Civil Society Organizations Brief the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women on the Situation of Women in Argentina, the Czech Republic and El Salvador
The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women was today briefed by representatives of civil society organizations on the situation of women’s rights in Argentina, the Czech Republic and El Salvador, the reports of which the Committee will review this week.
No civil society organizations were present to brief on the situation of women’s rights in Lesotho, the report of which the Committee is also scheduled to review this week.
In relation to Argentina, speakers raised concerns regarding rollbacks in public policies promoting women’s rights; lack of access to healthcare for women; online gender-based violence; and restrictions to the rights of women with disabilities, among other topics.
On the Czech Republic, speakers presented concerns regarding structural discrimination against women, including in the labour, education, health and housing sectors; violence against women; insufficient support measures for midwives; and inadequate regulation of marketing of breast milk substitutes
Non-governmental organizations speaking on El Salvador raised topics including gaps in the implementation of laws on violence against women; laws reenforcing stereotypical gender roles and removing “gender ideology” from teacher training; discrimination against women in the labour sector; access to healthcare for women; and measures to prevent the incarceration of pregnant women and mothers living with children.
The following non-governmental organizations spoke on Argentina: Equipo Latinoamericano de Justicia y Género; Centro de Estudios Legales y Sociales; Amnesty International Argentina; Red por los Derechos de las Personas con Discapacidad; Federación Argentina de Instituciones de Ciegos y Ambliopes; GQUAL Campaign; Comité Latinoamericano y del Caribe en Defensa de los Derechos de las Mujeres; and Asociación Ciudadana por los Derechos Humanos.
The Czech Deputy Public Defender of Rights and Defender of Children's Rights spoke about the situation of women in the country, as did the following non-governmental organizations: Czech Women’s Lobby; Association for Freestanding Birth Centres and Alongside Midwifery Units; League of Human Rights; and International Baby Food Action Network.
The non-governmental organizations speaking on El Salvador were: Comité Latinoamericano y del Caribe en Defensa de los Derechos de las Mujeres El Salvador; and Children of Incarcerated Caregivers.
The Committee’s ninety-second session is being held from 2 to 20February. 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 10 a.m. on Tuesday, 10 February to consider the eighth periodic report of Argentina (CEDAW/C/ARG/8).
Opening Remarks by the Committee Chair
NAHLA HAIDAR, Committee Chairperson, said that in the present meeting, representatives of national human rights institutions and non-governmental organizations would provide information on the reports of Argentina, Czech Republic and El Salvador, which would assist the Committee in its considerations.
Statements by Non-Governmental Organizations from Argentina, the Czech Republic and El Salvador
Argentina
On Argentina, speakers, among other things, said Argentina’s institutions were being broken down in an unprecedented fashion. The Ministry for Women had been eradicated and there was no guiding body to protect women from violence. National protection policies had faced an 89 per cent budget cut, and there were no statistics or budgetary information being published. There was no public policy that worked to offset the structural poverty faced by women. Cuts to public sector wages had also disproportionately affected women; there was a gender wage gap and more women were unemployed. There had further been backsliding in care and social protection policies, with thousands of women blocked from access to old age pensions due to a law change.
The Government was not providing sufficient healthcare in the provinces. Budget cuts in equipment and training had exacerbated inequality between regions and jeopardised access to abortion in safe and high-quality conditions. With a lack of access to contraception, syphilis had increased by 71 per cent. The abortion law was at risk due to official discourse which stigmatised abortion. The budget for adolescent pregnancy was only three per cent of what it was two years ago. Maternal mortality had increased by 37 per cent and infant mortality by 8.5 per cent.
Online gender-based violence was silencing people. There were coordinated campaigns of harassment, threats and sexualised acts, compounded by violence being promoted by the State itself. One 15-year-old girl had committed suicide after intimate images of her were published online; this was not followed up on by the State. In 2025, budget lines for holistic sexual education were removed, leaving children without tools to take care of themselves. The hotline for reporting gender-based violence had been shut down and there was no sign language service available. Further, there was no forum that enabled non-governmental organizations to coordinate public policies to reduce gender-based violence.
Argentinian law did not include support for women with disabilities to have children and care for them. Women with disabilities did not have enough income to be able to live independently, and the State did not guarantee enough resources to ensure accessibility of quality disability health services. Women with disabilities who had been institutionalised were subjected to non-consensual hospitalisation and forced medical practices.
Last year, the executive proposed two male candidates for vacant positions on the all-male Supreme Court. Only 31 per cent of ministries were led by women, and women did not make up 50 per cent of members of Parliament, despite the parity act. In 2024, only 23 per cent of Argentine diplomats and only 16 per cent of ambassadors were women.
Argentina had been denying the serious impacts of climate change and legal reform had undermined the environmental protection system. Deforestation was being allowed in protected areas, and there were plans to weaken the glacier law by allowing mining in areas close to glaciers. The fire service had also been weakened and the hydrocarbons law no longer referenced environmental protection. Indigenous peoples had been exposed to eviction, and their lands were being occupied.
Czech Republic
Speakers said the anti-discrimination act failed to recognise intersectional discrimination. There was no mechanism for collective complaints, which prevented civil society from challenging structural discrimination. There was ongoing divestment in civil society organizations in the field of gender equality. Abortion procedures cost nearly one quarter of the minimum monthly wage, and in 2024, one third of abortion applications were rejected. Czech women faced one of the highest gender pay gaps in Europe. There were barriers for low-income women to access education, and recent legal amendments ended free housing for vulnerable women.
Over 60 per cent of the State’s violence prevention and victim protection measures were unfulfilled. There was only one gender-based violence centre nationwide. Only 10 per cent of rape cases were reported, and about half ended in suspended sentences. Violence against women in politics was widespread.
The State party needed to recognise intersectional discrimination, ensure full implementation of the gender-based violence action plan, provide full public health insurance coverage for contraception and guarantee legal access to abortion services, increase public funding for childcare, and introduce non-transferable parental leave for fathers.
Reforms to enable autonomous midwifery practice had been repeatedly blocked, as had a national strategy for the development of respectful maternity care. The Committee needed to scrutinise the reasons for this. Public health insurance companies systematically refused to enter contracts with midwives, and as a result, women remained unable to access continuous midwifery care.
A legislative amendment to amend Czech legislation on marketing of breast milk substitutes had not been adopted, with direct influence from the baby food industry derailing the adoption process. Organizations with serious conflicts of interest had been admitted to the Czech Breastfeeding Committee. The Committee needed to appeal to the Government to strengthen the legal framework to protect families from commercial pressure and manipulation.
El Salvador
Those speaking on El Salvador said there had been serious problems of insecurity, inequality and violence in the State, and women were the most affected. There were gaps in the implementation of protective laws, and in the last few years, several policies had reinforced stereotypical gender roles. A memorandum of understanding issued in 2024 called for “gender ideology” to be excluded from teacher training and teaching materials.
There was ongoing discrimination against women in the labour sector, with a persistent wage gap, sexual harassment and gendered division of labour. There had been increased evictions of women street vendors in the State capital. The national policy on joint responsibility for care for 2022 to 2030 sought to involve more actors in care tasks, but women still carried the largest burden in terms of care work. The Committee needed to ask about these issues.
In 2024, the Ministry of Health ordered the withdrawal of forms that made it possible to specify the gender identity of patients. The Committee needed to ask the State party about the repercussions of measures taken by the Ministry related to sexual education, pregnancy protections, sexually transmitted diseases and HIV. It also needed to ask the Government to collect data on the number of pregnant women, live births, miscarriages, stillbirths and maternal and child deaths in prison, along with the number of children living in prison with their parents. The Committee needed to urge the Government to utilise community-based alternatives to incarceration for pregnant women and mothers living with their children in prison.
Questions by Committee Experts
A Committee Expert said Argentina had decided to leave the World Health Organization. What was the impact of this decision on the right to health for women?
Another Expert asked about the impact of Argentina’s decree 70 of 2023 on “urgent necessity” regarding sexual and reproductive rights. What difficulties were faced by women human rights defenders in accessing justice?
A Committee Expert asked about the status of Argentina’s modernisation of labour bill and its expected impact.
Another Committee Expert asked whether Argentina would soon withdraw from the Paris Agreement.
One Committee Expert said El Salvador’s minimum wage had increased to 482 United States dollars this year. Was this applicable in the informal sector? Was legislation effectively preventing the use of discriminatory recruitment practices, such as HIV testing?
A Committee Expert asked about the effectiveness of El Salvador’s response to digital violence. What had been the impact of recent changes to the Institute for the Development of Women? Had the teenage pregnancy rate in the State increased due to a lack of sexual and reproductive health education in schools?
One Committee Expert said there had been limited advances in promoting women’s political participation in the Czech Republic. Was the new Government committed to this? Was cyber violence, cyber bullying and hate speech prohibited by criminal law? In El Salvador, public officials had engaged in online hate speech. Had these officials faced consequences?
Another Committee Expert asked about challenges in tackling trafficking in persons in the Czech Republic and the effectiveness of prevention policies. What was the situation of trafficking and labour exploitation cases in Lesotho? How were shelters for victims being operated in the country?
One Committee Expert asked whether there was a chance that Lesotho’s reservation to article two of the Convention could be lifted.
Responses by Non-Governmental Organizations
Argentina
Responding to questions on Argentina, speakers said Argentina would exit from the World Health Organization in March. This would jeopardise vaccination. The national public health budget had been reduced recently, and medicine prices had been deregulated, creating serious restrictions in access to medicines.
Some 60 per cent of female journalists had suffered online gender-based violence in Argentina in recent years because they had covered stories on access to abortion, femicide or gender-based violence. Many advisory councils had stopped working, and there was no dialogue between civil society and the Government on this issue. Further, there were no reporting channels, reparation measures or means of limiting strategic litigation against women journalists.
There were also no mechanisms for women with disabilities to report discrimination. Around 130 persons with disabilities had lost their jobs in the National Disability Agency and the Argentine Government stigmatised persons with disabilities.
The Government had tabled a bill on labour reform that changed severance pay, undermined the right to strike, and extended working hours. Other legal reforms had reduced protection for renters and the coverage of basic services for women.
Decree 70 had affected environmental issues, but Argentina had not yet withdrawn from the Paris Agreement. However, the State had yet to update its Nationally Determined Contributions, and new legislation was allowing for the extractive and hydrocarbon industry to proceed without restrictions, affecting the rights of indigenous women.
Czech Republic
Responding to questions on the Czech Republic, a speaker said there had been changes to the Criminal Code related to the implementation of the European Union directive on gender-based violence, which resulted in the implementation of the “deep fake” crime and crimes related to sharing of non-consensual intimate images. However, other forms of cyber violence remained unaddressed. Publicly active women who had experienced cyber violence needed to travel to the region where the perpetrator lived to file a complaint, which was an additional barrier to reporting.
Two political parties that sought to roll back women’s rights had recently gained popularity, and some members of parliament were very violent to female journalists and women’s rights representatives. However, one positive recent development was that the Government had announced a programme to fight gender-based violence and address insufficient sentencing of perpetrators.
El Salvador
Responding to questions on El Salvador, speakers said a new law on online crimes equated such crimes to harassment and subjected perpetrators to four to six years’ imprisonment. It addressed online sexual harassment and violence against women.
The 2024 pregnancy map showed that there were 7,900 pregnancies of girls between 10 and 19 years of age; this was a large decrease from the level of 15,000 seen some years ago. However, this figure was still alarming. Adolescents who fell pregnant were forced to drop out of school and did not have sufficient access to sexual and reproductive health services.
The Institute for the Development of Women had lost its independence and was little more than a government programme currently; it no longer welcomed the participation of civil society organizations. There was no national women’s policy.
Statement by a National Human Rights Institution Representative
VÍT ALEXANDER SCHORM, Deputy Public Defender of Rights and Defender of Children's Rights of the Czech Republic, said the Czech Republic was a developed country with effective democratic mechanisms, and its Constitution guaranteed equality and fundamental rights for all. However, systemic issues continued to place women in unequal and vulnerable positions. Civil society organizations had raised concerns about gender-based violence, compensation for illegal sterilisations of Roma women, women’s autonomy in obstetrics, identification of child victims of human trafficking, and challenges faced by migrant women.
A key issue was the lack of analysis of the impact of proposed legislation on gender equality. Even during major societal crises, new laws often overlooked women’s specific needs. The State needed to consistently conduct gender impact assessments for all legislative drafts to truly inform political decisions and help prevent the perpetuation or worsening of existing inequalities.
This lack of attention was evident in informal care. Most caregivers were women, and they often compensated for gaps in State social services at significant personal cost, including social isolation, exhaustion, exclusion from the labour market, and increased risk of poverty, especially in retirement. Legislation and public policies needed to address the gender dimension of informal care, introduce a dedicated financial benefit for caregivers, and automatically update care allowances. It was also essential to expand and ensure the availability of social services, including in less developed regions, so that care did not fall solely on women without external support.
The unequal distribution of childcare responsibilities, with women carrying the main burden, limited their access to employment. Employment discrimination, especially during recruitment or related to pregnancy and motherhood, was a frequent concern. The Public Defender had found that 88 per cent of women believed that parenthood negatively affected their careers, and 61 per cent reported being asked inappropriate questions about family plans when seeking work. Women also faced barriers when returning to work before their child turned three, mainly due to insufficient childcare options. The State needed to expand preschool care for children from the age of two and introduce a non-transferable parental leave option for the second parent, with appropriate compensation for lost earnings.
Although data showed that gender discrimination was relatively common, few anti-discrimination lawsuits were filed by women. Victims were discouraged by the complexity of disputes, the uncertainty of outcomes, and disproportionate financial risks. The Public Defender called for reduced court fees in appeal proceedings. It also noted the critical lack of funding for organizations supporting victims of crime, including victims of domestic violence. These services were at risk of closure or significant reduction unless the planned subsidies for 2026 were at least doubled to ensure their stability.
The Public Defender was also concerned about the severe shortage of child psychiatric care, which could disproportionately affect girls. Girls were twice as likely as boys to experience depression and anxiety, and 10 times more likely to suffer from eating disorders. The State needed to improve access to primary care and strengthen the capacity of child mental healthcare services across all regions, as the current network was unable to meet demand.
“Chronic fatigue syndrome”, which predominantly affected women, was often downplayed or misdiagnosed, limiting patients’ access to necessary care. The disease severely restricted the ability to work and maintain a stable income, while also preventing access to adequate social support. The Ministry of Health needed to ensure that all health professionals were informed about this syndrome and that clear diagnostic and treatment guidelines were established. Building a network of specialised multidisciplinary centres was essential for coordinated, continuous care.
Finally, while the Public Defender’s mandate expanded in July 2025 to cover both the full functions of a national human rights institution and the role of Children’s Defender, the promised personnel and financial support had only been partially fulfilled. Its effective functioning now depended on whether the yet-to-be-adopted 2026 State budget provided stable, adequate resources necessary for the meaningful exercise of these new duties. It was crucial that the Public Defender’s independence was supported by sustainable funding to ensure that the protection of human rights remained a reality.
Questions by Committee Experts
Committee Experts asked whether the gender impact assessment was used for acts of parliament in the Czech Republic. Were preschool services available for children under the age of three? Were there further public policy measures planned to prevent discrimination?
Written answers for the above questions were requested as the statement from the Czech national human rights institution was delivered via video.
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CEDAW26.007E