienna CEDAW shadow report, 2013

SZEXE CEDAW shadow report, 2013
 

2008

Tais Plus CEDAW Shadow Report, 2008
 

2007

Sex Workers Project at the Urban Justice Center CEDAW Shadow report, 2007

CEDAW National Monitoring

NSWP has been providing technical support to sex worker-led organisations in southern Africa to monitor their governments’ response to the CEDAW Concluding Observations related to sex work for each country. Each organisation has developed a national monitoring system based on a thematic priority from the CEDAW Concluding Observations that they have identified together with sex workers in their communities. The national monitoring framework includes interviews with relevant decision makers involved in shaping national policies in line with CEDAW recommendations, community consultations with sex workers about the impact of policies affecting sex work and interviews with other relevant stakeholders who provide insight into the government’s actions towards sex workers. In the first phase, the national monitoring system is implemented over a period of several months in which sex worker-led organisations reach out to community members and external stakeholders to gather different perspectives on whether/how their government is responding to the Concluding Observations. Based on the successes and challenges experienced during the first phase, the national monitoring framework will be improved during subsequent phases to develop a robust system for tracking national governments’ responses to CEDAW. The results of national monitoring will inform future shadow reports that sex worker-led organisations submit to the CEDAW Committee in preparation for country reviews. The findings will also provide a strong evidence base to support their advocacy for a rights-based approach to sex work in their respective countries.

Below are examples of reports that sex worker-led organisations have written at the conclusion of the national monitoring phase, in which their main findings have been summarised.

2022

Associação Tiyane Vavasate report of results of national monitoring work, Mozambique, 2022

Upcoming CEDAW Country Reviews

The International Women’s Rights Action Watch (IWRAW – Asia Pacific) regularly posts the dates of the upcoming review sessions for the current year for all countries that have ratified the CEDAW Convention. Please click here to see if your country will be up for review this year.