| NGOs at CEDAW |
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| Friday, 12 February 2010 | |
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CEDAW hears from NGOs on United Arab Emirates, Netherlands, Egypt, Botswana and Panama, and from the National Human Rights Institution of the Netherlands
UNITED NATIONS Press Release
On the Netherlands, the Dutch Government appeared to deny the intersection of various forms of discrimination causing multiple discrimination. The Dutch Equal Treatment Commission, the Dutch national human rights institution, noted that although many cases of gender discrimination concerned pregnant women, that issue had not been sufficiently tackled by the Dutch Government. With regard to Egypt, NGOs said that violence against women in Egypt has been increasing in both the private and public realm and sexual harassment had reached alarming levels. Egypt had no law that protected women from violence. Rural women in particular were not covered by any health insurance and social security schemes. Moreover, illiteracy among rural women was significantly higher than among urban women, as was gender-based violence. Among issues raised on Botswana, the Government had failed to recognize the patriarchal socialization of Batswana; the entrenched patriarchal attitudes discouraged women from participating in politics. Statistics continued to show a disproportionate impact of HIV/AIDS on women. On Panama, NGOs said that femicide was not recognized as a crime. Women were also subjected to sexual stereotypes and the State had no ongoing policy for eradicating them.
United Arab Emirates NICHOLAS MCGEEHAN and NIAMH HAYES, MAFIWASTA, drew attention to three main areas of concern: the condition of domestic workers in the United Arab Emirates; the issue of equality before the law; and domestic violence and the absence of support services for victims. The United Arab Emirates was commended for its progress with regard to education, employment and the increased participation of women in public life. As to equality before the law, both citizens and non-citizens alike faced discrimination in their treatment by law enforcement agents and the judiciary in the United Arab Emirates. Under Sharia law evidentiary standards, a women’s evidence in criminal proceedings was worth only half that of a man, and – on a social as well as a legal level – women might be discouraged or intimidated from accessing the legal system or approaching the police. The Netherlands
LINDA MANS and LEONTINE BIJLEVELD, Dutch CEDAW Network, remained concerned about the Government’s view on the status of the Convention. They were also concerned about the seeming negation by the Government of its obligation to combat actively gender stereotypes. SEHAM ELSAID AWAD NEGM, Women’s Society Association Coalition, said that violence against women has been increasing in both the private and public realm in Egypt. Sexual harassment had also reached alarming levels. Egypt had no law that protected women from violence inflicted upon them and provisions in law even gave men the right to discipline their wives. Gender-based violence s still posed a serious threat to all efforts to ensure women’s political participation. There were also numerous gaps in the Personal Status Law that jeopardized women’s legal rights in that respect, for example men’s unilateral right of divorce.
CHIGEDZE VIRGINIA CHINYEPI and MONICA TABENGWA, Botswana Council of Non-Governmental Organizations (BOCONGO), said they were concerned that the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women had not been fully integrated into domestic law in Botswana. Regarding the substantive equality in power sharing and political representation of women, the Botswana Government had failed to recognize the non-enabling environment that had been created by the patriarchal socialization of Batswana. Efforts made to address the issue of violence against women had been largely ineffective. The Domestic Violence Act did not criminalize marital rape and the Marital Power Act did not apply to customary and religious marriages. Panama MONICA DEL CARMEN BENSON NINO, CLADEM-Panama, said that recommendations had been made regarding violence against women, but Panama still had not provided a status report on the issue. Femicide was not recognized as a crime. There had been a Bill on Reproductive and Sexual Health, but it had been withdrawn,
Committee Members raised a number of questions, including, on the United Arab Emirates,; whether there were any safe environments for women to report violence against them. With regard to Egypt, Committee Members asked about women’s property rights upon divorce, and was there a difference between law and practice? As for female genital mutilation, what was the Government’s role in combating such harmful traditional practices? Concerning Botswana, Members asked what relevance the Optional Protocol to the Convention could potentially have regarding access to such services in Botswana? Members wished to know if NGOs consulted by the Government in the process of preparing its periodic report. Responses Representatives from the United Arab Emirates NGOs said that the issue of domestic violence was not helpfully addressed by courts; as for academic studies, one had been conducted in 2006, highlighting the high numbers of victims. Representatives from Egypt NGOs, in their responses, reported that NGOs had been consulted in the preparation of Egypt’s report, but that their input had not been appropriately taken into account. Female genital mutilation was banned in the Penal Code, unless for medical necessity, but de facto there was no medical necessity for female genital mutilation. On property rights, many women suffered from deprivation of the rightful shares of their inheritance. Representatives of NGOs from Panama, responding, said that NGOs had pushed for the implementation of the Bill on Sexual and Reproductive Health, which had finally been withdrawn. Withdrawing that bill meant that the concerned groups were denied access to health services. The suffering of indigenous people and discrimination against them was visible in enforced displacement of communities by police. HREA - www.hrea.org |