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Inkorporering av FN:s kvinnokonvention -ett sätt att stärka kvinnors rättigheter?

Liljequist Aspelund, Annamaria LU (2015) JURM02 20151
Department of Law
Abstract
SUMMARY
This study aims to examine whether the UN Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) should be incorporated into Swedish law, in order to enhance equality between women and men. This study discusses the anti-discrimination standard of CEDAW and the status of the convention in Sweden. Furthermore, this study presents and analyses the pros and cons of the incorporation method, mainly by looking at the considerations made in conjunction with the incorporation of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (ECHR), in the Swedish debate of incorporation of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), as well as in the Norwegian debate, where the CEDAW was... (More)
SUMMARY
This study aims to examine whether the UN Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) should be incorporated into Swedish law, in order to enhance equality between women and men. This study discusses the anti-discrimination standard of CEDAW and the status of the convention in Sweden. Furthermore, this study presents and analyses the pros and cons of the incorporation method, mainly by looking at the considerations made in conjunction with the incorporation of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (ECHR), in the Swedish debate of incorporation of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), as well as in the Norwegian debate, where the CEDAW was incorporated into Norwegian law in 2009. This paper explains that CEDAW is infrequently applied in the promotion of gender equality in Sweden, and notes that there is a lack of knowledge of CEDAW on national, regional and local levels. Unlike other anti-discrimination and equality regimes under international law, which address discrimination on the basis of sex (female and male), and that hold a gender-neutral approach, CEDAW is premised on the assumption that a gender-neutral approach does not sufficiently recognize the structural and intersectional discrimination of women, and therefore a gender-specific guarantee is needed. In the case of incorporation of CEDAW into Swedish law, this thesis identifies some areas where CEDAW can have a potential substantial effect, where CEDAW can be used in policy-making of gender-specific reforms and in the protection of intersectional discrimination. This study suggests that by giving CEDAW legal status, it could potentially become better known, the right of complaints in the Optional Protocol to CEDAW could be invoked in more cases, and the lack of conformity with existing legislation could be discovered. Irrespective of the substantial, direct impact that the CEDAW may have in case of incorporation into national law, this study has identified potential normative effects in support of incorporation. If CEDAW was applied as law in Sweden, CEDAW could possibly form a common starting point for several other perspectives and express a minimum standard within the field of anti-discrimination and equality protection. The comparative part of this study notes that there was initially a strong resistance to incorporating ECHR into national law, essentially based on the same arguments which were made against the CRC and that could be brought against the CEDAW. However, the comparison with ECHR shows that ECHR is seen as an integrated and natural part of national law, primarily as a result of its status as Swedish law. In the comparative study of the CRC this study notes, inter alia, that the provisions of CRC differ from CEDAW, mainly due to some provisions that have more of a character of goal regulation with gradual compliance requirements. This thesis suggests that in Norway, where CEDAW was incorporated into national law, as to take precedence when coming into conflict with Norwegian law, that the CEDAW has slowly become better known and enjoys greater political and legal legitimacy, due to its legal status. (Less)
Abstract (Swedish)
SAMMANFATTNING
Syftet med denna uppsats har varit att utreda frågan huruvida FN:s konvention om avskaffande av all slags diskriminering av kvinnor (kvinnokonventionen) bör göras till svensk lag för att öka jämställdheten mellan män och kvinnor. I detta syfte diskuterar uppsatsen kvinnokonventionens jämställdhetsstandard och konventionens ställning i Sverige. Vidare presenteras och analyseras för- och nackdelar med inkorporeringsmetoden, främst genom att granska de överväganden som gjordes i samband med inkorporeringen av Europakonventionen (EKMR) i svensk rätt, vid föreslagen inkorporering av barnkonventionen, samt vid den debatt som gjordes i samband med att kvinnokonventionen fick status som lag i Norge. Studien konstaterar att... (More)
SAMMANFATTNING
Syftet med denna uppsats har varit att utreda frågan huruvida FN:s konvention om avskaffande av all slags diskriminering av kvinnor (kvinnokonventionen) bör göras till svensk lag för att öka jämställdheten mellan män och kvinnor. I detta syfte diskuterar uppsatsen kvinnokonventionens jämställdhetsstandard och konventionens ställning i Sverige. Vidare presenteras och analyseras för- och nackdelar med inkorporeringsmetoden, främst genom att granska de överväganden som gjordes i samband med inkorporeringen av Europakonventionen (EKMR) i svensk rätt, vid föreslagen inkorporering av barnkonventionen, samt vid den debatt som gjordes i samband med att kvinnokonventionen fick status som lag i Norge. Studien konstaterar att kvinnokonventionen är ett underanvänt verktyg för jämställdhetsarbetet i Sverige, den är enligt flera rapporter okänd och sällan tillämpad på såväl nationell som regional och lokal nivå. Kvinnokonventionen skiljer från andra jämställdhets- och anti diskrimineringsregelverk i internationell rätt då dessa instrument främst intar ett könsneutralt förhållningsätt. Istället erkänner kvinnokonventionen att det är kvinnor som strukturellt diskrimineras på grund av sitt kön, såväl som på grund av ett flertal andra diskrimineringsgrunder och att ett könsneutralt förhållningsätt därmed innebär ett otillräckligt skydd. I uppsatsen har identifierats ett antal områden där kvinnokonventionen kan tänkas få substantiell betydelse om den får status som svensk lag. Den kan underlätta för en grundlig könsmedveten granskning av Sveriges författningar och utgöra ett skydd mot multipel diskriminering på en rad samhällsområden. Oavsett vilket materiellt genomslag kvinnokonventionen kan tänkas få i svensk rätt om den gjordes till lag, har uppsatsen identifierat normerande skäl till stöd för inkorporering. Om konventionen fick status som lag skulle den kunna bilda en gemensam utgångspunkt för arbetet med flera andra perspektiv och kan uttrycka en miniminivå som ska garanteras.
Kvinnokonventionen skulle genom förhöjd juridisk status potentiellt bli mer känd, klagorätten i konventionens tilläggsprotokoll skulle möjligen användas oftare och eventuella brister i svensk lagstiftning skulle kunna upptäckas i större utsträckning. I den komparativa delen av uppsatsen har konstaterats att det inledningsvis fanns ett starkt motstånd att inkorporera EKMR i svensk rätt, i huvudsak utifrån samma argument som sedan anfördes emot barnkonventionen och som kan anföras emot kvinnokonventionen. I komparationen med EKMR har dock konstaterats att det var först när EKMR fick ställning som svensk lag som den skulle komma att uppfattas som ett integrerat inslag i svensk rätt. I komparationen med barnkonventionen har bland annat observerats att vissa bestämmelser i barnkonventionen skiljer sig från kvinnokonventionen, främst då den förstnämnda kan påstås ha större grad av målsättningsstadganden med gradvisa uppfyllandekrav. I Norge där kvinnokonventionen har företräde framför nationell lag sedan år 2009, presenteras i uppsatsen indikationer på att kvinnokonventionen successivt blivit mer känd och att den har erhållit mer juridisk och politisk legitimitet efter att den fått status som lag. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Liljequist Aspelund, Annamaria LU
supervisor
organization
course
JURM02 20151
year
type
H3 - Professional qualifications (4 Years - )
subject
keywords
folkrätt, public international law
language
Swedish
id
7766944
date added to LUP
2015-09-22 09:39:07
date last changed
2015-09-22 09:39:07
@misc{7766944,
  abstract     = {{SUMMARY
This study aims to examine whether the UN Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) should be incorporated into Swedish law, in order to enhance equality between women and men. This study discusses the anti-discrimination standard of CEDAW and the status of the convention in Sweden. Furthermore, this study presents and analyses the pros and cons of the incorporation method, mainly by looking at the considerations made in conjunction with the incorporation of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (ECHR), in the Swedish debate of incorporation of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), as well as in the Norwegian debate, where the CEDAW was incorporated into Norwegian law in 2009. This paper explains that CEDAW is infrequently applied in the promotion of gender equality in Sweden, and notes that there is a lack of knowledge of CEDAW on national, regional and local levels. Unlike other anti-discrimination and equality regimes under international law, which address discrimination on the basis of sex (female and male), and that hold a gender-neutral approach, CEDAW is premised on the assumption that a gender-neutral approach does not sufficiently recognize the structural and intersectional discrimination of women, and therefore a gender-specific guarantee is needed. In the case of incorporation of CEDAW into Swedish law, this thesis identifies some areas where CEDAW can have a potential substantial effect, where CEDAW can be used in policy-making of gender-specific reforms and in the protection of intersectional discrimination. This study suggests that by giving CEDAW legal status, it could potentially become better known, the right of complaints in the Optional Protocol to CEDAW could be invoked in more cases, and the lack of conformity with existing legislation could be discovered. Irrespective of the substantial, direct impact that the CEDAW may have in case of incorporation into national law, this study has identified potential normative effects in support of incorporation. If CEDAW was applied as law in Sweden, CEDAW could possibly form a common starting point for several other perspectives and express a minimum standard within the field of anti-discrimination and equality protection. The comparative part of this study notes that there was initially a strong resistance to incorporating ECHR into national law, essentially based on the same arguments which were made against the CRC and that could be brought against the CEDAW. However, the comparison with ECHR shows that ECHR is seen as an integrated and natural part of national law, primarily as a result of its status as Swedish law. In the comparative study of the CRC this study notes, inter alia, that the provisions of CRC differ from CEDAW, mainly due to some provisions that have more of a character of goal regulation with gradual compliance requirements. This thesis suggests that in Norway, where CEDAW was incorporated into national law, as to take precedence when coming into conflict with Norwegian law, that the CEDAW has slowly become better known and enjoys greater political and legal legitimacy, due to its legal status.}},
  author       = {{Liljequist Aspelund, Annamaria}},
  language     = {{swe}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{Inkorporering av FN:s kvinnokonvention -ett sätt att stärka kvinnors rättigheter?}},
  year         = {{2015}},
}