Reporting timeliness to specialized international human rights conventions: CEDAW

Explanations of human rights compliance have been historically philosophical. Using timeliness of reporting as a measure of minimal compliance, there is an opportunity to examine compliance on a statistical level. This study introduces a theory asserting that compliance to specialized international human rights conventions depends on the representation of the protected group in a state's parliament. While examining the Convention to End All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), the study attempts to find a relationship between timely reporting to CEDAW and the level of female participation in parliament. The data fails to provide a statistically significant relationship due in part to the reality that women are far from achieving political equality. To achieve human rights for women, there must remain a push for political equality in national governments. When such equality is attained by one or more states, then doors open for those states to set standards for others.