UN Committee to review Trinidad and Tobago’s record on women’s rights

GENEVA (14 July 2016) – The record of Trinidad and Tobago on women’s rights will be examined by the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) on 18 July. Trinidad and Tobago has ratified the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and so is 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  Government of Trinidad and Tobago are: 

·    Policies to challenge stereotyping of women’s roles;
·    High rate of gender-based violence against women, steps to ensure effective protection of women victims of violence;
·    High incidence of teenage pregnancy, school drop-out rates for girls;
·    Lack of legal protection for domestic workers;
·    Measures to address high rate of HIV infection among women aged 15-24;
·    Measures to legalize abortion on grounds including severe foetal impairment and when pregnancy the result of rape or incest;
·    Participation of rural women in development of policies that affect them;
·    Gender perspective in national disaster management;

The review will take place in Room XVIII at Palais des Nations in Geneva from 10:00 – 13:00 (04:00 – 07:00 in Port of Spain) and 15:00 - 17:00 (07:00 -10:00) and be webcast live at www.treatybodywebcast.org

The Committee will also hear from NGO representatives. More information about the review, including Trinidad and Tobago’s written report, here:
http://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/treatybodyexternal/SessionDetails1.aspx?SessionID=1019&Lang=en

The Committee’s findings, officially known as concluding observations, on Trinidad and Tobago and the other countries being reviewed – the Philippines, Myanmar, France, Albania, Turkey, Uruguay and Mali – will be published on 25 July here:
http://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/treatybodyexternal/SessionDetails1.aspx?SessionID=1019&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. They 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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