Thank you, Madam.
As Mr. Kessel said, it is true that in international treaties, terms like “the equal right of men and women” are used to refer to non-discrimination. These terms are found in the international covenant on civil and political rights, and similar language is used in the international covenant on economic, social and cultural rights, as well as in the convention on the elimination of all forms of discrimination against women.
What matters is not necessarily the interchangeability of the terms, but rather what comes with the term. It's important because that is what may raise questions about gender, and may, for example, challenge the social and family roles assigned to each sex. Take, for example, a text of the United Nations Commission on the status of women. It is entitled The equal sharing of responsibilities between women and men, including caregiving in the context of HIV/AIDS.
The debate had to do with the responsibilities of men and women within the family unit. What is the upshot? It is not just about a formalistic equal sharing of tasks between men and women, with the men doing 50% of household tasks and the women doing the other 50%. No! It's about questioning the traditional roles assigned to each sex, roles which are ultimately forms of power in relationships between the sexes.