H  O  U  S  E     R  E  S  O  L  U  T  I  O  N

RESPECTFULLY URGING PRESIDENT WILLIAM J. CLINTON AND SECRETARY OF STATE MADELEINE ALBRIGHT TO PLACE THE UNITED NATIONS CONVENTION ON THE ELIMINATION OF ALL FORMS OF DISCRIMINATION AGAINST WOMEN IN THEIR HIGHEST CATEGORY OF PRIORITY

WHEREAS, A twenty-year study by the United Nations reported that women face discrimination in every region on earth; and

WHEREAS, In 1979, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, and President Carter sent the convention to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee for ratification where it has remained; and

WHEREAS, Currently, one hundred sixty-five (165) nations, including all of the industrialized world, except South Africa and the United States, have agreed to be bound by the convention's provisions; and

WHEREAS, The spirit of the convention is rooted in the goals of the United Nations to affirm faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person, and in the equal rights of men and women; and

WHEREAS, The convention provides a comprehensive framework for challenging the various forces that have created and sustained discrimination based on sex, and the nations in support of the present convention have agreed to follow convention prescriptions; and

WHEREAS, Women constitute at least forty-one percent of the work force worldwide yet are far behind men in pay, power, and responsibility; and

WHEREAS, Nearly seventy percent of the world's poor are women; and

WHEREAS, On average, women around the world earn thirty to forty percent less than men for work of comparable value; and

WHEREAS, Twelve countries have laws that do not allow women to seek employment, open a bank account, or apply for a loan without the husband's authorization; and

WHEREAS, Thirty-three and six-tenths percent of the adult female population is illiterate versus 19.4 percent of the adult male population; and

WHEREAS, Young women face discrimination in the classroom which undermines their self-esteem and jeopardizes their future performance; and

WHEREAS, Over sixty percent of the women and girls in the world live under conditions which threaten their health; and

WHEREAS, Eleven percent of the women in industrialized countries suffer from nutritional anemia, and up to two-thirds of pregnant women in Africa and much of Asia are anemic; and

WHEREAS, In Austria, violence against wives was cited as a contributing factor in 59 percent of 1,500 divorce cases that were reviewed; and

WHEREAS, In the United States six million women are beaten by their husbands or boyfriends each year, and 1,500 of them will die; and

WHEREAS, Battering is the major cause of injury to women in the United States; and

WHEREAS, In India, registered cases of women being killed in disputes over their dowries soared from 999 in 1985 to 1,786 in 1987; and

WHEREAS, Kuwait is the only country in the world that extends voting privileges to certain citizens, but prohibits all women from voting; and

WHEREAS, Although women have made major gains in the struggle for equality in social, business, political, legal, educational, and other fields in this century, there is much yet to be accomplished, and through its support and leadership, the United States can help create a world where women are no longer discriminated against and can achieve one of the most fundamental of human rights, equality; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED, That his House of Representatives of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations hereby respectfully urges President William J. Clinton and Secretary of State Madeleine Albright to place the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women in the highest category of priority in order to accelerate the treaty's passage through the Senate Foreign Relations Committee; and be it further

RESOLVED, That the Secretary of State be and he hereby is authorized and directed to transmit duly certified copies of this resolution to the President of the United States, the Secretary of State of the United States, the President of the United States Senate, the Chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and to the members of the Rhode Island Delegation to the Congress of the United States.