民间社会代表向消除对妇女歧视委员会简报吉尔吉斯斯坦、厄立特里亚、马尔代夫和丹麦的妇女状况（部分翻译）

2015年2月23日

消除对妇女歧视委员会今天下午与民间社会代表举行会议，听取了有关吉尔吉斯斯坦、厄立特里亚、马尔代夫和丹麦境内妇女状况的信息，这些国家的报告将在本周接受委员会审议。

来自吉尔吉斯斯坦的民间社会组织代表对妇女逐渐退出公共和经济生活表示关切，该现象伴随着宗教婚姻的增多以及对绑架新娘和暴力侵害性工作者做法的有罪不罚。来自俄罗斯的移徙妇女遭受了系统性的人权侵犯。

来自厄立特里亚的民间社会组织代表表示，厄立特里亚政府对全民实施无限期的兵役制度，这相当于强迫劳动，被征召的妇女还会遭到上级的性侵犯，不受法律的管制。由此造成的数十万厄立特里亚人被迫移民导致了针对移民的极端暴力案件，特别是在过境国和中东国家。厄立特里亚没有正常运作的民主体制，并面临着成为失败国家的危险。

来自马尔代夫的民间社会组织代表表示，童婚是一个日益严峻的问题，并且往往在国家组织的公共活动、电台和电视中得到“伊斯兰学者”的支持。这种现象的增加是马尔代夫伊斯兰原教旨主义日益增长这个大背景的一部分，与之相关的是切割女性生殖器官再度兴起并得到支持，女孩和男孩被排除出学校系统，获取性健康和生殖健康服务的障碍越来越多。

丹麦人权研究所的主任乔纳斯·克里斯托弗（Jonas Christoffer）表示，关键问题包括警察援助暴力侵害妇女受害者的区别做法，缺少关于性别问题的数据，特别是在格陵兰，以及母亲对幼童而言陈规定型的家庭角色。

代表马尔代夫人权委员会的阿迈德·托拉尔（Ahmed Tholal）表示，妇女担任政治职务的数量有所下降，未登记婚姻和在日常生活中面对暴力的妇女人数则有所增加。

非政府组织理事会（NGO Council）、非政府组织联盟（NGO Coalition）、Labrys组织、厄立特里亚法律学会（Eritrean Law Society）、经济、社会及文化权利全球倡议（Global Initiative for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights）和妇女希望组织（Hope for Women）等非政府组织今天做了发言。丹麦和马尔代夫的国家人权机构代表也进行了发言。

委员会将在2月24日（周二）上午10点继续公开会议，届时将开始审议丹麦的第八次定期报告 CEDAW/C/DNK/8

Discussion with Non-Governmental Organizations

Kyrgyzstan

The NGO Council regretted the institutional weakness of the National Women Development Mechanism as well as the lack of national funding for gender parity. The number of women representatives in rural councils fell sharply in the last election. There was a gradual withdrawal of women from public and economic life, accompanied by a rise in the numbers of religious marriages.

The NGO Coalition said women who had been abducted for the purpose of marriage did not have access to justice, and those guilty of ‘bride kidnap’ enjoyed impunity because of police inaction. Migrant women, particularly those from Russia, endured systematic violations of their human rights. The State did not recognize the reality of violence against sex workers, said another representative, and perpetrators again enjoyed impunity. Furthermore the Government planned to criminalize sex workers. Women drug addicts could not access methadone or indeed often general health services.

Labrys said Kyrgyzstan had "a history of violence and discrimination" against transgender and inter-sex persons, a situation which would worsen following the likely adoption of a particularly restrictive law, warned a representative.

Eritrea

The Eritrean Law Society said the Eritrean Government imposed indefinite military service upon the entire population, which was in effect enforced labour. Conscripted women were subjected to sexual violence by their superiors, who were beyond the reach of the law and acted with impunity. The resulting enforced migration of hundreds of thousands of Eritreans led to cases of extreme violence against migrants, particularly in transit and Middle Eastern countries. Eritrea had no functional democratic institution: no other country in the world was confronted with so many structural problems. Eritrea unfortunately symbolized a ‘frozen State’ and was in danger of becoming a failed State, said the representative.

The Global Initiative for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, said agriculture and pastoralism were the main source of livelihood for about 80 per cent of Eritrea’s population, with women playing a vital role as farmers and producers. While women’s land and property rights were generally protected by law there were de facto violations of their rights, for example, due to Sharia law governing inheritance rights. Women farmers in Eritrea also faced discrimination in terms of access to agricultural programmes, services and technologies.

Questions from the Experts on Eritrea

In the ensuing discussion an Expert noted that Eritrea was a very closed country that was a source of global concern, and said despite many interventions nothing seemed to change. How did non-governmental organizations operate in the country? Experts expressed concern about high levels of violence imposed on women across Eritrea, access to abortion, the high numbers of asylum seekers and about trafficking in persons.

Many people remained in the army considerably longer than the 18 month period of military service – often even for decades – said an Expert, asking about that impact upon women, such as the widespread fear of sexual violence in the military which led many young women to opt to, or be forced by their families, to drop out of school to enter an early marriage in order to avoid the military.

Response from Non-Governmental Organizations on Eritrea

A representative noted that civil society organizations working on Eritrea operated in exile and did not have access on the ground. In answer to the question on military conscription, the Eritrean army was said to be 600,000 strong. Eritreans, including women, were conscripted into the army in different ways and served without any wage, a salary, or pay. In effect, it was slavery. There were some exceptions from military service for breastfeeding or newlywed women, but the military police conducted frequent ‘round ups’, seizing young people from the streets in the capital city Asmara and other towns and forcing them into the military. Once a round-up had happened nothing could save the person.

Responding to another question, a representative said the trouble was that the Government made promises which were never kept. The frequent excuse of the Eritrean Government was the so-called unresolved border conflict with Ethiopia. But for any reasonable person there was no such case of an unresolved border conflict. Basically the Government said it was in a state of emergency and so could do anything it wanted – suspend the constitution, restrict rights. But legally speaking no state of emergency was ever proclaimed. The lack of civil society space was a critical problem. There were now emerging, clandestine youth movements, such as the ‘Freedom Friday Movement’, who were operating at great risk to their lives. No country in the world could continue in the way the Eritrean Government was trying to rule the country, he commented, and in fact the President of Eritrea had now stated a wish to begin a consultation process on a new constitution, which was simply a way of buying time in order to continue the Government’s human rights violations.

Abortion was illegal but the Penal Code allowed it if a woman was impregnated as a result of rape, incest or if the pregnancy posed serious risk to the life of the woman. The migration route had now shifted from Sinai to Libya, which had an impact on trafficking in persons, said a representative, and was a major threat to Eritreans. Prison conditions in Eritrea were very problematic, said a representative, adding that there were many, many places of detention in which female and male prisoners were mixed and to which the courts had no access.

Maldives

Hope for Women spoke about the problem of child and unregistered marriage in the context of Maldives’ reservation of its right to apply Article 16 of the Convention ‘without prejudice to the provisions of the Islamic Sharia’. Data showed a steady increase in the number of child marriages, which were usually unregistered and often polygamous. Child marriage was often endorsed by ‘Islamic scholars’ invited to speak at State-organized public events and on radio and television. That increase was part of the larger context of increasing Islamic fundamentalism in the Maldives, linked to the re-emergence and endorsement of female genital mutilation, the removal of girls and boys from the Maldivian school system and the increase in barriers to sexual and reproductive health services.

The organization said violence against women and girls was an ongoing problem with low reporting rates and lack of implementation of the 2012 Prevention of Domestic Violence Act. Women’s representation at policy level was particularly low in Maldives, where only 5.8 per cent of parliamentarians were women. Gender stereotyping, character assassination of women and financial constraints were serious deterrents affecting their political participation.

Discussion with National Human Rights Institutions

Denmark

JONAS CHRISTOFFER, Director of the Danish Institute for Human Rights, said one issue was differentiation in practice of police assistance to violence against women victims. Gender mainstreaming was in practice in many parts of society but there was a lack of data concerning gender issues. The tradition of mothers staying at home to care for children while fathers went to work and pursued a career was a factor in continuing gender inequality. The representative also talked about the lack of data about the situation of women’s equality in Greenland.

Questions from the Experts on Denmark

An Expert asked for clarification of roles between the National Human Rights Institute and the Gender Equality Board. Questions were asked about the Joint Custody Act, the family reunification law, about intersexual discrimination, and data collection. Did the Gender Equality Act apply to the Faroe Islands and Greenland? Experts also raised the issue of statelessness of girls and women living in Denmark.

Response from the Danish Institute for Human Rights

Responding to the questions, the representative of the Danish Institute for Human Rights said there was no gender discrimination in the family reunification law, and it was hoped that the law helped young women defer early marriage. The Institute had no role in supporting individuals or taking cases to court, he clarified, but could assist people in bringing cases before the Equality Board or apply for legal aid for people. The representative said he was unaware of any problems regarding gender equality caused by statelessness so long as people had a Residence Permit. There was a ‘tug of war’ in terms of equalities and a heated debate, with a large proportion of Danish society believing they already had gender equality and there was nothing left to discuss. It was a heated subject, he said.

Maldives

AHMED THOLAL, of the Human Rights Commission of Maldives said discrimination against women in Maldives was not often seen as a serious issue and evidently was not a concern to the public, which created major problems. Often stereotypical attitudes were the widespread opinions of State officials who were tasked with implementing crucial policies to end discrimination against women. There had been regression in the number of women in political positions. Unregistered marriages posed myriads of problems for women. The number of women who faced violence in their everyday lives had increased. Three years since the ratification of the Domestic Violence Prevention Act in 2012 there had been little proactive advocacy by the State and most law enforcement officials were unaware of the legislation. It was significant to note that a Gender Equality Bill was in the pipeline which, if implemented, would go a long way in realizing the concept of temporary special measures.

Questions from the Experts on Maldives

Problems of flogging and of violence against women in public places were raised by Experts, who also asked about reports that maternity leave provisions included weekends. An Expert asked about the growth in misperceptions about Islamic law and the perception of flexible application regarding family and social issues.

Response from Representative of the National Human Rights Commission of the Maldives

AHMED THOLAL, of the Human Rights Commission of Maldives emphasized that one of the few successes with regard to gender equality in Maldives was the amendment of maternity leave provisions to not include weekends. The largest category of human rights violations was in relation to health but there were many issues in relation to domestic violence, child abuse, migrant workers and employment. The impact of religious fundamentalism on human rights, and particularly women’s rights, was a huge, pressing and controversial one. The Commission was often viewed as a tool of Western countries working against Islamic Sharia, and it was difficult for it to speak openly about many issues, such as flogging. Other Islamic countries had been progressive in ensuring gender equality and Maldives should look at their example. Maldives had neglected its commitment to the Convention for far too long and despite its progressive constitution there was yet to be equality on the ground for women.
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