Economic Empowerment of Women: The Contribution of International Law : [2nd report of the Committee on Feminism and International Law of the International Law Association, Washington Conference]

This is the second report of the current Feminism and International Law Committee, established by the Executive Council in November 2010. Previous ILA Committees on Feminism and International Law had presented reports on Women’s Equality and Nationality in International Law (2000) and on Women and Migration (2002, 2004, 2006, 2008). The current Committee’s mandate, Economic Empowerment of Women: The Contribution of International Law, was approved by the Executive Council in May 2011. The Committee presented an initial scoping report to the Sofia Conference in 2012, which explores the complexity of the umbrella topic and identifies sub-themes, one of which is Positive Obligations of States Parties in relation to Substantive Equality. The present report - presented to the Washington Conference - builds on the Committee’s mandate and on the initial scoping report. Acknowledging the multi-faceted nature of the topic, as well as the indivisibility of rights, this report focuses on the sub-theme of Positive Obligations of States Parties in relation to Substantive Equality as it specifically relates to two substantive areas: Equal Remuneration and Equal Access to Economic Activities. It examines relevant positive obligations in international law as well as national practice with respect to these two substantive areas. The report aims to contribute to current debates on the realisation of women’s economic empowerment and to the work of the CEDAW Committee, in particular, by identifying instances of good practice in the implementation of rights at national level. The Committee plans to further develop this work in its future reports.