CEDAW Committee's Concluding Observations to the UK

The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women has published its concluding observations on the seventh periodic report of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

Read the concluding observations in Word format.

The Commission made both a written and oral submission to the Committee examining the UK’s record on womens’ rights. We are pleased to see that the Committee reflects many of our recommendations on how to advance women's rights in Scotland.

In its concluding observations to the UK the Committee addressed a range of issues raised by the national human rights institutions and Scottish civil society. These included: Violence against Women, the impact of legal aid and welfare reforms, childcare costs, female stereotypes in the media, occupational segregation and the gender payback and women in prison.

Some specific recommendations to the UK and devolved administrations included:

  • Incorporate the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination against Women into the domestic legal systems.    

  • Adopt preventive measures against potential exploitation of the Universal Credit system by an abusive male spouse.

  • Continuously assess the impact of the reforms to legal aid on the protection of women’s rights.

  • Expand the limitation period for civil claims regarding abuse, particularly of girls, so that they can still initiate proceedings when they are adults.

  • Intensify efforts to train police officers to eliminate prejudices concerning the credibility of victims of domestic violence.     

  • Engage with the media to eliminate stereotypical imaging of women and their objectification in the media, particularly in advertising.  

  • Revise its legislation to prohibit corporal punishment of children in the home.

  • Create more opportunities for women with disabilities to access employment.

  • Provide affordable childcare and to mitigate the impact of the proposed reforms of the welfare system on the costs of childcare for low income families and the increased burden of care for women.

The Commission will continue to address these issues through Scotland’s National Action plan for Human Rights along with the other members on the Drafting Group. 

Read our written submission to the CEDAW Committee.