COMMITTEE ON THE ELIMINATION OF DISCRIMINATION AGAINST WOMEN CONSIDERS THE REPORT OF PORTUGAL
The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women today considered the combined eighth and ninth periodic report of Portugal on its implementation of the provisions of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women.
Introducing the report, Pedro Nuno Bartolo, Permanent Representative of Portugal to the United Nations Office at Geneva, said that a vast number of instruments aimed at eliminating of all forms of discrimination against women were being implemented in the country, including the Fifth National Plan for Gender Equality, Citizenship and Non-Discrimination and the Fifth National Plan for the Prevention and Combat of Domestic and Gender-based Violence. Since the adoption of the so-called “Parity Law” in 2006, the number of women elected to political decision-making positions had been growing. In the most recent elections, on 4 October 2015, 76 women had been elected to Parliament, representing 33 per cent of all members. Over the past several years, Portugal had witnessed a consolidation of the institutional support given to the victims of domestic violence, including by establishing structures dedicated to specialized care. Since 2008, Portugal possessed a Reference National System of Victims of Trafficking in Human Beings, and in 2012, multidisciplinary group teams had been created, aimed at giving specialized assistance to trafficking victims throughout the country.
Committee Experts recognized the grave effect of the austerity measures on women’s rights and their status in society, and asked why there was no trace of gender budgeting in the design of Portugal’s austerity measures. There was a lack of understanding and a very limited use of temporary special measures and Experts advised Portugal to make conscious use of such measures in a holistic way, with the view of mitigating the negative impact of austerity measures. They stressed that temporary special measures were a part of the overall efforts to reach the long-term goal of gender equality. Experts asked when the Government would start the implementation of the provisions of the 2014 asylum law, which provided for a speedy identification of female asylum seekers. Experts took note of the high rates of adolescent pregnancy, and inquired about measures to eliminate stereotypes in education policy and to protect children of immigrant background, in particular girls, from racist stereotypes and harmful traditional practices, such as early marriages. Experts asked what measures were in place to tackle unemployment of women, particularly in the service sector, to eliminate the pay gap between women and men, and to address the prevalence of fixed-term work contract among women.
In concluding remarks, Mr. Bartolo said that Portugal had benefited from this exercise and would further learn from the Committee’s concluding observations, which would identify a number of challenges and concerns to be addressed.
The delegation of Portugal included representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Internal Administration, Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Agriculture and Sea, Ministry of Health, Ministry of Education and Science, Ministry of Solidarity, Employment and Social Security, the Commission of Citizenship and Gender Equality, High Commissioner for Migration, Autonomous Region of Madeira, and the Permanent Mission of Portugal to the United Nations Office at Geneva.
The Committee will reconvene in public on Thursday, 29 October, at 10 a.m. to consider the combined seventh and eighth periodic report of Liberia (CEDAW/C/LBR/7-8).
Report
The combined seventh and eighth periodic report of Portugal can be read here: CEDAW/C/PRT/8-9.
Presentation of the Report
PEDRO NUNO BARTOLO, Permanent Representative of Portugal to the United Nations Office at Geneva, stressed that Portugal was strongly committed to ensuring the highest attainable level of the promotion and protection of all human rights for all. A strong and efficient multilateral system for the promotion and protection of human rights was of utmost importance. The current report had been drafted by the Portuguese National Human Rights Committee, which was composed of all departments of the Portuguese public administration and enjoyed a close relation with civil society. The Committee was about to finalize a matrix of indicators on preventing and combatting violence against women.
During the past several years, Portugal had faced a challenging economic and financial crisis, being subject to a severe international programme of financial adjustment. The negative impact of such austerity measures on the realization of human rights in the country was recognized. A vast number of instruments aimed at eliminating all forms of discrimination against women were being implemented in Portugal, including the Fifth National Plan for Gender Equality, Citizenship and Non-Discrimination and the Fifth National Plan for the Prevention and Combat of Domestic and Gender-based Violence. Sectorial plans for equality were implemented in all Ministries and municipalities. Since the adoption of the so-called “Parity Law” in 2006, the number of women elected to political decision-making positions had been growing. In the most recent elections, on 4 October 2015, 76 women had been elected to Parliament, making up 33 per cent of all members.
Clear efforts had been made in order to promote the employment and entrepreneurship of women, a factor of innovation and competiveness. Those included professional training and financial support programmes, including micro credit, and the development of organizational networks for the sharing of good practices. Legislation on the protection of parenthood and on the conciliation of work and family life was being strengthened. Thus, the compulsory parental leave had been increased by five working days, and a possibility was foreseen for both parents or analogues to use the parental leave simultaneously, ranging from 120 to 150 days.
Mr. Bartolo stated that over the past several years, Portugal had witnessed an increase and consolidation of the institutional support given to the victims of domestic violence, through not only a higher number of responses to shelter applications, but also by establishing structures dedicated to specialized care. A number of initiatives had been put in place to support the emancipation of women who had left shelter houses to return to the labour market. Since 2008, Portugal possessed a Reference National System of Victims of Trafficking in Human Beings. In 2012, multidisciplinary group teams had been created, aimed at giving specialized assistance to trafficking victims throughout the country.
Despite the recent economic crisis, Portugal had maintained a high-level of protection of child-maternal health. The current maternal mortality rate was ranked as one of the lowest in Europe, and the child mortality rate – 2.8/1,000 – was considered the lowest in absolute numbers ever registered. Since 2011, Portugal had also redoubled its efforts to eliminate female genital mutilation. Over the past four decades, the country had been strongly committed to the elimination of gender stereotypes and to the integration of gender equality through education. That was, inter alia, done through extensive awareness-raising campaigns and the development of education guides on gender and citizenship, whose goal was to integrate a gender dimension in formal educational practices.
Several national action plans aimed at improving the social and economic status of vulnerable women, as well as their empowerment. Concrete measures were being taken to promote gender equality and reinforce personal, professional and civil integration of women immigrants into the Portuguese society. While the number of farms had significantly decreased over the last 25 years, women farmers continued to play an important role in Portugal, and their role was recognized and supported through the Programme of the Rural Development of the Continent.
Questions by Experts
An Expert commended the State party for the adoption of the special action plan for Security Council resolution 1325 and a number of International Labour Organization conventions.
The austerity measures had had a grave effect on women’s rights and their status in society, the Expert noted. Why was there no trace of gender budgeting in the design of Portugal’s austerity measures? Such measures should be temporary and proportionate, and not affect women disproportionately. Had Portugal asked for the European Commission’s assistance in making a necessary assessment?
While the Convention was directly applicable in Portuguese courts, it was not very visible. Had there been any court cases in which the Convention had been directly invoked? How was the Convention incorporated in the curricula of law faculties?
A question was asked on when the Portuguese Government planned to implement provisions of the 2014 asylum law, which provided for a speedy identification of female asylum seekers.
An Expert also asked about the translation of the Convention and the recommendations.
Replies by the Delegation
Portugal continued to be committed to full respect for human rights in spite of the austerity measures. Member States did not have a chance to design all of their decisions, as many things were decided in Brussels. In the future, the Committee might want to hear from European institutions on some of the mentioned policies.
The delegation explained that since 2012, and in order to ensure that there was no reduction of investment in gender equality policies, a decision had been made to create a separate fund for those policies from a percentage of the money spent on gambling.
On the asylum policy, a delegate said that Portugal applied a human rights-based approach. Access to medical care and language learning was provided. The Portuguese Asylum Act of 2008 had been amended by a law in 2014. Women had preferential treatment; if an applicant was a pregnant woman or a woman with young children, her application would be considered in a speedy manner.
Training of judges and prosecutors on gender equality began in law faculties. Over the previous two years, the National Parliament had contributed to joint training activities on the Convention. Other topics included were gender violence and female genital mutilation.
There was no data on the number of times the Convention had been invoked in courts, as Portugal did not collect such statistics for either national or international legal instruments. What should be seen was how the Convention could be applied in courts at a more general level, the delegation said. A publication had been issued to commemorate the thirtieth anniversary of the Convention and a seminar had been held on that topic.
On gender sensitive budgeting, it was explained that intensive training had taken place in the Ministry of Finance and other Ministries to better prepare them for this process; those procedures were, nonetheless, still at the incipient stage.
The delegation said that inclusive language was used in the State party’s laws. Portugal was committed to the Convention in letter and in practice.
Regarding the translation of general recommendations, the delegation explained that not all of them had been translated. The Convention itself and the guidance on how to draft shadow reports had been translated and were quite familiar to people.
The report contained information on the regions of Madeira and the Azores, said the delegation.
Questions by Experts
An Expert asked for clarification on the gender-impact assessment of national policies.
Could the delegation provide more information about the decrease of the budget for the National Human Rights Committee? Did it have any enforcement powers? More details were asked about the coordination of the human rights machinery.
Another Expert noted that there might be a lack of understanding concerning temporary special measures by Portugal. Had the State party defined targets to be reached within a timeframe and were there sanctions for companies which did not implement prescribed measures? The State party was advised to use a conscious use of such measures in a holistic way, with the view of mitigating the negative impact of the austerity measures.
The Expert asked for a clarification of the roles and responsibilities of the Commission for Equality in Labour and Employment.
Referring to the budget cuts, another Expert noted that the Committee saw temporary special measures as a part of the overall efforts to reach the long-term goal of gender equality.
Replies by the Delegation
The delegation responded that before a bill became a law, it was submitted for gender impact assessment. Part of the rationale was to directly help the lawmakers. A significant part of the budget was given to the Citizenship and Gender Equality mechanism promoting gender equality and combatting domestic violence. In spite of the restrictions which existed, the State party was doing its best not to cut down investment in fighting domestic violence, human trafficking and promoting the status of women.
The Commission of Citizenship and Gender Equality was part of the structure of the Council of Ministers. It was at the top of the governmental structures, which was a sign of the importance Portugal assigned to that issue.
The Commission ensured that governmental advisors were represented on its board, which held two sectorial and two plenary meetings every year. The Commission supported the drafting and implementation of sectorial, Ministerial plans on equality. Ministerial advisers were provided with training and helped with signing protocols with various municipalities. Equality plans were implemented at the municipal levels as well.
Balanced representation of men and women was the goal at all levels of administration and decision making. That permanent, ongoing principle was much more than a simple temporary special measure. The Committee and the delegation were essentially in accordance on that issue.
Regarding the competencies of the Commission for Equality in Labour and Employment, a delegate informed that the Commission pursued an advisory role and issued opinions on discrimination in labour and employment. It provided advice to courts, Ministries, civil society and other stakeholders. It provided legal opinions prior to redundancy of pregnant or nursing women; if employers did not consider them, they would need to go to the courts. The Commission supported possibilities of flexi work for women with children under the age of 12.
The Commission could also initiate legal proceedings if a situation of discrimination had been observed, particularly through labour unions represented on the Commission’s board. The Commission could carry out labour inspections and look for inequalities between women and men in the work place. Assistance to the victims of sexual harassment at the work place was also provided, as well as conciliation in individual conflicts.
With regard to sexual orientation and gender identity, there were measures to promote non-discrimination based on those grounds. Municipal and school libraries had been furnished with books on those topics. Information kits on fighting homophobia and transphobia were available.
Questions by Experts
Patriarchal stereotypes were present in all spheres of public life, an Expert noted. Was there a mechanism in place to address that issue in the media? It could be only through a comprehensive strategy that deep-rooted stereotypes could be handled and ultimately eliminated.
The Committee welcomed the efforts by Portugal to eliminate female genital mutilation. Nonetheless, there was still a concern that a number of girls living in the country were at risk of that harmful practice. The new Portuguese legislation had an extraterritorial application – was the correct?
Portugal had been the first country to ratify the Istanbul Convention, which was praiseworthy. There were no rape crisis centres and no standard protocols in police stations and hospitals, which could lead to repeated victimization. Marital rape was also not adequately prosecuted, said the Expert.
Under the new law on divorce, domestic violence was not listed as one of the grounds for divorce. Could that omission be rectified?
Trafficking in human beings was also raised by the Expert, who asked whether anti-trafficking policies and measures had a clear gender perspective.
What was being done to address the root causes of trafficking? Were there awareness-raising campaigns and victim identification procedures?
More than 50 per cent of prostitutes were foreign women. Could the delegation provide information on any convictions issued in related cases? The legalization of prostitution would be contradictory to the Convention, and it might also legalize forced prostitution and pimping.
Replies by the Delegation
Regarding combatting stereotypes, a delegate said that it was clear that the mass media played a huge role in forming public opinion. The overarching aim of the Commission of Citizenship and Gender Equality was deconstructing the entrenched gender stereotypes. The Commission had engaged numerous training teams to provide relevant training on that matter.
Female genital mutilation was a stand-alone crime. The current law covered all forms of that crime, in accordance with the classification by the World Health Organization. Intense work had been done in cooperation with Guinea-Bissau, which was a high-risk country. In 2012, general guidance had been issued for health professionals on how to best identify and react vis-à-vis female genital mutilation. In 2015, 85 cases had been reported, most of which had taken place abroad, in Guinea-Bissau.
Proving domestic violence, even in the civil code, was often very difficult. A victim of domestic violence could ask for a divorce without needing to prove it, but simply by claiming that they could no longer continue their life together.
Prostitution was not criminalized and punishable in Portugal, the delegation explained. Exploitation of prostitution, on the other hand, was criminalized. The authorities did not prohibit it, but also they did not consider it as a productive activity. Criminalizing clients was not foreseen.
There was a trend of increase in the number of convictions for trafficking in human beings. There were 37 shelters across Portugal, which had not been affected by the budgetary cuts; their occupancy rate was around 98 percent. About 15,000 public agents had been trained to deal with the crime of trafficking.
The authorities applied a cross-cutting approach to fighting trafficking. The participation of civil society organizations had been absolutely vital from the design to the implementation phases. The Observatory of trafficking in human beings was a central body in the national reference network and ensured that there was no overlap. An information campaign had been conducted for judges and prosecutors, so that they could stay regularly informed of new trends in trafficking.
Some 6,000 police officers and gendarmes had attended courses on domestic violence.
Questions by Experts
Did the State party intend to introduce penalties for those parties which did not respect the law on parity?
What could the central authorities in Lisbon do to promote the parity legislation in the autonomous regions of the Azores and Madeira?
Women were underrepresented in executive functions, and starkly so at the local level, with only eight per cent of mayors being women. What were the measures discussed or envisioned to increase women’s participation? There was also an underrepresentation of women at the highest judicial functions, such as at the Supreme Court of Justice.
The Committee did not have a good picture of the situation of women in the private sector – could the delegation provide more information?
Another Expert, in a follow-up question, asked what happened to perpetrators of female genital mutilation who had conducted the deed outside of Portugal.
If prostitution in Portugal were to be legalized, as some political parties were proposing, pimping would also become legal, the Expert noted.
Replies by the Delegation
The exploitation of prostitution, or pimping, was criminalized in Portugal, and strategies were in place to support prostitutes of both sexes, and also to offer alternatives to prostitution. In 2013, the Portugal border services had created a project to identify victims of prostitution and improve the mechanism for their rehabilitation and reintegration.
In the past, crimes against physical integrity, including female genital mutilation, had limited extraterritoriality, and applied only in cases involving minors; the new law extended the coverage and extraterritorial application.
The Parity Law and the sanctions provided under this law had to do with reducing public subsidies given to public parties if they failed to respect the limits of the list. In 2012, women represented 23.1 per cent of members of boards in public sector and 9.4 per cent of board presidents. The legislation had focused on the representation of women in the top management of private sector companies, especially those companies listed in the stock exchange; in 2014, nine per cent of higher decision-making positions in the top 20 companies were held by women. In the autonomous region of Madeira, women held almost 30 per cent of the top management positions, and 51 per cent overall.
Questions from the Experts
A Committee Expert raised some concerns in relation to education, and adolescent pregnancy in particular, and noted the very high voluntary rate of termination of such pregnancies, particularly among the communities of African descent. The delegation was asked to explain measures taken to address this phenomenon, and the effectiveness of the sexual education programmes.
Another Expert asked about the assessments of the education strategy, in particular in terms of the elimination of stereotypes in the education policy, both among the teachers and the school population. What measures were in place to protect children of immigrant background, in particular girls, from racist stereotypes and harmful traditional practices, such as early marriages? Could the delegation comment on the linkages between the right to education, culture and family life, and how this tied to the National Strategy for Educational Development?
On employment, a Committee Expert said that the labour market had gotten into severe problems during the crisis, including unemployment and underemployment, both of which were higher among women than men, and in particular young women. What measures were in place to tackle the unemployment of women, particularly in the service sector, to tackle the pay gap between women and men, and to address the prevalence of fixed-term work contracts among women?
Abortion had been legalized in 2007 following a referendum, while this year a legislative amendment had been adopted introducing restrictions on abortion. The delegation was asked to comment on those restrictions, and to explain the reasons behind the very high rate of episiotomies and Caesarean sections.
Replies by the Delegation
Responding to the questions and comments made by the Committee Experts, the delegation confirmed that the law recognized citizen’s legislative initiatives, and this was what had happened with the amendments to the Abortion Law, which had introduced the changes on the basis on which abortion could be approved. The reform had been introduced in the package called The Mother and Fatherhood Act. The amendment was not yet in force because the implementing arrangements had not yet been approved, and women could still choose to terminate the pregnancy up to ten weeks of gestation.
Sex education was compulsory from the first year of junior school, and had been so since 2009; instructions were in place which set out how sex education was to be organized in schools, and taught as a cross-cutting subject. The delegation confirmed that Roma women had equal access to the health services, and they used it.
Portugal had amended its Labour Code in 2015, extending compulsory parental leave by five working days, thus strengthening the presence of fathers at home and promoting the equality of rights. Law 133 of 2015 strengthened the protection of pregnant and breastfeeding women, by requiring that all those applying for Community Funds must present a certificate that they had not been found guilty in court for gender-based discrimination.
Questions from the Experts
The Committee Chairperson asked about specific measures in place to ensure the protection of equal rights of women, including in access to housing, and in access to sports, where gender-based violence was pervasive.
The delegation was asked to comment on the phenomenon of the feminization of poverty, particularly rural poverty, and to comment on measures to promote gender equality in municipalities on local levels and raise awareness among the rural population to do away with different forms of discrimination against women. What were conclusions on the situation on Roma women in a study Portugal had recently addressed?
Responses by the Delegation
Due to the economic crisis, some families had difficulties to pay off their mortgages. To address this problem, the Property Investment Fund for Rental Housing had been created, which allowed families to sell their houses to the Fund and then sign a rental agreement with the option to re-purchase.
One of the strategic instruments to combat poverty and support the most vulnerable was the Social Emergency Programme, which did not target women per se, but because women were among the most vulnerable, the majority of beneficiaries were females. Women were also a majority in the minimum income programme and minimum pension programme, while female-headed households were the majority beneficiaries of the single parent subsidy.
Currently, 29 per cent of farms were managed by women, and there was a switch from traditional farms to commercial farms, as evidenced by the number of applications for farming subsidies and financing by young female farmers.
The national study on Roma communities had been conducted to fill the information gap about the situation in housing, education, and employment. The study had been implemented in half of the municipalities in the country and had encompassed 34,210 Roma. As a result of the study, the National Observatory had been created which would continue to work on the implementation of the study and the collection of data.
The delegation spoke about the project Glass Houses, which had lasted five years, in which schools had reached out into rural Roma communities and all Roma children had completed preschool. As a result, all those children were now in schools and Roma parents now approached schools, and not the other way around.
Answering questions about access to health in rural areas, the delegation explained that the National Health Service provided primary health care through 390 health centres, and 226 hospitals spread out throughout the country; 119 were state hospitals, and more than half had obstetric services.
Questions from the Experts
With regards to domestic violence, a Committee Expert noted that the new divorce regime was a no fault regime, and asked what happened if a woman victim of domestic violence brought a divorce suit. The Expert inquired about remedy that was available for women victims of domestic violence if they did not wish to divorce, and whether those remedies could be obtained in the Family Court or if the women had to start proceedings in the Criminal Court. The delegation was asked how domestic violence was considered in custody decisions and to comment on the compulsory waiting period before remarrying, particularly its unequal aspect of different waiting times for women and men.
Responses by the Delegation
The delegation confirmed that in 2008, the changes in the Divorce Law had introduced the divorce on the basis of irretrievable breakdown of marriage, which was thought to be more beneficial for women victims of domestic violence. Sharing of assets following the divorce was done as per the property system chosen at the time of marriage.
The current law on medically assisted procreation of 2006 could only be used by married heterosexual couples or by heterosexual couples who had been living together for at least two years.
Concluding Remarks
PEDRO NUNO BARTOLO, Permanent Representative of Portugal to the United Nations Office at Geneva, said that the Experts had raised very relevant questions and Portugal looked forward to provide further information to the Committee. Portugal had benefited from this exercise and would further learn from the Committee’s concluding observations, which would identify a number of challenges and concerns to be addressed. Austerity measures had affected many European countries, including Portugal, and Mr. Bartolo said that the message from Brussels and Frankfurt was to cut the costs and it was now clear that that had an impact on human rights. Maybe this would lead to the adoption of a new social model.
YOKO HAYASHI, Committee Chairperson, thanked the delegation for the constructive dialogue and the responses provided.
For use of the information media; not an official record
CEDAW15/033E