CIVIL SOCIETY ORGANIZATIONS BRIEF COMMITTEE ON THE ELIMINATION OF DISCRIMINATION AGAINST WOMEN ON SITUATIONS IN ALBANIA, TURKEY, URUGUAY, MALI, AND TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO
The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women this afternoon met with representatives of non-governmental organizations and the national human rights institutions to hear information on the situations of women in Albania, Turkey, Uruguay, Mali, and Trinidad and Tobago, whose reports it would review during the remainder of the session.
Representatives of non-governmental organizations from Albania delivered oral reports in which they expressed concerns about the widespread violence against women and domestic violence. They also highlighted the access to justice and women’s economic, social and cultural rights, particularly in connection with alimony and child support in divorce proceedings. The healthcare budget was only 2.6 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product, which translated to highest infant mortality rate and highest burden of disease in southern European countries. Other issues included trafficking in persons, with Albania being a country of origin, the situation of Roma women and girls, and the inadequate health services offered to elderly women.
In Turkey, many women were affected by the violence under the anti-terrorism laws imposed in southeast Turkey, sexual and gender-based violence continued to be prevalent, particularly against lesbian and bisexual women, and the situation of refugee women was particularly precarious. Civil society was shrinking rapidly for women human rights defenders, while the lack of political will to accept women as individuals in their own right was the key impediment to achieving gender equality. A draft Anti-Discrimination Bill had been removed in 2015, and the Parliament had adopted a new bill in 2016, which had abolished the existing national human rights institution and had created a new body not in accordance with the Paris Principles.
Speakers from civil society organization from Uruguay described problems women faced in that country, and stressed that the key issues were discrimination and violence against women, access to justice, and the situation of vulnerable women, in particular women of African descent. There was an urgent need to adopt a national definition of discrimination, and a comprehensive law which would address all forms of violence against women.
In Mali, definition of discrimination had not been incorporated in the legal and legislative framework, leading to discrimination against women particularly those from marginalized and vulnerable groups. The National Gender Policy 2010 had not mentioned specifically women with disabilities, which made it difficult to address their rights appropriately. Early and child marriage in the new Code of Marriage and Family 2011 represented a key area of discrimination, and civil society organizations stressed that Islam could not be used to justify discrimination.
Civil society organizations from Trinidad and Tobago highlighted the key issues in the country which included the absence of the national policy on gender and development, and the delay in the establishment of the National Commission for Women Empowerment and Gender Equity which should have a wide mandate to address education, economic empowerment, women’s political participation, poverty alleviation, gender-based violence, and other key issues. Of concern was also violence against women, with high incidence of domestic violence which continued to be reported.
The Committee will reconvene in public on Tuesday, 12 July at 10 a.m, to consider the fourth periodic report of Albania (CEDAW/C/ALB/4).
Statements by Non-Governmental Organizations
Albania
Center for Legal Civic Initiatives said that two important issues for the rights of women in Albania were access to justice and women’s economic, social and cultural rights, particularly in connection with alimony and child support in divorce proceedings. In more than 75 per cent of divorces, it was the mother who was providing care for the children, while fathers were only paying alimony; that percentage was even higher in cases of separation. Economic assistance given by the State was insufficient. A change of mentality, not only in the society, but also in the legal profession, was required to ensure that legal presumption of co-ownership between the spouses was indeed considered.
Gender Alliance for Development Centre expressed concern about violence against women in Albania, where dimensions of domestic violence were scary: more than half of all cases brought to the attention of the police were related to domestic violence. The legal framework and the gender machinery lacked many important characteristics, including lack of continuity caused by high staff turnover, lack of coordination of different bodies in charge of reporting on domestic violence, lack of residential centres for difficult cases and lack of economic support for women who were consistently abused. Another concern was the situation of women working in textile and shoe industry who were not paid overtime, worked Saturdays consistently and were denied their right to annual leave by the factory management.
Albania Centre for Population and Development spoke about the budget on healthcare, which was 2.6 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product and was much lower than many other countries with comparable economies. Albania had the highest infant mortality rate and the highest burden of disease in southern Europe, with obvious and deepening inequalities within the country. Despite widespread violence against women, including domestic violence, health service providers still reported very few causes. Other issues raised by the non-governmental organization were trafficking in persons, with Albania being a country of origin, the situation of Roma women and girls, and the inadequate health services offered to elderly women.
Turkey
Executive Committee for non-governmental organizations Forum on the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women stated that in Turkey many women were affected by the violence under the anti-terrorism laws imposed in southern Turkey, while hate speech and racist discourse were prevalent. Sexual and gender-based violence continued to be present, particularly against lesbian and bisexual women. The situation of refugee women was especially precarious, and the Executive Committee condemned the recent agreement between the European Union and Turkey to control migration, at the expense of women. Civil society was shrinking rapidly for women human rights defenders, while the lack of political will to accept women as individuals in their own right was the key impediment to achieving gender equality. The Constitution did not recognize temporary special measures, which, among other, led to extremely low political representation of women; only 14 per cent of the Members of the Parliaments were women. Patriarchal and sexist approaches to women prevented the addressing of violation of women’s rights, and in particular femicide, which was widespread.
Human Rights Association said, in a joint statement, that a draft Anti-Discrimination Bill had been removed in 2015, and that the Parliament had adopted a new bill in 2016, which had abolished the existing national human rights institution and had created a new body which, however, was not in accordance with the Paris Principles. Sexual identity and sexual orientation were not listed as grounds for discrimination.
KADEM - Women and Democracy Association stated that many had a negative image of women in Turkey and stressed that, academically, Turkish women performed better than many others. The key issue in Turkey was violence against women. There was a need to introduce policies to change gender stereotypes in the society and institutions, as well as to address the sexist language.
Uruguay
Cotidiano Mujer, CLADEM Uruguay, Colectiva Mujeres said that key issues in Uruguay were discrimination and violence against women, access to justice for women, and women in situation of vulnerability. There was still no national definition of discrimination and the legal framework did not address all forms of violence against women. There was an urgent need for a comprehensive law which would address all forms of discrimination and violence against women. Domestic violence was prevalent, and victims of domestic violence did not receive required support. The current Criminal Code dated from 1934 and contained patriarchal attitudes against women. Women victims of violence faced prejudicial and discriminatory treatment in the judicial system, with judges not considering cases of violence against women as a priority. The lack of gender-sensitive capacity building was obvious in sentences that were being handed down and which contained stereotypical and discriminatory elements. In Uruguay, ethnic discrimination and racist violence continued to exist, and there were no public policies to improve the situation of women and girls of African descent.
Mali
Femmes et Droits Humains noted that in 2012 Islamic rebel groups had taken control of the northern region, which had led the country to a situation of open conflict, and the breakdown of government structure and the rule of law in the affected regions. The growing influence of religious groups had negative consequences for women. In Mali, definition of discrimination had not been incorporated in the legal and legislative framework, thus leading to discrimination against women, particularly those from marginalized and vulnerable groups.
Malian Union of Associations and Committees of Disabled Women (L’Union Malienne des Associations et Comités de Femmes Handicapées) commended the ratification of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disability by the Government, and regretted that the National Gender Policy 2010 had not mentioned specifically women with disabilities, which made it difficult to address their rights appropriately. It was hoped that the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals in Mali would ensure that the adequate data on the situation of women with disabilities was collected, because without reliable data it was not possible to formulate adequate policies. Women with disabilities suffered discrimination and exclusion in many sectors, including education, health and employment, and more needed to ensure that women and girls with disabilities enjoyed their rights.
MUSAWAH highlighted that early and child marriage in the new Code of Marriage and Family 2011 represented a key area of discrimination, and stressed that Islam could not be used to justify discrimination. The new Code had set the legal age of marriage at 16 for females and 18 for males, while further allowing marriage at 15 with judge’s permission and parental consent. MUSAWAH stressed that there were juristic tools and concepts within Muslim legal theory which could be used to reform discriminatory laws and practices. It was an imperative to consider the significant harm of early and child marriage on women and families in interpreting Islamic texts today.
Trinidad and Tobago
Network of non-governmental organizations for the Advancement of Women highlighted key issues in the country, which included the absence of a national policy on gender and development, and the delay in the establishment of the National Commission Women Empowerment and Gender Equity, which should have a wide mandate to address education, economic empowerment, women’s political participation, poverty alleviation, gender-based violence, and other key issues. Of concern was also violence against women, with high incidence of domestic violence which continued to be reported. The establishment of the Domestic Violence Registry was a good step, but with its sole focus on registering and not combatting the scourge, it was not sufficient. Committee Experts should ask the State Party about tis plan to address domestic violence as a national problem from the perspectives of public health, prevention, elimination and recovery.
National Union of Domestic Employees said that domestic workers were not considered as workers under the Industrial Relations Act 1972, which continued to discriminate against domestic workers. Trinidad and Tobago should ratify the International Labour Organization Convention 189 on Decent Work for Domestic Workers and should ensure that its legislation recognized and protected rights of domestic workers on an equal footing.
Questions by Committee Members
Committee Experts asked what could be done to ensure equal treatment of women in property issues in Albania.
Experts took up the issue of national care system in Uruguay, and asked how the law took into account gender perspective, and what the key obstacles were in access to justice for women. It was reported that 30 per cent of health professionals, particularly doctors, objected conscientiously to abortion and Experts asked about the impact of that trend on women.
Committee Experts asked for more information about the refugees from Syria and the situation of Kurdish refugees in Turkey, and about the Civil Code provision related to marital property that only included property acquired since 2002 and not since the contract of marriage.
On Mali, the Committee Experts inquired about the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, and how women participated in its work, as well as about obstacles to access of women to justice.
Responses by Non-governmental Organizations
Representatives of civil society organizations from Albania said that they had identified laws, such as the Civil Code and the Family Code, as well as sub-legal acts, which would need to be improved in order to ensure property rights of women.
Representatives of non-governmental organizations from Uruguay said that it was the civil society organizations which promoted the need to mainstream gender perspectives in all government measures. As the implementation of the national care system had started, it became obvious that more cross-cutting measures were needed to ensure that rights of women carers were respected. In terms of access to justice, the key obstacle was that the judicial system was hostile to gender-based violence. With regards to conscientious objection to abortion, civil society representatives remarked that that provision was being abused by health professionals who refused to perform abortions, which had a negative impact on women.
In Turkey, there was an environment of terror and violence as well as the climate of impunity, and a curfew had been imposed in south-eastern parts of Turkey. There was no policy to deal with internally displaced women in the country. Representatives explained the Civil Code had entered into force in 2002 and its provisions regarding marital property applied only from that point on; there were 17 million women in Turkey who had married before 2002 and had been negatively affected by that law.
Civil society representatives explained that in Mali, the Justice and Reconciliation Commission had been set up, and women had been elected to its seven committees. There was a programme which was restructuring security and justice in the country to ensure that the justice system was closer to the citizen; still, the system was still very distant from women, particularly in remote areas where high fees made them virtually inaccessible. Therefore, it was an absolute priority to adopt a law on violence against women.
Dialogue with National Human Rights Institutions and other human rights institutions from Albania
IGLI TOTOZANI, People’s Advocate of Albania, stated that Albania had a good legal framework, but the problem was the implementation of laws. Progress had been achieved in increasing participation of women in decision-making, nevertheless, the aim of 30 per cent representation of women in the Parliament had not yet been achieved. The People’s Advocate had recommended that the quota be increased from 30 to 50 per cent in the following elections. There were women who experienced obstacles to voting, including lack of accessibility to voting stations, lack of identification documents, particularly for Roma and Egyptian women, while women victims of blood feud could not be elected. In terms of access of women to justice, the People’s Advocate considered the burden of proof in cases of rape as one of the key obstacles. As for the fight against discrimination, there was a need to introduce improvements in the legislation and to strengthen concrete measures to address various forms of discrimination. The People’s Advocate also raised the problem of the implementation of the law on legal aid, and the implementation of court decisions related to payment of child support. Albania should introduce a special status for groups of women that suffered multiple discrimination, such as elderly, disabled, and Roma women.
IRMA BARAKU, Commissioner for Protection from Discrimination, a human rights institution without accreditation status, spoke about discrimination in employment and said that violence against women remained one of the most grave issues of concern in Albania. There was a need to ensure treatment with dignity for victims of domestic violence, and to ensure their protection as well. The increase in the number of discrimination cases handled by the court was a positive phenomenon, and the first court decision which had given a compensation to a female victim of discrimination in 2010.
A Committee Expert asked what should be the priority laws to amend, according to the People’s Advocate of Albania.
Responding, Mr. Totozani noted that, although the People’s Advocate of Albania had prepared a number of reports and recommendations on several priority issues, the Parliament had only considered three reports, and had adopted only two recommendations, on lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community, and on blood feud. The essence was to have the minimum standard in Albania which would ensure that those without a voice were heard, particularly those who suffered from multiple discrimination.
Ce document est destiné à l'information; il ne constitue pas un document officiel
CEDAW16/022E