San Francisco: A League of Their Own

Despite the U.S.’s negligence to ratify CEDAW, San Francisco in 1998 passed Ordinance 128-98.  The ordinance’s focus was human rights and in particular women’s rights.  San Francisco used CEDAW as a tool to base much of the ordinance’s legislation on.  Ordinance 128-98 is the first of its kind in the U.S. and in many ways follows through with principles laid out in CEDAW better than some of CEDAW’s own member states.  “[T]he CEDAW human rights framework requires proactive efforts to ensure that government policies, practices and services do not inadvertently reinforce historic patterns of inequality based on gender, race, ethnicity, and other forms of identity.”¹ Ordinance 128-98 commits San Francisco to constant ongoing assessments which have impacted numerous city departments such as the Arts Commission, the Department of the Environment, and the Department of Public Works.  San Francisco’s “CEDAW” Ordinance has undoubtedly advanced the city in a direction that the U.S. can only hope to emulate when or if it ever ratifies the treaty.

All municipal bodies are charged with the obligation to complete a gender analysis.  The analysis supplies a structure that considers, “the cultural, economic, social, civil, legal, and political relations between women and men, while taking account of the ways that gender is inextricably linked to other identity categories like race, immigration status, sexual orientation, age, ethnicity, class, ability, and language.”² The Arts Commission was one of the first to notice a discrepancy with their policy and how it inadvertently prevented some women from participation.  For Instance, in order for anyone to obtain a space or area to sell their artwork they must be present at 8:30 a.m. for a lottery selection.  However, 8:30 a.m. in any city in the U.S. including San Francisco conflicts with parents and their obligation to drop their children off at school.  The Arts Commission immediately and graciously changed its policy and no longer necessitates the artist’s themselves to be present at the time of the lottery drawing.

The Department of the Environment has also benefited immensely from the CEDAW review process.  One implementation that was made in the department was more flexible work options.  One of these options included a program known as the 9/80 program.  This program permits department employees, “to work eight nine hour days and one eight hour day in a two week period so that they could have the tenth day off.”³ One could see how this can benefit a single mother financially considering that’s one less payment for daycare in a two week term.  It also allows department employees to start their shifts at any point between 6:30 a.m. and 9:30 a.m. which in turn allows a mother more flexibility to either drop their child off at school or daycare.  The flexible time programs are commonly used by many department employees, including men.

The CEDAW review process has also assisted in targeting city services that on the surface may seem “gender neutral” but in all actuality are not.  For example, “[t]he Department [of Public Works] highlighted street lighting as one such thing…men and women have a need to feel safe, ‘a woman, in particular, may fear sexual assault, making her feel more vulnerable than a man’ so increasing ‘lighting on dark streets, in parking lots, or near public facilities creates a more equitable outcome.”⁴ Something as small as better illuminated streets which leads to a stronger feeling of safety is not only a beneficial impact that CEDAW provided, but, it came at an extremely cheap price. 

In conclusion, this article has not even scratched the surface of Ordinance 128-98 in its entirety.  However, these few examples provided prove two important factors.  First, CEDAW unquestionably provides advantageous tools to combat discrimination against women.  Second, with San Francisco as proof, once implementation of CEDAW has been enacted into legislation, American’s come together to support and fulfill the obligations laid out in its text.

Post by Nicholas

Notes:
1.  Liebowitz, Debra J. "RESPECT, PROTECT, FULFILL Raising the Bar on Women’s Rights in San Francisco." WOMEN’S INSTITUTE FOR LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT FOR HUMAN RIGHTS. (2008): p. 1
2.  Ibid. p. 2
3.  Ibid. p. 7
4.  Ibid. p. 7