Abstract Book of the 4th World Conference on Gender Equality
Year: 2026
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Comparative Gender Study on the Effective Implementation of CEDAW in Local Legislation: Discrepancies between Normative Frameworks and Lived Realities in Poland and Argentina
Joaquina Lozano
ABSTRACT:
This paper examines the contested implementation of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) in Argentina and Poland, two states that have ratified the Convention without reservations but display significant discrepancies between formal commitments and lived realities. Drawing on Antje Wiener’s theory of norm contestation, the analysis explores how international gender equality norms are interpreted, resisted and reconfigured in domestic contexts marked by divergent political cultures and social movements. Though a comparative case study approach, the paper focuses on two key areas: abortion rights and women’s political participation in decision-making systems. Illustrating how global human rights standards are shaped by local power dynamics and normative struggles. In Argentina, advances such as the legalization of abortion and gender parity laws coexist with contemporary backlash under a new administration. In contrast, Poland’s restrictive abortion regime and limited progress on political representation reflect a systematic resistance to CEDAW norms. The findings underscore the importance of the transnational advocacy networks and feminist legal actors in sustaining norm diffusion and challenge assumptions of linear norm internalization.
Keywords: CEDAW, Norm Contestation, Abortion Rights, Women’s Political Participation, Human Rights Implementation