Tax avoidance and evasion represent a systemic drain on government revenues needed for the fulfilment of women’s rights and gender equality…Switzerland – arguably the world’s most important tax haven — may soon face scrutiny from the United Nations human rights system over its role in facilitating cross-border tax abuse. A coalition of civil society organizations has asked the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW)…to examine the extra-territorial impacts of Switzerland’s opaque financial legislation on women’s rights and gender equality, particularly in developing countries… The submission argues that — despite some laudable reform efforts — Switzerland’s notoriously opaque and lax policies in the areas of finance and taxation may well contravene its obligations under Article 2 of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women…and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR)…As a State Party to both treaties, Switzerland has committed to refrain from adopting or implementing laws and policies which directly or indirectly result in the denial of women’s equal enjoyment of their rights, whether within its jurisdiction or in other countries. It is also obliged to protect against private sector conduct that undermines rights, including through regulation of the banking sector and other corporate actors, and to cooperate internationally to mobilize the maximum available resources for the fulfillment of women’s economic, social, and cultural rights…