The Netherlands may well be the ultimate liberal country where there are laws that allow gay marriage, prostitution, physician assisted suicide, and marijuana consumption. You may well be surprised then that there is a Dutch political party (SGP) with two members in parliament that does not allow women as full members and that prohibits women from running for office. No, this is not some radical Islamic party but a Christian (Reformed Dutch) party, which wants the Netherlands to become a theocracy (and yes, that is part of its official party manifesto).
Today, the Dutch highest court ruled that the Dutch government is violating the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) by not requiring the SGP to allow women to run for office. The Court essentially argued that while the SGP has the right to its opinions, the way it translates those opinions into policies violates fundamental rights guaranteed by CEDAW. The Dutch government has an obligation to remedy this situation. The SGP is considering appealing to the European Court of Human Rights arguing that government regulations that require female candiates would interfere with its right to freedom of religion, freedom of speech, and freedom of association, although I doubt that such an appeal would stand much of a chance.
It is useful to be reminded how international treaties like CEDAW can have effects in advanced democracies. Dutch governments have long been reluctant to interfere in this matter, despite the protestations of advocates. The issue of state interference with what political parties can and cannot do, especially on religious matters, is a sensitive one in a country that has always been somewhat dominated by parties with religious roots. Although the SGP has never been a very prominent party nationally, it has continuously been in the Dutch parliament since 1922 and it is the largest party in at least a dozen counties (and thus local governments). Moreover, the more mainstream political parties with Christian roots have always feared that legislation that forces parties to include women on their electoral lists would open up opportunities for other types of restrictions. In the mean time, the first reactions from SGP party leaders suggest that they may well dissolve the party before allowing women to feature on their electoral lists.