On this page, you will find guidance to access the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women for individual communications in Refugee and Asylum cases.
How to make an individual application alleging a violation of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women
The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women monitors the implementation of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) thanks to it Optional Protocol allowing individuals to submit complaints against States responsible for an alleged violation of their rights. Only States which are parties to the Optional Protocol can receive individual complaints.
Which States are parties to the Optional Protocol permitting to file such complaints?
115 States are parties. The list of States can be found here.
Who can file a complaint to the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women?
Individuals claiming to be a victim of a violation of the CEDAW by a State Party. It is therefore the individual (or a group of individuals) or his (their) representative that must file the complaint, with appropriate authorization.
A complaint can also be submitted on behalf of a victim (or group of victims) with their express written consent, unless the authors can justify acting on their behalf without such consent.
See Article 2 of the Optional Protocol and Rule 68 of the Rules of Procedure.
What human rights can the Committee protect?
The Committee can only deal with the rights contained in the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. It includes a number of rights, such as :
- Right to be treated equally and without discrimination (Article 2).
- Right to access health care (Article 12)
- State obligation to ensure full development and advancement of women (Article 3)
The Convention has no explicit provision on the principle of non-refoulement, but the Committee addressed the issue in its General Recommendation No.32 (2014). It stated that Article 2(d) CEDAW encompassed the duty to protect women from being subjected to discrimination, irrespective of territorial boundaries. Therefore, a State cannot send a woman to a place where she might be at risk of discrimination, included gender-based violence (§22-23). Also, asylum procedure must be gender-sensitive so as to address gender-specific grounds for asylum (§45 & §50).
What rules must be observed for the complaint to be admissible ?
- Anonymity and abuse of right
The Committee does not consider anonymous submissions and those that constitute an abuse of right (Article 3 and Article 4(2)(d) of the Optional Protocol).
- Exhaustion of domestic remedies
An individual should first seek protection by the national courts. The Committee is considered a body of last-resort and can therefore only be sought once the complainant has exhausted all available domestic remedies
The rule on domestic remedies does not apply if the remedies are unreasonable prolonged or unlikely to bring effective relief to the person who is a victim of a violation of the Convention. (Article 4(1) of the Optional Protocol).
- No time-limit.
There is no explicit time limit regarding the time elapsed since the exhaustion of domestic remedies to file complaint before the Committee.
- Examination of the complaint by another procedure
The complaint will not be considered if it has been previously materially assessed by another procedure of international investigation or settlement (regional human rights Court or other human rights Bodies) (Article 4(2)(a) of the Optional Protocol)
How to request interim measures to be taken to avoid irreparable damage
In addition to individual communications, the Committee can order interim measures in order to avoid “irreparable damage to the victim”. This can be requested at any time during the proceedings, before a determination on the merits has been reached.
The ordering of interim measures does not imply a determination on the admissibility or the merits of the case.
Failure to respect these measures will be incompatible with the obligation to respect in good faith the procedure of individual communication.
See Article 5 of the Optional Protocol and Rule 63 of the Rules of Procedure.
Important considerations
Complaints must only address matters that have happened after the entry into force of the Optional Protocol in the State concerned (Article 4(e)). This is 3 months after the State ratifies or accedes to the Optional Protocol (Article 16).
An exception to the rule is when the violation started before the entry into force of the Protocol but continued after that date (Article 4(e)).
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Last updated March 2025
