Civil Society Organizations Brief the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women on the Situation of Women in Kazakhstan, the Cook Islands, Kenya and the Republic of Moldova
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 Kazakhstan, the Cook Islands, Kenya and the Republic of Moldova, the reports of which the Committee will review this week.
In relation to Kazakhstan, speakers raised concerns regarding the prevalence of violence against women; the criminalisation of HIV transmission and exposure; and the law on lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex propaganda.
On the Cook Islands, speakers addressed the lack of data on gender; barriers restricting women’s participation in labour and public life; and the lack of free legal aid and a dedicated national mechanism for women.
Non-governmental organizations speaking on Kenya raised topics including women and girls’ sexual and reproductive health rights; the rights of women and girls with disabilities; barriers to accessing justice for women; and the detention of at-risk women and child migrants.
On the Republic of Moldova, speakers addressed issues related to the State’s gender equity mechanism; its response to gender-based violence and domestic violence; the criminalisation of consensual adult sex work and HIV transmission; and violence against minority women.
On Kazakhstan, the following non-governmental organizations spoke: International Human Rights Foundation NeMolchi; Protection of the Rights of Mental Health Service Users “Overcoming”; Equality Now Coalition; Dignity; and Kazakhstan Feminist Initiative, Feminita.
The following non-governmental organizations spoke on the Cook Islands: Cook Islands National Council of Women and Punanga Turuturu Itivaine – Cook Islands Women’s Support Centre.
Speaking on Kenya were Kisumu Medical and Education Trust and Equality Now; Kenya Sex Workers Alliance; Kenya Network of Women and Girls with Disabilities; Women Challenged to Challenge; United Disabled Persons of Kenya; Africa Muslim Women Action Network; Lutheran World Federation; Global Detention Project; and the Refugee Consortium of Kenya.
The following non-governmental organizations spoke on the Republic of Moldova: Platform for Gender Equality; Amnesty International Moldova; Eurasian Women’s Network on AIDS; and Equality Now.
The Committee’s ninety-third session is being held from 5 to 30October. 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, 6 October to consider the sixth periodic report of Kazakhstan (CEDAW/C/KAZ/6).
Opening Remarks by the Committee Chair
NAHLA HAIDAR, Committee Chairperson, welcomed that non-governmental organizations were taking advantage of the opportunity to provide information to the Committee, which assisted it in its consideration of reports by States parties. She particularly welcomed the participation of local non-governmental organizations, which had the right to unhindered access to communication with the Committee and its members.
Statements by Non-Governmental Organizations from Kazakhstan, the Cook Islands, Kenya and the Republic of Moldova
Kazakhstan
On Kazakhstan, speakers, among other things, raised the issue of high levels of violence against women and secondary victimisation. Every year, some 400 women died due to violence, aggressors were not isolated, restraining orders were not issued, and up to 20 per cent of violence cases were dismissed at the investigative stage. One speaker said Kazakhstan lacked a legal and institutional framework to address technology-assisted violence and called for such a framework to be implemented.
Another speaker called on the Committee to urge Kazakhstan to decriminalise HIV exposure and transmission as well as drug use and possession for personal use, eliminate discriminatory barriers to crisis and social services, and end police harassment and forced testing of sex workers. Speakers also called for a national law on the protection of women human rights defenders and journalists, who were often subjected to violence.
One speaker noted that the State party did not systematically collect data on women and girls with disabilities, who faced acute risks of sexual violence and serious barriers to justice due to a lack of accommodation and support. The speaker called on the Committee to recommend that Kazakhstan adopt a coordinated response to violence against women and girls, guarantee procedural accommodations, establish gender- and disability-sensitive systems for responding to violence, and increase access to mental health support.
A speaker said lesbian, bisexual and transgender women could not freely express their views or seek help due to the law on lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender propaganda. The speaker asked the Committee to urge Kazakhstan to repeal this law and protect these women from discrimination. Speakers also noted that these women faced informal conversion therapy in mental health settings, calling for an end to the practice.
Speakers also raised issues including the gender pay gap, women’s unpaid care burden, discrimination against women released from places of detention, and weak mechanisms for identifying victims of trafficking. The number of centres for victims of trafficking had recently been reduced from 28 to three. The speakers called for the implementation of measures for monitoring gender pay gaps, strengthening protections against workplace harassment, the establishment of an ombudsperson for monitoring trafficking issues and other measures for promoting trafficking victims’ access to justice, and measures to support the reintegration of former women detainees into society.
Cook Islands
Speakers said, among other things, that gender data remained inadequate in the Cook Islands, including sexual health data and data on gender-based violence.
On measures to address violence against women, one speaker noted progress through new laws, a gender-based violence unit, and a national gender-based violence policy. Speakers also welcomed that the marriage act had been reviewed to raise the minimum age of marriage to 18 without exception. However, they called for a coordinated national response to gender-based violence, including secure short-term accommodation, which was currently not provided sustainably.
Speakers said entrenched gender norms and the unequal burden of unpaid care work restricted women’s participation in community life and economic opportunities. The State had not adequately addressed labour and wage inequality. Barriers within political structures continued to limit women’s participation. The State needed to implement measures to prevent workplace abuse and to hold perpetrators accountable.
The Cook Islands still lacked a dedicated national mechanism for women, one speaker said. With no serious institutional support, women's priorities struggled to gain sustained attention. The speaker called for the establishment of a stand-alone commission for women, which would strengthen Government coordination and help ensure that commitments to the Convention became action.
A speaker called for amendments to the legal aid act to cover protection orders and relevant civil proceedings. Implementation needed to include accessible advice and legal information and assistance in Cook Islands Māori and other languages appropriate to the woman concerned.
Kenya
Those speaking on Kenya, among other things, addressed the issue of women and girls’ sexual and reproductive health rights, calling on the Committee to urge the State party to decriminalise abortion and withdraw its reservation to the Maputo Protocol; provide comprehensive rights-based sexuality education for adolescents; and decriminalise consensual sexual activity between adolescents. One speaker called on the State to expedite decriminalisation of sex work; ensure accessible health and justice services for victims of gender-based violence; and guarantee genuine participation of sex workers and drug user-led organizations in gender, health, HIV and harm reduction policies.
One speaker said reproductive services remained inaccessible to women and girls with disabilities, who were subjected to forced sterilisation and other medical procedures. The Government needed to implement a disability mainstreaming policy in the field of health, and address barriers to education and representation in political life faced by women and girls with disabilities.
A speaker said that there were no women judges appointed to the Kadhi courts that had jurisdiction over Muslim family law matters. There was also no codified Muslim family law, and women faced several barriers under general family law regarding access to property, due to the lack of a mechanism to calculate their economic worth. The State needed to address these issues and implement the widowed persons protection bill.
Another speaker said that police stations were being used to detain migrants and Kenya’s laws exposed migrants and refugee and asylum-seeking women and children to punitive detention practices. There were delays in issuing identity documents for these persons, hindering their access to services. The Committee needed to call on the State party to enforce legal protections and encourage the socio-economic integration of migrants, and amend the citizenship and immigration act to explicitly prohibit the detention of migrant children and at-risk women.
Republic of Moldova
Those speaking on the Republic of Moldova said, among other things, that the State had failed to implement the Committee’s recommendations relating to strengthening the institutional gender equality mechanism, which needed to be given appropriate staff and budget. The State also needed to collect clear data on gender and ensure that every municipality had a gender equality unit that could conduct gender impact assessments. It needed to ensure the meaningful participation of non-governmental organizations representing women in all policies related to them.
One speaker said that issues faced by women in the Republic of Moldova included gaps in the State’s response to gender-based violence, restrictions on sexual and reproductive rights, criminalisation of sex workers, and barriers to effective protection from discrimination. The State needed to ensure that domestic violence cases were effectively investigated and prosecuted. Measures also needed to be implemented to address technology-facilitated violence against women.
A speaker said that recent restrictions in the provision of abortion medication through telemedicine created additional barriers to safe abortion services. The State needed to ensure that abortion remained accessible, including through telemedicine. It also needed to decriminalise consensual adult sex work and ensure that sex workers could report violence, decriminalise HIV transmission, and remove discriminatory barriers to crisis centres for HIV-positive women.
Speakers also presented issues related to high levels of violence against women with disabilities and Roma women, as well as high levels of sexist attacks against women in political and public life. They called for protective measures to be strengthened and for the implementation of education programmes related to gender-based violence.
Questions by Committee Experts
A Committee Expert called for clarifications on recommendations for Kenya related to addressing femicide.
Another Expert asked for more information on how the national employment policy in the Cook Islands promoted equal pay for equal work.
One Committee Expert asked whether there were cases of sex trafficking in the Cook Islands and whether the participants had recommendations related to addressing prostitution.
A Committee Expert asked which body provided legal aid in the Cook Islands. Could women access free legal aid? What legal rules were in place to encourage women’s land ownership? On Kenya, the Expert asked whether women could turn to civil courts rather than the Kadhi courts to assess cases related to property rights.
Another Committee Expert asked whether there were civil society organizations in the Republic of Moldova working on the rights of women and girls with disabilities and working to prevent domestic violence. What were the obstacles to adopting further measures to address gender-based violence?
One Committee Expert asked about the consequences of Kazakhstan’s failure to establish a standalone law on divorce. Were there proposed amendments to improve rape legislation? Did the Cook Islands permit abortion in the case of rape and incest? What measures did civil society recommend for improving sexual and reproductive health services in the Republic of Moldova?
A Committee Expert asked whether there were laws in place that promoted the rights of women and girls in the digital sphere in Kenya. Had Kenya ratified International Labour Organization Conventions 189 and 190?
Another Committee Expert asked about groups of women who were particularly exposed to hate speech and hate crimes online in the Republic of Moldova. What had the State’s response to hate crimes been? Could the adoption of a broad anti-discrimination act help to address intersecting discrimination that affected women in Kazakhstan?
One Committee Expert asked about the biggest problem faced by refugee women in the Republic of Moldova?
A Committee Expert asked for information on discriminatory legal frameworks in Kenya. What legal framework was in place regarding the gendered impacts of technology?
Another Committee Expert asked about how recent legal changes had affected women’s rights in Kazakhstan. What recommendations did civil society want the Committee to put forward related to citizenship and nationality?
Responses by Non-Governmental Organizations
Cook Islands
Responding to questions on the Cook Islands, a speaker said non-governmental organizations were aware of a case of alleged labour trafficking in the State, but not of cases of sex trafficking. The State needed to collect data on labour and sex trafficking.
There was no free legal aid for women in the Cook Islands, which left a significant gap regarding women’s access to justice. Civil society had limited funding to provide legal aid.
Kenya
A speaker, responding on Kenya, said that the State party needed to legally recognise femicide as a distinct offence, improve investigation of femicide cases and pursue accountability for failing to prevent gender-based violence cases. Kenya had not ratified International Labour Organization Convention 190. It needed to do so and strengthen measures to prevent and address sexual harassment and exploitation linked to employment and access to services.
Women had access to civil courts for family matters, but the Government did not properly train the community on how to access these courts.
Republic of Moldova
A speaker, responding to questions related to the Republic of Moldova, said the State had created a national coordinating council for gender-based violence and domestic violence, which communicated with civil society organizations, including organizations working on disability issues.
Providing and buying sex work was criminalised in the State. The State had not followed the Committee’s recommendation in this regard.
All groups of women were targeted by hate speech in the Republic of Moldova, particularly in the context of elections. Women members of minority groups, including Roma women, women with disabilities and lesbian, bisexual, transgender and intersex women, were disproportionately affected. The police did not have sufficient capacity to investigate cases of hate speech, which was why many women failed to report these incidents. The State needed to seek solutions to encourage women to report such cases.
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CEDAW.26.014E