Pakistan at a Crossroads Towards Gender Equality: How and Why is Pakistan Avoiding Its Obligations Under CEDAW?

Abstract

When a state ratifies a human rights treaty, she undertakes the responsibility to take legislative, executive and other measures for ensuring the implementation of treaty provisions at domestic level. The state is also, inter se, required to conform its laws in accordance with the treaty provisions it accedes to. However, Pakistan adopted a dualist method when it acceded to CEDAW.Pakistan is party to covenant, however, she shuns the obligations under the treaty; the reason is Pakistan’s ambiguous and wide reservation it putted while acceding to CEDAW. Consequently, disregarding its treaty obligations, Pakistan maintains its laws which are gender discriminatory in nature and conflicting with the provisions of CEDAW. The paper after briefly discussing the nature of obligations incurred under human rights treaties sheds some light on the reservation under international law and the then examines Pakistan’s reservation to CEDAW. For the purpose of enquiring into raison d’être of Pakistan’s Declaration the paper also examines her Travauxpréparatoires. It concludes that Pakistan putted such an ambiguous reservation due its constitutional commitment to Islamization. Through such a wide reservation Pakistan wanted to protect its domestic gender discriminatory legislation which proves detrimental to the women. 

      Keywords: CEDAW, gender, discrimination, obligations, reservation, human rights