FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - 40+ Organizations Call on UN Committee to Review Canada's Complicity in Violations of Women’s Rights to Maternal Healthcare in Gaza

TORONTO, ON – More than 40 feminist, labour, faith-based, antiwar, and human rights organizations have called on a UN Committee to hold Canada accountable for its support of serious violations of women’s rights in Gaza through arms exports to Israel and tax subsidies to charitable organizations that aid the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).

In a submission to the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW Committee), the groups highlight Canada’s consistent shortcomings in meeting its transnational human rights obligations, including under the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). In Gaza, Canadian arms, both directly and through contributions to United States-made weapons, are being used to kill, injure, and displace women, wreck devastation on the healthcare system, and cause particular harm to pregnant women and nursing mothers. Canada has been called to task repeatedly for violations committed by Canadian multinational corporations around the world by various UN human rights bodies for the past two decades, including the CEDAW Committee.

The CEDAW Committee will consider the submission during its convening taking place from 7 to 25 October 2024, as it reviews Canada’s performance on efforts to promote women’s rights.

The submission was jointly prepared by the International Human Rights Program (IHRP) at the University of Toronto Faculty of Law and the Global Human Rights Clinic (GHRC) at the University of Chicago Law School following extensive research conducted by the clinics on the grave impact of the conflict in Gaza on women and children since October 7, 2023.

“The IDF’s onslaught in Gaza has had a devastating impact on the health of women and children, particularly with respect to reproductive, maternal, obstetric, and neonatal care,” said James Yap, Acting Director of the International Human Rights Program at the University of Toronto Faculty of Law. “By continuing to support the IDF through arms exports and other means, Canada is inflicting grievous extraterritorial harm on women and girls. This is a glaring failure in the country’s so-called ‘feminist foreign policy’.”

“The reality of a globalized world is that a state’s actions reverberate beyond its borders," said Anjli Parrin, Director of the Global Human Rights Clinic at the University of Chicago Law School. “Canada has a responsibility to take immediate action when its weapons, including those exported indirectly through other countries like the United States, are being used to cause horrific violations of women’s rights in Gaza.”

The submission urges the CEDAW Committee to make recommendations to the Canadian government to put itself back in compliance with CEDAW, including ending arms exports to Israel, both directly and through intermediary countries such as the United States, and regulating and holding accountable Canadian enterprises and non-profit organizations contributing to the atrocities committed by the IDF against women and children in Gaza. The submission also calls for Canada to increase aid to Gaza, accept greater number of refugees, and support the rebuilding of the healthcare system.

Read the full submission here.

List of Endorsers:

Action Canada for Sexual Health and Rights

Ansari Immigration Law

Association féministe d'éducation et d'action sociale

British Columbia Civil Liberties Association

Canadian Council of Muslim Women

Canadian Feminist Alliance for International Action

Canadian Foreign Policy Institute

Canadian Lawyers for International Human Rights

Canadian Muslim Public Affairs Council

Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East

Canadian Union of Public Employees, Local 3902

Canadian Union of Public Employees, Local 3903

Climate Justice Edmonton

Collectif de Québec pour la Paix

Caring for Social Justice Collective

Equality Fund

ETJC The Unity Mosque

Film Workers for Palestine

Flora Liebich Consulting (International Development and Refugee Issues)

Health workers Alliance for Palestine

Homes not Bombs

Independent Jewish Voices

International Centre of Justice for Palestinians - Canada

International Human Rights Clinic, Boston University School of Law

International Human Rights Clinic, Cornell Law School

International Justice and Human Rights Clinic, Peter A. Allard School of Law, The University of British Columbia

John Humphrey Centre for Peace and Human Rights

Just Peace Advocates/Mouvement pour une Paix Juste

La Centrale galerie Powerhouse

Labour for Palestine: Canadian Nurses for Justice in Palestine

Law Union of Ontario

Ontario Federation of Labour

Oxfam Canada

Oxfam-Québec

Progressive Chinese of Québec

Regroupement pour la Responsabilité Sociale des Entreprises

Righting Relations Canada

RightOnCanada.ca

Social Rights Advocacy Centre

South Asian Women's Community Centre/Centre communautaire des femmes sud-asiatiques

Start Point

Sustainable Human Empowerment (SHE) Associates Inc.

The United Jewish People's Order

West Coast LEAF Association

Women's International League for Peace and Freedom Canada

Women Who Choose to Live

World BEYOND War

About the International Human Rights Program, University of Toronto Faculty of Law

The International Human Rights Program (IHRP) at the University of Toronto Faculty of Law is a centre for international human rights work. Established in 1987, the IHRP aims to encourage Canada’s adherence to its own international human rights commitments by ensuring accountability of its harms worldwide and those of third parties it is meant to regulate. The IHRP works with experienced lawyers, faculty, and students to pursue change in key areas such as corporate accountability, climate justice, and Indigenous rights. For more information, please visit www.ihrp.law.utoronto.ca. 

About the Global Human Rights Clinic, University of Chicago Law School

The Global Human Rights Clinic (GHRC) at the University of Chicago Law School works alongside partners and communities to advance justice and address the inequalities and structural disparities that lead to human rights violations worldwide. The GHRC uses diverse tactics and interdisciplinary methods to tackle pressing and under-addressed human rights issues, including investigating and advancing accountability for mass atrocities and armed conflict, addressing the impacts of colonialism, advocating for equality and non-discrimination, and advancing socio-economic rights. For more information, please visit www.law.uchicago.edu/ghrc.

Contact Information:

James Yap
james.yap@utoronto.ca
Acting Director, International Human Rights Program, University of Toronto Faculty of Law

Anjli Parrin
aparrin@uchicago.edu
Director, Global Human Rights Clinic, University of Chicago Law School