The call for a convention respecting the rights of women emerged from the First World Conference on Women in Mexico City in 1975. The Convention for the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) was adopted by the United Nations (UN) General Assembly in 1979 and entered into force in 1981. It is often described as an international bill of rights for women. The Convention describes discrimination against women as

[Any] distinction, exclusion or restriction made on the basis of sex which has the effect or purpose of impairing or nullifying the recognition, enjoyment or exercise by women, irrespective of their marital status, on a basis of equality of men and women, of human rights and fundamental freedoms in the political, economic, social, cultural, civil or any...