Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women Holds Half-Day General Discussion on Gender Stereotypes
The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women today held a half-day general discussion on its proposed general recommendation on gender stereotypes.
In opening remarks, Nahla Haidar, Committee Chairperson, said gender stereotypes created false beliefs, inhibitive gender roles and discrimination. The Committee hoped to prepare guidelines that would help States to address these stereotypes, and counter myths and common excuses as to why gender stereotypes continued to be perpetuated, such as cultural and religious reasons.
Peggy Hicks, Director, Thematic Engagement, Special Procedures and Right to Development Division, United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, said in introductory remarks that the general recommendation would provide guidance on State obligations to address gender stereotypes as root causes of gender-based discrimination. She expressed hope that it would strengthen standards, principles and guidance to eliminate all forms of gender stereotypes.
In her introductory remarks, Natalia Kanem, Executive Director, United Nations Population Fund, said that currently, around the world, there were immense pushbacks against women and girls in all their diversity. In this uncertain moment, all parties needed to stand with women and engage actively in developing this general recommendation. The work of the Committee saved and transformed lives; it needed to continue.
Nyaradzayi Gumbonzvanda, Deputy Executive Director, United Nations Women, said gender stereotypes were barriers to the human rights of women and girls. They restricted education, jobs, leadership, health and justice, fuelling inequality and violence, silencing women and denying freedoms. General recommendation 41 presented a decisive opportunity to dismantle gender stereotypes at their core.
Bandana Rana and Rhoda Reddock, Committee Experts and Co-Chairs of the Committee Working Group on gender stereotypes, also made introductory statements, calling on all stakeholders to support and provide input for the general recommendation.
After the introductory remarks, the Committee held a panel discussion on gender stereotypes, hearing presentations from Adriana Quinones, Head, Human Rights and Development, United Nations Women; Joni van de Sand, Global MenEngage Alliance; Paola Daher, Women Deliver; Alexandra Xanthaki, United Nations Special Rapporteur in the field of cultural rights; and Marwa Sharafeldin, Musawah.
Following the panel discussion, States parties, United Nations agencies, and civil society representatives delivered oral statements. Speaking were Malta, Andorra, Poland, Canada, Vanuatu, Cyprus, Japan, Chile, Maldives, Ukraine, Austria, Azerbaijan, United Arab Emirates, Mexico, Bulgaria, Israel, Venezuela, Bolivia, Spain, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization and Nepal.
Also speaking were Consortium for Intersectional Justice, Observatorio Iberoamericano Contra la Violencia de Género, Duch Cedaw Network, WILPF, Center for Reproductive Rights, European Network of Migrant Women, Tania Sordo Ruz, Nordic Model Now, and Ilga World.
The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women’s ninetieth session is being held from 3 to 21 February. All documents relating to the Committee’s work, including reports submitted by States parties, can be found on the session’s webpage. Meeting summary releases can be found here. The webcast of the Committee’s public meetings can be accessed via the UN Web TV webpage.
The Committee will next meet at 5 p.m. on Friday, 21 February to close its ninetieth session.
Introductory Remarks
NAHLA HAIDAR, Committee Chair, welcomed all participants to the meeting. She said that the Committee was mandated to issue recommendations to States parties and provide guidance on themes related to women’s rights. The discussions to be held today would focus on the Committee’s proposed general recommendation on general stereotypes, which the Committee urged all stakeholders to support. Gender stereotypes created false beliefs, inhibitive gender roles and discrimination. Measures needed to be implemented to combat them. The Committee hoped to prepare guidelines that would help States to address these stereotypes, and counter myths and common excuses as to why gender stereotypes continued to be perpetuated, such as cultural and religious reasons.
PEGGY HICKS, Director, Thematic Engagement, Special Procedures and Right to Development Division, United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, said she could not think of a timelier topic. The general recommendation on gender stereotypes would provide guidance on State obligations to address these stereotypes as root causes of gender-based discrimination. She expressed hope that it would strengthen standards, principles and guidance to eliminate all forms of gender stereotypes.
Gender stereotypes were justified under the banners of “tradition,” “culture,” “religion” or even “nature.” They often stemmed from patriarchal systems that tolerated or affirmed unequal power relations, based on the idea that women were inferior to men. Discriminatory practices against women and girls needed to be eliminated, regardless of their origins, including those perpetuated in the name of culture or religion.
The impacts of gender stereotyping began in the family and were apparent in every aspect of the lives of women and girls. Gender stereotyping normalised violence against women and girls, politicised their reproductive functions, and denied them equal participation in political life and economic opportunities. Women who did not conform to gender stereotypes or who openly contested them were particularly exposed to discrimination, violence and criminalisation.
It was crucial to address stereotypes that manifested first in the family and were then perpetuated in education systems and all aspects of society, including virtual spaces. Transforming education systems to eliminate gender stereotypes was essential; human rights-based education was a powerful tool to dispel stereotypes.
The discussion would address the unique vulnerabilities faced by women and girls who experienced combined stereotypes based on gender and other grounds, such as ethnicity, socioeconomic status, disability and age. The general recommendation needed to address how to rectify the impact of intersecting forms of stereotypes, resulting discriminations and corresponding State obligations.
Gender stereotypes trapped men and boys, conditioning them to embrace harmful ideas of masculinity. Men and boys needed to challenge unequal power relations and structures, recognising how patriarchy privileged them and how gender equality liberated all. Combatting gender stereotypes demanded a comprehensive approach involving the transformation of laws, policies and societal structures.
The general recommendation would enable States parties to change and transform gender stereotypes, paving the way for the full realisation of all human rights for all women and girls. The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights was ready to support this work. It had concrete analytical tools and the mandate and expertise to monitor these issues, provide technical assistance, and build the capacity of key stakeholders.
NATALIA KANEM, Executive Director, United Nations Population Fund, said it was currently a moment of grave import for the rights of women and girls. Around the world, there were immense pushbacks against women and girls in all their diversity. Fierce opposition was threatening progress on several fronts. It was welcome that maternal mortality had dropped by a third, and more than 160 countries had passed laws to address domestic violence.
However, the United Nations Population Fund regularly heard stories like those of Amena’s, who had been informed at age 13 by her parents that she was to be married. The Fund had helped Amena to stand up for her rights and she was able to return to school.
Gender stereotypes perpetuated stigma and shame around girls’ sexuality, and they posed significant risks to economic and social stability, contributing to the gender wage gap. Poverty often wore the face of a woman. Stereotypes also often led to gender-based violence, particularly online. Discrimination severely limited the participation of women and girls in the digital space. The ripple effects of these stereotypes drove political polarisation, fractured communities and exacerbated inequality. They contributed to a world where progress and peace were illusive.
Gender discrimination was compounded by factors such as age, race and disability status. The Fund was training healthcare workers to provide non-judgemental care for women, so women could make informed choices about their bodies and lives.
Gender stereotypes were perpetuated in all segments of society. The Fund was empowering girls to become leaders and was working to create a digital world that was safe and accessible for everyone. It was also working with boys and men to ensure that they were not trapped by gender stereotypes. It would continue to support policies and programmes that aimed to address harmful social norms. The Committee needed to formulate processes that would give women their own money, self-agency and bodily autonomy.
In this uncertain moment, all parties needed to stand with women. All stakeholders needed to engage actively in developing this general recommendation. This was not the time to roll back the clock on women’s rights. The work of the Committee saved and transformed lives. It needed to continue.
NYARADZAYI GUMBONZVANDA, Deputy Executive Director, United Nations Women, said United Nations Women was proud to support general recommendation 41. Gender stereotypes were barriers to the human rights of women and girls. They restricted education, jobs, leadership, health and justice, fuelling inequality and violence, silencing women and denying freedoms.
Gender stereotypes’ impact was clear in politics, where women faced double standards, exclusion and relentless scrutiny. They also fuelled violence and impunity, with women and girls too often being valued first as wives and daughters, and not as full human beings with rights. Stereotypes further dictated economic power, with women being denied inheritance rights.
United Nations Women commended its Member States for adopting strong regional frameworks to combat gender-based violence and discrimination, including the Belem do Para Convention, the Istanbul Convention, and the African Union Convention on Ending Violence against Women. Commitments needed to translate into action. Lifting reservations to the Convention, which weakened protections and kept barriers in place, was urgent.
General recommendation 41 presented a decisive opportunity to dismantle gender stereotypes at their core. The year 2025 marked 30 years since the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action. It was also the final stretch toward the expiration date of the Sustainable Development Goals, which pledged to end harmful practices against women and girls. General recommendation 41 was a critical tool for transformation that needed to be acted on immediately.
BANDANA RANA, Committee Expert and Co-Chair of the Committee Working Group on Gender Stereotypes, said the Committee, at its eighty-fourth session, had agreed to start the elaboration of a general recommendation on gender stereotypes. Harmful gender stereotypes were one of the biggest stumbling blocks to gender equality. They contributed to unequal representation in workplaces and policies, and contributed to gender-based violence.
The Convention called on States to challenge traditional norms that limited women’s’ representation in all areas of society. The general recommendation would dismantle discriminatory stereotypes and provide guidance on addressing these stereotypes and creating a more just society. Together, they could create more equitable societies, as envisioned by the Sustainable Development Goals. Ms. Rana called on all stakeholders to actively contribute to the general recommendation, dismantle gender stereotypes, and build a future where everyone could thrive without barriers.
RHODA REDDOCK, Committee Expert and Co-Chair of the Committee Working Group on Gender Stereotypes, said gender stereotypes were based on ideas, attitudes, belief systems and patriarchal structures that existed in all societies. They reflected the notion of women being inferior to men. The Convention called on all States parties to modify social patterns and cultural practices that were based on stereotyped roles of men and women. Stereotypes often changed, and new ones were regularly created. Women’s structured inferiority moved with them to all activities where they predominated. This issue was central to the equal valuing of women and men. Ms. Reddock called on all stakeholders for support as the Committee developed the general recommendation.
Summary of Statements by Panellists
After the introductory remarks, the Committee held a panel discussion on gender stereotypes, hearing presentations from Adriana Quinones, Head, Human Rights and Development, United Nations Women; Joni van de Sand, Global MenEngage Alliance; Paola Daher, Women Deliver; Alexandra Xanthaki, United Nations Special Rapporteur in the field of cultural rights; and Marwa Sharafeldin, Musawah.
Many speakers expressed concern that currently, women’s rights were under threat from those with immense power. There was a mounting backlash against diversity, inclusion and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex rights, and new policies and platforms for discrimination were emerging. Stereotypes between men and women were becoming more apparent and legitimised.
Speakers said gender stereotypes were key pillars of patriarchal domination and power. They did not emerge in a vacuum; they were used to determine roles and behaviours that conformed to power relations, and they became stubbornly resistant over time. They had a negative impact on the full realisation of the rights of women and girls, including their rights to work, education, and sexual and reproductive health. Persons who challenged traditional notions of the family faced discrimination. Gender stereotypes often intersected with stereotypes related to race, class and other aspects.
Speakers expressed national measures implemented to address gender stereotypes and promote gender mainstreaming, and offered the Committee support in addressing gender stereotypes.
One speaker said an increasing number of young men in the world thought that gender equality had gone too far. Transforming stereotypes against men was crucial in advancing gender equality. A key strategy in this regard was to promote masculinity rooted in concepts of care and environmental protection, they said. The general recommendation needed to elaborate on how transforming gender stereotypes was relevant to men and masculinities.
Another speaker said the Committee needed to recognise that stereotypes were not perpetuated by the abstract concept of “culture”. The general recommendation needed to recognise that women’s rights and agency came from culture. The general recommendation needed to recognise that it was how culture was being used by elites that made it harmful.
The rights enshrined in the Convention belonged to all women, including lesbian, bisexual, transgender and intersex women, one speaker said. Womanhood needed to be recognised through self-identification. The Committee needed to continue to eradicate stereotypes in international law regarding the definition of a woman.
One speaker said that religion, law and the family were fields where transformative change was possible to dismantle gender stereotypes. Religion was a source of law and it affected social norms and stereotypes. There was patriarchal religious discourse and religious discourse that promoted gender equality. States needed to make a choice about the religious discourse used in law and practice. The speaker noted efforts to combat gender stereotypes by changing interpretations of religious texts.
Several speakers gave recommendations regarding the content of the general recommendation. One speaker said it needed to have a multi-layered institutional approach that was cognisant of power relations, while another called for the general recommendation’s scope to be expanded to promote counter narratives to gender stereotypes. Another recommendation was for full effective and meaningful participation of women and girls to be captured in the general recommendation.
Panel Discussion
Representatives of States, United Nations agencies and civil society then took the floor, with speakers, among other things, expressing support for the elaboration of a general recommendation on gender stereotypes that would contribute to eliminating gender stereotypes and their adverse effects on women and girls, and to promoting the rights of all women and girls.
Many speakers said gender stereotypes impeded the participation of women in all areas of public and private life and subconsciously affected how all behaved. Stereotypes led to the subordination of women and girls, wage gaps, discrimination and gender-based violence. They limited the potential of women globally and progress toward Sustainable Development Goal Five. Women and girls continued to bear the brunt of conflict and climate change. States had a responsibility to combat these stereotypes.
Speakers said that in many countries, there was a pushback against feminism, which was misinforming the public and slowing progress. It was imperative to prevent backsliding. In this context, the United Nations and other international bodies needed to expand, not restrict, definitions of gender, one speaker said.
Some speakers said that in the digital world, harmful messaging and sexist discourse were affecting women and girls. Online pornography and prostitution promoted violence against women and perpetuated stereotypes, while online hate speech reinforced gender stereotypes, silenced women’s voices, and limited their political participation. The Committee needed to examine how gender stereotypes permeated online discourse. Some speakers said that artificial intelligence was perpetuating and amplifying harmful gender stereotypes against women. Measures needed to be implemented to eliminate gender biases in artificial intelligence. One speaker called for the promotion of women’s participation in the technological sector.
Speakers expressed support for the elimination of all harmful stereotypes against women and girls. All parties needed to cooperate to build a fair and equitable society for women and girls. Governments needed to recognise the crucial role of civil society organizations in protecting women’s rights and countering stereotypes. Stereotypes needed to be recognised and countered. Stakeholders needed to reshape restrictive masculinities and reinforce positive gender norms. International regional frameworks, including the Convention, needed to be implemented to build a more prosperous future for all. Encouraging social awareness of stereotypes was crucial in combatting discrimination and promoting equality.
Some speakers said gender stereotypes were cross-cutting, affecting various marginalised groups. Intersectionality was a necessary lens for addressing gender stereotypes. Speakers also called on the Committee to adopt a decolonial approach and embrace indigenous approaches to women’s rights, and consider the rights of lesbian, bisexual, transgender and intersex women and girls. One speaker said the Committee needed to oppose the patriarchy and contribute to dismantling it.
The Committee needed to elaborate on biases in gender-based roles and their impact on society, one speaker said. Another speaker called for the general recommendation to consider the link between stereotypes and women’s unpaid care work. The Committee needed to note the importance of awareness raising campaigns in breaking down stereotypes. One speaker said the general recommendation needed to challenge how gender stereotypes influenced security systems.
Some speakers said the general recommendation needed to consider the cultural sensitivities of all States parties. Actions and decisions needed to align with States’ unique customs, they said. One speaker called on the Committee to reflect on the positive influences of culture and religion on promoting women’s rights.
Speakers presented legislative and policy initiatives to counter gender stereotypes and address intersectional discrimination; promote women’s participation in the workforce, political bodies and education, including in science, technology, engineering and maths education; revise textbooks to remove gender stereotypes; promote the access of women and girls to health and reproductive rights; combat human trafficking; repeal discriminatory laws; collect data on the prevalence of gender discrimination; promote the use of parental leave and the participation of men in care work; and empower vulnerable women.
One speaker asked the Committee whether the general recommendation would consider the connection between unilateral coercive measures and gender stereotypes.
Closing Remarks
ANTTI KORKEAKIVI, Chief, Human Rights Treaties Branch, United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, expressed gratitude to all speakers for their invaluable contributions. The dialogue had demonstrated how deeply gender stereotypes affected women and girls in all aspects of life. The general recommendation had the potential to dismantle gender stereotypes and help women and girls to realise their potential. The inputs of all stakeholders would inform the Committee’s efforts to elaborate the general recommendation. The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights looked forward to the positive impact that the general recommendation would have on the lives of women and girls globally.
NAHLA HAIDAR, Committee Chair, said all stakeholders’ inputs had been very valuable. This general recommendation needed to ensure that no one was excluded from protection. The Committee would consider the Convention’s perspective on intersectionality, which was captured in the Committee’s general recommendation 28. The current general recommendation needed to meet the requirements of women and girls all over the world. Speakers had expressed a diversity of views on the subject, and the Committee would consider all these views. In closing, Ms. Haidar thanked all speakers that had participated in the meeting, including more than 40 States parties.
___________
CEDAW.25.052E
Produced by the United Nations Information Service in Geneva for use of the information media; not an official record.
English and French versions of our releases are different as they are the product of two separate coverage teams that work independently.