A House with Two Rooms - The Advocates for Human Rights

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Appendix B
their national laws, to adopt legislation prohibiting discrimination against women, to establish equal
rights for women, to refrain from discriminating against women, and to take appropriate measures
to eliminate discrimination against women by any person, organization, or enterprise. 95 States also
agree to modify the social and cultural patterns of society that are based on the idea of superiority
or inferiority of the sexes or stereotyped roles for men and women, to ensure that family education
includes a proper understanding of maternity as a social function and recognizes the common
responsibility of men and women in raising children, and to take all appropriate measures to
suppress all forms of traffic in women and exploitation of prostitution of women. 96
CEDAW established a monitoring committee called the Committee on the Elimination of
Discrimination against Women. 97 The implementing Committee receives reports from States Parties
and makes recommendations. 98 The Committee is also restricted to meeting for no more than two
weeks annually. 99 An Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of
Discrimination against Women entered into force on December 22, 2000. 100 The optional protocol
allows the committee to consider petitions from individuals or groups and to conduct confidential
enquiries into grave or systematic violations of CEDAW. 101 Liberia ratified CEDAW on July 17, 1984.
v. The Convention on the Rights of the Child
The Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) was adopted by the U.N. General Assembly in
1989 and entered into force on September 2, 1990. 102 As of June 11, 2009, 193 states are parties to
the CRC. 103 The Convention has two optional protocols that entered into force in 2002, one relating
to the involvement of children in armed conflict, and the other relating to the sale of children, child
prostitution, and child pornography. 104
The guiding principle of the CRC is that “in all actions concerning children . . . the best interests
of the child shall be a primary consideration.” 105 The Convention protects certain general rights,
including non-discrimination and equality of opportunity; the right to life, survival, and development,
including physical, mental, emotional, cognitive, social, and cultural development; and the freedom
to express opinions and have those opinions taken into account, depending on the child’s age and
maturity level. 106 Other rights of children include free and compulsory primary education; protection
from economic exploitation; protection from sexual abuse, child prostitution, and child pornography;
protection from physical and mental harm and neglect; special treatment and education for disabled
children; and protection of children affected by armed conflict. 107 A Committee on the Rights of the
Child was established “for the purpose of examining the process made by States Parties in achieving
the realization of the obligations undertaken in the . . . Convention.” 108 Liberia ratified the CRC on
June 4, 1993.