COMMITTEE ON ECONOMIC, SOCIAL AND CULTURAL RIGHTS COMPLETES EXAMINATION OF REPORT OF SWITZERLAND

MORNING
HR/ESC/98/33
23 November 1998




Government Officials Describe Wide Response to Problem
of Child Abuse; Efforts to Reduce Violence Against Women


The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights concluded this morning its review of an initial report from Switzerland, with a Government delegation describing efforts to combat what it said was a "serious problem" of physical and sexual abuse of children. Efforts to prevent violence against women had also been stepped up, Government representatives added.

Conclusions and recommendations on the report of Switzerland will be issued before the end of the Committee's fall session on 4 December.

The Swiss report estimated that 40,000 to 50,000 children were sexually abused each year. Responding to questions on these figures, the delegation said that a 1992 Government study had indicated the problem was widespread and that federal, cantonal, and local programmes were being developed to provide assistance, education and prevention. It was added that programmes in other countries were being studied to help devise an effective response to violence against women; that the factors behind such violence included the fact that most perpetrators had -- as a study had revealed -- been victims of violence themselves as children, and that often there was a difference in resources between members of a couple, meaning not only differences in income but differences in degree of social connection or isolation. Often a foreign woman living in the country was socially stranded and vulnerable in comparison to her husband.

Other topics covered included the divorce rate -- currently 37.8 per cent; maternity-leave policies; forced evictions; mental health; drug abuse; and education.

As one of 137 States parties to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, Switzerland must provide periodic reports to the Committee on efforts to put the treaty into effect.

The 10-member Swiss delegation was led by Jean-Jacques Elmiger, Ambassador of the Federal Office of Economic Development and Employment of the Federal Department of the Economy, and Elisabeth Imesch, Chief of Section of the Federal Office of Social Insurance of the Federal Department of the Interior. The team included officials from Government units on women's rights; public health; international public law; justice; and cantonal public education.

Speaking at the meeting were Committee members Eibe Reidel; Valeri Kouznetsov; Walid M. Sa’di; Javier Wimer Zambrano; Ade Adekuoye; Oscar Ceville; Abdessatar Grissa; Dumitru Ceausu; Nutan Thapalia; and Jaime Marchan Romero.

The Committee will reconvene at 3 p.m. to take up a third periodic report of Germany.

Discussion

The Swiss delegation spent much of the morning meeting answering questions posed on Friday on the general topics of family life, living standards, and health. Committee experts then raised a number of questions on the subjects of education and cultural life which the delegation responded to.

NATHALIE KOCHERHANS, Technical Consultant, Federal Office of Economic Development and Labour, Switzerland, said, among other things, that the average time for receiving the first decision on an asylum application was 119 days, but often the decision was received in 89 days; that an independent commission fielded appeals of asylum decisions; and that migration flows had been from Italy, Spain, and Portugal in the '60s and '70s, but now tended to come from the former Yugoslavia, Albania and other central European countries.

MARTIN WYSS, Technical Consultant of the Federal Office of Justice, Switzerland, said, among other things, that the divorce rate had reached 37.8 per cent in 1994; that the majority of divorce proceedings were initiated by the wife; that a high rate of marriage between Swiss and foreigners probably reflected the fact that a large number of foreigners living in the country had reached marriage age in recent years; that the civil code had been revised to streamline the divorce procedure in cases where there was mutual consent, but that a court decision was still required; that couples divorcing could request common parental authority over children; and that the age of consent for marriage had been lowered to 18 for both sexes.

Mr. Wyss said it was widely believed that physical and sexual abuse of
children was among the country's most serious problems and that a set of legislative proposals had resulted, including extensions of the statue of limitations for such crimes until after victims had reached age 18; that Swiss law did not contain precise provisions on forced evictions, but courts had stated that such evictions had to pass a "proportionality test"; that persons concerned could not be deprived of all shelter, that such evictions could not be undertaken indiscriminately, that further time for resolving difficulties should be given to the tenant if he or she appeared willing to cooperate; that statistics were lacking on the number or rate of forced evictions; that forced medical treatment was subject to strict legal procedures largely inspired by case law and standards set by the European Commission; that birth-control and sex-education programmes were widespread, but that more had to be done to teach the dangers of AIDS infection; and that the Government also was studying ways to reduce the number of abortions performed, now around 12,000 per year.

ELISABETH IMESCH, Chief of Section of the Federal Office of Social Insurance of the Federal Department of the Interior, Switzerland, said, among other things, that a draft law on maternity leave was being developed to cover the entire population and to settle the problem of payments during such leave, as the matter of care was already covered under other legislation; that under the draft, all women with income below 71,000 Swiss francs per year would receive guaranteed payment to replace lost income during maternity leave up to 80 per cent of that income, up to 97,000 Swiss francs per year; but that it was not certain, however, that the law would be passed or that it would be approved if taken to referendum.

Ms. Imesch said the Government was very much concerned about maltreatment of children within the family; that the first report on the topic, in 1992, indicated that the problem was widespread in terms of physical and sexual violence; that often correction or punishment of children was accompanied by slaps or blows, and it was calculated that between 40,000 and 50,000 children a year were victims of abuse; that steps had been taken to enhance child protection, including assistance, education and prevention programmes; that the response included federal, cantonal and community efforts; that a list of services available for maltreated children would be published; that a study was being carried out on commercial sexual abuse of children in Switzerland; that the State approach to the matter differentiated between sexual and other abuse; that personal and relational problems appeared to be the most serious problem encountered by single mothers -- that economic problems also occurred, but were more easily dealt with; that all cantons had centres for family planning and safe pregnancy promotion; that demand for child care was more widespread than supply; and that there was no official poverty threshold in Switzerland, but that income limits had been established by law and institutions that set a kind of standard, including limits for qualifying for supplementary benefits set by the 26 cantons, and for aid for medical care and housing.

PATRICIA SCHULZ, Director of the Federal Office of Equality Between Women and Men, of the Federal Department of the Interior, Switzerland, said, among other things, that programmes in other countries were being studied to help devise an effective response to violence against women; that the factors behind the violence included the fact that most perpetrators had -- as a study had revealed -- been victims of violence themselves as children, that often there was a difference in resources between members of a couple, meaning not only differences in income but lack of a social network; that, for example, a foreign woman in the country could become socially isolated and hence more vulnerable and with fewer ways to respond to violent treatment by her husband; and that such violence was treated as a criminal matter.

MARTIN BUECHI, Chief of Section of the Federal Office of Public Health, Switzerland, that it was true there was not a lot in the report about mental health; that there were problems; that there was forced treatment in some cases; that thorough statistics were lacking, unfortunately; that it was up to society to be more aware of the problem -- that too many persons with mental difficulties were kept out of sight and out of mind; that currently non-governmental organizations were perhaps more involved with the matter than was the Government, and it was understood that the Government must do more; and that a large evaluation of Swiss drug policy had been issued last year that had recommended regular readjustment of programmes, greater attention to drug abuse among young women, greater attention to quality control in the methadone-treatment programme, which currently had 15,000 clients, intensified efforts to cope with prostitution and drug abuse, and greater emphasis on preventing drug problems and AIDS infection in prisons.

Mr. Buechi added that a Government programme did prescribe heroin for addicts registered to receive it; that the policy had followed a conference that had carefully reviewed population, health, and legal matters related to heroin addiction; that "repression" was also part of the country's drug policy, to crack down on drug dealing, including international drug dealing; that policing of the drug problem still received much more of the budget than treatment programmes; and that an official of the Federal Office of the Police was now working full-time to determine Internet addresses and offenses involving paedophilia.

PIERRE LUISONI, of the Swiss Conference of Cantonal Directors of Public Instruction, Switzerland, said, among other things, that a draft law to reintroduce fees not just for higher education but for certain secondary education in the Canton of Zurich had not been passed by the Cantonal Assembly and had been withdrawn; that the Federal Tribunal had indeed handed down a decision that there was no case for direct applicability of article 13 of the Covenant, on the right to education, contending that it was applicable to legislatures rather than individuals; that he did not consider that such a negative development, since other avenues for achieving this goal existed; that efforts were being made to draw attention on the cantonal level to discrimination against girls in textbooks, and much had been done, but not all stereotypes had been removed; that even if it was not in the Constitution, he felt that the right to education existed in the country; and that he did not think, with the various assistance available, that any student was unable to go to university who was qualified, and hence he did not think there was any discrimination in university attendance.

MARIA PEYRO, Technical Consultant to the Federal Office of Economic Development and Labour, Switzerland, said, among other things, that "travelling people", or nomads, amounted to some 25,000 in Switzerland, and that in the past they had been subject to maltreatment, but that beginning in 1972 the authorities had reduced such incidences of discrimination; at that time the President of the Republic had expressed apologies for maltreatment and compensation had been paid to some children; that travelling people were citizens and there were no restrictions on their rights as compared to rights enjoyed by other citizens; that nonetheless because they travelled all the time, some rights were more difficult for them to enjoy thoroughly -- there were problems with education and employment, for example; that a foundation had been formed to attempt to find solutions to the problems encountered by the travelling people; that it was calculated that 5,000 to 6,000 citizens still spoke Romansch and that in such families one person out of two spoke the language at home; and that the Romansch minority was committed to preserving the language, and newspapers and other material were published in the language.