Editor's Note: Advocates for Youth has prepared and submitted the following testimony in advance of tomorrow's U.S. Senate hearing on the ratification of the Convention for Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women:

Dear Chairman Durbin, Ranking Member Coburn, and Members of the Subcommittee:

Advocates for Youth is pleased to submit this statement in strong support of ratification of the Convention for Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women [CEDAW].

Established in 1980 as the Center for Population Options, Advocates for Youth champions efforts that help young people make informed and responsible decisions about their reproductive and sexual health. We believe we can best serve the field by boldly advocating for a more positive and realistic approach to adolescent sexual health. This approach is based on the core values of Rights. Respect. Responsibility.©  

Youth have the right to accurate and complete sexual health information, confidential reproductive and sexual health services, and a secure stake in the future. Youth deserve respect. Valuing young people means involving them in the design, implementation, and evaluation of programs that affect their health and well-being.  And society has the responsibility to provide young people with the tools they need to safeguard their sexual health while young people have the responsibility to protect themselves from too-early childbearing and sexually transmitted infections, including HIV.  

Around the world, violence and discrimination against women and girls violates their human rights and severely compromises young people's sexual and reproductive health. Harmful practices, including female genital cutting/mutilation, femicide, gender-based violence, and early marriage, damage girls' physical being and self-worth by reinforcing gender-based marginalization and inequality. Gender inequalities and biases pervade cultures worldwide, preventing women and girls from fully realizing their rights to reproductive health and equality.

Young women are particularly affected by harmful practices. For example, India experienced nearly 7,000 dowry deaths in 2005, with the majority of victims aged 15-24.   In addition, in 2006, 21 percent of young women aged 15-19 in Nigeria reported being engaged in high-risk cross-generational sex in exchange for material goods, money, or higher social status. These young women have a severely reduced capacity to negotiate condom use, partially explaining why young women aged 15-24 are three times more likely to be infected with HIV than young men aged 15-24. Since youth comprise nearly half of the world's population, protecting and promoting the fundamental human rights of young people will affect the health, well-being, and stability of this planet for generations to come.

While women in the U.S. enjoy opportunities and status that are not available to many women in other parts of the world, few would dispute that more progress is warranted. Despite advances in the investigation and prosecution of perpetrators of violence against women, domestic violence remains a serious problem in the U.S., with an average of four women per day murdered and 5.5 million women per year physically assaulted or raped by intimate partners. Furthermore, over 20 percent of all adolescents experience intimate partner violence. In addition, while the U.S. has taken a strong stand against human trafficking, some estimates suggest that there may be 20,000 women, men, young adults, and children trafficked into the U.S. each year.

CEDAW is the world's most complete international agreement on basic human rights for women. It was adopted by the U.N. General Assembly in 1979, and the United States played an important role in drafting it. A total of 187 nations have ratified the convention, demonstrating the powerful principle that human rights of women are universal across all cultures, countries, and religions. CEDAW, unquestionably, embodies American values. It seeks to end violence against women and trafficking; promote equal educational opportunity; improve women's reproductive, maternal and child health; end discrimination in the workplace; and encourage women's political participation. Most fundamentally, it recognizes that women's rights are human rights, and that societies that empower women are prosperous, stable societies.  While the United States has long been recognized as a leading voice for women's rights and human rights, we are one of only seven countries in the world that have failed to ratify this landmark international human rights agreement. (The others are Iran, Sudan, Somalia, and three small Pacific Islands.) In this age of globalization, the fate of our nation is more closely intertwined with that of the rest of the world than ever before. The United States' absence from this global consensus undermines both the ideals of opportunity and equality set out in CEDAW and our own position as a global leader standing up for women and girls.  By ratifying CEDAW, we would strengthen our global voice to the benefit of women and girls around the world, reinforcing the United States' unequivocal commitment to women's progress at home and around the world.  

I urge the U.S. Senate to ratify CEDAW now. The lives and livelihoods of countless young women depend on it. 

Sincerely,

James Wagoner

President

Advocates for Youth