CEDAW/C/GC/32
II. Scope of the general recommendation
4.
The scope and purpose of the present general recommendation must be
determined in the context of the overall scope and purpose of the Convention, which
is to eliminate all forms of discrimination against women in the recognition,
enjoyment or exercise of all human rights and fundamental freedoms in the political,
economic, social, cultural, civil or any other field, irrespective of their marital
status. Within this overall scope, the objective of the present general
recommendation is to guide States parties on how to address all aspects of their
obligations under the Convention and assume their obligations to respect, protect
and fulfil the rights of refugee, asylum-seeking and stateless women to
non-discrimination and substantive equality, in times of peace, in situations of
international and non-international armed conflict and in situations of occupation.
5.
The Convention, as a gender-specific human rights instrument, covers other
rights that are not explicitly mentioned therein, but that have an impact on the
achievement of equality of women and men. 1 As such, the Convention provides a
gender-sensitive interpretation of human rights law and protects women from sexand gender-based discrimination with regard to all the human rights contained in the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other human rights instruments. 2 Such
application of the Convention was elaborated by the Committee in relation to the
prohibition of violence against women as a form of discrimination against women in
its general recommendation No. 19, in which it enumerated some of those protected
rights, including the right to life and the right not to be subjected to torture or to
cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. The present general
recommendation specifically addresses the application of the Convention to the
right to asylum contained in article 14 of the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights, the principle of non-refoulement of refugees and asylum seekers in
accordance with existing obligations under international refugee and human rights
instruments and the right to nationality contained in article 9 of the Convention and
the protection against statelessness.
6.
The Committee has, in previous general recommendations, clarified that
articles 1, 2 (f) and 5 (a) of the Convention read together indicate that the
Convention covers sex- and gender-based discrimination against women. The
Committee has explained that application of the Convention to gender-based
discrimination falls under the definition of discrimination contained in article 1,
which points out that any distinction, exclusion or restriction which has the effect or
purpose of impairing or nullifying the recognition, enjoyment or exercise by women
of human rights and fundamental freedoms is discrimination. Discrimination against
women based on sex and/or gender is often inextricably linked with and
compounded by other factors that affect women, such as race, ethnicity, religion or
belief, health, age, class, caste, being lesbian, bisexual or transgender and other
status. 3 Discrimination on the basis of sex or gender may affect women belonging to
such groups to a different degree or in different ways to men. States parties must
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1
2
3
2/21
General recommendation No. 28 on the core obligations of States parties under article 2 of the
Convention, para. 7.
General recommendation No. 28, para. 3, and general recommendation No. 25 on article 4,
paragraph 1, of the Convention, on temporary special measures, para. 13.
General recommendation No. 28, paras. 5 and 18.
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