Comparative Gender Study on the Effective Implementation of CEDAW in Local Legislation: Discrepancies between Normative Frameworks and Lived Realities in Poland and Argentina

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 commitment 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.

Through a comparative case study approach, the paper focuses on two contrasting trajectories. In Argentina, the legalization of abortion in 2020 represents the result of sustained feminist mobilization and the strategic use of international human rights framework to advance reproductive rights. In contrast, Poland has experienced an increasing restriction of abortion access, particularly following the 2020 Constitutional Tribunal Ruling, reflecting a broader pattern of resistance to international gender norms.

By analyzing these developments, the paper demonstrated how the implementation of CEDAW does not follow a linear path of norm internalization but is shaped by domestic political struggles, institutional interpretations and competing normative projects. The findings highlight the role of feminist legal actors and transnational advocacy networks in promoting reproductive rights while revealing how international human rights norms remain subject to ongoing contestation at the domestic level.