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Annual Report of the WG on Discrimination against Women in Law and in Practice 2012, para. 30
- Paragraph text
- In order to develop its research on this thematic priority, the Working Group sent letters to all States Members of the United Nations on 8 December 2011 seeking information on: constitutional and other legislative initiatives and reforms put in place to promote women's rights and gender equality; the framework of State institutions, machineries and mechanisms to implement actions in order to fight against all forms of discrimination and violence against women; women's political participation, on equal terms with men, in the transitional and post-transitional process at all levels of decision-making; and women's access to justice, including transitional justice mechanisms. The Working Group takes this opportunity to thank the 40 States that had responded to the call for information at the time of submission of the document.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Men
- Women
- Year
- 2012
Paragraph
Annual Report of the WG on Discrimination against Women in Law and in Practice 2012, para. 26
- Paragraph text
- The Working Group will further refer, in particular, to articles 2, 3 and 25 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and Human Rights Committee general comments No. 28 (2000) on the equality of rights between men and women and No. 25 (1996) on the right to participate in public affairs, voting rights and the right of equal access to public service. With regard to the obligation of States to modify cultural patterns of conduct inhibiting the advancement of women's human rights, the Working Group also refers to Human Rights Committee general comment No. 34 (2011) on the freedoms of opinion and expression.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Person(s) affected
- Men
- Women
- Year
- 2012
Paragraph
Annual Report of the WG on Discrimination against Women in Law and in Practice 2012, para. 28
- Paragraph text
- The Working Group will also incorporate into its review the fact that women participating in political change and public life are often exposed to violence. The Working Group takes note of reports that women defenders are more at risk than men of suffering from certain forms of violence and other violations, due to the perception that they are challenging accepted sociocultural norms, traditions, perceptions and stereotypes about femininity, sexual orientation, the family and the role and status of women in society.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Men
- Women
- Year
- 2012
Paragraph
Annual Report of the WG on Discrimination against Women in Law and in Practice 2012, para. 9
- Paragraph text
- Effective elimination of discrimination against women requires the consistent political will of States, with broad-based consensus of whole societies, to formulate and implement laws that promote equality between men and women, prohibit discrimination on the basis of sex, and prevent and provide redress for violence against women, along with policies and measures that create a conducive environment for women's empowerment.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Person(s) affected
- Men
- Women
- Year
- 2012
Paragraph
Annual Report of the WG on Discrimination against Women in Law and in Practice 2012, para. 5
- Paragraph text
- In September 1995, at the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing, participating Governments adopted the Beijing Declaration, by which they reaffirmed their fundamental commitment to "the equal rights and inherent human dignity of women and men" (para. 8) and stated unequivocally that "women's rights are human rights" (para. 14). They also adopted the Beijing Platform for Action, in which they pledged to ensure equality and non-discrimination under the law and in practice (strategic objective I.1), and, more specifically, to "revoke any remaining laws that discriminate on the basis of sex and remove gender bias in the administration of justice" (para. 232 (d)). In 2000, during the five-year review and appraisal of the implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action by the General Assembly at its twenty-third special session, Governments committed to reviewing legislation with a view to striving to remove discriminatory provisions against women, preferably by 2005.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Men
- Women
- Year
- 2012
Paragraph
Annual Report of the WG on Discrimination against Women in Law and in Practice 2012, para. 19b
- Paragraph text
- [The Working Group will examine:] (b) The extent to which States have met the obligation to protect women from any act by private persons or entities which would impair women's rights to equality and to the exercise and fulfilment of human rights and fundamental freedoms. This will involve identifying the success or failure of States with respect to eliminating all social, cultural, economic and political practices that constitute discrimination against women, including by establishing accessible and effective gender-responsive justice systems and human rights complaint mechanisms that ensure women's equal benefit and protection of the law. Where courts based on customary or religious law are recognized, special attention will be given to the steps taken by States to ensure compliance with international human rights standards, including on fair trial. This will also involve identifying steps taken by States to enact required equality guarantees in their constitutions and required equality provisions in legislation or other appropriate measures, including but not limited to equal-employment-opportunity laws, prohibitions on trafficking, family laws, and sexual and domestic violence legislation. An examination of good practices for this purpose would highlight the processes which led to the effective protection of women's human rights and basic freedoms on an equal basis with men;
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Person(s) affected
- Men
- Women
- Year
- 2012
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in political and public life with a focus on political transition 2013, para. 34
- Paragraph text
- For women to have the capacity to participate in political and public life on equal footing with men, including to build autonomous movements for their own empowerment, they must be able to exercise their rights to freedom of thought, conscience, religion, expression, movement and association. It is imperative to recognize and secure these rights as individual rights for women's effective participation in political and public life, in the light of the complex tensions between collective rights and women's rights.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Person(s) affected
- Men
- Women
- Year
- 2013
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in political and public life with a focus on political transition 2013, para. 60
- Paragraph text
- Many States have entered reservations to articles 2 and 16 of the Convention, on equality in the family, almost all in deference to religious family law, and in so doing perpetuate the structural impediment of inequality in the family to women's full and effective participation in political and public life. The Working Group regards the elimination of discrimination in the family as central to women's capacity to participate in political and public life on equal terms with men and the withdrawal of these reservations as imperative.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Person(s) affected
- Families
- Men
- Women
- Year
- 2013
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in political and public life with a focus on political transition 2013, para. 38
- Paragraph text
- Special measures, including quotas for women and other temporary measures, as required under article 4, paragraph 1, of the Convention and general recommendations No. 23 (1997) and No. 25 (2004) of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, are necessary to achieve equality between men and women in political and public life, in order to contend with the underlying structural disadvantaging of women. The most significant increase in the numbers of women in national parliaments over the years has occurred in countries where special measures, such as gender quotas, have been effectively constructed and implemented. The use of quotas to advance women's political representation and participation has increased in the past three decades and produced significant results when properly adapted to specific electoral and political systems.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Person(s) affected
- Men
- Women
- Year
- 2013
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in political and public life with a focus on political transition 2013, para. 63
- Paragraph text
- Good practice regarding the work-life balance for public and political participation includes both childcare support and institutional family-friendly scheduling. The highest performing countries in terms of proportion of women in public office have the most generous entitlements for maternal and parental leave. This reflects States' effectiveness in creating better options for women to reconcile the balance between work and family life, promoting a better balance of responsibilities between men and women in the home and encouraging a higher percentage of fathers to take parental leave. This demonstrates a significant cultural change in society's views of gender roles, which is itself a culmination of decades of responsive social policies. Good practices regarding gender-sensitive parliaments are found in some Western European and other States that have changed the scheduling of parliamentary session to allow a work-life balance for Members of Parliament who have parental responsibilities.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Person(s) affected
- Families
- Men
- Women
- Year
- 2013
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in political and public life with a focus on political transition 2013, para. 69
- Paragraph text
- Stereotypes of women's capacities and roles that negatively affect women's effective participation in political and public life persist around the world. Despite evidence of women's important contributions in other fields of life, including in the labour market, stereotypes of female inadequacy in politics continue to be used as a basis for their marginalization and segregation in decision-making positions, with care and distributive tasks such as health and social welfare allocated to women, while men are assigned to economic and defence affairs, distorting the power structure and resource allocation.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Person(s) affected
- Men
- Women
- Year
- 2013
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in political and public life with a focus on political transition 2013, para. 74
- Paragraph text
- Political parties, which function as gatekeepers in political decision-making, tend to be exclusionary towards women. Women also frequently lack access to political party funding and financial resources for their election bids and campaigns. Some political parties exclude women on religious ideological grounds. Both a national court and the European Court of Human Rights found that a confessional political party's exclusion of women from its parliamentary candidate list, because "differences in nature, talents and place in society means that, although women are not inferior to men as human beings, they should not be eligible for public office", was in violation of the State's Constitution and article 7 of the Convention.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Person(s) affected
- Men
- Women
- Year
- 2013
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in political and public life with a focus on political transition 2013, para. 44
- Paragraph text
- The election and appointment of women to public and political office is a necessary condition for equality in public and political life, but the number of women in office is insufficient for advancing gender equality in society. Evidence shows that women who are appointed or elected to public office do not necessarily promote gender-equality agendas. Policy outcomes that advance substantive equality between men and women involve larger processes of public debate, alliance-building across political divides, and activism by autonomous women's movements based on universal standards of equality, non-discrimination, human rights and inclusive democracy.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Person(s) affected
- Men
- Women
- Year
- 2013
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in political and public life with a focus on political transition 2013, para. 80
- Paragraph text
- Model examples of constitutional design can be found in recent constitutions in different regions. Since 1981, in many countries in the Western region, constitutions have been amended to include provisions permitting the use of temporary special measures to promote the participation of women in political and public life. One recently established constitution in the Maghreb confers systematically, throughout its provisions, constitutional rights expressly on women as well as men, and seeks to ensure parity between them; in Latin America and the Caribbean there is a constitution which contains approximately 34 references to the rights of women, including the right to political participation.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Men
- Women
- Year
- 2013
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in political and public life with a focus on political transition 2013, para. 94
- Paragraph text
- For women's participation in political and public life to be meaningful it must be on equal footing with that of men, covering all aspects of political and public life, and effective in achieving substantive outcomes on equality between men and women in all fields of life. Women's economic independence and the economic viability of their enterprises and collective actions are crucial, and the conditions necessary for this to be achievable is distinct for differently located women, defined by the unique intersections of multiple forms of discrimination experienced by them. Political transitions do not always lead to inclusive democracy and long-lasting peace, and require the effectiveness of autonomous women's movements to ground universal standards of human rights in political and public life.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- Men
- Women
- Year
- 2013
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in political and public life with a focus on political transition 2013, para. 58
- Paragraph text
- Patriarchal and discriminatory family law or practice may limit women's freedom of occupation and freedom of movement in the public space. In some countries, men are still regarded by law as the head of household, barring women from representing their families in official decision-making processes on public affairs, including on development projects and issues of good governance, which have an impact on women and their families. The system of heads of household has been abrogated in many countries' legal systems.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Person(s) affected
- Families
- Men
- Women
- Year
- 2013
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in political and public life with a focus on political transition 2013, para. 76
- Paragraph text
- The Working Group notes that good practices of States include a legislative, and preferably constitutional, requirement that political parties place women in realistic positions for election, apply quotas, guarantee the rotation of power, accountability and parity membership between women and men on their governing boards and condition the funding of political parties on their integration of women in realistic positions on their candidate lists.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Person(s) affected
- Men
- Women
- Year
- 2013
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in political and public life with a focus on political transition 2013, para. 75
- Paragraph text
- The most effective strategies for women's political empowerment involve reforms to incorporate rules that guarantee women's representation within political parties. Some 50 countries have adopted legislation on electoral quotas in order to ensure that a certain proportion of candidates for political office are women. Hundreds of political parties in another 20 countries have voluntarily adopted their own gender quotas. In some countries the quota system is established by the constitution. One constitution in the Latin American and Caribbean region includes the principle of parity in all policymaking mechanisms, including elections, ministries, the justice system and political parties, and stipulates that political parties' "organization, structure and functioning shall be democratic and shall guarantee the rotation of power, accountability, and parity membership between women and men on their governing boards". In the Maghreb, one new constitution mandates the establishment of a mechanism for parity (see A/HRC/20/28/Add.1). Women's movements were intensely involved in these constitutional processes, illustrating the importance of activism to exert pressure for the creation of a constitutional framework that supports women's right to representation.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Men
- Women
- Year
- 2013
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in political and public life with a focus on political transition 2013, para. 97d
- Paragraph text
- [The Working Group recommends that States:] Support and ensure women's equal participation in and benefit from all areas of political decision-making during times of political transition. States should: (i) Apply special measures to ensure the equal and full participation of women in all transitional authorities and mechanisms; (ii) Ensure, including through constitutional provisions, a coherent system-wide framework for equality between men and women in all fields of life; (iii) Engage women in meaningful and sustainable ways in the development and implementation of policies to achieve lasting peace and security, including by promoting a culture of peace through formal and informal education in a multicultural setting; (iv) Ensure women's effective participation in all initiatives to secure accountability for past abuses, including transitional justice processes, and ensure that the guarantee for non-recurrence incorporates overcoming the root causes of gender-based violations in everyday life and institutions;
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Humanitarian
- Person(s) affected
- Men
- Women
- Year
- 2013
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in political and public life with a focus on political transition 2013, para. 42
- Paragraph text
- The Working Group welcomes a general trend in recent years to extend special measures or positive action to other areas of public life beyond legislative bodies. Positive action encompasses actions to promote women's participation in public life by such tools as media campaigns and training opportunities, which are not legally binding quotas, and new generation transformative measures setting out an overriding objective of equal power of women and men to shape society and their own lives.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Men
- Women
- Year
- 2013
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in economic and social life with a focus on economic crisis 2014, para. 90
- Paragraph text
- Unlike women's reproductive function, care functions do not necessarily have to fall on women. All forms of care, including childcare, are amenable to social reconstruction, and indeed in the Nordic countries, which have long pursued a policy of gender equality in the division of work and childcare functions, the distribution of care work comes close to parity. Good practice regarding the allocation of care responsibilities, pioneered in the Nordic countries, encourages men to enter traditionally women's worlds, both in the family and in the workplace, thus allowing women to participate and advance in the labour market.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Gender
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Men
- Women
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in economic and social life with a focus on economic crisis 2014, para. 100
- Paragraph text
- Discriminatory laws and practice prevail in most countries. Some such laws are self-evident, such as mandatory early retirement for women. Some are what has been called "statistical discrimination", such as separate annuity tables for women and men based on women's greater longevity. Others are the result of the sociology of the family and of legislative policy endorsing and perpetuating the economic dependence of women on a husband's income and pension entitlement.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Families
- Men
- Women
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in economic and social life with a focus on economic crisis 2014, para. 94
- Paragraph text
- Redistributing care work involves restructuring the design, funding and delivery of care by households, markets, the State and civil society so that a disproportionate burden of unpaid care does not fall on women. The equal sharing of care amongst different actors requires, on one hand, the sharing of care responsibilities by men as well as women in households and, on the other, the provision by the State of affordable and accessible care facilities, including childcare, adequate hospital care and recuperation periods, and facilities for the care of the disabled and the elderly.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Men
- Women
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in economic and social life with a focus on economic crisis 2014, para. 95
- Paragraph text
- Sharing of care responsibilities within the household should remain a matter of choice for women and men. For any real choice to be possible, paid care leave must be available to both parents. The Nordic countries were the first to introduce an independent paternity leave in order to overcome stereotypes and barriers to men sharing childcare functions. Such provisions are becoming more common around the world, with increased awareness of men's parenting roles and their need to reconcile work and family life. Paternity leave is usually much shorter than maternity leave and more often unpaid. Some countries have introduced more gender-neutral parental leave options, and recent best practice in one Nordic country provides symmetry in childcare leave, with five months for each parent individually and two months that can be allocated according to parental choice.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Men
- Women
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in economic and social life with a focus on economic crisis 2014, para. 16
- Paragraph text
- Women are disadvantaged economically as a result of social and cultural parameters, including stereotyping, discrimination and violence. A structural barrier to women's economic empowerment is the disparate feminization of unpaid care responsibilities. These cultural and structural barriers appear throughout girls' and women's life cycle and, indeed, women's economic situation varies throughout their life cycle more than men's.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Men
- Women
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in economic and social life with a focus on economic crisis 2014, para. 46
- Paragraph text
- The gender wage gap persists: women's wages represent between 70-90 per cent of men's wages in most countries. Research shows that differences in women's working hours, which are lower than men's, cannot justify the wage gap, and the wage gap cannot be attributed solely to a motherhood penalty. Furthermore, wage gaps remain substantial despite women' gains in education. Indeed, wage gaps are usually wider between men and women with tertiary education.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Person(s) affected
- Men
- Women
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in economic and social life with a focus on economic crisis 2014, para. 83
- Paragraph text
- Barriers to women's economic opportunities resulting from reproduction and care functions must be removed in order to permit choice by women and men as to how they allocate economic and caring duties. Three possible patterns of allocation have been identified: both parents as full-time workers; one full-time and one part-time worker, where the part-time worker is usually the woman; or the male breadwinner model. There is also the single parent pattern, which is usually a woman.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Families
- Men
- Women
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in economic and social life with a focus on economic crisis 2014, para. 45
- Paragraph text
- Nevertheless, there is not full equality of results in any labour market. Discrimination in hiring, promotion, conditions and wages and dismissal exists in all countries. In many high- and middle-income countries, gender gaps in unemployment have worsened since the economic crisis. Furthermore, cultural and structural barriers close opportunities for women in the labour force. Maternity is a focus for discrimination for women in most countries. Women's hours of workforce participation are, generally, reduced by motherhood, while men's are increased by fatherhood.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Person(s) affected
- Men
- Women
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in economic and social life with a focus on economic crisis 2014, para. 48
- Paragraph text
- Women are concentrated in higher numbers than men in informal work, not recognized, recorded, protected or regulated by the public authorities, and overrepresented in precarious, atypical and vulnerable work or employment. There are extreme examples in which 93 per cent of women workers are in informal work.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- Men
- Women
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in economic and social life with a focus on economic crisis 2014, para. 41
- Paragraph text
- Participation rates of women in the global labour force continue to be lower than men's, hovering steadily from 1990 to 2010 at around 52 per cent.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Person(s) affected
- Men
- Women
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph