Following the briefing to the CEDAW Committee in October 2023 on Article 16 and family law, the Global Campaign for Equality in Family Law (GCEFL), CLADEM/Brazil, and GAMBE respectfully submit this thematic shadow report to contribute to the analysis of Brazil’s compliance with the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (“the Convention”).
In this report, we focus on articles 1 (equality), 2 (non-discrimination), 5 (gender stereotypes), 11 (employment), and 16 (marriage and family) of the Convention, raising issues related to i) the use of ‘false’ parental alienation syndrome and related concepts by Brazilian courts in decisions regarding child custody in highly disputed divorce cases, and ii) the situation of Brazilian mothers living abroad in contexts of domestic abuse who return to Brazil and are accused of international kidnapping due the obligations arising from the Hague Convention ratification. We urge the CEDAW Committee to kindly consider granting more time and specific attention to Article 16-related matters during the Constructive Dialogues.