CEDAW hears from non-governmental organizations on the situation of women in Saudi Arabia, Suriname and Luxembourg

GENEVA (26 February 2018) -The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women this afternoon met with non-governmental organizations from Saudi Arabia, Suriname and Luxembourg, whose reports on the implementation of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women will be considered this week.  Civil society representatives from the Marshall Islands, whose report would be reviewed on 2 March, were not present today.

In Saudi Arabia, the non-governmental organizations lamented the lack of political will to address the institution of male guardianship, one of the main forms of discrimination against Saudi women.  Saudi Arabia must engage with diverse tools and concepts of Islamic jurisprudence which recognized progress in gender equality in the rest of the Muslim world.

Discrimination had not been defined in the Constitution of Suriname, and without this critical definition, women – including indigenous and tribal women, women living with HIV/AIDS, divorced and disabled women, as well as lesbian, bisexual and trans women - still experienced discrimination in several areas such as health, education, labour and access to justice.

Speakers from Luxembourg drew the attention to the persistent unequal treatment between lesbian parents and heterosexual parents when they accessed medically assisted procreation with anonymous sperm donors; and the need for the immigration and asylum procedures to ensure the protection and bodily integrity to lesbian, gay, queer and trans women who face violence and invisibility in refugee shelters.

Speaking on the situation in Saudi Arabia were Musawah, International Federation for Human Rights Leagues, and Global Detention Project.  Suriname’s NGO’s Coalition addressed the situation in Suriname, and Centre d’Information GAy et LEsbien (CIGALE) spoke of discrimination against women in Luxembourg.

There were no national human rights institutions present during the dialogue today.  All the documents relating to the Committee’s work, including reports submitted by States parties, can be found on the session’s webpage. The webcast of the Committee’s public meetings will be available via the following link: http://webtv.un.org/meetings-events/.

The Committee will next meet in public on Tuesday, 27 February at 10 a.m., to consider the combined third and fourth periodic reports of Saudi Arabia (CEDAW/C/SAU/3-4).

Statements by Non-Governmental Organizations 

Saudi Arabia

Musawah highlighted issues concerning violence against women, inequalities between men and women in the Saudi legal framework and the limitations imposed on civil society space.  It was noted that women were still marginalized in Saudi society because of the lack of State protection for survivors of domestic violence and the discriminatory male guardianship framework which perpetuated systematic restrictions imposed on women.  The speaker also addressed the limited space in which women’s rights activists have to express themselves.  Laws and amendments introduced in the name of Sharia or Islam must reflect the values of justice, equality, compassion and mutual respect among all human beings, the speaker stressed.  Saudi Arabia must engage with diverse tools and concepts of Islamic jurisprudence which recognized progress in gender equality in the rest of the Muslim world.

International Federation for Human Rights noted that since 2016, Saudi Arabia had experienced an unprecedented mobilization of women standing up for their most basic rights, and said that women human rights defenders were doubly vulnerable, for being a woman and for being a human rights defender.  There was a lack of commitment to address the prevalent male guardianship system, one of the main forms of discrimination against Saudi women, according to which women remain minors for life.  There was no freedom of assembly and association to defend the rights of women, no space to defend the fundamental rights and freedoms of women.  The promotion of human rights was viewed as a threat to public order and even as terrorist activity, and crackdowns on dissident voices had intensified.

A speaker for theGlobal Detention Project explained that female domestic workers in Saudi Arabia were isolated with little access to resources outside their employers.  They had no access to legal support and other forms of assistance when they escaped abusive employers.  Domestic workers were not protected by labour laws and were vulnerable to physical abuse, exposed to extremely long working hours, lack of privacy and lack of freedom of movement.  The speaker called for the Gulf countries to protect migrant women workers and abolish the oppressive sponsorship system in law as well as in practice.

Suriname

Suriname’s NGO’s Coalition said that discrimination had not been defined in the Constitution of Suriname, and that without this critical definition, women – including indigenous and tribal women, women living with HIV/AIDS, divorced and disabled women, as well as lesbian, bisexual and trans women - still experienced discrimination in several areas such as health, education, labour and access to justice.  Gender was not prioritized by policy makers; the Ministry and the Bureau for Gender Affairs lacked the expertise to formulate, coordinate and monitor the gender policy, the speaker stated.  There is also a lack of women in politics and decision-making with only 17 per cent of the Council of Ministers of the female sex.  Another issue of concern was an increase in violence against women.  Another speaker discussed land tenure rights of indigenous and tribal women, a class of people that were among the most disadvantaged in Suriname. It was noted that urban women received far superior healthcare and education than those living in the hinterlands.

Luxembourg

Le Centre d’Information GAy et LEsbien (CIGALE) drew attention to three areas concerning lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex and queer women, including the persistence of unequal treatment between lesbian parents and heterosexual parents when they accessed medically assisted procreation with anonymous sperm donors.  The amended version of the draft law on affiliation presented in 2017 still maintained that lesbian couples have to go through the adoption procedure to obtain the recognition of the second parent.  At the same time, the second parent in a heterosexual couple is automatically recognized.  Secondly, the immigration and asylum procedures in Luxembourg should ensure the protection and bodily integrity to lesbian, gay, queer and trans women who face violence and invisibility in refugee shelters.  Finally, CIGALE recommended adopting an intersectional point of view regarding lesbian, queer, bisexual and trans women, who were often excluded from policies regarding gender equality and women’s rights.

Discussion

One Expert asked what categories or groups came under the category “any other status” in the anti-discrimination provisions listed in the Constitution ofSuriname and were there any judicial dedications to explain that meaning.  Was there any lobby to push for the implementation of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights judgements concerning tribal lands?  

ConcerningSaudi Arabia, an Expert inquired about the situation and possible problems women face in regard to termination of pregnancy and whether female genital mutilation was a practice to be addressed in Saudi Arabia.  What was the possible development of the Sharia in the context of the review of the hadith? Another Expert mentioned constraints for women to vote in 2015 municipal elections and wished a clarification on the subject.

Responding, non-governmental organizations fromSaudi Arabia said that abortion was legal only in situations of medical necessity, and said that female genital mutilation was not present in Saudi Arabia.  Concerning the 2015 elections, restrictions on women’s rights made voting extremely difficult.  Women struggled to vote for a few reasons including the lack of education on who ran for office and their platforms, how to vote, how to obtain identification card and then gaining access to transportation to and from election sites because women did not have the right to drive.

Non-governmental organizations fromSuriname explained that “any other status” had not been specified in their Constitution and was open to interpretation.  Several processes had been started concerning human rights judgments but none of them had been completed and in fact, it appeared that the Government had made legislation in direct contradiction to the judgments of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights judgements concerning tribal lands.

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