Gender and democratic citizenship: the impact of CEDAW

The substantive equality provisions of CEDAW provide theoretical and normative tools to contend with the growing challenges of traditionalist cultural and religious patriarchy and neoliberal exploitation of women. This holds out promise but a large gap exists between normative policy and social practice. The promise of de jure and de facto equality for women cannot be fulfilled by law and philosophy alone. It remains to translate the formulation and commitment into political, economic, and social action, which will secure women’s capacity to participate as equal actors in the public sphere, to have equal opportunity in the economy, and to live in a state of equal autonomy to that of men in the family. This is the meaning of democratic citizenship for women and it is a condition precedent for a viable democracy for men and women alike.