شيلي حُثت على تنفيذ الإصلاحات واغتنام الفرصة التاريخية المتاحة لتحسين حياة المرأة – خبراء في الأمم المتحدة

SANTIAGO DE CHILE (9 September 2014) – United Nations human rights experts today urged the government of Chile to adopt the policy reforms regarding women’s rights proposed  by Chilean President Michelle Bachelet in May and seize an historic   opportunity to improve the lives of Chilean women.

“Chile is at a key moment in which it has the economic capacity and the political will to make a transformative change in women’s lives and bring them out of a conservative, patriarchal society, which has left them behind,” said experts Frances Raday and Alda Facio, Chairperson and member of the UN Working Group on discrimination against women in law and in practice, at the end of their first official mission to Chile to examine the issue of discrimination against women in the country.

Ms. Raday and Ms.Facio praised the government for its policy and legislative initiatives to expand existing legal equality measures, which are incomplete and often not implemented.

They welcome the reforms proposed by President Bachelet, which include constitutional reform, gender quotas for political candidates, measures to eliminate violence against women, decriminalisation of abortion and equality in the marital property regime.

However, the experts, highlighting a range of issues, urged the Chilean Government to address these urgent problems for women resulting from economic disadvantage and social exclusion.

Among the issues highlighted in the experts’ end of mission statement are:

Very low participation of women in political life: This is well below international and regional average, despite having a female Head of State and President of the Senate. Only 15.83% in the Chamber of Deputies and 15.79% in the Senate. Only 12,5% of  mayors were women in 2012.
Alarming scale of violence against women: One out of three women reports intimate partner violence. In 2013, only 30% of women victims filed complaints and just under 9% of cases resulted in convictions.
Low participation in the labour force by women: At 47%, this is low relative to averages in the region. The wage gap persists at 30% and is greater in jobs requiring higher education.

Acute problem of teenage pregnancies: This affects the health, education and economic future of young girls, and preventive measures should be taken. 

Public health sector: There are serious gaps in the availability of preventive screening for women, emergency contraception, medical care and specialist treatment.  In 2011, there were 30,860 illegal abortions, according to Health Ministry statistics, although some research puts the figure at double this. The Government should ensure their access to health care services, including those related to family planning.
They added: “We are particularly concerned about the situation of disadvantaged groups of women, such as migrant, rural, lesbian and disabled women and the invisibility of indigenous women. We call on the Government to include indigenous women in all consultations with indigenous communities and to reflect women’s views, interests and needs in all proposals”.
The experts stressed that implementation of women’s right to equality is essential to the well-being of women, their families and their communities and to sustainable economic development

During their nine-day mission, the UN Experts visited Santiago, Valparaíso and Arica. They met with Government officials, including President Michelle Bachelet, representatives of civil society organizations, as well as experts and academics.

 (*) Check the full end-of-mission statement:
http://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=15005&LangID=E

ENDS

The UN Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and in practice was created by the Human Rights Council in 2011 to identify, promote and exchange views, in consultation with States and other actors, on good practices related to the elimination of laws that discriminate against women. The Group is also tasked with developing a dialogue with States and other actors on laws that have a discriminatory impact where women are concerned.

The Working Group is composed of five independent experts: the Current Chair-Rapporteur Frances Raday (Israel/United Kingdom), Alda Facio (Costa Rica), Kamala Chandrakirana (Indonesia), Emna Aouij (Tunisia) and Eleonora Zielinska (Poland). Learn more, log on to:  http://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Women/WGWomen/Pages/WGWomenIndex.aspx

UN Human Rights, country page – Chile: http://www.ohchr.org/EN/countries/LACRegion/Pages/CLIndex.aspx

For inquiries and media requests, please contact:
In Santiago (during the visit): Ms. María Jeannette Moya (moya.consultora@ohchr.org / +56 2 22 10 2977)
In Geneva: Bernadette Arditi (+41 22 917 9159 or +41 79 752 0485 / barditi@ohchr.org) or write to wgdiscriminationwomen@ohchr.org

For media inquiries related to other UN mandates:
Xabier Celaya, UN Human Rights – Media Unit (+ 41 22 917 9383 / xcelaya@ohchr.org)  

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