Deconstructing Gender Stereotypes in Labour Law under CEDAW’s Transformative Mandate

Labour law, while designed to advance equality, frequently operates as a mechanism for perpetuating the very gender stereotypes it ought to dismantle. This paper discusses this paradox, arguing that the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) provides a powerful solution through its transformative mandate — a positive, structural duty for the state to reconstruct the social order. The central thesis is that this mandate is most effectively operationalized in the domain of labour law through the adoption of male-targeted policies. A comparative analysis of parental leave schemes reveals that the transformative potential of such policies is not inherent but is contingent on their institutional courage. Permissive frameworks, as seen in several East Asian nations, fail to disrupt the patriarchal status quo. In contrast, prescriptive legal designs that combine non-transferable, ‘use-it-or-lose-it’ quotas with socialized financial support, exemplified by the Swedish model, succeed in reordering the social and economic structures that underpin gender inequality. The paper thus concludes that the implementation of such structurally disruptive policies is not merely a policy choice, but a litmus test of a state’s commitment to the deepest aspects of its CEDAW obligations.