CEDAW AND THE ENFORCEMENT GAP: WOMEN’S RIGHTS IN AUTHORITARIAN REGIMES AND INDIA

AUTHOR – KSHEIRAJ H, STUDENT AT SCHOOL OF LAW, CHRIST (DEEMED TO BE UNIVERSITY), BENGALURU, INDIA

BEST CITATION – KSHEIRAJ H, CEDAW AND THE ENFORCEMENT GAP: WOMEN’S RIGHTS IN AUTHORITARIAN REGIMES AND INDIA, INDIAN JOURNAL OF LEGAL REVIEW (IJLR), 6 (3) OF 2026, PG. 69-81, APIS – 3920 – 0001 & ISSN – 2583-2344. DOI – https://doi.org/10.65393/MYVG9189

Abstract

This paper analyzes the efficacy of international legal frameworks aimed at safeguarding women’s rights, with a specific focus on the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). CEDAW creates a complete set of rules against gender discrimination, but its enforcement still depends on cooperation from states and implementation within those states. This study compares Afghanistan and Iran to show how authoritarian or religiously structured governments use sovereignty, cultural autonomy, and religious legitimacy to make it harder to enforce international women’s rights norms. These cases show that there is still a big gap between what international law says about protecting women’s rights and what protections are actually available to women in their own countries. In contrast, the paper examines India’s constitutional jurisprudence to demonstrate how domestic courts can convert international norms into binding legal standards. The Supreme Court of India has used CEDAW principles in its constitutional interpretation in cases like Vishaka v. State of Rajasthan, Apparel Export Promotion Council v. A.K. Chopra, Githa Hariharan v. Reserve Bank of India, Anuj Garg v. Hotel Association of India, and Joseph Shine v. Union of India. The paper contends that by juxtaposing these divergent methodologies, international women’s rights law primarily serves as a normative framework, with its efficacy contingent upon the readiness of domestic legal institutions to assimilate and implement gender equality standards.

Keywords:

CEDAW; International Women’s Rights; Gender Equality; Authoritarian Regimes; Treaty Enforcement; Constitutional Interpretation; India.