articles of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, (CEDAW). The Indian Constitution propagates the spirit of equalrty before law through Art. 14 and mandates the State, through Art. 15, not to discriminate between citizens on certain grounds, includingthe sex of the persm, Art, 15(3)is an ameliorative provisionwhich authorises the State to make speclal provision for women and children. The Commission thus strives to fulfil the obligation of the State under various human rights instruments and the Indian Constitution to protect and promote the rights of women. Among these instruments is the UN Declarationon the Elimination of Violence Against Women 1993, whlch defines 'violen# against women' as any act of gender based violence that results in or is llkely to result in, physical, sexual or psychological harm or suffering to women, including threats of euch ads, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or private life. As w a r d s the latter, further violence against women includes the physical, sexual and psychological violence occurring in the family, including battering, other traditional practices harmful to women, non-spousal violence and violence related to exploitation. For long, due to public and private dichotomy in human rights jurisprudence, violence perpetrated against woman within the four walls of her home remained ignored and could not be brought under the purview of UN instruments and local legislations. However, the international human rights discourse has identified and recognised the 'private sphere' violations of the human rights of womn. The Commission's intervention in one of the cases mentioned above is a reflection of this recognition. The Platform for Action and b i j i n g Declaration (1995) defines health as a state of complete physical, mental and social well being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity. The health of women involves their emotional, social, and physical well being and is determined by the social, political and economic context of their lives, as well as by biology. Expecting mothers are therefore entltbd to spedal care and protection and their motherhood should not become a hindrance to their right to favourable conditions of work. Art, 10 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights 1966, recognises that special protection should be accorded to mothers during a reasonable period before and after child birth. During such period, working mothers should be accorded paid leave or leave with adequate social security benefits. It is pertinent to note that by virtue of its being a signatory to CEDAW, India is under an obligation, under Art. 11, to protect the right of healthand safeguard the function of reproduction in case of working women. Further, the State is under a duty to prevent discrimination on grounds of maternity and to ensure that effective right of women to work is protected by introduclng maternity leave with pay, or with comparable social benefits, without loss of employment, seniority or social benefiis. The Commission, in fulfilment of Article 11 of CEDAW, directed the State of West Sengal, in one of the above-mentioned cases, to undertake a review of the existing rules/codes and to bring about uniformity by ensuring appropriate provision for the grant of 120 days maternity leave to teaching and non-teaching