Sweden’s record on women’s rights to face review by UN Committee

GENEVA (11 February 2016)  – Sweden’s record on women’s rights will be examined by the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) on18 February.  Sweden has ratified the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and so is required to be reviewed regularly by the Committee on how it is implementing the Convention.

Among the possible issues for discussion between CEDAW and a delegation from the Swedish Government are: Legal aid for women victims of discrimination and violence;  widespread use of sexist images in advertising; results in preventing female genital mutilation, child marriage;  action plan against prostitution and human trafficking for sexual purposes; measures taken to increase the number of women managers in State-owned and publicly owned companies; prevalence of mental health problems among girls and young women.

The review will take place in Room XVI at Palais des Nations in Geneva from 10:00 -17:00 and be webcast live at http://www.treatybodywebcast.org/.  The Committee will also hear from NGO representatives.

More information, including Sweden’s submitted written report, at:
http://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/treatybodyexternal/SessionDetails1.aspx?SessionID=1007&Lang=en

The Committee will hold a news conference to discuss its findings on Sweden and the other States being reviewed – Japan, Iceland, Mongolia, Czech Republic, Vanuatu, Haiti and Tanzania – on 7 March. This will be at 13:30 in Press Room 1, Palais des Nations.
CEDAW’s findings will be published on 7 March here: http://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/treatybodyexternal/SessionDetails1.aspx?SessionID=1007&Lang=en

ENDS

Media requests: Liz Throssell +41 (0) 22 917 9466 / +41 79 752 0488  ethrossell@ohchr.org

Media accreditation for the Palais des Nations:   http://unog.ch/80256EDD006B9C2E/(httpPages)/70991F6887C73B2280256EE700379C58?OpenDocument

Background: CEDAW is composed of 23 independent human rights experts drawn from around the world. Members serve in their personal capacity and not as representatives of States parties. The Committee’s concluding observations are an independent assessment of States’ compliance with their human rights obligations under the treaty. More information:
http://www.ohchr.org/en/hrbodies/cedaw/pages/cedawindex.aspx

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