How CEDAW Is Implemented in East Asia
How CEDAW Is Implemented in East Asia
U.S.-Asia Law Institute
Date: May 18, 2023
Time: 8:00-9:30 AM Eastern Time
Speaker: Professor Carole J. Petersen
The webinar will be conducted in English via Zoom. Simultaneous English-Chinese translation will be provided
About the webinar:
The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) is one of the most widely embraced international conventions, ratified by 189 states including states in East Asia. But what impact has it had on the actual lives of women in East Asia? In this webinar, Carole Petersen, a law professor and CEDAW expert at the University of Hawaii, will present a comparative case study of CEDAW’s implementation in three East Asian jurisdictions: Japan, Hong Kong, and South Korea. All three jurisdictions have a constitutional right to equality and well-developed economies, which should assist the governments in complying with their obligations under CEDAW. Yet the convention’s real-life impact differs significantly among the three. Professor Petersen will consider what factors may account for these differences.
About the speaker?
Carole J. Petersen is professor of law at the William S. Richardson School of Law, University of Hawaii at Manoa. She teaches international law, international protection of human rights, and gender and law. She taught law in Hong Kong from 1989-2006, and assisted members of the Hong Kong Legislative Council to draft bills prohibiting discrimination. More recently, she has worked with the International Labor Organization on programs to assist the Chinese government in implementing ILO Convention 111 (equality in employment). Carole's current research focuses on the impact of human rights treaties on China's domestic laws and policies, particularly the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. She has written extensively about human rights in Hong Kong, including a 2002 article "The International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women: A Comparison of Its Implementation and the Role of Non-Governmental Organizations in the United Kingdom and Hong Kong" in Hastings International and Comparative Law Review.