CEDAW Candidate for Reelection

Ms. Marion Bethel

The Bahamas’ candidate for re-election to the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women for the term 2021-2024, who has been fully endorsed by the Caribbean Community (CARICOM)

Candidate Brochure

Overview

Ms. Marion Bethel is The Bahamas’ Candidate for re-election to the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women for the term 2021-2024. She is the first Bahamian elected to a United Nations Human Rights Treaty Body. Ms. Bethel is the only candidate of the English-speaking Caribbean vying for election on the CEDAW Committee and has been endorsed once again by the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) for this election.
The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) is an international human rights treaty adopted in 1979 by the United Nations General Assembly, which entered into force on 3rd September, 1981, and has since been ratified by 189 States. It is considered as the international bill of rights for women. The Committee is composed of 23 independent experts who are elected for a term of four years by a meeting of States-Parties. With elections scheduled to take place at the United Nations Headquarters in New York in late 2020, Ms. Bethel wishes to continue her valuable contribution to the CEDAW Committee and its efforts to eliminate discrimination against women and girls around the world.

Background

Ms. Bethel has a strong legal background including thirty-four (34) years’ experience as a Legal Counsel and Attorney-at-Law in both public and private sectors. Working primarily in a Caribbean Small Island Developing State, Ms. Bethel has an appreciation for Small State perspectives on Human Rights, in general, and Women’s Human Rights, in particular. Ms. Bethel has a broad experience as an independent expert, demonstrating a high moral standing as a member of the Independent Panel for the election of Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) and Judges (CIDH) and as a member of a group of experts of the Inter-American Drug Abuse Control Commission (CICAD), preparing model regulations on the laundering of property and proceeds related to drug trafficking. Ms. Bethel is nationally and internationally recognized as an expert in fields such as Gender-Based Violence and Sexual Health and Reproduction Rights, being a member of the Organization of American States Inter-American Commission on Women Group of Experts for Preparation of Model Regulations on the Prevention and Eradication of Violence Against Women, and a board member of the Bahamas Sexual Health and Rights Association.

Ms. Bethel is a dynamic advocate for women’s human rights, leadership, non-discrimination and economic empowerment. She has served as a member of the Federation of International Women Lawyers; as a Delegate of the Programme to Combat Racism of the World Council of Churches; as a Delegate to the Caribbean Regional Judicial Colloquium of Senior Judges on the promotion of Human Rights for Women and the Girl Child, through the Judiciary; as Chairperson of Citizen’s Committee Against Violence and the Death Penalty; and as a Delegate of the Caribbean Association for Feminist Research and Action and Development Alternatives for Women for a New Era to the United Nations Conference on Human Rights.

Ms. Bethel is a civic activist on gender issues, having co-founded the National Association for Gender Equality under the Constitution of The Bahamas; being a Member of the National Women’s Advisory Council; Founder of the National NGO, “Developing Alternatives for Women Now”; working as a National Representative for the Caribbean Association for Feminist Research and Action; having volunteered at the Women’s Crisis Centre of The Bahamas; volunteering at the Women’s Counselling Project at Columbia University; being a Rape Survivor Advocate; and volunteering at The Bahamas Women’s Prison where she taught English and Reading skills. Ms. Bethel is also a nationally and internationally acclaimed author and documentary film-maker, whose passion for women’s rights also finds expression through creative and cultural pursuits. She has produced and directed the award-winning documentary, “Womanish Ways: Freedom, Human Rights and Democracy, the Women’s Suffrage Movement in The Bahamas”, and has been a guest writer of Gender Studies and Caribbean Studies at the University of Toronto.

CEDAW Committee Activities

In 2019

  • November 2019: CEDAW Expert: Dialogue on Climate Crisis, Resilience, Adaptation and Climate Financing post Hurricane Dorian with Caribbean Women’s Network, Nassau, Bahamas
  • November 29, 2019: CEDAW Expert: Panellist at Round Table, Women’s Human Rights and Gender-based Violence against Women and Girls, 16 Days of Activism, Zonta, NP, Bahamas
  • November 25, 2019: CEDAW Expert: Presented on CEDAW, International Standards & Norms and Gender-based Violence against Women and Girls, Sponsored by The Bahamas Crisis Centre, Nassau, Bahamas
  • October 3- 4, 2019: CEDAW Member: Addressed Zonta International District 11 on The Human Rights of Women and Girls, in celebration of Zonta Int’l –Centennial Anniversary, Orlando, Florida
  • July 2019: CEDAW Member: Legal Expert for Equality and Justice Alliance/Sisters for Change, commissioned to elaborate a Report on Criminalization of Marital Rape in Commonwealth countries
  • July 3, 2019: CEDAW Member: Briefed and engaged with OHCHR Indigenous Fellows on UN CEDAW and other UN mechanisms and the Rights of Indigenous Persons, Palais des Nations, Geneva
  • June 28, 2019: CEDAW Panellist: The Rights of Older Women, presented on CEDAW’s General Recommendation No. 27 of 2010 on the Rights of Older Women, sponsored by the UN Human Rights Council, Palais des Nations, Geneva
  • May 16, 2019: CEDAW Panellist: Consultation on Right to Nationality & Statelessness, sponsored by UNHCR, University of the Bahamas, Nassau, Bahamas
  • April 23-25, 2019: CEDAW Panellist: Consultation on Equal Nationality Rights & Statelessness, sponsored by Global Campaign for Equal Nationality Rights, Istanbul, Turkey
  • April 3-4, 2019: CEDAW Expert: Prepared a presentation on Marital Rape and Law Reform in Commonwealth countries, hosted by Sisters for Change, Singapore
  • March 2019: CEDAW Member: Drafted a Foreword to the IWRAW-Asia Pacific Guide on Women’s Right to and at Work, published in March 2019
  • January 2019: CEDAW Participant: Consultation on Trafficking in Women & Girls in the context of Global Migration, sponsored by IWRAW-Asia Pacific, Bangkok, Thailand

In 2018

  • December 2018 from January 2017: Vice-Chair of the Working Group on Inquiries of the Optional Protocol of the CEDAW
  • November 21-22, 2018: CEDAW Member: Attended the public launch of DEMUS Women Lawyers CSO’s Shadow Report for the CEDAW Committee, Lima, Peru
  • November 14, 2018: CEDAW Expert: Presentation on UN CEDAW to the Human Rights Class of Professor S. Zwingel at Florida International University, Florida
  • October 2, 2018: CEDAW Panellist: Gender & Trade: Aligning Gender, Rights & Trade at the World Trade Organization, sponsored by Women at the Table, Geneva
  • July 2018: CEDAW Member: Participated in adoption of CEDAW Inquiry Report under Article 8 of the Optional Protocol concerning the Kyrgyz Republic in regard to Bride Kidnapping, rape and forced marriage in Kyrgyzstan
  • June 23, 2018: CEDAW Member: Addressed the National Women’s Advisory Council of The Bahamas on UN CEDAW, Nassau, Bahamas
  • June 11-12, 2018: CEDAW Participant: Consultation on Corruption & Human Rights, Centre for Civil & Political Rights, Geneva Academy and the OHCHR, Geneva
  • June 4-8, 2018: CEDAW Panellist: UN CEDAW at the Caribbean Studies Association Conference, coordinated by Professor S. Zwingel of Florida International University, Havana, Cuba
  • March 2018: CEDAW Member: participated in approval and adoption of General Recommendation No. 37 of 2018 on Gender-related dimensions of Disaster Risk Reduction in the context of Climate Change.

In 2017

  • Member of CEDAW Task Force on Women, Peace and Security, Resolution 1325
  • Member of CEDAW Working Group on the Sustainable Development Goals
  • Member of Working Group on Inquiries of the Optional Protocol of CEDAW
  • Member of CEDAW Working Group on General Recommendation No. 36 of 2017 on The Right of Girls and Women to Education
  • July 2017: CEDAW Member: Participated in adoption of CEDAW Inquiry Report under Article 8 of the Optional Protocol concerning the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland in regard to restrictive access to abortion for women and girls in Northern Ireland.
  • July 2017: CEDAW Member: Participated in adoption of CEDAW General Recommendation No. 35 of 2017 on Gender-Based Violence against Women, updating General Recommendation No. 19