A first important step in reforming the justice sector to end violence against women is ensuring that the government has ratified key international treaties related to the human rights of women and girls. Important treaties to ratify include:

• Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women: States parties to CEDAW submit regular reports to the Committee on how the rights protected by the Convention are implemented in their country. The Committee considers each report and issues concluding observations and recommendations in response.
• Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women
• Convention on the Rights of the Child
• Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment
• Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography
• Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict
• Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime
• Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court
• Convention on Consent to Marriage, Minimum Age for Marriage and Registration of Marriages
• The Geneva Conventions of 1949 and their Additional Protocols
• Convention of Belém do Pará
• Protocol to the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa
• Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings

The majority of countries already have agreed to be bound by international treaties that support women’s human rights. For those that have not, the following strategies may be employed:

• Promote an understanding of the utility of the proposed document in protecting women’s rights.
• Develop a strategy to adopt the human rights document directed at state officials who have the power to promote its ratification.
• Identify and involve key stakeholders in the country who will support ratification.
• Involve international supporters who can demonstrate benefits of ratification.
• Involve the public, including those who will be most affected by ratification, such women’s NGOs.
• Partner with women’s NGOs to garner public support through awareness campaigns and media presentations.

Even though the government may have ratified these treaties, it may have made reservations (i.e., claimed to be exempt from certain provisions) at the time of ratification. If ratifications limit or deny the rights of women, a key focus of reform should be advocacy to remove the reservations. For more information on selected key human rights documents on violence against women, see the section on Guiding Principles in the Knowledge Module on Developing Legislation to End Violence Against Women and Girls.