The United Nations has been referred to as the “unlikely godmother” of the global women’s movement because, while being led primarily by men, it has been a key ally of that movement. In fact, the United Nations is responsible for the most complete international agreement on the basic human rights of women, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, known as CEDAW.

For this activity, do research on the history of CEDAW. How does CEDAW define discrimination against women? What are the basic principles of the articles of the convention? How do these relate to the issues discussed in this chapter? What countries have ratified CEDAW? What sort of success has CEDAW had in addressing issues of global gender stratification?