NGOS Brief Committee on Elimination of Discrimination against Women on situation in Mauritius, Tajikistan, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, and the Lao People's Democratic Republic

Committee on Elimination of Discrimination
  against Women       

29 October 2018

The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women this afternoon heard from non-governmental organizations on the situation of women’s rights in Mauritius, Tajikistan, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, and the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, whose reports will be considered this week.

Mauritius was doing very badly regarding women in politics as only two of the 23 ministers were women, speakers said, calling for a political will to achieve a gender neutral quota of 50 per cent for all elections.  Lesbian, trans and bisexual girls and women struggled for their existence, and suffered homelessness, bullying, forced marriage, and denial of their identities.  A comprehensive personal status law had not yet been codified, leaving Muslim women in religious marriages without legal recognition or rights, and there was no minimum age for religious marriages.  The State must pass legislation to establish an absolute minimum age of marriage of 18 years, for both civil and religious marriages.

The key problem for women in Tajikistan was unequal access to all kinds of resources, including education, evidenced in the decreasing levels of professional education compared to older generations of women.  There must be a gender review of sectoral legislation and programmes to establish effective mechanisms of implementation of State guarantees on equal opportunities.  Domestic violence was not criminalized and access to justice for victims of domestic violence was restricted.  Women and girls with disabilities faced multiple discrimination, and a strong emphasis on institutionalization persisted.  Speakers drew attention to the strengthening of administrative punishment for sex work, contrary to the Committee’s recommendations to decriminalize sex work.

Speakers from the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia raised concern about the inadequate implementation of the Law and Strategy on Gender Equality, the State’s failure to address all forms of gender-based violence, and the barriers in accessing safe abortion and contraception that were introduced in 2013 by a series of restrictive and ideologically-based requirements.  Sexual orientation and gender identity were not recognized as prohibited grounds in the anti-discrimination legislation and in the Criminal Code, while the failure to investigate cases of discrimination and violence perpetuated the culture of impunity and encouraged more violence.  Roma women were at risk of statelessness due to lack of birth registration and personal documentation, and suffered disproportionally high maternal mortality rates and shorter life expectancy in comparison with other ethnicities.

As for the status of women’s rights in the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, a speaker highlighted the continued criminalization of sex work and violence against sex workers, particularly transgender ones.  There was a need to adopt non-discrimination and anti-hate crime legislation, decriminalize sex work, and ensure that all survivors of violence and exploitation had access to support services, rehabilitation, and above all, access to justice.

The coalition of non-governmental organizations composed of Gender Links Mauritius, Media Watch, Young Queer Alliance, and SOS Femme; and Musawa took the floor on the situation of women’s rights in Mauritius.  Speaking on Tajikistan were the Bureau of Human Rights and Rule of Law (also on behalf of From Equality de Jure to Equality de Facto, League of Women with Disabilities “Ishtirok”, International Partnership for Human Rights, and Nota Bene), Tajikistan Network of Women Living with HIV/AIDS, Shah-Aiym Network (also on behalf of Apeyron), and Anti-Discrimination Centre Memorial.

Participating in the discussion on the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia were the Coalition of Non-Governmental Organizations, Helsinki Committee for Human Rights of the (former Yugoslav) Republic of Macedonia, Star-Star (also on behalf of HOPS, Coalition Margins, Stronger Together, and ECOM), National Roma Centrum (also on behalf of the Initiative of Roma Women from Shuto Orizari), and National Federation of Farmers.  The Asia-Pacific Network of Sex Workers spoke on the situation in the Lao People’s Democratic Republic.

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 reconvene at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, 30 October to consider the eighth periodic report of Mauritius (CEDAW/C/MUS/8).

Mauritius

Coalition of Non-governmental Organizations: Gender Links Mauritius, Media Watch, Young Queer Alliance, and SOS Femme, said that Mauritius was doing very badly regarding women in politics, as only two of the 23 ministers were women, although women represented 52 per cent of the population.  There must be political will to achieve a gender neutral quota of 50 per cent for all elections.  Sex was very much a taboo in the society, which acted as a barrier to assessing accurate information on sexual and reproductive health, which must be a subject in school for students aged seven to 19.  The speaker raised concern about the situation of lesbian, trans and bisexual girls and women who struggled for their existence, and suffered homelessness, bullying, forced marriage, and denial of their identities.  Hate had never been so felt against people of the queer community.  Finally, the speaker addressed the issue of abortion, noting that the Criminal Code amended in 2012 provided for the termination of pregnancy in four specific circumstances, and urged the Committee to recommend that the State party look at qualitative and quantitative data holistically and put in place a strong evaluating and monitoring mechanism.

Musawa spoke on the issue of Muslim religious marriage and child marriage and said that the exception to the non-discrimination section (16) of the Constitution remained.  No plans had been announced concerning a constitutional reform, and a comprehensive personal status law had not yet been codified, leaving Muslim women in religious marriages without legal recognition or rights.  Religious laws were not subject to civil marriage laws, and courts did not rule consistently on issues such as custody and survival rights.  There was furthermore no minimum age for religious marriages, leaving young girls vulnerable to child marriages.  The State must pass legislation to establish an absolute minimum age of marriage of 18 years, for both civil and religious marriages.

Tajikistan

Bureau of Human Rights and Rule of Law, also speaking on behalf of From Equality de Jure to Equality de Facto, League of Women with Disabilities “Ishtirok”, International Partnership for Human Rights, and Nota Bene, remarked that the key problem for women in Tajikistan was their unequal access to all kinds of resources, including to education, and the level of professional education among women was decreasing compared to the older generation of women.  The State must, inter alia, conduct a gender review of sectoral legislation and programmes to establish effective mechanisms of implementation of State guarantees on equal opportunities.  The share of women in public service was about 22 per cent.  Domestic violence was not criminalized and access to justice for victims of domestic violence was restricted, the speaker continued, recommending the development of a comprehensive response system to all forms of gender-based violence and criminalization of domestic violence.  Women and girls with disabilities faced multiple discrimination, and a strong emphasis on institutionalization persisted.  Tajikistan should urgently ratify the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, ensure access of women and girls with disabilities to education and employment, adopt comprehensive anti-discrimination legislation, and transfer the burden of proof to the State.

Tajikistan Network of Women Living with HIV/AIDS said that the national HIV programme focused only on HIV prevention among sex workers and mother-to-child transmission, and urged the adoption of a comprehensive prevention, care and treatment services for women and girls living with or vulnerable to HIV/AIDS, taking into account gender dimensions.  Tajikistan should also provide specific anti-discrimination measures for women living with HIV in the reproductive health policy, and protect this group from domestic violence.

Shah-Aiym Network, also speaking on behalf of Apeyron, drew the Committee’s attention to the strengthening of administrative punishment for sex work, contrary to the Committee’s recommendations to decriminalize sex work.  The police could stop and arbitrary detain any woman and accuse of her of prostitution without any evidence.  Increased punishment led to scaling up of violence and extortion by the police, and there were cases in which they even raped the woman.  So-called “moral lessons” were conducted for detained sex workers during which they were taught “correct lifestyle”.  Tajikistan should repeal the article on prostitution from the Code of Administrative Offences and ensure the proper investigation of all cases of violence against sex workers.  

Anti-Discrimination Centre Memorial spoke about poverty in Tajikistan and remarked that, because of the list of occupations banned for women, 326 professions were closed to women, including well-paid jobs.  Given the lack of jobs, many men were migrating abroad, while women stayed home, completely dependent on the money transferred by the husband, and in many cases, the men “divorced” the women while they were away.  The lack of education for girls and women meant that they did not have much chance of finding a job, and many women, often with small children, were seen as an unnecessary extra expense by the husband’s family, and often experienced abusive treatment.  Gender-based prejudices and harmful practices were widespread, allowing husbands to abandon the wife for giving birth to daughters.

The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia

Coalition of Non-governmental Organizations raised concern about the inadequate implementation of the Law and Strategy on Gender Equality, while in 2014, only 21 per cent of the national action plan on gender equality had been implemented and it continued to heavily rely on foreign financial assistance.  The State had failed to address all forms of gender-based violence, and to provide urgent protection and propose temporary measures for domestic violence due to the lack of institutional capacities to assess the risks.  Of the 70 women killed during the 2008 to 2016 period, 80 per cent had been killed by an intimate partner.  Criminal prosecution for bodily injury in domestic violence depended solely on the victim’s consent.  Another issue of concern was related to barriers in accessing safe abortion and contraception, the speaker said, noting that a series of restrictive and ideologically-based requirements had been introduced in 2013.

Helsinki Committee for Human Rights of the (former Yugoslav) Republic of Macedonia emphasized that sexual orientation and gender identity were not recognized as prohibited grounds in the anti-discrimination legislation and in the Criminal Code.  The failure to investigate cases of discrimination and violence against lesbian, trans and bisexual women perpetuated the culture of impunity and encouraged more violence.  There was neither clear legislation nor meaningful practice allowing trans people to conform their personal identity documents to their actual gender identity.

Star-Star, also speaking on behalf of HOPS, Coalition Margins, Stronger Together, and ECOM, stressed that sex work was work and that sex workers were workers – they took care of their body, their lives and their rights.  They were men, women, gay, straight and transgendered.  Sex workers could not utilize the laws and legal remedies available against discrimination in the rare cases where they choose to pursue court cases, and most sex workers were discouraged from using formal and informal mechanisms for the protection of their rights.

National Roma Centrum, speaking also on behalf of the Initiative of Roma Women from Shuto Orizari, asked the Committee to urge the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia to end the persistent statelessness and the lack of birth registration and personal documentation of Roma women, as a prerequisite to access to fundamental rights and decent living.  The State party should also intensify the efforts to increase access to free legal aid, formal and non-formal education, and temporary special measures to boost employment.  Another issue of concern was maternal mortality rates among Roma women, and their unfavourable health status and shorter life expectancy in comparison with other ethnicities.

National Federation of Farmers said that women in rural areas were invisible, marginalized, and left to fight for survival on their own.  They were forgotten by their own State, and suffered social exclusion, unemployment, gender discrimination, unequal distribution of income and resources, and the dominance of traditional norms.  Around 64 per cent of women in rural areas were not active in the labour market because of their engagement in the household and care for children.

Lao People’s Democratic Republic

Asia-Pacific Network of Sex Workers raised concern about the continued criminalization of sex work in the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, in which an estimated 11,000 women were engaged.  The criminalization of sex work represented an overarching systemic discrimination against women.  Violence against sex workers, particularly transgender ones, was an issue of great concern, said the speaker, mentioning in particular forced unprotected sex.  The State party should recognize equal rights, and adopt non-discrimination and anti-hate crime legislation; decriminalize sex work; and ensure that all survivors of violence and exploitation had access to support services, rehabilitation, and above all, access to justice.  Raising concern about the crackdown on undocumented and irregular migrants which increased health and safety risks for sex workers, the speaker called for an introduction of health insurance and social security schemes that would broaden access to sex workers, transwomen, migrants, and HIV-positive women to a broad range of quality, affordable, and non-discriminatory health services.

Discussion

On Tajikistan, the Experts asked about the prospect for the adoption of a comprehensive anti-discrimination law, and the situation of the lawyers on the ground and whether they were genuinely able to exercise their profession.  An Expert was extremely alarmed that the number of women in work had reduced by half since the last review by this Committee – what explained this drop?  What was the cause of difference in quality of education for girls and boys, and which level of education was most affected?  The civil society organizations representatives were asked about cooperation with State authorities in combatting negative stereotyping of women and violence against women.

The Experts inquired about the situation of human rights defenders in Mauritius, the status of the legislation on children and trafficking in persons, and the statistics on religious marriages.  What recommendations should be given to the State party concerning the codification of the comprehensive status law, and would the Committee recommend the establishment of a separate system of registration of marriages?  The non-governmental organizations were asked whether there was any discrimination against women in the matters of the right to nationality.

Responding, representatives of non-governmental organizations from Mauritius explained that there were three shelters for victims of domestic violence in the country.  Victims would have to report to the police and were then directed to one of the shelters, where they stayed for an indefinite period of time, which was unfair as the perpetrator actually remained in the home.  As for the question raised on religious marriages, a speaker said that in the short term, there was a need to impress upon the State the need to reinstate the 10 articles of the Civil Code, and in the long term, to codify the personal status code.  The amended law on nationality granted equal rights in transmitting nationality to children, while some differences remained in the transmission of nationality to adopted children, probably due to a legislative omission, rather that intent.

Speakers from Tajikistan said that a parliamentary working group had been set up to examine the adoption of a special law to combat discrimination.  The issue was included in the national plan for the implementation of Universal Periodic Review recommendations.  The amendments to the law on lawyers gave limited access to a legal profession, a speaker explained, adding that a lawyer could access the profession after passing an exam under the State Commission headed by the Deputy Minister of Justice.  Because of gender stereotyping, literacy rates, level of completed education, and digital literacy of girls were declining.  Women in higher education who married often had to abandon their schooling, because it was so requested by the husband or his relatives.  There had not yet been a strategy to combat gender stereotyping, and there was a plan to combat violence in the family, which, according to the Government, should cover stereotypes as well.

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