Bermuda will sign up to an international bill of rights for women next year, Cabinet Minister Glenn Blakeney revealed yesterday.

And he pledged to bring forth amendments to the law to ban discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation or age before June 2012 at the latest.

Mr Blakeney told The Royal Gazette that Bermuda was one of only a few countries in the world not to have agreed to comply with the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW).

The international treaty defines discrimination against females and requires signatories to implement policies to eliminate it, as well as reporting on measures taken to comply.

In Bermuda, the Human Rights Act 1981 already bans discrimination based on sex.

But Mr Blakeney, whose Youth, Families, Sport and Community Development Ministry includes the Department of Human Affairs, said signing up to the convention would further Government's commitment to gender equality.

"About 188 countries already have signed up to this treaty," he said. "The UK Government is very keen that Bermuda has the convention extended. It brings us into line with best practice."

He said three other British Overseas Territories — Cayman, Anguilla and Montserrat — were working on having the convention apply to them.

Members of Bermuda's newly established Women's Council went to Anguilla last month for a CEDAW workshop, to hear more about the convention and what scope countries have for setting their own priorities for compliance.

Women's Council chairwoman Laurie Shiell declined to comment last night, as did council member Elaine Williams.

Mr Blakeney said yesterday that the Department of Human Affairs was looking at three issues in relation to the Human Rights Act: equal pay, sexual orientation and age.

"We will be proposing that a provision is added to the Act for the Minister to make regulations for both sexual orientation and age," he said.

"This will give us the time to firm up what the regulations will look like. We are proposing to use the United Kingdom legislation as a guide."

Asked to explain why regulations were necessary, rather than simply an amended law, as has previously been discussed, the Minister said: "Until we have had an opportunity to review, consider, discuss and decide it would be remiss of me to say exactly what those regulations are because the jury is still out."

The Minister told a press conference earlier this month, after the Throne Speech, that the sexual orientation issue would be addressed "without compromising the integrity or the moral fibre for some who might be concerned with regard to their particular spiritual and/or religious beliefs".

Yesterday, he added: "I was talking mainly with regard to the religious community, who would use as their standard bearer religious doctrine and interpret it to be in some instances literally and in others...slightly at odds with other schools of thought.

"But at the same time it is based on what would be, I think, agreed is traditional understanding of what is directed as a result of doctrine."

Mr Blakeney said he wasn't prepared to share his personal views but pointed out he voted against the last such proposed amendment regarding sexual orientation, which was kicked out of the House of Assembly in 2006.

"As a politician, I don't think it is wise or prudent to have credence given or significance to personal views," he said.

"But suffice it to say that politicians are expected to review from time to time their political positions on various issues that involve social conscience or conscience."

He added: "I won't table anything that I would vote against. So that means I'm going to have to be comfortable with what compromise or flexibility is leveraged."