Civil Society Organizations Brief the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women on the Situation of Women in Timor-Leste, Germany, China and Sao Tome and Principe
The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women this afternoon was briefed by representatives of non-governmental organizations and a national human rights institution on the situation of women’s rights in Timor-Leste, Germany, China and Sao Tome and Principe, whose reports the Committee will review this week.
In relation to Timor-Leste, speakers raised concerns around the lack of programmes promoting gender equality, women’s legal literacy and women’s land rights, among other issues.
On Germany, speakers raised, among other issues, the lack of effective strategy around gender-based violence, the safety of lesbian, bisexual, gay, transgender and intersex persons during the asylum process, and Germany’s prostitution laws.
Non-governmental organizations speaking on China raised issues including the mistreatment of Tibetan women and children, discrimination against Uyghur women, and the trafficking of women and girls from the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
On Sao Tome and Principe, domestic violence, sexual violence and medical violence which impacted women were highlighted.
The following non-governmental organizations spoke on Timor-Leste: Rede Feto and Oxfam in Timor-Leste.
The Director of the German Institute for Human Rights spoke on Germany, as did the following non-governmental organizations: CEDAW Alliance Germany/Association of Women Divorced in the GDR; Gender CC–Women for Climate Justice/Women Engage for a Common Future/ Development Alternatives with Women for a New Era/and Feminists for a People’s Vaccine; Centre for Migration, Gender and Justice; Bureau for the Implementation of Equal Treatment; Ärzte der Welt/German Alliance for Choice; and Bündnis Nordisches Modell/DIAKA.
The following non-governmental organizations spoke on China: China National Centre for Domestic Violence Crisis Intervention/Southwest University of Political Science and Law/and China Association of Marriage and Family; Women's Studies Institute of China/Chinese Women's Research Association/Institute of International Law of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences/Centre for Gender and Law Studies of Institute of Law of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences/China Women's University/Global Women’s Development Institute of China Women's University/China Association of Women Entrepreneurs/China Family Planning Association/and China Association for NGO Cooperation; China Ethnic Minorities Association for External Exchanges/China Union of Anthropological and Ethnological Sciences; Hong Kong Tianjin Business and Professional Women Association/Youth Concentric Association Limited/Hong Kong and Mainland Legal Profession Association/Lawyers Hong Kong/and Hong Kong Federation of Women Lawyers; Women’s General Association of Macau; Tibet Bureau/Tibetan Women’s Association; World Uyghur Congress; Citizens’ Alliance for North Korean Human Rights/Transitional Justice Working Group/and Improving North Korean Human Rights Centre; Committee for Freedom in Hong Kong Foundation/Hong Kong Watch/Freiheit für Hong Kong/and Hongkongers in Deutschland; and Dui Hua Foundation/Accion Ecologica.
SOS Mulher spoke on Sao Tome and Principe.
The Committee will hold a second meeting with civil society organizations on Monday, 13 February when it will be briefed on the situation of women in Spain, Slovakia, Venezuela and Iceland, whose reports will be reviewed next week.
The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women’s eighty-fifth session is being held from 8 to 26 May. All documents relating to the Committee’s work, including reports submitted by States parties, can be found on the session’s webpage. Meeting summary releases can be found here. The webcast of the Committee’s public meetings can be accessed via the UN Web TV webpage.
The Committee will next meet at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, 9 May to review the fourth periodic report of Timor-Leste (CEDAW/C/TLS/4).
Opening Remarks by the Committee Chair
ANA PELÁEZ NARVÁEZ, Committee Chairperson, said this was the first opportunity during the present session for non-governmental organizations and national human rights institutions to provide information on States parties whose reports were being considered during the first week of the session – China, Timor-Leste, Sao Tome and Principe and Germany. A second meeting with non-governmental organizations and national human rights institutions would take place on Monday, 15 May from 3:30 p.m. to 5 p.m., where representatives would be invited to provide country-specific information on the States parties whose reports would be considered during the second week of the session: Spain, Slovakia, Venezuela and Iceland.
Discussions with Non-governmental Organizations from China, Timor-Leste, Sao Tome and Principe and Germany
Timor-Leste
Rede Feto recognised the progress made by the Government over the past 20 years. However, despite this, there were gaps and further areas for improvement in women’s rights. It was recommended that the Government should increase its investment in the Secretary of State for gender inclusion, so it would have capacity to advocate for policies and programmes that promoted gender equality and women’s empowerment, particularly on issues such as gender-based violence, especially for women with disabilities and at the rural level. It was important to promote women’s economic empowerment and their involvement in climate change. There needed to be zero-tolerance on violence in schools, and a participative approach in promoting equal education needed to be adopted. Gender parity needed to be promoted with the judiciary sector, including for judges, prosecutors and the police.
Oxfam in Timor-Leste said rights were especially important to women farmers and for those who depended on the land for their livelihoods. The Government did not have a strong process to carry out gender analysis related to land. There was also no current strategy for strengthening women’s land rights over time. The Government had approved a transitional land and expropriation law which provided special protection to women. This recognised that women and men should have equal rights to land. Detailed progress had been made on developing subsidiary laws and the State had prioritised this. In 2017, the Government approved a law which laid down a clean procedure for expropriations. However, since the approval, the Government had failed to implement the law. The Government should carry out a full gender review and develop a national strategy for women’s land rights, harmonising relevant legislation.
Germany
CEDAW Alliance Germany/Association of Women Divorced in the GDR, said the Convention needed to be implemented for every woman. There was still no comprehensive strategy for gender mainstreaming and to implement the Convention at all levels. Women did not have the same opportunities as men to secure their own livelihood and economic independence. Contrary to the recommendations of the Convention, the Government had enacted an underfinanced hardship fund, which excluded 95 per cent of women. There was no effective strategy for combatting violence against women and girls, nor services for victims. There was a lack of around 15,000 places in women’s shelters and often women could not access these services at all. Women’s rights, including in choice of birth and midwife care, needed to be respected. Young women were increasingly exposed to cyber violence.
Gender CC–Women for Climate Justice/Women Engage for a Common Future/Development Alternatives with Women for a New Era/ and Feminists for a People’s Vaccine, said despite progress being made, there was concern about a severe lack of ambition and action. The German Government needed to adopt leadership responsibility within the Action Coalition. The Committee should request Germany to live up to its national laws and international commitments, and provide necessary resources for climate finance. The Committee needed to urge the German Government to pursue the phase out of fossil energy, to ensure Germany’s environmental due diligence, and to protect the human rights of human rights defenders. COVID’s gendered impact was not over. Intellectual property barriers were a key cause.
Centre for Migration, Gender and Justice welcomed the Government’s new rule granting asylum on the grounds of persecution based on sexual orientation and sexual identity, but was concerned about its implementation. The Committee was urged to recommend that Germany provide for the safety of lesbian, bisexual, gay, transgender and intersex persons during the asylum process.
Bureau for the Implementation of Equal Treatment said Muslim women continued to experience high rates of discrimination in the labour market which Germany’s report failed to address. The Committee was asked to recognise that asking a woman to take off her headscarf for employment was a form of discrimination. Intersex persons in Germany continued to be subject to forced surgeries and trans people often experienced violence. The Committee should urge policy makers in Germany to advocate for the equal political participation of voters, particularly women.
Ärzte der Welt/German Alliance for Choice said it was important to remove legal barriers to health care for migrant women. The duty to report undocumented migrants kept these women from accessing necessary health services. Migration control was no reason to deny the right to health care. Abortion seekers were denied reproductive self-determination as the number of abortion providers was shrinking. The Government must decriminalise abortion and work to ensure access to equality abortion services. It needed to eliminate abortion stigma and access barriers. The Government also needed to make modern contraception accessible and affordable, ensuring that cost was no longer a barrier.
Bündnis Nordisches Modell/DIAKA said Germany’s prostitution laws encouraged sexual exploitation. Under these laws, it was difficult to bring perpetrators to justice. The reform of the Penal Code had massively failed. There was less than a 0.3 per cent chance for a victim of human trafficking to be discovered. The money sex buyers paid fostered human trafficking for exploitation and organised crime. Around 95 per cent were migrant women, mainly from Eastern Europe. There was a need to listen to prostitution survivors and prostitution needed to be recognised as a form of gender-based violence. It needed to be ensured that victims could exercise their rights, and sex buyers should be penalised.
China
China National Centre for Domestic Violence Crisis Intervention/Southwest University of Political Science and Law/China Association of Marriage and Family said the Civil Code clarified the definition of sexual harassment in the workplace. China had made progress in legislation and extended the scope of protection when it came to domestic violence. It was strongly suggested that the Government clarify the definition of sexual harassment in the workplace and increase accountability for employers. There needed to be increased plans to prevent sexual harassment in the workplace.
Women's Studies Institute of China/Chinese Women's Research Association/Institute of International Law of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences/Centre for Gender and Law Studies of Institute of Law of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences/China Women's University/Global Women’s Development Institute of China Women's University/China Association of Women Entrepreneurs/China Family Planning Association/and China Association for NGO Cooperation noted breakthroughs made by China in legislation since the last session of the Committee. These included the law on the protection of women’s rights and interests, revised and passed in 2022; the law on rural land contracting, revised in December 2018; and the anti-domestic violence law (2015). More efforts should be made to reduce gender discrimination in employment. Laws should be updated to protect the labour and social security rights of women in new forms of businesses. Gender sensitive measures should be taken in the rural collective ownership reform, to better protect women’s land rights. Increased investment should be made in reproductive services for women in remote and poor areas.
China Ethnic Minorities Association for External Exchanges/China Union of Anthropological and Ethnological Sciences said Chinese ethnic minority women enjoyed equal rights and fair social status. With the adoption of laws, regulations, policies, plans and concrete measures, China effectively protected the rights of women in ethnic minority areas and from ethnic minority background. Ethnic minority women’s participation in political affairs could be further promoted.
Hong Kong Tianjin Business and Professional Women Association/Youth Concentric Association Limited/Hong Kong and Mainland Legal Profession Association/Lawyers Hong Kong/and Hong Kong Federation of Women Lawyers said women in “Hong Kong” generally enjoyed a higher level of gender equality, due to Government education and legislation, and Government grants. However, due to stereotypes and bias, women were discouraged from pursuing careers in politics, technology and engineering. Housework and childcare were still regarded as women’s duties. Therefore, women in “Hong Kong” still lagged behind men in terms of development and earnings. As of March 2021, the presence of female directors on all “Hong Kong” companies stood at 14 per cent, while one third of companies had no women at all on their boards. Fortunately, the enactment of the law on safeguarding national security and improving the election system in “Hong Kong” would promote more gender equal opportunities.
Women’s General Association of Macau said the Convention had been applied in “Macau” before its return to China, and the level of gender equality there had always been among the highest in the world. All “Macau” residents were entitled to equal employment opportunities without discrimination under the labour relations law. Women’s participation in political decision-making had been increasing each year in “Macau”, highlighting the increase in the women’s concern for their social development. Finally, the Government provided primary medical services for all residents for free, and had improved women’s medical protection. It was suggested that public health and administrative management be carried out to provide better protection for women and children.
Tibet Bureau/Tibetan Women’s Association said discriminatory policies by China in “Tibet” had impacted Tibetan women disproportionally. Over a million Tibetan children between 6 to 18 were forcibly removed from their parents and sent to residential schools, to assimilate them into Han-majority culture. The harassment and sexual abuses in these residential schools in “Tibet” were alarming. Tibet human rights defenders were silenced systematically, often subject to arbitrary arrets. Between 2017 and 2018, thousands of Tibetan nuns from Yachen Gar, one of the largest Tibetan learning centres, were evicted and subjected to military drill training sessions, with three nuns committing suicide. The Committee was urged to press China to stop the persecution and discrimination against Tibetans, including women and girls, and to allow Tibetan children to learn Tibetan cultural, language and religious traditions.
World Uyghur Congress was concerned about ongoing policies disproportionally targeting Uyghur women regarding their own body, family life and work life. Since 2017, the Government had detained millions of women in re-education camps and these women were subjected to the gravest forms of abuse, including rape. The birth rates of Uyghurs had plummeted from 2016 to 2018, falling by over 84 per cent in the two largest areas. The Chinese Government was subjecting these people to state enforced labour. Why were local governmental officials permitted to offer financial incentives for inter-ethnic marriages? Why did vocational facilities include strong watch towers, barbed wires and armed guards?
Citizens’ Alliance for North Korean Human Rights, Transitional Justice Working Group/Improving North Korean Human Rights Centre/and Citizens’ Alliance for North Korean Human Rights drew the Committee’s kind attention to the issue of the widespread and systematic trafficking of women and girls from “North Korea” in the People’s Republic of China. “South Korean” non-governmental organizations had submitted multiple shadow reports, marking the first such occurrence in the Committee's history. The trafficking of “North Korean” women and girls was made possible by their vulnerable status in China. Despite their possible classification as trafficking victims or refugees, China forcibly repatriated them back to “North Korea” where they faced widespread abuse and violence, including torture, sexual and gender-based violence, and arbitrary detention. Human trafficking of “North Korean” women also had a devastating impact on children born to these women in China. Such children were frequently deprived of their rights to birth registration, nationality, education, and healthcare. It was hoped the Committee would bring up this matter with the delegation during the review.
Committee for Freedom in Hong Kong Foundation/Hong Kong Watch/Freiheit für Hong Kong/and Hongkongers in Deutschland said since the national security law was passed in 2020, rights and freedoms in “Hong Kong” had been systematically eroded, including women’s rights. In March the annual women’s march was cancelled on security grounds. In addition, women human rights defenders from “Hong Kong” faced many repercussions due to their gender. The Chinese Communist Party dictated policy to the Hong Kong Government that continued to repress women. “Hong Kong” had the highest level of women prisoners in the world. The Committee should demand that China repeal the national security law and respect the basic law, rather than enforcing legislation which facilitated the abuse of women worldwide.
Dui Hua Foundation said women accounted for eight per cent of the prison population in China, however, women who practiced unorthodox religions were disproportionately represented in criminal cases for violating article 300 of the Criminal Code: “organising or using a cult to undermine implementation of the law.” Women were estimated to make up more than 40 per cent of prisoners incarcerated for violating article 300. Court records suggested that sentencing in these cases was comparatively harsh and that instances of clemency were rare. The lack of consistent data and transparency in legal processes made such assessments difficult. The Dui Hua Foundation urged the Chinese Government to resume publicly posting court documents involving civil and criminal cases to its online judgment sites, including China Judgments Online. Doing so would contribute to resuming the positive trend of enhancing judicial transparency.
Accion Ecologica said the performance of Chinese mining companies in Ecuador had shown a high tolerance for risk and weak due diligence mechanisms. In 2013, a Chinese consortium acquired the Rio Blanco mining project and in 2017 officially began work without free and informed consent.
Sao Tome and Principe
SOS Mulher said 50.1 per cent of the population in Sao Tome and Principe were women and more than 50 per cent of them were under 20 years old. Women in Sao Tome and Principe were under-represented in the national office, the Government and the judiciary. According to the 2012 population census, around 28 per cent of families were led by single mothers, while only 2.9 per cent were led by single fathers. Three kinds of violence were prevalent: domestic violence, sexual violence and medical violence. Domestic violence was the most prevalent in the country. Many women lost body parts such as fingers and arms as a result of domestic violence committed against them by their current and former partners. Financial abuse was a common form of domestic violence. Women were abused when they were financially dependent on their male partners and were often treated like slaves. Sexual violence was also a great concern to society. Women, as well as girls and adolescents were victims and were raped, sexually abused and had their intimate images and videos circulated on social media. Medical violence occurred due to the lack of services and medical negligence. There was a huge need to educate people on non-violent relationships and to help women be more empowered.
Questions by Committee Experts
A Committee Expert asked about the new gender equality treaty published in German. Regarding the labour division, how would the non-governmental organizations suggest that Germany tackle the culturally embedded vision? Were there any statistics on those denied employment because of their head scarf?
One Committee Expert asked about the recommendations regarding clarity around sexual harassment in Chinese law. Concerning Timor-Leste, could clarity be provided to the Committee on the decriminalisation of abortion? The Expert said there had been some brave contributions on the record.
Another Committee Expert asked about the divorce law in Sao Tome and Principe; were there any challenges to its implementation?
A Committee Expert asked for further insights into article 48 of the Chinese constitution, the gender equality provision, which called for women’s protection and gender equality?
Statement from a National Human Rights Institution
BEATE RUDOLF, Director of the German Institute for Human Rights, said that several important recommendations made by the Committee at the last session were taken up in the coalition agreement of the present Government. While this was positive, one should not expect that their implementation was assured. It was being observed with concern that issues contained in the agreement had become very contentious among the political partners, and the recommendations could have a much-needed impact.
Parliament had strengthened the independence of the Federal Anti-Discrimination Authority, and it had established the Federal Foundation on Equality a think-tank promoting substantive gender equality through information, research, and networking. The intention of the Federal Government to close protection gaps and improve access to justice was welcomed. Yet so far, no steps had been taken. The German Institute considered that the need for a reform was evident and long overdue, and called for an implementation of the recommendations of the Committee and other United Nations treaty bodies.
Regarding violence against women, there was an urgent need to ensure reliable and permanent funding of support services and shelters for women who were victims of violence. Data collected should be disaggregated according to different groups with particular needs and according to forms of violence suffered. In Germany, women with disabilities living or working in specialised institutions were particularly at risk of experiencing violence.
The German Institute was concerned that domestic violence was not properly taken into account in judicial proceedings concerning custody and visitation rights. There was an urgent need to ensure that the relevant state authorities, including family court judges, were obliged to undergo training with respect to gender-based violence, the Convention, and the Istanbul Convention.
On trafficking, the Government’s intention to improve the support systems for victims of trafficking was noted, including to strengthen their rights, and to grant victims a right to stay irrespective of their willingness to testify against the perpetrators. The German Institute recommended that these measures were included in a comprehensive national action plan that established clear responsibilities and timelines, and that financial resources be deployed. Priority should be given to ensuring the identification of women who were victims of trafficking and to granting them a right to stay and rest and recover.
Questions and Responses
A Committee Expert asked about the resident’s permit for victims of trafficking; could more information be provided on their ability to obtain a resident’s permit? Could more information be provided about the prostitution law? Had it been considered that the age of 18 was low for this kind of occupation?
Ms. Rudolf said sometimes the victim did not want to testify. The rest and recovery period was very important as this was a time when a victim of trafficking could get advice and think about whether they wanted to be a witness. Regarding the legal age of prostitution, there was an evaluation of the law underway which may shed light of experience under the law.
A Committee Expert asked about barriers that women in Germany faced regarding the right to abortion? What could be done to tackle the deep gender roles in the labour force and the family?
Ms. Rudolf said abortion was difficult for several reasons, including the fact that knowledge about who carried out abortions was difficult to know and therefore, the change of the law was welcomed. Medical professionals could now announce on their website if they carried out these procedures. There were also too few practitioners performing abortions, and this was not part of the curriculum for medical students. This needed to be changed. Abortion was also difficult for women in rural areas, due to poverty and inability to access services. It was hoped the reform of the social security for children would lead to a better situation where single mothers did not face so many bureaucratic barriers before they received the money to which their children were entitled.
A Committee Expert said a new law was passed in Germany which obligated large companies to address human rights due diligence throughout the global supply chain. How was “large” defined by German law?
Ms. Rudolf said the definition was in regard to the number of people employed. This law did not have a gender perspective and this should be rectified.
Produced by the United Nations Information Service in Geneva for use of the media;
not an official record. English and French versions of our releases are different as they are the product of two separate coverage teams that work independently.
CEDAW23.015E