COMMITTEE ON ELIMINATION OF DISCRIMINATION AGAINST WOMEN CONSIDERS REPORT OF ECUADOR
The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women has considered the combined sixth and seventh periodic reports of Ecuador on how that country is implementing the provisions of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women.
Ximena Abarca, of the National Council for Women of Ecuador, said that, during the period 2003 to 2006 covered by the reports, the present Government had initiated a process of sweeping change of the State, which had been further strengthened by the development of their Constitution. The Constitution had transformed their economic model, the structure of the State, the administration of justice, and the promotion, protection and guarantee of human rights. Among main progress achieved for women were recognition that there should be gender parity and a progressive implementation of gender mainstreaming through specialized instruments, as well as progressive implementation of rights and liberties, including sexual and reproductive rights, which were recognized explicitly; the recognition of diverse family types; and the principle of non-discrimination, including sexual discrimination. In addition, there was a guarantee of equal participation of men and women in all electoral processes as well as the appointment of women to the highest levels of decision-making in the State. The State was responsible for the health of women during pregnancy as well as for sexual and reproductive health programmes and the rights of pregnant and lactating mothers were specifically protected.
A number of Experts voiced the worry that the number of bodies responsible for women's welfare was multiplying while many laws regarding women's rights remained unadopted. Clarification was also requested on the central women's body, the National Council for Women, in particular on its mandate, its legal foundation, and its relationship to the National Councils for Equality. Other issues raised included protection for refugee women; the legality of corporal punishment in the home, in particular as that might impact on the law against domestic violence; specific statistics on cases of trafficking; and more information on shelters and awareness-raising programmes for victims of sexual violence. On education, Experts asked what programmes were being undertaken to address the high illiteracy rates of indigenous women. Many Experts remained concerned about the issue of poverty, which unequally impacted on women, and asked what was being done to combat wage gaps and segregation in the labour force, where women were largely confined to certain jobs or relegated to the informal sector, where they were more vulnerable to violations of their rights.
In concluding remarks, Ms. Abarca thanked the Committee for the dialogue and the ideas they had presented. The questions asked would provide food for thought both within the Administration and within the National Council for Women. They would take back to the Government all of the Committee's concerns.
In preliminary concluding observations, Naela Mohamed Gabr, acting Chairperson of the Committee, said it was clear that Ecuador had made a great amount of progress for women, particularly in the form of the National Council for Women, and it was hoped that the National Council would be given an even greater sphere of competence. It was also hoped that there would be a lessening in the gap between law and practice in Ecuador. Among key issues that should be particularly addressed were violence against women and the situation of rural women.
The delegation from Ecuador included other representatives of the National Council for Women, from the Ministry of Social Affairs and from the Permanent Mission of Ecuador to the United Nations Office at Geneva. As one of the 185 States parties to the Convention, Ecuador is obliged to present periodic reports to the Committee on how it is implementing the provisions of the treaty.
The next meeting of the Committee will be at 10 a.m. on Thursday, 23 October, when it will consider the seventh periodic report of Uruguay (CEDAW/C/URY/7), in Chamber A, and the third periodic report of Kyrgyzstan (CEDAW/C/KGZ/3), in Chamber B.
Report of Ecuador
The combined sixth and seventh periodic reports of Ecuador (CEDAW/C/ECU/7) note that preparation of the Equal Opportunities Plan: 2005-2009 was concluded in March 2006. The Plan was prepared through a process of consultation, participation and methodological drafting involving hundreds of women from different groups – indigenous peoples, Afro-Ecuadorians, rural women, adolescents, lesbians, sex workers, and local authorities, among others. The Plan is therefore binding on each of the Ecuadorian Government’s bodies and agencies responsible for the planning, development and implementation of public policy and is the National Council for Women’s principal technical and policy-making tool. The 2005-2009 Plan is structured according to four categories of rights: promotion and protection of women’s participation in society and politics; promotion and protection of the right to a life free of violence, including health and reproductive rights, and the right to access to justice; promotion and protection of cultural and intercultural rights and of the right to education, quality of life and autonomy; and promotion and protection of economic, environmental and labour rights and of the right to access to financial and non-financial resources.
With respect to gender-based violence, since the 1995 adoption of the Violence against Women and the Family Act, Ecuador has made considerable progress in mainstreaming public policy for the prevention, elimination and punishment of domestic and gender-based violence. In March 2000, the National Office of Women’s and Family Commissariats was established. In August 2002, it was renamed the National Directorate for Gender office. The Directorate, in coordination with the National Council for Women, sets policies aimed at reducing the rate of domestic violence in Ecuador and achieving gender equality in the central and subsidiary departments of the Ministry of the Interior. This means that it is responsible for coordinating and monitoring the work of the women’s and family commissariats and related bodies in places where there is no women’s and family commissariat. Ecuador now has 32 women’s and family commissariats, and the demand for new commissariats in the country’s other cities is great. In addition, the June 2005 reform of the Criminal Code incorporated new offences such as sexual exploitation, child pornography and trading and trafficking in persons. However, some doubt remains with respect to the treatment of women under Ecuador’s criminal law; violence against women is still considered a misdemeanour rather than a crime.
Introduction of Report
XIMENA ABARCA, of the National Council for Women of Ecuador, introducing the combined reports, said that, during the period 2003 to 2006 covered by the reports, the present Government had initiated a process of sweeping change of the State, which had been further strengthened by the development of their Constitution by the Constitutional Assembly and its subsequent approval by the Ecuadorian people. The Constitution had transformed their economic model, the structure of the State, the administration of justice, and the promotion, protection and guarantee of human rights.
Among main progress achieved for women, Ms. Abarca enumerated the following: recognition by Ecuador that it was a secular State and a state of law; that there should be gender parity and a progressive implementation of gender mainstreaming through specialized instruments, as well as progressive implementation of rights and liberties, including sexual and reproductive rights, which were recognized explicitly; the recognition of diverse family types; and the principle of non-discrimination, including sexual discrimination. In addition, there was a guarantee of equal participation of men and women in all electoral processes as well as the appointment of women to the highest levels of decision-making in the State. It also recognized the work of women in the home, providing them with social security.
Furthermore, there was recognition of the need to protect and defend the natural resources of the country and its biodiversity, which were essential to the lives of women. Regarding collective rights, the rights of indigenous women within the context of indigenous justice were Constitutionally recognized, Ms. Abarca added.
Health, education and social security were human rights, which could not be privatised, and remained the responsibility of the State. The State was responsible for the health of women during pregnancy as well as for sexual and reproductive health programmes. The rights of pregnant and lactating mothers were also specifically protected, Ms. Abarca said.
In justice, there had been advances in terms of special protections for women and access to justice, in particular with regard to crimes of domestic and sexual violence, as well as in protection and reparation for victims of those crimes.
Giving some statistics on the current situation of Ecuadorian women, Ms. Abarca said that 32 per cent of poor households were headed by women. The overall rate of participation of women in the labour market showed that women had not achieved the level of men, but there was a trend towards the rapid insertion of women in the labour sphere. In 2005, 51 per cent of women and 78 per cent of men were employed.
In terms of health, life expectancy for women had seen a positive trend in the past 30 years, rising from 52 to 74 years. Adolescent pregnancies represented 20 per cent of the total. In 2006, the maternal mortality rate was 55 for 100,000 live births, with a slightly higher rate prevailing in the Amazon and indigenous regions. Some 20 per cent of all pregnancies were terminated by miscarriages or abortions. Of HIV/AIDS cases reported in 2006, 39 per cent were women, 74 per cent of whom were housewives.
In Ecuador, equality in education was one of the main achievements for women, with 17 per cent of women holding higher educational degrees, as opposed to 18 per cent of men, Ms. Abarca continued. However, only 4 per cent of the indigenous population had higher degrees and only 11 per cent of Afro-Ecuadorians had undertaken higher studies. The illiteracy rate was 10 per cent, of whom 17 per cent lived in rural areas. The widest gaps in illiteracy were found in those over 65 (almost 35 per cent), and the indigenous population, with 4 out of every 10 indigenous women being illiterate.
As for the participation of women in the political sphere, Ms. Abarca said that, in 2004, 41 per cent in terms of candidates for local councils were women, but they made up only 23 per cent of the total elected, and there was a similar situation in the federal ministries, with only 15 per cent of females elected out of 39 per cent of female candidates. However, a positive trend was seen in 2007, with 45 women elected to the National Assembly, out of a total of 130 members, representing 35 per cent of the National Assembly.
Regarding national institutions, Ms. Abarca recalled that the National Council for Women, created in October 1997 under the Executive Branch, was the main organ for the formulation and promotion of public policies on gender. With the establishment of the new Constitution the National Council for Women was renamed the Council for Equality, which was promoting a national discussion with women's organizations on general proposals in accordance with the Constitution's provisions.
Major advances had been made for women in the criminal law in the past years, with reforms to the Penal Code that incorporated new crimes against the human rights of girls, adolescents and women. Penalties for the crimes of trafficking in persons, sexual exploitation of children and adolescents, child pornography, and sexual tourism had all been increased, and aggravating circumstances had been recognized when sexual crimes against children were committed by those close to them or members of their families.
Regarding public policy, Ms. Abarca said that the Plan on Equal Opportunities 2005-2009 was a social compact which engaged civil society and the State to work to decrease in the medium term, and to eliminate in the long term, the equality gaps that affected the lives of girls, adolescents and women. In tandem, in November 2005, following the Committee's recommendation, consultations had been begun towards the elaboration of a Law on Equality of Opportunity and Gender Equality with the participation of women's organizations and local authorities.
In 2005 the National Policy on Health and Sexual and Reproductive Rights was promulgated. The Ministry of Public Health had since published a manual on norms and procedures regarding reproductive health, including family planning, abortion as a public health issue, the promotion of sexual and reproductive health and the prevention of uterine cancer and maternal health. Ms. Abarca highlighted here that the legal use of contraceptives and the availability of the "emergency pill" were still in force, except for the use of a specific commercial product which was declared unconstitutional.
Regarding economic resources for women, the State had created a trust fund, PROMUJERES, in 2003, so that women in situations of extreme poverty could be more autonomous and enjoy a better quality of life.
Ms. Abarca concluded with a look at the challenges that lay ahead. Ecuador faced the challenge of consolidating the structural reform in all of the State's functions. Parity had to be guaranteed in the reform of the electoral and justice systems, the creation of the Constitutional Court and the function of social control, and the mainstreaming of gender in all of the State’s actions had to be ensured.
Questions by Experts
Among issues raised by Experts, further clarification was asked about participation of non governmental organizations in drafting the report, and whether the report had been endorsed by the Cabinet; a worry that the number of bodies responsible for women's welfare were multiplying while many laws regarding women's rights remained unadopted; and whether the central women's body, the National Council for Women, had proper visibility and political clout.
An Expert was concerned about the lack of a national policy to ensure institutionalization of a gender perspective among the State’s bodies. It was also asked how well known the Equal Opportunity Law was among government and judicial actors?
On refugee women, who were more vulnerable to violence than others, was there a specific anti-violence prevention plan targeted at that group, an Expert asked. Furthermore, was there a systematic and coordinated inter-agency approach to ensure the rights of refugee women and to ensure their insertion into the labour market?
An Expert was concerned about the legality of corporal punishment in the homes, feeling that this might undercut the law against domestic violence.
Response by Delegation
On the role and status of the National Council for Women, the delegation recalled that it had been stipulated by an executive decree in 1997. That decree made the foundations of the National Council somewhat unstable, as it was at the will of the executive. Last year, however, they had seen a change in their Government, with the most important result being that they had a new Constitution. They were now working to change the executive branch. The National Council for Women in respect of the new Constitution was granted a number of new functions, including the development of new public policies, mainstreaming a gender perspective in a cross-cutting way, and vetting new legislation to ensure that it was non-discriminatory. That was their new legal framework. The National Secretariat for Planning was in charge of designing the reforms of the executive branch, and the National Council for Women had put forward a proposal that it be included in that Secretariat, because that was where public policies were put forward and budgets decided on.
Regarding surprise on the multiplication of institutions on the subject of equality, the delegation stressed that the National Council for Women was the central body for all those issues. The National Council was also working with local bodies to ensure coordination. However, with the recent reforms of the executive power, they would be able to set up a proper law on gender equality which would allow for the setting up of proper mechanisms in the government and in the judiciary, as well as for ensuring women's participation, as set forth in the Constitution. In short, it would create an articulated system.
On refugees, the delegation said that many of the refugees in Ecuador were living in the northern border area of the country. Since June, they had been working on a campaign to ensure that all those living on the northern borders had their identity documents. There had been two campaigns so far. The aim was to ensure total coverage of the population in those areas.
Ecuador was a receiving, transit and sending country for migrants. It was precisely to cover the needs of women that the State had created the National Ministry for Migrants, the supreme body for designing migratory policy in the country. The Plan on Migration 2007-2010 was specifically geared towards ensuring protection for migrants and displaced persons, which had been designed in consultation with the National Council for Women to ensure a gender perspective.
In terms of monitoring and follow-up on women's issues, the National Council for Women had published a range of documents on various areas regarding the situation of women, the delegation said. Last week the Justice Minister had indicated that it was an "obligation" to comply with the recommendations of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women. Last week a cooperation agreement had been signed between the National Council for Women and the Justice Ministry to ensure proper follow-up
Questions by Experts
Further questions and issues raised by Experts included a request for specific statistics on cases of trafficking; whether a study on trafficking was under way; more information on shelters and awareness-raising programmes regarding victims of sexual violence; concerns about the efficaciousness of new laws against domestic and gender-based violence, given a lack of convictions; more information on witness-protection programmes for victims of trafficking; and whether the Councils for Equality had already been set up or not. An Expert asked if political parties were financed by the State or not and, if they were, suggested that funding be made dependent on the provisions of the Convention to give a better chance of achieving parity in decision-making posts.
Response by Delegation
Responding to these questions and others, the delegation explained that the Constitution had already given the general outline of the Councils for Equality. Indeed, the Councils existed prior to the new Constitution, but it had converted those existing bodies into the Councils for Equality, as it had with the National Council for Women. Laws had to be established to give them more specificity and to describe the functions and mechanisms involved.
On the issue of parity in public careers, the delegation noted that, in December 2007, a regulation was issued to allow spouses of members of the diplomatic service to work abroad, and in the past three years there had been greater parity in the number of male and female staff in the Foreign Service. While the record in elected office for women's participation was overall good, at 36 per cent combining local and national level posts, there were still only 2 women out of the 26 judges on the Supreme Court and 1 woman out of 27 federal judges.
As to whether there were still discriminatory laws on the books, the delegation said it was a bit of a Catch-22. The Constitution had made it quite clear that no discrimination could exist in the laws, however, a full review of existing laws had yet to be undertaken. As for indigenous women, there were guarantees in place that if the indigenous laws were held to be discriminatory international obligations superseded those laws.
Political parties in Ecuador did receive subsidies from the State, but they had only been receiving them since the new Constitution. It was thought that this new policy would be used to encourage the increased participation of women, the delegation said.
Further Questions by Experts
Experts asked for further statistics on education, and asked what programmes were being undertaken to address the high illiteracy rates of indigenous women. More information would be appreciated on teacher training and on programmes to ensure that girls stayed in school, in particular pregnant girls.
An Expert asked what measures were being taken to protect women working in the growing informal sector, who were more vulnerable to having their rights infringed, and to help them to reintegrate into the formal sector. Further, what was being done to combat wage gaps and segregation in the labour force, where women were largely confined to certain jobs.
An Expert was interested to know if the Convention was directly applicable in law in cases of employee contracts, given the little headway made by the Government in improving the wage gap for women.
More information was requested about the free childcare and maternity law, given the continuing high rate of teen pregnancies and the fact that complications from pregnancies or legal or clandestine abortions remained one of the biggest causes of deaths among teenage girls. On poverty, it was asked what steps were being taken to address the plight of women, in particular rural women, such as microcredit schemes. An Expert complained that the information in the report on rural women was too general or else referred to programmes that covered only a small sector of the population. Almost 40 per cent of Ecuadorian women lived in rural areas. She wanted information on their health and health services, their work and economic prospects and on educational schemes to ensure enrolment and to keep rural girls from dropping out of school.
Response by Delegation
Addressing poverty issues, the delegation said that they had made strides in Ecuador in addressing the gap between the richest and the poorest, which had closed from 30.7 per cent in 2007 to 20.5 per cent 2008 in urban areas. There had also been a 7 per cent drop in unemployment, which stood at 6.4 per cent in 2008, and there had also been reductions in underemployment levels. Moreover, investment in the social sector had grown from $1.7 billion in 2007 to $4.3 billion in 2008, the budget for health had trebled, and budgets for education and labour had gone up 71 per cent and 58 per cent respectively.
In terms of investment in educational infrastructure, after years in which educational institutions had languished and the buildings deteriorated, in 2008 more than $40 million had been invested, as opposed to $1.6 million in 2006, which meant they were now spending $ 15 for each $1 previously spent, the delegation stressed. In addition to the benefits for children, that spending was also giving impetus to local economies and was creating local jobs.
Regarding sexual violence, there was a training programme provided by the National Council for Women, together with the Ministry of Education, on sexual abuse and violence to help victims reintegrate into their communities, the delegation said. They were also beginning to train health professionals in this area.
On school dropouts, there had been studies on this issue, the delegation confirmed. They did not have the numbers with them now, but would forward that information to the Committee. There was a school feeding programme, which had doubled its budget. It had now extended from 80 to 120 days in which 1.5 million children across 15,000 institutions received school breakfasts and lunches, the delegation highlighted.
In terms of deaths owing to teenage pregnancies, there had indeed been an alarming increase in the percentage of teen pregnancies over the last 15 years, the delegation said. And the rate had risen last year from 15 to 20 per cent. As a result, the Government was implementing a national plan to reduce teenage pregnancies, working with the Ministry of Health, the National Council for Women, and children and adolescents' groups. Also instrumental in this would be the enactment of the law on sexual education. Now, the Constitution obligated the State to provide sex education. That, it was believed, would lead to an effective reduction in teenage pregnancies.
Concerning rural women, the State was fully aware of the discrepancies between the status of rural and urban women. However, when reviewing State policies for women, there was still no specific policy aimed at overcoming those differences, the delegation said. A conference was organized together with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and the National Council for Women to develop policies to cover both rural and urban women. A study was now being undertaken, and the National Council for Women was also working to raise awareness on this issue, in particular with local authorities which were being encouraged to work on this subject.
As a first step, a "Give Your Name for Ecuador" programme was being carried out, to ensure that rural women were documented, so that they could enjoy their rights. The delegation believed that the goal of registering all rural women would be met in the next three years. In addition, the National Council for Women was developing a microcredit programme through the PROMUJERES Fund, but that was admittedly a drop in the ocean compared to the needs of rural women.
Further Questions by Experts
An Expert, while welcoming the increased investment in social service budgeting, asked how those resources were specifically directed to women's issues. For example, what part of the health funds was devoted to improving the maternal mortality rate, or for improving the condition of rural women? An Expert also asked what monitoring mechanisms were in place to ensure a gender perspective in development and poverty reduction strategies. For example, the concept of the human development benefit, as set out in the report, might serve to entrench women's role in childcare and working in the home, although it sought to highlight the benefit women brought to society in those roles.
Experts were concerned that, under Ecuadorian law, it was possible to waive the age limit of 18 years for marriage if there was parental consent. Experts also raised concern that laws covering marriage, the family and children were dispersed in the Civil Code, the Family Code, and the Juvenile Code, which created confusion.
Response by Delegation
Responding to the concern on entrenching of women's roles, the delegation said the National Council for Women was constantly monitoring whether they were reproducing these roles, and in particular had questioned the human development subsidy, which it was felt might indeed do just that. The National Council was in discussions with the Government to try and transform that fund so that it would essentially be used as a microcredit for the poorest in the country.
On a gender perspective with regard to poverty reduction schemes, the delegation welcomed the Committee's comments, which were felt to be very relevant and would be looked at.
Turning to trafficking, the National Council for Women together with the Public Prosecutor and the Justice Minster had begun a training programme for those in the justice sector in this area in 2005, and now some 3,000 justice officials, including judges, had been trained. In 2006 there had been 70 complaints brought on trafficking, 12 of which reached the courts and sentences were handed down. Witness protection programmes ensured that witnesses were protected for 30 days in cases of trafficking. There were two shelters for trafficked women, one in Quito and one in Machala. The delegation also highlighted a national plan of action against trafficking, which had been finalized in April 2006.
Regarding concerns on discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, the delegation confirmed that the new Constitution, which entered into force on Monday, specifically included sexual orientation as a ground for discrimination.
Concluding Remarks
XIMENA ABARCA, of the National Council for Women of Ecuador, in concluding remarks, thanked the Committee for the dialogue and the ideas they had presented. The questions asked would provide food for thought both within the Administration and within the National Council for Women. They would take back to the Government all of the Committee's concerns. They would also respond to queries with disaggregated statistics, as well as statistics on how public policies were impacting on the people on the ground.
In preliminary concluding observations, Naela Mohamed Gabr, acting Chairperson of the Committee, said it was clear that Ecuador had made a great amount of progress for women, particularly in the form of the National Council for Women, and it was hoped that the National Council would be given an even greater sphere of competence. The Committee looked forward to receiving the additional information requested on the status of women.
Ms. Gabr commended Ecuador for its attention to the concluding observations of the Committee on earlier reports, and it was hoped that the same attention would be granted to the concluding observations the Committee would issue at the end of this session on Ecuador's fifth and sixth periodic report, and that they would be communicated to Parliament and the legislative branch. It was also hoped that the cooperation with non governmental organizations would continue.
Finally, it was hoped that there would be a lessening in the gap between law and practice in Ecuador. Ms. Gabr concluded by noting that among key issues that should be particularly addressed were violence against women and the situation of rural women.
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CEDAW08018E