Civil Society Organizations Brief the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women on the Situation of Women in Mexico, Thailand, Ireland, Kazakhstan, Paraguay, Poland and Republic of Moldova
The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women was this afternoon briefed by representatives of civil society organizations on the situation of women’s rights in Mexico, Thailand and Ireland, the reports of which the Committee will review this week, and in Kazakhstan, Paraguay, Poland and the Republic of Moldova, the reports of which had been scheduled for consideration in the cancelled ninety-third pre-sessional Working Group.
In relation to Mexico, speakers raised concerns regarding disappearances and abductions of women; gender-based violence and its impact on marginalised women; and legislative issues affecting women, including related to abortion, sex work, surrogacy and homicide.
Non-governmental organizations speaking on Ireland raised topics including the lack of access of marginalised women, including Roma and Traveller women, to State services; the high prevalence of gender-based violence; discrimination against migrant women; and overcrowding in women’s prisons.
On Thailand, speakers addressed discrimination against marginalised women, including lesbian, bisexual, transgender and intersex women; the negative effects of mining projects on indigenous women and girls; gender-based violence; and discrimination against women and girls with disabilities.
The following non-governmental organizations spoke on Mexico: Alianza por los derechos de las mujeres y niñas en toda su diversidad; GAMAG & Laboratorio Feminista de Derechos Digitales; Alianza de Mujeres Indígenas de Centroamérica y México, y Mujeres afromexicanas; and Mujeres defensoras y periodistas.
The Human Rights Commissioner of the National Human Rights Commission of Ireland spoke on the country, as did the National Women's Council of Ireland; Immigrant Council of Ireland/NASC/Akidwa; Traveler and Roma Coalition; Beyond Surviving; Irish Penal Reform Trust; University of Galway; and Disabled Women Ireland.
As for Thailand, the Chairperson of the National Human Rights Commission of Thailand spoke, as did the following non-governmental organizations: Protection International; PPM, Khon Rak Ban Kerd Dan Khun Thot Group; Civil Society Assembly for Peace; Indigenous Women’s Network of Thailand; Young Pride Foundation and Asia Pacific Transgender Network; Foundation of Transgender Alliance for Human Rights and World Coalition against the Death Penalty; Shero Thailand; and Association for the Empowerment of Women with Disabilities.
Speaking on the Republic of Moldova were Amnesty International; Eurasian Harm Reduction Association; and a coalition of women-led organizations including Eurasian Women’s Network on AIDS and NGO Association for Creative Development of Personality.
Speaking on Kazakhstan was Equality Now; while the Centre for Reproductive Rights spoke on Poland, and Amnesty International spoke on Paraguay.
There were no speakers present to discuss Angola, Comoros and Guinea-Bissau, the reports of which had also been scheduled for consideration in the cancelled ninety-third pre-sessional Working Group.
The Committee’s ninety-first session is being held from 16 June to 4 July. All documents relating to the Committee’s work, including reports submitted by States parties, can be found on the session’s webpage. Meeting summary releases can be found here. The webcast of the Committee’s public meetings can be accessed via the UN Web TV webpage.
The Committee will next meet in public at 3 p.m. on Tuesday, 17 June to consider the tenth periodic report of Mexico (CEDAW/C/MEX/10).
Opening Remarks by the Committee Chair
NAHLA HAIDAR, Committee Chairperson, said this meeting was an opportunity for non-governmental organizations and national human rights institutions to provide information on the States parties that were being considered this week, as well as on reports that had been scheduled for consideration in the cancelled ninety-third pre-sessional Working Group, namely those of Angola, Comoros, Guinea-Bissau, Kazakhstan, Paraguay, Poland and the Republic of Moldova. She noted that the adoption of a list of issues and questions in relation to the combined third and fourth periodic reports of Syria, also initially scheduled for the pre-sessional Working Group, had been postponed.
Statements by Non-Governmental Organizations from Mexico, Thailand and Ireland
Mexico
Concerning Mexico, speakers, among other things, expressed concern about the growing militarisation of the country, which disproportionately affected indigenous, rural marginalised women, as well as about disappearances of women, which were linked to trafficking in persons and femicide.
Speakers also expressed concern about gender-based violence, particularly against Afro-descendant women, human rights defenders, and young people. More than one million Afro-descendant women were facing violence in Mexico, one speaker said, with some 57 per cent having faced some form of sexual violence. Persons searching for the disappeared were particularly at risk; at least 16 had been killed, and there was impunity for crimes against human rights defenders. Key support for these people, such as refuge and shelter, had been denied.
Speakers also raised issues related to Mexican legislation, noting that abortion was still regulated by criminal law; that legislative reforms had been made to criminalise sex work; that surrogacy remained legal in 12 states; and that homicide against trans women was not recognised as trans femicide.
Speakers called on the Committee to encourage Mexico to recognise women human rights defenders; eliminate the crime of abortion; address trafficking of women; take measures to protect vulnerable women; harmonise legislation on violence against women; introduce regulations on digital violence and measures to combat violence against women in the media; release human rights defenders who had been imprisoned; and strengthen protection systems with a gender-based perspective.
Ireland
Those speaking on Ireland said, among other things, that deep and systemic barriers affected the access of marginalised women, including Roma and Traveller women, to childcare, abortion, employment, education, housing and healthcare. These women needed to be supported by targeted policies. Minority women were severely underrepresented in politics, continued to be over-represented in the criminal justice system, and faced barriers in accessing child benefits. The State needed to collect ethnic data to inform support policies for minorities, and there needed to be dedicated funding for policies for women, developed in cooperation with women’s organizations. The bill to amend equality legislation needed to be rejected immediately, as it threatened the rights of marginalised women.
Ireland lacked targeted measures for women with disabilities, one speaker said. There was systemic discrimination against women with disabilities in work and healthcare; this needed to be addressed.
Speakers also expressed concern about the high prevalence of gender-based violence in Ireland. Interventions were needed to strengthen the justice system related to such violence. Ireland disclosed counselling notes in sexual offence trials; it needed to cease this act of secondary discrimination. The proposed amendment to the law in this regard would exacerbate harm.
Speakers said migrant women faced significant discrimination in Ireland, including in employment and education opportunities, medical care and housing. There was no entitlement to legal aid for migrant women; women asylum seekers could not access the labour market, and migrant women were disproportionately represented in the informal sector. One speaker noted that 7,000 women in Ireland were affected by female genital mutilation, but there was no State strategy to combat female genital mutilation. There needed to be a dedicated national action plan to address the phenomenon.
Overcrowding in Irish prisons was at a crisis point, one speaker said, with the two women’s prisons far over capacity. There was a record number of women with babies in prisons. The Government had not made efforts to establish an open women’s prison; this needed to be done. It also needed to guarantee investigations into Magdalene Laundries abuses, undocumented deaths, and forced family separation. There needed to be a timeframe for the full implementation of the redress scheme.
Thailand
Concerning Thailand, speakers said, among other things, that marginalised women, including refugees, trans and gender-diverse women, continued to face discrimination and a lack of access to services. Some 70 per cent of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex persons had experienced depression. The Government needed to strengthen the implementation of the gender equality act and address the marginalisation of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex persons.
Mining projects were destroying the lifestyles and livelihoods of indigenous women and girls in Thailand and poisoning the State’s rivers. Royal decrees issued in 2024 severely undermined indigenous women’s rights, limiting land access and traditional farming practices. The Committee needed to call on the Government to review and amend these decrees, and to protect indigenous women’s rights and the environment.
Some five per cent of death row inmates in Thailand were women, one speaker said. The Committee needed to urge the State party to implement a moratorium on the death penalty for non-violent offences.
Speakers said Thailand needed to urgently reform its laws on gender-based violence to clearly define consent and cases where mediation was appropriate; stop criminalising survivors of gender-based violence; make ending all forms of gender-based violence a national priority; and ensure protection for all survivors.
More than one million women and girls with disabilities in Thailand remained invisible, one speaker said. They still faced sterilisation, violence and abuse, and police rarely recorded the complaints of women with disabilities. The Government needed to outlaw forced sterilisation, ensure the representation of women with disabilities in politics and decision-making bodies, and adopt measures to guarantee procedural accommodation for women with disabilities in justice processes.
Questions by Committee Experts
A Committee Expert called for recommendations of quotas for representation of Thai women in Parliament.
Another Expert said pre-trial detention was being weaponised in Mexico. The suspension of the writ of habeas corpus seemed to have led to the deliberate imposition of lengthy pre-trial detention. Did the non-governmental organizations have a position on this?
One Committee Expert asked about the familial rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex persons in Ireland. Was there a norm on shared physical custody?
A Committee Expert asked about reports of the use of unofficial pre-trial detention in Mexico.
One Committee Expert asked whether trafficked women were offered exit programmes that promoted social empowerment in Mexico. How was Ireland implementing the Istanbul Convention, including related to restrictions on abortion?
Responses by Non-Governmental Organizations
Mexico
Responding to questions on Mexico, speakers said that “automatic” pre-trial detention implemented in the State was a violation of liberty that disproportionately affected women. The number of offences for which automatic pre-trial detention was imposed had been broadened recently.
The criminalisation of victims of trafficking severely affected women’s rights. Most victims were young girls. There was a lack of training for officials charged with identifying and protecting victims. There was a link to disappearances and abduction of women and girls and trafficking, which had been taken over by organised crime. There needed to be regulation to address the sexual exploitation of women.
Ireland
A speaker said there were huge challenges in accessing child maintenance in Ireland. There had been no progress in establishing a child maintenance agency. Roma women who did not comply with habitual residency laws had no access to child benefits.
Only one Traveller woman had been elected to the national parliament. More needed to be done to increase their representation.
There were almost 250 Irish women who travelled to the United Kingdom each year to access abortions. Irish women still faced significant challenges in accessing abortions. There needed to be political will to implement the conclusions of the independent review into access to abortion.
Ireland had a national strategy on preventing gender-based violence and domestic violence, but this strategy did not address female genital mutilation. A plan needed to be implemented to address this issue.
Thailand
Responding to questions on Thailand, a speaker said there was low representation of women from rural and marginalised communities on political bodies. No females had been elected to parliament. There was a lack of laws addressing discrimination against women with disabilities.
Women human rights defenders often faced strategic lawsuits against public participation in Thailand, and the State did not have legislation on hate crimes. Many human rights defenders faced harassment online and needed protection.
Statements by Non-Governmental Organizations from Kazakhstan, Republic of Moldova, Poland and Paraguay
Kazakhstan
On Kazakhstan, speakers expressed concern about laws and practices that failed to sufficiently address gender-based violence and sexual violence. Rape was only recognised by State legislation when it involved physical force. There were significant barriers to investigating sexual violence, and as a result, few cases reached the justice system. Women with disabilities often faced sexual violence and discrimination. Support services for survivors of sexual violence remained inadequate; hotlines for reporting and shelters needed to be strengthened.
Republic of Moldova
Speakers said that the Republic of Moldova’s legal system lacked provisions to address all forms of gender-based violence, leading to inconsistent interpretation of the law, which needed to be amended in line with the Istanbul Convention. There was insufficient protection for victims. Sanctions needed to be issued for perpetrators of domestic violence.
It was concerning that the provision of abortion services via telemedicine had been banned, one speaker said. This ban was implemented without consultation with civil society or medical professionals. The Government needed to repeal the ban and ensure access to abortion services for all women. It also needed to amend legislation to decriminalise sex work and implement measures to protect sex workers from discrimination.
The Republic of Moldova’s low thresholds for small-scale use of illegal drugs led to the criminalisation of women drug users, perpetuating stigma against such women. Pregnant women who used drugs were often denied access to healthcare, and social workers often initiated child protection proceedings for the children of women who used drugs. The Committee needed to ask the Republic of Moldova how it would protect the rights of women drug users.
Women with HIV faced violence and discrimination every day in the Republic of Moldova, one speaker said. Many such women often did not report abuse for fear of stigmatisation. The law criminalised HIV infection and prevented women with HIV from breastfeeding. The Government needed to decriminalise HIV infection and support women with HIV to access shelters, legal support and healthcare, protect their confidentiality, and ensure that their voices were heard.
Poland
On Poland, a speaker said that the State’s abortion law prevented women from accessing safe and legal abortions. There was a near-total ban on abortion in place, and women were often compelled to travel abroad for abortive care. Legislative proposals seeking to reintroduce access to legal abortion were pending review, while guidelines on access to legal abortions had been developed but had not been sufficiently distributed. The Committee needed to ensure that the State party guaranteed the right to abortion and health care for women.
Paraguay
On Paraguay, a speaker expressed concern at the high rate of teenage pregnancies and sexual violence against women and girls. There was an almost total ban on abortion, even in cases where the pregnancy was the result of rape. There was also a lack of comprehensive sexual and reproductive health education in schools. There was a high level of maternal mortality; the State needed to strengthen primary health care.
Paraguay needed to invest more in public health, the speaker said. It was one of the most expensive countries in the world to fall sick. The high cost of healthcare disproportionately affected certain groups, such as those with cancer. The State party needed to improve the availability of medicines. In April 2025, a bill was brought before the Senate that sought to merge the Ministry of Women into the Ministry of the Family; this bill needed to be rejected.
Dialogue with the National Human Rights Institutions of Ireland and Thailand
Statement by the National Human Rights Institution of Ireland
LIAM HERRICK, Chief Commissioner, Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission, expressed concern about Ireland’s continuing and outstanding failures to effectively vindicate the rights of women and girls at the national level. Women and girls in Ireland continued to face discrimination at every stage of life. The State’s approach to domestic implementation of Convention rights fell far short of what would be expected of a wealthy, democratic nation.
Ireland faced challenges, including transforming the childcare and care sectors, closing the gender pay and pension gap, supporting more women leaders, and reforming the outdated patriarchal system of the male breadwinner, which held society back.
Violence against women, including femicide, remained at crisis levels in Ireland. The State was obliged to do everything in its power to keep women and girls safe in communities and in homes. The lack of adequate supports and refuge spaces for victims and survivors of gender-based violence and human trafficking was a major concern, especially as these were the main cause of homelessness for women and children in Ireland. The State needed to significantly scale up the provision of culturally appropriate, universally designed refuge accommodation units and provide guidance to local authorities on supporting victims and survivors seeking emergency accommodation and social housing.
Regarding women in politics, progress in Ireland was worryingly slow. Ireland was currently 99th in the world for women’s representation in national parliaments and 96th in the world for women cabinet ministers. A third of the 43 parliamentary constituencies had no women as representatives. Only one woman from an ethnic minority background was elected to Parliament in the recent election. Robust reforms at local political level, including the introduction of 50 per cent gender quotas, were vital.
Political leaders had repeatedly apologised for these failures and promised redress for victims and survivors of abuse within Mother and Baby Institutions, Magdalene Laundries, schools, residential institutions and to survivors of the practice of symphysiotomy. However, the State continued to fail to adequately implement the 2014 O’Keeffe judgment. It needed to establish a new comprehensive, fair and non-discriminatory redress scheme for survivors of child sexual abuse in primary and post-primary schools before 1991/1992.
Inadequate funding threatened the work of civil society in protecting women’s rights in Ireland. Civil society organizations needed adequate support. The State also needed to place greater focus on the intersectional nature of issues affecting women and minority groups. Women’s and girls’ rights were crucial for an integrated, harmonious and thriving society, based on equality and the rule of law. Never had it been so urgent for Ireland, as a wealthy, leading European Nation, to take decisive action to fulfil its obligations under the Convention.
Questions by Committee Experts
A Committee Expert asked how to ensure that all constituencies in Ireland had women representatives.
Another Committee Expert asked about the representation of women in the Irish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the achievements of women in the State’s foreign and policy affairs.
One Committee Expert asked about specific quotas that were needed to promote the representation of Roma, women with disabilities and other marginalised women in public life in Ireland.
A Committee Expert asked about the threat to the Good Friday Agreement posed by the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union.
Responses by the National Human Rights Institution
LIAM HERRICK, Chief Commissioner, Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission, said that all political parties needed to increase their share of women candidates to 50 per cent. This was particularly important at the local level.
A significant number of Irish women held leading positions within the international human rights system. However, there had never been an Irish woman head of Government, and there was a lack of representation of women in senior Government positions. The national human rights institution had made recommendations for addressing hate speech against minorities, including Roma women.
Specific provisions were drawn into the United Kingdom’s agreement on withdrawal from the European Union that promoted equivalence with established legal measures such as the Good Friday Agreement.
Statement by the National Human Rights Institution of Thailand
PORNPRAPAI GANJANARINTR, Chairperson, National Human Rights Commission of Thailand, said the Commission recognised Thailand’s progress in many areas, including the legal reform to raise the minimum age of marriage to 18, broadening access to safe abortion services, and the Government’s success in amending laws on gender equality and domestic violence victim protection.
The current Constitution of Thailand guaranteed gender equality, but challenges still remained. One key concern was the persistence of gender bias, both in societal attitudes toward women, and in how women perceived their own roles. Moreover, Thailand had yet to enact a comprehensive law to eliminate discrimination, a critical gap in the legal framework.
Domestic violence was also a serious concern. Despite the domestic violence victim protection act, women remained unprotected. The law mainly focused on mediation, which could pressure women to return to abusers instead of seeking justice. In the southern region, men-led community mediation could also result in biased outcomes. Cultural norms, financial dependence, lack of education, and fear of legal consequences made it harder for women, especially vulnerable groups such as illegal migrant women, to leave. Legal reforms were needed to make domestic violence a non-compoundable offence, extend the statute of limitations, and introduce offenders’ rehabilitation. Policies needed to focus on protecting victims’ rights, safety, and dignity, rather than forcing families to stay together.
The Criminal Code did not cover new forms of harassment, such as stalking and online grooming. Current labour laws only protected against harassment from supervisors, not co-workers. The Criminal Code needed to be reformed to include modern forms of harassment, expand workplace protection, and ensure victim-centred investigation.
Women often faced barriers when seeking justice. It was crucial to recruit more female inquiry officers as, at present, they accounted for only 6.5 per cent of the total number. There were reports of unacceptable conduct by law enforcement, including offensive language and insensitive investigations. Gender-sensitivity training for law enforcement officers, private and gender-friendly complaint facilities, as well as accessible procedures for persons with disabilities were essential.
Sex work was still illegal, leaving sex workers without labour protection or social welfare, and making them targets for abuse, even by authorities. Some offences had been changed to non-criminal fines, but many officers still made unlawful arrests. Sex work needed to be decriminalised to protect the rights and dignity of sex workers.
Although Thailand had made progress in maternal health, many women still had problems accessing reproductive rights. Safe abortion services were limited due to a lack of providers and poor referral systems. Pregnant inmates faced delays in counselling and abortion referrals. Moreover, many women were unaware of their rights. To address this, the Government needed to ensure that every province had at least one facility offering abortion services, and remove barriers beyond those set out by the law. Public education on abortion rights and support mechanisms needed to also be promoted.
The Commission was deeply concerned about the continued violence in Thailand’s southern border provinces, which greatly affected women. Many had lost their partners, suffered emotional and financial hardship, and struggled to access justice or compensation. Women were often left out of peace talks, and those who spoke up could face threats. The Government needed to fully support affected women by providing financial aid, counselling, and childcare. Rules and regulations that excluded families of those accused in security cases needed to be revised. Women needed to have a real voice in peacebuilding, religious councils, and efforts to stop domestic and gender-based violence.
Child marriage remained a serious issue in the southern border provinces. Although the 2018 change to the Nikah regulation was a step forward, it had not been well enforced or updated to match the new law setting the minimum marriage age at 18. The Commission called for the regulation to be revised to align with the Convention, and for strong action to ensure its implementation.
Women human rights defenders continued to face serious risks, including harassment, lawsuits, and surveillance. Some had even been targeted by disinformation and spyware like Pegasus. There needed to be legal reforms to ban strategic lawsuits against public participation and stronger awareness raising among justice officials and businesses about the harmful impact of these lawsuits.
Women in rural areas were hit hard by climate change but were often excluded from decision-making processes. Current disaster and climate policies lacked a gender perspective. At the same time, cybercrime severely affected women, who made up 64 per cent of victims from 2022 to 2024, while legal protections remained weak. The Government needed to include gender perspectives in environmental policy and women's voices in climate decisions, and strengthen laws to better prevent and respond to cyber violence against women.
Thailand had made good progress in meeting its commitments under the Convention. However, the Commission encouraged continued efforts to bring about real gender equality through stronger legal alignment, structural reforms, and the removal of remaining biased practices.
Question by a Committee Expert
A Committee Expert said Thailand’s legislation on statelessness was not in line with international standards. Were there any initiatives to reform this legislation?
Responses by the National Human Rights Institution
PORNPRAPAI GANJANARINTR, Chairperson, National Human Rights Commission of Thailand, said the Government had announced that there would be an amendment to the law on statelessness some years ago, but this process was still ongoing. Earlier this year, the Government had worked to identify 100,000 stateless people. There needed to be further recognition of stateless people in Thailand. The Commission would continue to push for all stateless persons to be supported to obtain all necessary documents.
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