translated from Spanish: Feminist lawyers: the Cedaw Protocol

during the weekend was circulating the news d (e) Sebastián Piñera Government sought to get out of the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of all forms of discrimination against women (CEDAW). Even though this has been denied by the Executive, clarifying that what is under discussion is the accession of Chile to the additional protocol to the Convention, which is pending since 2001, the feminist lawyers are on alert.
The Protocol allows organizations or women go to the CEDAW Committee to alert you about a case of violation by the State, whenever the internal mechanisms have been exhausted, and may the Committee order measures precautionary. In this sense, Protocol is a concrete mechanism for enforcing the Convention for women violated the rights it establishes.
From those opposed to adhere to the Protocol, it has been argued that the only mechanism to which the State of Chile has awarded sovereignty to decide on cases against the State, is the Inter-American Court and that this would constitute a loss of sovereignty unacceptable. This argument is untenable in the context of a globalized world, where it is key to strengthening the international community. These sectors do not have any problem in cede sovereignty to international tribunals to settle disputes bordering Peru and Bolivia, or intervene in the exercise of the sovereignty of countries such as Venezuela, the crises of human rights.
Additionally, while it is true that today there are legal mechanisms at the international level where the Convention may be required in cases against the State–the Inter-American Court, which belongs to the OAS, uses conventions of the United Nations system also to substantiate their judgments-Committee CEDAW is a specialized in gender, which gives its decisions on the matter of legitimacy that it has a court composed mostly by men and that do not necessarily have gender training.
We were more than half a million women who we went out to the Street last March 8. The Government has a historic opportunity to realize this claim that feminists have been more than 20 years lifting. Adherence to the Protocol is a political signal that the State of Chile truly puts the rights of women in “the center of their agenda” and the feminist lawyers will be attentive.

Original source in Spanish