Complaints to UN and other international bodies

It is possible for individuals and groups alleging discrimination or violations of women’s rights to take a case to the Committee on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women. However this may only happen if the defendant State has recognised the competence of the Committee to receive such applications. This is done by ratifying the Optional Protocol to the Convention and 78 countries have done so since the Optional Protocol entered into force in December 2000.

Many if the UN conventions have Committees with similar powers. Most recently the ICESR through the new Optional Protocol (link it) to receive complaints: the exact procedures of each Committee vary, but in general there are three main procedures for bringing complaints of violation of the provisions of the human rights treaties before the human rights treaty bodies.

·                   individual communications;

·                   state-to-state complaints; and

·                   inquiries.

Not all committees have the right to consider such complaints.

There are also procedures for complaints which fall outside of the treaty body system - through the special procedures and the Human Rights Council Complaint Procedure and through the Commission on the Status of Women.  Read More on the Commission on the Status of Women.

The complaints to international bodies are the last resort. They are done only after national and regional mechanisms and can be said to be exhausted of have proven inefficient.

See also Finding and using UN documents