The Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW)
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The Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW)
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Examining Gender-Based Violence Through International Human Rights Frameworks
The problem of gender-based violence (GBV) has also been one of the obstacles to continuing the violation of women's rights, but it reveals some basic frameworks of inequalities that continue to define the world and Anglophone Caribbean societies. The CEDAW Convention and the General Recommendation No. 35 offer a highly important normative approach to the need to overcome such violence by putting the burden on states and disrupting discriminatory social norms (Vijeyarasa, 2020). Nonetheless, despite these advancements in the legal sphere, feminist researchers believe that the legislative framework is not adequate enough to dismantle the gendered hierarchy of power that exists within the culture, economic, and institutional life (Charlesworth et al., 1991; Biholar, 2022). This essay is a case study of the Anglophone Caribbean of Trinidad and Tobago that explores the intersection of the CEDAW approach and the feminist praxis, culture, and the structural realities. It is based on this reflection that metabolic scopes are produced on justice, resistance and social restructuring. With this reflection, larger scopes on justice, resistance, and social restructuring are formed.
Feminist International Law Perspectives and the Limits of CEDAW
CEDAW is the beacon of the cross-border actions towards eradicating discrimination and violence against women, and makes gender equality one of the human rights and prerequisites to sustainable development. General Recommendation No. 35 is a milestone of the previous frameworks in explicitly noting gender-based violence (GBV) as a type of discrimination that adversely affects the enjoyment of rights and freedoms (Vijeyarasa, 2020). This concept change proves a milestone in the implementation of feminist knowledge of structural inequality into international law practice. Though, as Charlesworth, Chinkin, and Wright (1991) suggest, feminist approaches of international law articulate how such tools tend to recreate patriarchal assumptions despite their aim of questioning them. The sovereignty, neutrality, and objectivity norms of the masculine construction of the international legal order often impact the marginality of the experiences of violence and opposition of women as embodied subjects.
Reflectively, it is through the tension that the constrained nature of law as a transformative tool is brought to the fore. The text and recommendations of CEDAW increase an idealistic dream of equality, applications are in state readiness, cultural interpretation, and political will, which is highly distorted by patriarchy and social hierarchy, localized conception of womanhood, agency, and community-based opposition to GBV. Using the instance of Trinidad and Tobago, even though the government ratified CEDAW in 1990 and issued a Domestic Violence Act, the patriarchal nature and lack of effectiveness still fail to protect the rights of women in a comprehensive manner (UN Women Caribbean, 2021). The legal changes that are informed by CEDAW are, in the majority of situations, collateral to the popular socio-cultural tendencies that reinforce the power of men and obscure the suffering of women (Biholar, 2022). This separation highlights one of the most glaring feminist indicators that legal equality does not necessarily translate into substantive equality or women’s safety (Deshong, 2024). This feminist perspective can be observed in Trinidadian feminist movements such as the Coalition Against Domestic Violence (CADV) and the Network of NGOs for the Advancement of Women, which promote localized understandings of equality, agency, and community-based responses to GBV.
Understanding Cultural Contexts and Structural Violence in the Caribbean
The Anglophone Caribbean represents a complex setting where international human rights standards intersect with deeply rooted cultural beliefs regarding gender. According to Biholar (2022), GBV in the region cannot be separated from colonial legacies, economic dependency, and internalized masculinities that intersect with race and class hierarchies. These historical and cultural realities are not fully addressed by the normative framework of CEDAW. The emphasis on legal reform often prioritizes formal institutions over community-based prevention and collective action.
Delaney and Sanatan (2024) demonstrate how Anglophone Caribbean art has become a space for reimagining gender relations and portraying women as active agents of social change rather than passive victims. Through Carnival, Calypso, and contemporary visual art, women artists in Trinidad and Tobago challenge sexual violence, colorism, heteronormativity, and patriarchal expectations. These artistic expressions function as a cultural jurisprudence of resistance that complements and critiques the legalistic framework established by CEDAW by illustrating that sustainable change requires cultural transformation as well as legal reform.
Reflectively, incorporating these cultural dimensions broadens understandings of compliance and effectiveness. Although CEDAW ratification is symbolically important, legal reforms alone cannot transform gender ideologies embedded in everyday social life. Patriarchal family structures, nationalist ideologies, and religious beliefs frequently resist CEDAW principles in the name of cultural sovereignty. Consequently, feminist praxis must balance universal human rights with locally grounded action. Deshong (2024) emphasizes that gender is not merely a category of analysis but also a site where violence and power relations are continually negotiated. Consequently, GBV should be understood as a manifestation of broader systems of domination. Delivering CEDAW as a technocratic legal initiative risks depoliticizing gender unless it is accompanied by meaningful social transformation (Vijeyarasa, 2020).
Challenges of Policy Implementation and State Accountability
Although CEDAW has significantly advanced protections for women experiencing violence, implementation remains uneven. According to Vijeyarasa (2020), General Recommendation No. 35 reinforces the obligation of states to exercise due diligence in preventing, investigating, and punishing GBV. Nevertheless, many Caribbean states have not translated these commitments into adequately funded policies. Trinidad and Tobago's Domestic Violence Act, revised in 2020, expanded legal protections and definitions of abuse, yet shelters, rehabilitation services, and victim support programs remain severely underfunded (UN Women Caribbean, 2021). Legal reforms alone cannot succeed without institutional investment, specialized courts, education programs, and adequate social services.
These implementation gaps demonstrate that failures are often structural rather than administrative. Governments may adopt CEDAW to demonstrate international legitimacy while remaining reluctant to challenge deeply embedded patriarchal systems. This raises important questions regarding whose voices are represented within international legal narratives. Feminist scholars argue that CEDAW often privileges Global North experiences while inadequately recognizing women living within postcolonial societies (Charlesworth et al., 1991). Caribbean women's organizations therefore utilize advocacy and shadow reporting to incorporate local knowledge and intersectional experiences into international discussions. Effective implementation consequently requires not only legal compliance but also epistemic justice that recognizes multiple ways of understanding and resisting violence.
Intersectionality remains one of the most challenging dimensions of implementation. While the original CEDAW text did not explicitly recognize overlapping forms of discrimination related to race, class, sexuality, or migration status, General Recommendation No. 35 attempts to address these concerns (Vijeyarasa, 2020). However, Biholar (2022) argues that translating intersectionality into policy remains difficult within resource-constrained settings where competing development priorities exist. Without an intersectional perspective, implementation efforts risk reproducing exclusion rather than eliminating it.
Transformative Justice Beyond Legal Reform
Reflection on the legacy of CEDAW provides broader insights into feminist approaches to addressing GBV. Although legal reform remains essential, it cannot independently achieve the social transformation envisioned by feminist scholars and activists. Feminist international law seeks not merely formal equality but transformative justice through restructuring the social, cultural, and economic systems that sustain gender inequality (Charlesworth et al., 1991). This approach promotes community-based responses grounded in care, solidarity, empowerment, and restorative practices rather than relying exclusively on punitive legal mechanisms.
The Caribbean offers significant examples of these transformative approaches. Feminist activists increasingly combine legal advocacy with community healing initiatives, educational theatre, survivor storytelling, and artistic expression, particularly within Trinidad and Tobago. These interventions reveal the emotional and psychological dimensions of violence while encouraging communities to imagine alternative futures. Such cultural practices demonstrate that justice extends beyond legal institutions into everyday social relationships, illustrating what Deshong (2024) describes as gendered resistance.
These reflections suggest that CEDAW's greatest contribution lies not only in its legal authority but also in its symbolic and mobilizing power. The Convention establishes a framework of rights that local feminist movements can adapt, challenge, and expand according to their own realities. However, this potential can only be realized when international legal institutions remain accountable and responsive to grassroots activism (Vijeyarasa, 2020). Rather than rejecting law, feminist engagement reclaims it as a dynamic instrument of ongoing social struggle. Integrating feminist theory with cultural praxis therefore offers a more comprehensive model of transformative justice capable of addressing structural violence while empowering women's voices and agency.
Integrating Legal Reform, Culture, and Grassroots Action for Gender Justice
CEDAW, particularly through General Recommendation No. 35, represents a landmark achievement in recognizing gender-based violence as a violation of human rights. However, its effectiveness ultimately depends upon the interaction between international legal standards and local cultural, structural, and political realities. The experience of Trinidad and Tobago demonstrates both the opportunities and limitations of implementing feminist international law within a postcolonial society characterized by deeply embedded patriarchal traditions. While international legal norms establish an important foundation, meaningful transformation requires collaboration with community organizations, artistic expression, and feminist movements that challenge both patriarchal and colonial systems. Ultimately, genuine gender justice can only be achieved through an integrated approach that combines legal reform, cultural transformation, and sustained grassroots activism to eliminate structural violence against women.
References
Biholar, R. (2022). Critical Inquiries of Gender-Based Violence in the Anglophone Caribbean: An Introduction. In Critical Caribbean Perspectives on Preventing Gender-Based Violence (pp. 1–9). Routledge. https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9781003255208-1/critical-inquiries-gender-based-violence-anglophone-caribbean-ramona-biholar
Charlesworth, H., Chinkin, C., & Wright, S. (1991). Feminist approaches to international law. American Journal of International Law, 85(4), 613–645. https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/american-journal-of-international-law/article/feminist-approaches-to-international-law/912D0F3051C6356EAB44261B6D94B72D
Delaney, K., & Sanatan, A. P. (2024). Social Change and Gender-based Violence: Representations in Anglophone Caribbean Art and Culture. Caribbean Quarterly, 70(3–4), 291–312. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/00086495.2024.2427911
Deshong, H. A. (2024). Gendered Violence and Gender as a Site of Violence: Reflections from the Caribbean. Frontiers: A Journal of Women Studies, 45(2), 79–101. https://muse.jhu.edu/pub/17/article/935657/summary
UN Women Caribbean. (2021). Ending violence against women and girls: Evidence and innovations from Trinidad and Tobago. https://caribbean.unwomen.org/en
Vijeyarasa, R. (2020). CEDAW’s General Recommendation No. 35: A quarter of a century of evolutionary approaches to violence against women. Journal of Human Rights, 19(2), 153–167. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/14754835.2019.1686347