Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women meets with civil society organizations from Qatar, Mozambique and Côte d'Ivoire

Committee on Elimination of Discrimination
  against Women

1 July 2019

The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women this afternoon met with representatives of civil society organizations from Qatar, Mozambique and Côte d’Ivoire, whose reports will be examined during the first week of the seventy-third session of the Committee. 

Speakers said Qatari women were treated as second-class citizens by law, noting in particular the institution of male guardianship which limited women’s right to work and freedom of movement, and the continued discrimination under the Qatari Family Law which required women to obey their husbands in exchange for their maintenance.  Qatar was one of 26 countries in the world that deprived women of the right to transfer their nationality to children born to foreign fathers; very important decisions for children were the father’s purview; and marital rape and domestic violence were not criminalized.  In law and in practice, speakers stressed, Qatari women continued to be treated as inferior citizens and perpetual minors.

Speaking on the situation in Qatar were Maat for Peace, Musawah, and Qatar Social Work. 

Mohammed Al-Kuwari, Vice President of the National Human Rights Commission of Qatar, also spoke and urged the Government to review the Family Code, which set the minimum age of marriage at 16, and remove all discriminatory provisions; develop legislation to protect against domestic violence; establish hotlines by the police to receive complaints of violence against domestic workers; and review all reservations it had made to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women.

Civil society organizations from Mozambique underlined the continued discrimination against women in the legal framework regarding inheritance rights, and called for the removal of the provisions of the 2015 Penal Code which were in contradiction with the 2019 law on domestic violence.  Lamenting the very high maternal mortality rates despite the 2014 legal reform which aimed to address unsafe abortion, its major cause, speakers raised concern about the recent amendment to the Penal Code which defined abortion as a crime against intrauterine life and removed mental health as a legal ground for abortion.  Forced and early marriages; early pregnancies; high school dropout rates for girls, particularly in rural areas; and high female illiteracy rates – 77 per cent – were discussed too.

The speakers were Coalition of Civil Society Organizations, Tiyane Vavasate, and IPAS.   

In Côte d’Ivoire, a great issue of concern was the protection of women human rights defenders, especially given the lack of follow up and implementation mechanisms for the 2014 law to promote and protect the rights of human rights defenders.  Other concerns included high maternal mortality rates, as 16 women died every day in childbirth despite the legislation to fight this; and the denial of land ownership to women in many regions of the country.  Speakers discussed the situation of domestic workers who suffered poor pay, long hours and violence and abuse; the very low representation of women in political and public life; and the persistent practice of female genital mutilation, in particular despite its criminalization.  Violence and discrimination against women remained widely spread.

Coalition Ivorienne des Défenseurs des Droits Humains, Réseau Ivorien pour la Défense des droits de l’Enfant et de la Femme, and Soroptimist took the floor.

Hilary Gbedemah, Committee Chairperson, reiterated the importance that the Committee accorded to cooperation with civil society organizations and thanked all for their valuable contributions.

The Committee’s seventy-third session will take place from 1 to 19 July 2019, during which the reports of the following States parties will be reviewed: Austria, Cabo Verde, Côte d'Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Guyana, Mozambique and Qatar.  Their reports and all other documentation, including the agenda and the programme of work, can be found at the session webpage.

The webcast of the Committee’s public meetings can be accessed at http://webtv.un.org/.  Meeting summaries in English and French are available at the News and Media page of the United Nations Office at Geneva website.

The Committee will reconvene in public at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, 2 July to review the second periodic report of Qatar (CEDAW/C/QAT/2).

Discussion with Non-Governmental Organizations from Qatar, Mozambique and Côte d’Ivoire

Statements by Non-Governmental Organizations

Qatar

Maat for Peace raised questions on discrimination against women in law, noting that Qatar was one of 26 countries in the world that deprived women from the right to transfer their nationality to children born to foreign fathers.  There was also discrimination in housing, which particularly affected divorced and widowed women, as well as the long-standing problem of stereotypes.  Very important decisions for children were the father’s preview, while marital rape, and domestic violence were not criminalized.

Musawah read a statement on behalf of Qatari Women’s Rights Advocate who were not able to come to Geneva because of the continued restrictions on civil liberties in Qatar, restricted both in law and repressive State bodies.  Qatari women were treated as second-class citizens by law, including through male guardianship which limited their right to work and freedom of movement.  Every woman aged 25 and over needed a no-objection letter from her male guardian, which allowed guardians to abuse their power and prevent women from working.  There was no notable change in the discrimination against women under the Qatari Family Law: women were still required to obey their husbands in exchange for their maintenance and could even be left destitute if “disobedient”.  In law and in practice, Qatari women continued to be treated as inferior citizens and perpetual minors.

Qatar Social Work drew the Committee’s attention to the study on the situation of Qatari women married to non-Qatari men and their children, which had contributed to the promulgation of law 10 of 2018 on granting permanent residency to expatriates, with priority given to children born to Qatari mothers and non-Qatari fathers.  Permanent residents were entitled to free education and health services and had a priority in acquiring Qatari citizenship. 

Mozambique

Coalition of Civil Society Organizations underlined the continued discrimination against women in the legal framework regarding inheritance rights.  The 2015 Penal Code contained provisions on domestic violence which were however in contradiction with the 2019 law on domestic violence, while a loophole in the legislation allowed for the marriage of girls aged 16; in 43 per cent of the marriages, particularly in rural areas, girls were under the age of 18.  Forced and early marriages and early pregnancies associated with initiation rights were the major cause of school dropout and poor school performance of girls.  In rural areas, this was compounded by high levels of violence against girls in schools.  A draft law on the elimination of child marriage was being discussed in Parliament, while illiteracy remained very high, particularly among women: 44 per cent of all adults could not read or write, while for women, the percentage was 77 per cent. 

Tiyane Vavasate drew attention to the situation of sex workers and said that the main problems were that health professionals and the police did not respect their rights, and the legislation on sex work was unclear; sex workers should be respected just like other citizens.  While sex work was not specifically criminalized, the legal framework did not provide specific protections to sex workers.  In the last 12 months, 80 per cent of sex workers had experienced discrimination, 79 per cent had been called names, and 13 per cent had been arrested, and the specific reason for arrest was “being a sex worker”.

IPAS lamented the very high maternal mortality rates despite the 2014 legal reform which aimed to address the major cause of that mortality, namely unsafe abortion.  The recent amendment to the Penal Code was an object of grave concern since it defined abortion as a crime against intrauterine life and removed mental health as a legal ground for abortion.  The Committee should urge Mozambique to remove administrative barriers to safe abortion care, invest in health structures and training of health personnel, and include awareness raising and education about sexual and reproductive health and rights.

Côte d’Ivoire

Coalition Ivorienne des Défenseurs des Droits Humains raised concern about the protection of women human rights defenders and said that the 2014 law to promote and protect the rights of human rights defenders had not yet provided for follow up and implementation mechanisms that would provide for specific needs of women activists.  Furthermore, those women continued to suffer stigmatization by their societies, communities and families.  Other concerns included high maternal mortality rates as 16 women died every day in childbirth, despite the legislation to fight this; and the denial of land ownership to women in many regions of the country.  Côte d’Ivoire should reduce administrative costs and waiting time for the issuing of land certificates, the speaker said.

Réseau Ivorien pour la Défense des droits de l’Enfant et de la Femme raised concern about the situation of domestic workers, who worked long hours, were poorly paid, and 24 per cent of them were subjected to sexual violence and harassment.  The progress in increasing the participation of women in political life was very slow and women remained severely underrepresented – they represented only 16 per cent of the government staff, 11 per cent of members of Parliament, and 19 per cent in the Senate.  The March 2019 law on quotas for women as candidates in elections was a step in the right direction but more efforts were needed.  The speaker raised concern about persistent harmful traditional practices, female genital mutilation in particular, which continued to be widely practiced, regardless of the law prohibiting the practice, and violence and discrimination against women remained widely spread.

Another speaker called for a profound educational reform which would make schools widely accessible to girls, and which would see many more female teachers who could serve as role models for girls.  Most women worked in the informal economy or farming the land, thus they found it very difficult to obtain a loan or financing for their economic activities.

Soroptimist denounced low wages and violence against domestic workers, as well as the fact that wages were withheld for over 26 per cent of them.  The current situation of rural women raised concern about the unequal access of women to land and women’s ownership of land, which hampered their access to credit.  The country should pass a generic law against domestic violence, and in particular violence against domestic workers, as well as mount an awareness raising campaign on the question of violence against women.

Discussion

Committee Experts shared the concern about the serious situation of the rights of women in Qatar, including on personal status law, nationality and other issues, and asked how the stagnation in the progress on the enjoyment of women’s rights could be tackled.  Women’s participation in political and public life was minimal - what was being done to encourage their greater public involvement, including in the Shura Council? 

Committee Experts asked about the implementation of the law on trafficking in persons in Mozambique and the involvement of civil society organizations in victim protection and rehabilitation.  One of the factors of high maternal mortality rates was an insufficient number and poor distribution of midwives and health professionals throughout the country.  The Experts asked about any steps being taken to correct this imbalance.  How many abortions were conducted outside of health institutions and what was the prevalence of obstetric fistula?

The Experts asked about the efforts by civil society organizations in Côte d’Ivoire to protect the rights of domestic workers and raise awareness about violence and discrimination.  What was being done to support sex workers to exit prostitution and earn a decent living?  Education was indeed one of the key problems – which specific problem should the Committee focus on?  The civil society representatives were asked about the involvement of women in peace and security efforts and institutions.

In response to those questions, speakers noted that Qatar continued to be a male chauvinistic society which continued to maintain laws against women and continued to deny them equality.  Domestic workers were also exposed to ill treatment, abuse and harassment.  With regard to the snail slow pace of progress for women’s rights, some progress had been made and more time was needed for those to take effect.  Civil society indeed had a greater role to play in this process.  There were two draft laws that aimed to improve the situation of women and girls, on reproductive health and on protecting women and girls from violence.

Trafficking in persons was a very serious issue in Mozambique which shared borders with five other countries.  Most trafficked girls, usually orphans, were trafficked by their own families for purposes of labour exploitation as domestic workers.  The Penal Code contained two chapters on domestic violence which led many judges to think that the domestic violence law had been revoked, which was not true.  The existence of those two laws in the legal framework caused confusion.  One of the problems related to abortion was very weak data collection and national data that captured the situation in the country was not available.  However, many non-governmental organizations were aware of the great number of abortions that took place outside of health facilities.

Civil society organizations in Côte d’Ivoire continued to support illiterate women in matters of their working rights and give them voice in those matters, and also partnered with the Literacy Training Centre to provide literacy classes to women who never went to school.  The quota law referred to candidacy rather than representation quotas, therefore more efforts were needed to increase the political participation of women.  Women human rights defenders needed specific forms of protection, therefore there was a need for an independent implementation mechanism for the 2014 law as well as the follow up mechanism.  Speakers underlined that discussions were ongoing on those mechanisms with the national human rights institutions.

Discussion with the National Human Rights Commission of Qatar
  
MOHAMMED AL-KUWARI, Vice President of the National Human Rights Commission of Qatar, drew attention to violations of women’s rights as a result of unilateral and unjustified measures and administrative procedures that Saudi Arabia and several other countries had taken against Qatar.  The blockade at land and sea borders violated the right to freedom of movement and as a result, many families were fragmented and could not be reunited.  Turning to the rights of domestic workers, Mr. Al-Kuwari said that the 2017 law set out a minimum age for admission to employment, maximum working hours, rights to a weekly paid day off, and other rights, and underlined that the law’s monitoring mechanism remained unclear and that female domestic workers in particular often experienced problems in reaching the competent authorities and demanding protection.  Qatar had received 318 complaints in 2018 and should provide detailed data on their nature and establish a special inspection department to provide oversight of the implementation of the law.  The State had taken an important step and had appointed four women to the Advisory (Shura) Council, there were currently two female judges, and of the 152 lawyers, 27 were women.  Qatar should thus increase women’s political participation and give women the right to grant their nationality to their children and husbands. 

Mr. Al-Kuwari noted that Qatar had not yet enacted special legislation against violence experienced in the family and urged the country to review the Family Code, which set the minimum age of marriage at 16, and remove all discriminatory provisions.  Although corporal punishment of children was prohibited, some teachers continued to practice it.  The Government should therefore adapt the curricula in accordance with the guidebook on human rights education, develop legislation to protect against domestic violence, establish hotlines by the police to receive complaints of violence against domestic workers, and review all reservations it had made to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women.

In the discussion that followed, Committee Experts asked whether consideration was being given to setting up a monitoring mechanism to raise alarm about the incompatibility between the country’s laws and international human rights instruments, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women in particular.  A year ago, Qatar had ratified the two International Covenants, which called for the strengthening of the role of national human rights institutions, and asked about the progress at establishing a mechanism for reporting to human rights treaty bodies and the role of the national human rights institution therein.

Responding, Mr. Al-Kuwari expressed support for the establishment of a follow-up mechanism that would contribute to the monitoring of the human rights of women and hoped that such a mechanism would be established soon.  Another member of the National Human Rights Commission of Qatar remarked that following the appointment of three women to the Shura Council, the Commission remained in constant communication with several ministries and it also continued to refer cases to the Shura Council, particularly those related to nationality.

Concluding Remarks

HILARY GBEDEMAH, Committee Chairperson, in her concluding remarks, reiterated the importance that the Committee accorded to cooperation with civil society organizations and thanked all for their valuable contributions.

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