Closing the Protection Gap Through a Legally Binding cedaw Optional Protocol on Violence against Women and Girls

Highlighting the historical developments of soft law normative standards on violence against women, as reflected in the documents and interpretations of mechanisms of the United Nations system, the article asserts that there is a need to close the protection gap in international law, and address the issues of widespread impunity, lack of accountability and state responsibility failures. An analysis of select treaty-making processes provides an illustrative picture and understanding of the possibilities regarding addressing the protection gap in respect of violence against women, which is acknowledged as a widespread and pervasive human rights violation. This article focuses on the developments in selected international lawmaking processes, in attempts to close identified protection gaps within international law. The authors propose a solution: the adoption of an Optional Protocol on violence against women and girls, attached to the UN Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women. The international treaty-making processes identified in the article provide lessons learned and make recommendations on suggested ways to approach the issue

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