by Agnieszka Rybak, MS Candidate, International Affairs at The New School - Julien J. Studley Graduate Program in International Affairs, Spring 2018.
The Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) is considered as the most comprehensive code of women’s rights at international level, with its focus on socioeconomic, civil, political and cultural rights in all spheres of women’s lives. CEDAW was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on December 18, 1979, and countries began to implement it on September 3, 1981. CEDAW’s ratification represents an important reaffirmation of nation’s commitment to the human rights of women, and a momentous step forward for women around the world. Furthermore, countries that have ratified the Convention are legally bound to put its provisions into practice.
Today, it is time to examine as to whether the promise of CEDAW was delivered as initially intended. To rightly assess the success of CEDAW, it is imperative to ask the following questions: 1) Which countries have laws that promote gender equality? 2) Which countries have laws preventing domestic violence against women? 3) Which countries grant equal rights for men and women on property ownership? 4) Which countries have laws prohibiting sexual harassment at work and public space?
Using data from the World Bank and the UN, I created an interactive map to answer above raised questions and provide a snapshot of how women's rights are legislated around the world. Additionally, to add a much more in-depth dimension and urgency towards women’s rights issues across the globe, I used the Gender Gap Index to identify the best and worst places for women.
Ratification of the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). Click on the bubble next to year to see which nations ratified CEDAW by 1990, 2000, 2010 and 2018.
Click on the bubble to see how country has legislated for violence, harassment, property, employment rights, discrimination and equality.
Click on buttons to learn how every country in the World Ranks on Gender Equality as per Global Gender Gap Report 2017.
The map contains eight layers in total. Data for each layer was cleaned, re-organized and geocoded using ArcGIS Desktop.
For “the women’s equality treaty layer,” I created InfoWindow (aka pop up text on mouse hover) to show each country’s name.
For "women's rights around the world by issue layers,” I created bubbles in different color to show identified full, partial and non-positive and no data responses.
For “the best and worst places for women layer,” I used polygon pattern fill with the opacity at 75 %, so other layers could be visible and to add more in-depth dimension to the map.
Special thanks to Eric Brelsford for the help !
To create this map, I used the following datasets:
The World Bank: Women, Business and the Law (WBL)
World Economic Forum: The Global Gender Gap 2017
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Note: The information on this website/map is being provided as a general resource for individuals interested in women's rights. The website and/or its representatives assume no liability based on the information contained herein in the event of accident or illness, or for damage or injury to person or property of any nature whatsoever.