States Reports

Introduction

When a state is party to CEDAW, it is obliged to provide a periodic report to the CEDAW Committee on measures taken to implement the treaty’s provisions. The reporting procedure is central to the CEDAW Committee’s monitoring functions to ensure CEDAW’s provisions reach women on the ground. It ensures states continually engage with the CEDAW Committee to identify and evaluate barriers to gender equality their specific context. This ongoing dialogue is intended to be constructive, helping states develop plans of action through observations and recommendations.

Periodic Reporting Procedure

Under the harmonized guideline procedure for UN treaty bodies, states are required to develop two reports: A “Common Core Document” A treaty-specific report on the implementation of CEDAW’s provisions To assist states in developing their reports, CEDAW has provided general guidelines on report content. According to these guidelines, states’ reports should take into account the CEDAW Committee’s general recommendations, concluding observations from previous reporting cycles and factors that have prevented full implementation of the Convention.

Simplified Reporting Procedure

In 2014, the CEDAW Committee decided to offer an optional, simplified reporting procedure to states parties who were overdue on submitting their periodic reports. Under the simplified reporting procedure, the CEDAW Committee approves a list of issues to be sent to the state party under review. This list of issues is delivered prior to the submission of states reports (known as ‘LOIPR’) to help focus and guide the preparation of states’ reports. These list of issues generally include VAW-related issues. In drafting the LOIPR sent to the state under review, the CEDAW Committee seeks input from CSOs, NGOs and National Human Rights Institutions. To find out when each state is expected for consideration be CEDAW, you can check the OHCHR website.

Are states required to include information on violence against women in their reports?

Yes. The CEDAW Committee requests that states consider CEDAW’s general recommendations when preparing its reports, as well as concluding observations from previous reporting cycles. The CEDAW Committee frequently issues concluding observations on the need to address violence against women.

CEDAW’s general recommendations also require states to report on their work to tackle VAW. Most general recommendations request states include information on VAW-related issues in their reports and measures introduced to deal with it. General Recommendation No. 19 provides substantive guidance on VAW in states reports, requesting information on:

Attitudes, customs and practices that perpetuate VAW and the type of violence that results (para. 24.e)
Penal provisions, preventative and rehabilitation measures taken to protect women engaged in prostitution or subject to trafficking and other forms of sexual exploitation (para. 24.h)
Sexual harassment and other forms of violence in the workplace (para. 24.j)
Measures taken to address gender-based violence within the health sector (para. 24.l)
Measures taken to secure the independence of women’s fertility and reproduction, and the adequacy and availability of reproductive services (para. 24.n)
Risks to rural women and the violence they experience (para. 24.q)
Sexual abuse and domestic violence, and the preventative, punitive and remedial measures taken to eliminate them (para. 24. s)
All available data on the occurrence of each and all forms of gender-based violence, and the effects VAW has on survivors (para. 24.u)
Legal, preventive and protective measures taken to address VAW and the effectiveness of those measures (para. 24.v)

Want more? You can read through individual states reports to CEDAW on the OHCHR website