CEDAW, Domestic Violence, and the Case for U.S. Ratification

Introduction: The U.S. and CEDAW

In the late 1970s, the United Nations convened the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and thereby "codified comprehensively international legal standards for women." Since the first countries ratified the Convention in 1980, over 185 countries have signed and ratified the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). The Convention explicitly champions the rights of women worldwide, and ratifying CEDAW obliges participating states to put its principles and provisions into practice. One country agreed to sign but not ratify CEDAW — that country is the United States of America.

The American Bar Association urges United States lawmakers to ratify CEDAW, especially because of its pertinence to domestic violence law. As the American Bar Association (ABA) notes, the Convention would require unified anti-domestic violence laws and protection for women who seek help across state borders. Without CEDAW or a similar national standard for ensuring genuine gender equality, the United States is sorely lacking cohesive means to address the problem of violence against women.

Federal Standards and Cross-State Protection

One major advantage of having a federal standard for domestic abuse is that women fleeing their abusers could trust the equal application of anti-domestic violence law. Currently, women who flee across state lines to extricate themselves from an abusive relationship face uncertain futures. "Victims of domestic violence are often limited in their ability to travel because protection orders issued in one state are not always enforced by other states" (ABA). Those women also lack the assurance that a central support system will aid them in transitioning from a financially dependent partnership to an independent existence. Standards like CEDAW would ensure women access to support for their psychological and financial needs.

Moreover, the ABA notes that "the failure to enforce protection orders is perhaps the weakest link in the legal safeguards available to women." Women who rely on restraining orders to stave off former abusers cannot necessarily trust the efficacy of those orders. Restraining orders are generally localized, which means women cannot trust that their abusers will be apprehended in states other than their place of residence. Women who leave their abusers are taking proactive measures, but without a valid and reliable system of support, no woman is assured that her safety is a nationwide concern. Victims of abuse remain in abusive relationships for a number of reasons, but a lack of viable options is certainly one of them — particularly for women living in poverty.

Battered Women's Syndrome in the Legal System

United States law does expressly condemn violence against women, but inconsistency and a lack of commitment to prosecuting domestic violence continue to frustrate all whose lives are affected. The use of battered women's syndrome — also called the battered women's defense — in murder trials for women who kill their abusers is one of the ways the legal and justice system has offered some support for victims of abuse. Recognizing battered women's syndrome as a legitimate defense is helpful in many cases but does not solve the underlying issues. Battered women's syndrome is a "cluster of behaviors or traits" characterized by learned helplessness: the tendency to become submissive in an abusive relationship.

The syndrome explains a wide range of behaviors that might seem odd or even unacceptable to those who have never experienced or witnessed an abusive relationship. Why women choose to stay with abusive partners can at least in part be explained by learned helplessness, which begins with a genuine belief that the first incident of abuse was a fluke. Forgiving an initial act of violence, the woman may then experience a long period of calm in the relationship. After this "temporary success," however, the abuse recurs — often more severe and more frequent. Furthermore, women in abusive relationships may have children, may be financially dependent on their partner, or may have no friends or family members to whom they can turn for support. With nowhere to go and no means to get there, a woman quite understandably stays with the abuser.

Federal standards like those suggested by CEDAW would help ensure that no woman would have to remain with an abuser. She would instead have access to services that promote independence and safety. Without access to social services, battered women remain too long in their abusive relationships.

Battered women's syndrome is invoked in the courtroom when women stay too long in abusive relationships and eventually kill their partner in an act of indirect self-defense. The victim of abuse remains in the relationship for so long that the abuse becomes a way of life. She cannot overpower the abusive partner during one of his fits of violence because of his physical strength. Instead, her fear, anger, and pain build to a breaking point. Viewed as a psychological syndrome, battered women's syndrome allows jurors and judges to better assess the context in which the killing of an abusive partner took place. However, as a form of temporary insanity defense, it is not consistently successful in court. Most jurors are "skeptical" of the defense because of a lack of awareness about domestic violence and the social issues surrounding the abuse of women.

Conclusion: Ratifying CEDAW as a National Imperative

In extreme cases, battered women's syndrome leads to what should be a preventable homicide. Ratifying initiatives like CEDAW sends a clear message: no maltreatment of women is tolerable under any circumstances. Public funding for a nationwide support network also sends a clear message to all women that domestic violence is intolerable. Rather than waiting for battered women's syndrome to develop, women should be able to avail themselves of legal and social services regardless of their financial or immigration status.

References

American Bar Association. Convention to Eliminate All Forms of Discrimination Against Women. Retrieved October 12, 2008, from

Chapter 3: Profiles and Syndromes.

Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). Full text retrieved October 12, 2008, from http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/cedaw/cedaw.htm

Macy, R., Nurius, P. S., Kernic, M. A., & Holt, V. L. (n.d.). Battered women's profiles associated with service help-seeking efforts: Illuminating opportunities for intervention.