This was done to recognize that there are specific violations based on one’s gender and these are violations of human rights. The effort was to make women visible within the existing legal framework. However, this sometimes led to women being considered as equals only if they exhibited male characteristics, while sexual differences were completely obscured. Another way, which is not antagonistic to the abovementioned way, was to create legal instruments that, in keeping with the principle of equality of all people, recognize the existence of sexual discrimination against women and create specific obligations to eliminate it. For example, there are instruments that establish criteria for national legislative reforms or policies, which guarantee and implement the laws that are already in existence in each country. The main international legal instrument in this area is the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of 63 Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), which has been ratified by 185 countries thus far, and in its definition includes violence against women as an act of sexual discrimination, according to the terms expressed by the CEDAW committee in its general recommendation No. 19. During this process, in order to include the needs and certain specific rights of women, there has been a tendency to separate and break down rights in general. On other occasions, the recognition of these rights has led to the definition of policies and institutions that are specifically aimed at women, and more so at women in certain conditions, such as young women who are at a reproductive age, or in situations of war or poverty. In this context it is important to keep in mind three features of international law: 1. The definitions and recognition of international legislation are a fundamental reference for the construction of women’s rights and their protection in our daily lives. 2. International law creates obligations for states through its mechanisms for making appeals to international bodies, and allows us to report the countries that are violating internationally established rights. 3. The obligations stated in international legislation allow us to know what we can demand and within what frameworks we can develop proposals for further legislation, access to justice, and reparation of damages in our country and locality.
At the national level It is necessary to consider some characteristics of the legal system, especially at the national level. In feminist work it is very clear that law consists of more than the norms published in codes and laws. Law and legality also encompass the institutions and people who apply these norms, as well as society and its culture, which recognize and do or do not value these norms. 64
Generally, the law functions in three interdependent arenas.
63. Text available at: http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/cedaw/cedaw.htm 64. Nuestros cuerpos nuestras vidas: The Boston Women’s Health Book Colective,Plaza & Janes. 2000. España. Pag. 183 y Alda Facio, Cuando el Género Suena Cambios Trae. ILANUD. Costa Rica, 1999.
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