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extent to which women's rights in Kuwait are compatible with the Convention on Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) often ignores discussing its conformity to the principle of "public order" as the most important legal principle, which is applicable in all countries of the world.
This principle constitutes a basic generator of constitutional articles and a foundation of the spirit of the constitution, which takes into account the set of philosophies, ideas, beliefs, ideologies, customs, traditions and ethics that prevail in a specific society during a specific period of time, which is called "public order".
Espousing the idea of public order, many countries, including advanced democracies, often reserve certain provisions and articles in ratifying or acceding to international conventions. Similarly, Kuwait and many countries had reservations over CEDAW, and this is due to the change and difference of the idea of public order from one country to another, either because of the contradiction of these articles with the supreme interest of the nation, or the specific or current circumstances are not appropriate.
However, this does not mean that reservations should be random or unrestricted, as this may undermine women's rights, and thus constitute a disavowal of international obligations. Since the national legislator has the capacity to adapt and harmonize this national legislation with international standards and conventions, especially in the context of applying matters unrelated to violating public order, such as those related to women's right to nationality, remuneration, education or equal work to men in areas such as the diplomatic corps, public prosecution, judiciary, membership in parliament and political positions.
Since the last century, feminist movements in Kuwait have known many concepts such as women's rights, women's competence, women's participation and the fate of women. Talk about women's rights in Kuwait have escalated more and more with the development of concepts of human rights, which have become a global concern at the level of countries and international organizations, which have worked on women's rights to work, education, remuneration and their social role, then CEDAW, which constitutes the international rights document for women, signed by more than 189 countries, forming an executive legal mechanism for the UN to obligate member states of the UN to the principles and rules of the UN Charter, which explicitly states in its preamble "Both men and women equally enjoy basic human rights".
CEDAW did not only constitute a theoretical legal document for women's rights, but also included practical and executive measures that countries must take to eliminate discrimination against women in various aspects of life. This convention entered into force on Dec 3, 1981, and the number of countries that ratified it or accessed it reached around 120, in addition to a number of other countries that signed it. The convention consists of six parts that contain 30 articles, in addition to the preamble. The convention came to affirm the principle of equality, which has been provided for in article two of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948.
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