COMMITTEE ON ELIMINATION OF DISCRIMINATION AGAINST WOMEN CONCLUDES FIFTIETH SESSION

The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women has concluded its fiftieth session and adopted its concluding observations and recommendations on the reports of Oman, Paraguay, Montenegro, Mauritius, Lesotho, Chad, Kuwait and Côte d’Ivoire on how these countries implement the provisions of the Convention of the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. During the session, the Committee also adopted a General Comment on rural women and a statement on refugee women.

With regards to the report of Oman, the Committee took note of the measures taken to protect women against violence; but regretted the absence of a specific law on violence against women and the lack of adequate statistics, research and documentation on the incidence of violence against women. While recognizing the presence of women in some high ranking posts, the Committee was concerned at the very low representation or absence of women in the Consultative Council, the government, the judiciary and the diplomatic corps.

With respect to Paraguay, the Committee noted that while different measures to protect women from domestic violence had been adopted, the incidence of violence against women remained high. While noting the efforts to address the issue of trafficking in women and girls, the Committee remained concerned about the alarming dimension of trafficking and the lack of a comprehensive law on trafficking and the necessary human and financial resources to adequately combat trafficking and exploitation of prostitution

After reviewing the report of Montenegro, the Committee welcomed the adoption of several legislative measures aimed at eliminating discrimination against women. It expressed concern about the high incidence of domestic and sexual violence against women and girls, underreporting and the lack of prosecution. The Committee noted with concern that women were disproportionately affected by unemployment and were concentrated in low-paid jobs, often on fixed-term contracts.

Concerning the report of Mauritius, the Committee noted with appreciation the adoption of several new Acts aimed at combating discrimination and violence against women and the adoption of various policies and plans with the aim of promoting gender equality and accelerating elimination of discrimination against women. However, despite legal and administrative measures taken to combat domestic violence, violence against women remained a serious problem and the Committee expressed its deep regret at the State party’s failure to criminalize domestic violence despite previous concluding observations.

After considering the report of Lesotho, the Committee welcomed the progress achieved since the ratification of the Convention in 1995, including legislative reforms and the ratification of the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women. The Committee expressed its serious concern about the persistence of harmful norms, practices and traditions, as well as the State party’s limited efforts to address such discriminatory practices directly, which were reflected in women’s disadvantageous and unequal status in many areas, including education, public life, and decision-making and in the persistence of violence against women.

After examining the report of Chad, the Committee commended the adoption of Act No. 006/PR/02 of 15 April 2002 on Reproductive Health, which prohibited domestic and sexual violence as well as harmful practices, such as female genital mutilation and early marriages. The Committee expressed serious concerns at the high prevalence of sexual and gender-based violence, including female genital mutilation, rape and domestic violence in the State party. The Committee urged the State party to amend the Criminal Code to include trafficking in persons as an offence and to consider adopting a comprehensive law against trafficking.

After reviewing the report of Kuwait, the Committee welcomed the ratification of several international instruments and noted with appreciation the adoption of various institutional and policy measures. The Committee noted with concern the absence of provisions in the Penal Code criminalizing all forms of domestic and sexual violence against women in the family or workplace. Whilst women had been granted the right to vote and stood for election in 2005, women remained largely underrepresented in public and political life and that the level of women’s participation in the Parliament and government remains very low.

With respect to Côte d’Ivoire the Committee welcomed the establishment of the Commission on Dialogue, Truth and Reconciliation, its commitment to implement United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 and its willingness to institutionalize gender policies. The Committee reiterated its concern at the persistence of adverse cultural norms, and expressed concern that sufficient, sustained and systematic action to modify or eliminate stereotypes and negative cultural values and harmful traditional practices had not been taken. The Committee remained concerned about the delay in the approval of the national strategy against gender-based violence.

During the session, the Committee adopted a General Comment on rural women
in which it noted that despite efforts undertaken to encourage the overall empowerment of rural women, there were still many issues that needed to be addressed as women, and in particular rural women, faced discrimination in all spheres of life. The Committee called upon all Member States and the United Nations, its programmes, funds and agencies to contribute towards the achievement of gender equality in rural areas and stressed the importance and the need for coordinated action on a broad scale in partnership with civil society, as appropriate, to increase rural women’s overall empowerment and their contributions to agricultural productivity and eradication of poverty and hunger in particular by: incorporating gender-sensitive perspectives when designing and implementing rural development strategies, policies and programmes; and renouncing policies that might limit the ability of rural women to provide for adequate food for themselves, their families and communities.

In a statement on the occasion of the sixtieth anniversary of the 1951 Refugee Convention and the fiftieth anniversary of the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness, the Committee requested all States parties to reaffirm their commitment to adhering to their international obligations by ensuring that their laws, policies and practices did not discriminate against refugee and stateless women and girls. The Committee called on States to recognize gender related forms of persecution and to interpret the “membership of a particular social group” ground of the 1951 Convention to apply to women. Gender sensitive registration, reception, interview and adjudication processes also needed to be in place to ensure women’s equal access to asylum. Much remained to be done to achieve gender equality, not least within the contexts of displacement and statelessness. The Committee recognized that the protection risks faced by women and girls, in particular the scourge of gender-based violence sexual violence, domestic violence and human trafficking, continued to be of paramount concern and called on States to remain seized of these issues as a matter of priority and to further strengthen the protection of women and girls.

In her closing statement, Silvia Pimentel, Chairperson of the Committee, summed up the work accomplished by the Committee during the session, saying they had considered the reports of the eight States parties and had held meetings with entities of the United Nations system and non-governmental organizations. The Committee met with the Human Rights Committee and the Working Group on Discrimination against Women in Law and Practice and discussed ways to strengthen cooperation. The Working Group on Working Methods continued its work in setting-out priorities to rationalize and strengthen the Committee’s procedures and practices and the Committee adopted two additional decisions on the establishment of task forces and strengthening the role of the country rapporteurs. The Committee reviewed cases and took decision relating to individual complaints, and also reviewed requests for inquiries under the Optional Protocol. The Committee also considered follow-up information provided by States with respect to the implementation of the Convention. The Committee started its first reading of the General Comment on the dissolution of marriage and its economic consequences and adopted a statement on gender equality in the context of forced displacement and statelessness and a General Comment on rural women.

The next session of the Committee will be held in Geneva from 13 February to 2 March 2012 during which it will consider the reports of Algeria, Brazil, Grenada, Jordan, Norway, Republic of Congo and Zimbabwe.

Concluding Observations and Recommendations on Country Reports

Oman

Having examined the initial report of Oman, the Committee noted the State party’s positive record in adhering to international human rights conventions and its willingness to reform domestic legislation in accordance with its international obligations; and noted measures taken by the State party to address the issue of trafficking in human beings. The Committee welcomed the Human Trafficking Act promulgated by Royal Decree No. 126/2008 on combating trafficking in human beings, and the State party’s expressed willingness to review its reservations to CEDAW; as well as the consideration by the State party of its possible accession to the Optional Protocol of the Convention. The Committee noted that the fundamental human rights principles were integrated into the State party’s Basic Law (1996) and its Civil and Penal Codes did not discriminate between women and men in law, procedures and testimony. The Committee noted the fast-paced improvements in the health and education indicators in the State party in the recent past, including the decline in infant and maternal mortality rates and the improvement in prenatal and birth care standards; and commended the State party for the commitment and political will expressed by its head of state for empowerment and participation of women in all walks of life.

While the Committee took note of the pledge made by the State party to review its reservations of the Convention as soon as possible, no timeframe had been set to undertake the review. The Committee took note of the measures taken to protect women against violence, but regretted the absence of a specific law on violence against women and the lack of adequate statistics, research and documentation on the incidence of violence against women, as well as the fact that no specific mechanisms existed for women to lodge complaints, get reparations and ensure prosecution of the perpetrators. While recognizing the presence of women in some high ranking posts, the Committee was concerned at the very low representation or absence of women in the Consultative Council, the government, the judiciary and the diplomatic corps. Furthermore, despite the activities of a number of public interest associations in the country, the Committee was concerned about the absence of a vibrant civil society and the fact that women and men did not enjoy equal rights to nationality; and noted with concern that Omani women’s legal inability to transfer their nationality to their children if and when the fathers were non-nationals, whereas Omani men were able to do so for their children born of foreign mothers, constituted a clear violation of women’s equal rights under the Convention. The Committee was also concerned at the persistence of a significant number of discriminatory laws and provisions including laws relating to marriage, divorce, nationality, guardianship and custodial rights that denied women equal rights with men; at reports that, despite the legal prohibition, marriage of girls under the age of 18 was still widely practiced and accepted by Omani custom; and the fact that polygamy, which constituted a direct infringement of women’s rights, was not prohibited.

The Committee called upon the State party to expedite the review of its reservations to the Convention within an established timeframe and with the full participation of women’s groups from civil society; to adopt a specific law on violence against women and to establish appropriate redress mechanisms accessible to all women victims, and ensure that perpetrators were prosecuted and adequately punished; to strengthen support measures such as shelters, counselling, and rehabilitation; to provide gender-sensitive and violence-focused training for the judiciary and law enforcement officers and health professionals; to ratify ILO Convention No. 156 and the Convention on Migrant Workers; and to establish a protection and monitoring system for migrant domestic workers. The Committee called upon the State party to adopt laws and policies aimed at the promotion of women’s full and equal participation in decision-making in all areas of public, political and professional life; conduct awareness-raising activities for the society at large about the importance of gender equality and women’s participation in decision-making; develop training and mentoring programmes for women candidates and women elected to public office; and to create and ensure an enabling environment for civil society. The Committee called upon the State party to amend its domestic laws to grant Omani women equal rights with men in regard to transmission of their nationality to their children who have foreign fathers and to their foreign husbands; and to embark on law reform with regard to the Personal Status Code, taking into consideration the experiences of countries with similar religious backgrounds and legal systems that have successfully accommodated their domestic legislation to commitments emanating from international instruments, to prohibit polygamy and to continue with efforts to ensure that the practice of dowry does not negate or curtail women’s fundamental human right to freely choose their spouse.

Paraguay

Having examined the sixth periodic report of Paraguay, the Committee noted with satisfaction the adoption of the Public Policy for Social Development 2010-2020, which complemented the Economic and Social Strategic Plan 2008-2013 and included among its purposes the “Eradication of all forms of violence against women, assuring the State protection for them” and other rights of women as cross-sectional topic of social policy. The Committee also noted with satisfaction the adoption of the National Plan for Equality of Opportunities 2008-2017, and the establishment of strategic lines for the prevention, sanction and elimination of violence against women. The Committee welcomed the strengthening of five police stations for the record of complaints, the establishment of an Inter-institutional Technical group for the elaboration of a unified register for public services provided to victims of gender-based, domestic and interfamily violence, the increase of the budget allocated to the Secretariat for Women, the establishment of entities responsible for gender and women’s rights in the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, the Superior Tribunal of Electoral Justice, the Supreme Court of Justice, the Ministry of Defence, and the strengthening of the Secretariat for Women in all regions of the country; and the adoption of inter-institutional agreements between the branches of Government in order to promote sensitive topics that faced resistance in the society, such as the Inter-institutional Council for gender and its Follow-up Committee to evaluate, contribute to, monitor and make recommendations regarding the implementation of the National Plan for Equality of Opportunities.

The Committee noted that while the State party had adopted different measures to protect women from domestic violence, the incidence of violence against women remained high. The Committee was concerned about the lack of a coordinated and coherent system for collecting data on gender-based violence and the lack of a comprehensive law on domestic violence. While noting the State party’s efforts to address the issue of trafficking in women and girls, including the establishment of a Directorship on Prevention and Attention to Victims of Trafficking, the elaboration of a National Policy on Prevention and Fight against human trafficking, the Committee remained concerned about the alarming dimension of trafficking and the lack of a comprehensive law on trafficking, human and financial resources to adequately combat trafficking and exploitation of prostitution and to offer shelter and services to victims, the pending approval and the need to allocate sufficient resources for the implementation of the National Policy against human trafficking, and the need for further collaboration with neighboring countries. The Committee was concerned about the high rate of teenage pregnancy, the lack of appropriate disaggregated data and information on reasons for dropping out in relation to pregnancy, the suspension of the implementation of the Pedagogical Framework for comprehensive education on sexuality, and the gap in the education of indigenous girls. The Committee expressed concern with the vulnerability of working conditions of women in both the formal and informal sectors of the economy, the persistence of occupational segregation and the concentration of women in low-paid and informal jobs and wage disparities between women and men, and the situation of domestic workers and the persistence of unpaid domestic child labour despite being forbidden by law.

The Committee recommended that the State party expedite the adoption of a comprehensive law to prevent, sanction and eradicate violence against women, to effectively combat all forms of violence, to intensify its efforts to increase awareness among public officials, the judiciary, health-care providers and social workers about the fact that violence against women constituted discrimination and a human rights violation, and to enhance its collaboration and coordination with civil society organizations. The Committee urged the State party to strengthen its efforts in anti-trafficking initiatives, to adopt a law on trafficking which fully complied with article 6 of the Convention, to strengthen its mechanisms for investigation, prosecution and punishment of trafficking, and to increase international, regional and bilateral cooperation to prevent trafficking. The Committee recommended the implementation of specific policies to support academic performance during pregnancy and maternity, special measures to encourage young pregnant girls to stay in school, to consider the relevance of reinstating the Pedagogical Framework for comprehensive education on sexuality, and to strengthen its efforts towards implementing equal education opportunities for indigenous girls. The Committee recommended the State party to ensure the implementation of its labour legislation, to address pay gaps and to encourage women to take up employment in non-traditional fields, to amend its legislation in order to improve the conditions of work for domestic workers, to strengthen its monitoring on unpaid domestic child labour and to implement policies aiming at eradicating this practice, to strengthen labour inspection mechanisms and to establish sanctions, and to ratify ILO Convention No. 189 concerning decent work for domestic workers.

Montenegro

Having examined the initial report of Montenegro, the Committee welcomed the adoption of several legislative measures aimed at eliminating discrimination against women, including the Law on Gender Equality (2007), the Law on the Prohibition of Discrimination (2010), which defined and prohibited direct and indirect discrimination based on sex, sexual orientation, gender identity and other grounds, provided for remedies, and strengthened the protection role of the Protector of Human Rights and Freedoms (Ombudsman) in relation to discrimination, the Law on the Protector of Human Rights and Freedoms (2011), the Law on Protection from Family Violence (2010), which provided for temporary and permanent protection orders for victims of domestic violence; the 2010 amendment to article 444 of the Criminal Code criminalizing trafficking and prohibiting the use of the services of a victim of trafficking; the Law on Foreigners (No. 82/08 and 72/09) and the Law on Free Legal Aid due to enter into force on 1 January 2012. The Committee noted the adoption of various institutional and policy measures aimed at advancing women’s rights, including the establishment of local gender equality structures in 10 out of 21 municipalities and the adoption of local action plans for achieving gender equality in 6 of those municipalities, the National Strategy for the Fight against Trafficking in Human Beings and the Action Plan for the implementation of the Strategy for the period 2010-2011, and the appointment of a coordinator for the fight against trafficking in the Police Directorate.

While noting the adoption of the Law on Protection from Family Violence, the Committee expressed concern about the high incidence of domestic and sexual violence against women and girls, underreporting and the lack of prosecution, the absence of State-run shelters and psychosocial rehabilitation, the limited support for NGOs providing assistance to women victims of violence and the lack of research and disaggregated data on violence against women. Women and girls were under-represented in traditionally male-dominated fields of studies, including in post-graduate programmes, such as engineering and information technology, and were concentrated in traditionally female-dominated fields. While noting the State party’s efforts to include Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian (RAE) children in formal education, the Committee remained concerned about the low enrolment and high drop-out rates of RAE girls at the primary and secondary levels, patriarchal attitudes of RAE parents towards education of girls, as well as reports on gaps in the quality of education provided in schools in RAE majority areas and on racial discrimination, abuse and harassment of RAE girls and boys by non-RAE children and teachers, and the extremely low number of RAE women and girls in higher education. The Committee noted with concern that women were disproportionately affected by unemployment, concentrated in low-paid jobs, often on fixed-term contracts which could be easily terminated in circumvention of their rights to paid maternity leave and to return to work following childbirth, and under-represented in high-level positions in the public and private sectors. The Committee was also concerned that Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian women were to a large extent excluded from the formal labour market; that the lack of flexible work arrangements, childcare facilities, and special non-transferrable paternity left forced women into part-time and low-paid work and reinforced the unequal division of family responsibilities between women and men.

The Committee urged the State party to ensure that all reports of domestic and sexual violence against women and girls were effectively investigated, that perpetrators were prosecuted and sentenced, to provide mandatory training to judges, prosecutors and police officers on standardized procedures for dealing with victims in a gender-sensitive manner, to provide adequate assistance and protection to women victims of violence as well as funding for NGOs that assist victims, and to set a time frame for ratifying the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence (2011). The Committee recommended that the State party intensify efforts aimed at diversifying academic and vocational choices for women and men, to take further measures to encourage women and men to choose non-traditional fields of education and careers; and to adopt temporary special measures to increase enrolment and completion rates of Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian (RAE) girls and boys, to train and recruit more RAE teachers and allocate sufficient resources for improving the quality of education in schools in and around the Konik refugee camps and to intensify efforts to integrate RAE children into local schools. The Committee recommended that the State party ensure that the Law on Changes to the Labour Law expressly provided for equal remuneration of women and men for work of equal value, protected the rights of women employed on fixed-term contracts to paid maternity leave and to return to work after childbirth and introduces special non-transferable paternity leave to promote the active participation of fathers in child-raising; to sensitize employers and employees on flexible work arrangements for women and men, and to increase the number and capacity of affordable childcare facilities in all parts of the State party, to effectively implement existing and additional policies to achieve substantive equality of men and women in the labour market.

Mauritius

Concerning the combined sixth and seventh periodic report of Mauritius, the Committee welcomed the ratification of the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict, and the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography. The Committee noted with appreciation the adoption of several new Acts aimed at combating discrimination and violence against women and the adoption of various policies and plans with the aim of promoting gender equality and accelerating elimination of discrimination against women; the slight increase in the number of women in Parliament at the general elections of 2010 and the increase of women representation in the judiciary system since the consideration of the last report where 56 per cent of judges and magistrates were women; the efforts undertaken by the State party to improve women’s and girls’ access to health services, and the adoption of the HIV Act in 2006; and the adoption of various measures to enhance employment opportunities for women and the revision carried out by the National Remuneration Board in 2008 that repealed the wage gap between women and men for field-crop, orchard and livestock workers.

While taking into account legal and administrative measures taken to combat domestic violence, including the amendments to the Protection from Domestic Violence Act, the launching of the National Plan to Combat Domestic Violence, and the establishment of the National and Area Domestic Violence Committees, violence against women remained a serious problem. The Committee expressed concern about the low number of shelters; the low number of cases of domestic violence reported to the police; the fact that the Protection from Domestic Violence act and its amendments may in fact not be providing adequate protection for women; that many women who had obtained protection orders were still subjected to attacks by their spouses. The Committee expressed its deep regret at the State party’s failure to criminalize domestic violence despite previous concluding observations. The State party remained a country of source, destination and transit for trafficking in persons and the Committee expressed concerns about the proliferation of sex; the lack of information on the real extent of the sale and sexual exploitation of young girls and the lack of a centralized information system; the absence of sex-disaggregated data with regard to both trafficking and prostitution as well as the lack of a national plan of action to addressing both trafficking and sexual exploitation. While welcoming the State party’s efforts to include education on sexual and reproductive health and rights at both primary and secondary school levels, the enactment of HIV/AIDS Act (2006), and the Criminal Code Amendment Bill which seeks to revise section 235 of the Criminal Code on abortion, the Committee reiterated its deep concern about the prevalence of teenage pregnancies in the country; the maintenance of the provision in the Criminal Code criminalizing abortion, despite its previous concluding observations; punitive measures faced by women and girls if they pursue an abortion; and the prevalence of clandestine abortions and the vulnerability of sex workers to contraction and transmission of HIV/AIDS and other STDs.

The Committee urged the State party to eradicate and bring to an end all forms of violence perpetrated against women and girls within the State party, to establish additional shelters, to strengthen its support to local NGOs who offer legal aid and shelter to women and girls who are victims of domestic violence and to put in place effective monitoring and evaluation mechanisms, eliminating all obstacles preventing abused women from reporting domestic violence offences to the police; to collect disaggregated data and take all legislative measures to categorize domestic violence as a crime and to accelerate its efforts to criminalize marital rape and to include it in the Sexual Offences bill. The Committee recommended that the State party adopt a comprehensive national action plan and develop a coordination mechanism to address trafficking and sexual exploitation and ensure the allocation of sufficient human and financial resources for the effective implementation of the action plan; to address the root causes of trafficking and exploitation of women by increasing its efforts to improve the economic situation of women and girls; to collect sex-disaggregated data on the number of sex-workers and trafficked persons and on the number of complaints, investigations, prosecutions and sentences in relation to trafficking and prostitution. The Committee called upon the State party to amend section 235 of the Criminal Code on abortion in order to remove punitive measures imposed on women who undergo abortion and decriminalize abortion under certain conditions; and to hasten the consultation process with the relevant stakeholders; to ensure the provision of effective and age appropriate education on sexual and reproductive health and rights at all school levels; and to adopt all measures to implement the national plan to combat HIV/AIDS.

Lesotho

Regarding the combined initial, second, third and fourth periodic report of Lesotho, the Committee welcomed the progress achieved since the ratification of the Convention by the State party in 1995, including legislative reforms. Specific references were made to the Sexual Offence Act (2003), recognizing marital rape as an offence; the Legal Capacity of Married Persons Act (2006); the Labour Code Wage Amendment Act (2009); the Education Act (2010), which provided for free and compulsory education; the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act (2011), which criminalized all forms of slavery and provides for harsh penalties for the perpetrators; and the Children’s Protection and Welfare Act (2011). The Committee noted with appreciation the initiatives taken by the State party to promote gender equality and protect women’s rights, such as the establishment of a Law Reform Commission with the mandate of reviewing discriminatory laws. The Committee also commended the State Party for the ratification of the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, on 24 September 2004.

The Committee expressed its serious concern about the persistence of harmful norms, practices and traditions, as well as the State party’s limited efforts to address such discriminatory practices directly, including polygamy and bride price (Bohali). Such customs and practices perpetuated discrimination against women and girls, reflected in women’s disadvantageous and unequal status in many areas, including education, public life, and decision-making and in the persistence of violence against women. The State party had not taken sustained measures to modify or eliminate stereotypes and negative traditional values and practices. While welcoming the enactment of the Sexual Offences Act in 2003 and recognizing marital rape as an offence, the Committee expressed concern at the high prevalence of violence against women, the absence of an expressed political will to place high priority on the elimination of violence against women and the absence of specific legislation to eliminate violence against women. While noting the establishment of the roving legal aid clinics and the launch of the Pilot Project at Lapeng Care Center, this was the only center in the country providing services to victims of violence, it provided only “day service” and was not exclusively for women victims of domestic violence. The Committee remained concerned at the continuing prevalence of trafficking in women and girls in the country; and the lack of shelters and counselling services in the State party for victims of trafficking and prostitution. The Citizenship Order 1971 did not provide Mosotho women with the same rights as men to acquire or transmit their nationality; Mosotho women could not pass their nationality to their foreign husbands, unlike Mosotho men who have such right by marriage.

The Committee urged the State party to implement a comprehensive strategy to modify or eliminate patriarchal attitudes and stereotypes that discriminated women; to strengthen understanding of the equality of women and men and to enhance a positive and non-stereotypical portrayal of women. The Committee urged the State party to give high priority to the enactment of the draft Domestic Violence Bill, to put in place comprehensive measures to prevent and address violence against women and girls; to provide mandatory training for judges, prosecutors and the police on the strict application of legal provisions dealing with violence against women, train police officers on procedures to deal with women victims of violence; to encourage women to report incidents of domestic and sexual violence; to provide adequate assistance and protection to women victims of violence and enhancing cooperation with NGOs providing shelter and rehabilitation to victims; and collect statistical data on domestic and sexual violence disaggregated by sex, age, nationality and relationship between the victim and perpetrator. The Committee called upon the State party to fully implement article 6 of the Convention; to address root causes of trafficking and prostitution; to provide training on how to identify and deal with victims of trafficking and on provisions of the anti-trafficking legislation to the judiciary, law enforcement officials, border guards and social workers in all parts of the country; to ensure a systematic monitoring and periodic evaluation, including the collection and analysis of data on trafficking and exploitation of women in prostitution; to increase international, regional and bilateral cooperation to prevent trafficking; and ensure that trafficked women and girls had access to quality medical care, counselling, financial support, adequate housing, training opportunities and free legal services. The Committee urged the State party to bring its legislation on citizenship into full compliance with article 9 of the Convention; and ensure access to passports to the whole population, including in rural and remote areas.

Chad

After examining the combined initial to fourth periodic report of the Republic of Chad, the Committee commended the adoption of Act No. 006/PR/02 of 15 April 2002 on Reproductive Health, which prohibited domestic and sexual violence as well as harmful practices, such as female genital mutilation (FGM) and early marriages; the establishment the Directorate for the Advancement of Girls’ Education within the Ministry of Education. The Committee welcomed the efforts of the State party, in cooperation with a number of United Nations agencies, to be more responsive to incidents of sexual and gender-based violence by providing training on sexual and gender-based prevention and response to officials from the Détachement Intégré de Sécurité (DIS) and to its national police, by recruiting female police officers and by opening gender units posts in the refugee camps. The Committee noted the signature of the Chad-Sudan normalization agreement in 2010, aimed at the demobilisation of Chadian and Sudanese rebel groups from eastern Chad. The Committee welcomed the ratification by the State party of the Optional Protocols to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict and on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography; the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court; the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime; and the African Union Convention for the Protection and Assistance of Internally Displaced Persons in Africa .

The Committee expressed serious concerns at the high prevalence of sexual and gender-based violence, including female genital mutilation, rape and domestic violence in the State party; domestic and sexual violence remained under-reported due to cultural taboos and the victims’ fear of being stigmatized by their communities; and at least 45 per cent of women in Chad have been subjected to female genital mutilation. The Committee regretted the lack of implementation of the Law on Reproductive Health (2002), which prohibits female genital mutilation, early marriages, domestic and sexual violence; the lack of information on the impact of the measures and programmes in place to reduce incidences of all forms of violence against women and girls. The Committee remained concerned about the availability of social support services, including shelters, for victims. The Committee was concerned at the lack of information concerning trafficking in women and reports about cases of children, particularly girls who are sold by their parents to relatives or strangers, as well as about cases of girls who are kidnapped and sent to N’Djamena or other regions; the fact that trafficking in persons was not defined as an offence in the Criminal Code; and the lack of statistics on the number of women and girls who are victims of trafficking for sexual and economic exploitation. The Committee regretted the lack of detailed information concerning prosecution and punishment of traffickers. While welcoming the adoption of the National Health Care Policy (2007-2015), the Committee was concerned about the deterioration of health indicators in the State party and the fact that socio-cultural factors, illiteracy, poverty as well as geographic constraints remained major obstacles in women’s access to health services; and at the low rate of contraceptive use and reports indicating that women, including pregnant women (4 per cent prevalence) and sex workers (20 per cent prevalence) were disproportionately affected by HIV/AIDS.

The Committee called upon the State party to give priority to the implementation of the Law on Reproductive Health (2002) through the amendment of the relevant legislation or the adoption of a comprehensive law on violence against women and to provide sanctions for perpetrators of violence against women; to take the necessary measures to provide protection, relief and remedies to victims and their families; and to strengthen its cooperation with the relevant international organizations, particularly the United Nations Population Fund to finalize the National Strategy for the Prevention of Sexual Gender-based Violence (SGBV) and proceed to its immediate implementation. The Committee urged the State party to amend the Criminal Code to include trafficking in persons as an offence and to consider adopting a comprehensive law against trafficking, to ensure that perpetrators are prosecuted and punished and victims adequately protected and assisted; to effectively implement its National Action Plan against Trafficking and envisage the establishment of a national mechanism; to provide information and training on how to identify and deal with trafficked victims and on anti-trafficking provisions in the domestic law to the judiciary, law enforcement officials, border guards and social workers; ensure systematic monitoring and periodic evaluation; and increase its efforts at international, regional and bilateral cooperation to prevent trafficking. The Committee called upon the State party to ensure the implementation of the National Health Care Policy (2007-2015); to address the obstacles to women's access to health care including socio-cultural norms and the weak economic status of women in rural and urban areas that constituted a risk to women; take actions to involve men in the use of contraceptives with a view to foster responsible parenthood, and to adequately fund family planning services and health-care centres with a view to improving accessibility to women in rural areas; strengthen efforts to expand access to antiretroviral treatment and prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMCT); and develop policies aimed at addressing multiple discrimination and violence against women based on the intersection between violence and HIV/AIDS.

Kuwait

Concerning the combined third and fourth periodic report of Kuwait, the Committee welcomed the ratification of the Optional Protocols to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict and on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography; and the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime; and the enactment of legislative measures and judicial decisions aimed at eliminating discrimination against women, including the amendment to the Electoral Act No. 35 of 1962 by Act No. 17 of 2005, the Private Sector Labour Act No. 6 of 2010, Law No. 413/2009 and the Supreme Court’s judgment ruling against the requirement in article 15 of Law No. 11/1962 that the husband must agree to the woman’s request for a passport. The Committee also noted with appreciation the adoption by the State party of various institutional and policy measures, the establishment by the Government of a Central Body in November 2010, mandated to find a solution for the stateless Bidoun population which are considered as “illegal residents”; the establishment of the High Committee for Human Rights; the creation of institutional mechanisms for the advancement of women, including the Committee for Women’s Affairs of the National Assembly; the creation of the Women Police Task Force; the establishment of a hotline to report labour complaints, human trafficking and forced labour; and regulation on the prohibition for employers in the civil and oil sectors to withhold the travel documents of their employees.

The Committee noted with concern the absence of provisions in the Penal Code criminalizing all forms of domestic and sexual violence against women in the family or workplace; the so called “honour crimes” and the extremely lenient penalties those acts attracted under article 153 of the Criminal Code; and the practice of placing female detainees under male supervision in pre-trial detentions and remand prisons. Whilst women had been granted the right to vote and stood for election in 2005, and four women were subsequently elected to the National Assembly, the Committee expressed its concern that women remained largely underrepresented in public and political life and that the level of women’s participation in the Parliament and government remained very low. The Committee reiterated its serious concern that under the Nationality Act female Kuwaiti nationals were not entitled to pass on their nationality to their children, except in cases of divorce, death or statelessness of the father of the children and that even in such instances the decision to grant nationality to the child was not automatic and that, unlike men, Kuwaiti women were still unable to pass their nationality to their foreign spouses. While noting increased number of girls and women enrolled in universities, especially in studies of medicine and engineering, the Committee expressed its concern at the instructions of the Ministry of Education preventing married students from continuing studies in day schools despite much higher drop-out rates in evening schools; the segregation of students based on sex in public secondary schools and universities; and the employment of only same-gender educational and administrative staff in the public schools, which may perpetuate discriminatory stereotypes.

The Committee recommended the adoption of specific legislation to criminalize acts of domestic and sexual violence; to assist women victims to report incidents of domestic and sexual violence to the police; to ensure that all reported incidents of domestic and sexual violence are promptly and impartially investigated and prosecuted; to review the existing legal provisions relating to divorce in case of injury as a result of domestic or sexual violence; to amend article 153 of the Criminal Code in order to remove diminished criminal liability and provide more stringent penalties for men who commit so called “honour crimes”; to further amend the Criminal Code so as to provide equal sanctions for both men and women in relation to killings motivated by adultery; to ensure that women are under supervision of female guards in all places of detention; and to provide for sufficient number and quality of shelters for all female victims of violence without restrictions linked to age or marital status. The Committee urged the State party to further encourage and facilitate women’s representation in Parliament and Ministerial positions and to increase the representation of women in the diplomatic service; and to review the Nationality Act to ensure equality between women and men with regard to the acquisition, change and retention of nationality and to enable Kuwaiti women to pass their nationality to their children and to their foreign spouses; and to refrain from forcing Bidoun “illegal residents” upon issuance or renewal of their identity cards to sign affidavits renouncing any claim to Kuwaiti nationality. The Committee also recommended that the State party review regulations on married women’s attendance at schools and allow their enrolment in day schools; allow for mixed education in public schools and employ mixed-gender educational and administrative staff in public schools; and to include more comprehensive education on sexual and reproductive health and rights in public school curricula.


Côte d’Ivoire

Having examined the combined initial to third periodic report of Côte d’Ivoire, the Committee welcomed the establishment of the Commission on Dialogue, Truth and Reconciliation and noted the State party’s commitment to implement United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325; and the statement by the delegation that the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women had been recently ratified and the commitment of the State party to accept amendment to article 20, paragraph 1 of the Convention. The Committee noted with appreciation the State party’s willingness to institutionalize gender policies; and the various policies and strategies adopted by the State party to promote gender equality and protect women’s rights, including the 2007 Solemn Declaration on Equality of Opportunity, Equity and Gender; the National Action Plan for Women (2003-2007); the National Policy Paper on Equal Opportunity, Equity and Gender; and the National Plan of Action for the Implementation of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 (2000) on Women and Peace and Security. The Committee noted with satisfaction the ratification of the First Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, in 1997; and the recent ratification, as stated by the delegation, of the Protocol to the African Charter on human and peoples’ rights of women in Africa. The Committee also noted with appreciation the statement by the delegation that the State party will imminently ratify the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime and the Palermo Protocol to prevent, suppress and punish trafficking in persons, especially women and children.

While noting the efforts made by the State party to eliminate discriminatory attitudes and traditional harmful practices affecting women and the existence of legal provisions prohibiting most of these practices, the Committee reiterated its concern at the persistence of adverse cultural norms, practices and traditions as well as patriarchal attitudes and deep-rooted stereotypes and expressed concern that the State party had not taken sufficient sustained and systematic action to modify or eliminate stereotypes and negative cultural values and harmful traditional practices. With regard to the post-election period, the Committee was deeply concerned that civilians remained the primary victims of human rights violations and abuses; that victims of human rights violations continued to face difficulties in accessing the criminal justice system; and about reports on attacks perpetrated against Internal Displaced Women. The Committee remained concerned about the delay in the approval of the national strategy against gender-based violence; the small number of cases reported with respect to sexual and gender-based violence; the difficulties faced by women to obtain redress through the justice system; the stigmatization faced by women victims of sexual violence; the absence of definition of rape in the Criminal Code; the absence of legal provisions criminalizing domestic violence and marital rape; and the persistence, despite criminalization, of the practice of female genital mutilation. The Committee was particularly concerned about the prevalence of child trafficking involving both boys and girls; the increase in the number of women and girls entering prostitution as a result of the 2002-2007 conflict and the post-election crisis.

The Committee recommended that the State party, with the assistance of civil society organizations, put in place a comprehensive strategy to eliminate harmful traditional practices and stereotypes that discriminate against women; and that it address harmful traditional practices such as female genital mutilation, forced and early marriage, levirate, sororate, polygamy and the granting of all decision-making power to men within the family, by expanding public education programmes and effectively enforcing the laws prohibiting such practices. The Committee urged the State party to ensure that those responsible for violations of women’s human rights during the post-electoral crisis are brought to justice and that all acts of sexual violence are punished; to initiate thorough and complete investigation into the perpetration of sexual abuse by armed actors. The Committee urged the State party to expedite the approval and implementation of a comprehensive and updated national strategy against gender-based violence; to amend the Criminal Code and Act No. 98-757 of 23 December 1998 to introduce a definition of rape covering any sexual assault; to ensure the effective enforcement of the provisions of Act of 23 December 1998 criminalizing female genital mutilation, prosecute such acts and impose on perpetrators appropriate penalties; and significantly increase its awareness-raising and education efforts with the support of civil society organizations. The Committee recommended that the State party carry out a study to investigate the scope, extent and causes of human trafficking and forced prostitution; to ratify the United Nations Convention against transnational organized crime and the Palermo Protocol.

Members of the Committee

The Committee members are: Ayse Feride Acar (Turkey); Nicole Ameline (France); Olindia Bareiro-Bobadilla (Paraguay); Magalys Arocha Dominguez (Cuba); Violet Tsisiga Awori (Kenya); Barbara Evelyn Bailey (Jamaica); Meriem Belmihoub-Zerdani (Algeria); Niklas Bruun (Finland); Naela Mohamed Gabr (Egypt); Ruth Halperin-Kaddari (Israel); Yoko Hayashi (Japan); Ismat Jahan (Bangladesh); Indira Jaising (India); Soledad Murillo de la Vega (Spain); Violeta Neubauer (Slovenia); Pramila Patten (Mauritius); Silvia Pimentel (Brazil); Maria Helena Lopes de Jesus Pires (Timor-Leste); Victoria Popescu (Romania); Zohra Rasekh (Afghanistan); Patricia Schulz (Switzerland); Dubravka Šimonoviæ (Croatia); and Xiaoqiao Zou (China).

Silvia Pimentel is the Chairperson; Nicole Ameline, Victoria Popescu and Zohra Rasekh are the Vice-Chairpersons; and Violet Tsisiga Awori is the Rapporteur.


For use of the information media; not an official record

CEDAW11/025E