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CEDAW discusses situation of

women in the Philippines,
Myanmar and France with civil
society representatives
04 July 2016

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Committee on the Elimination
of Discrimination against Women

4 July 2016

The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women this

afternoon met separately with representatives of non-governmental
organizations, with national human rights institutions and then with other
organizations to hear information on the situation of women in the
Philippines, Myanmar and France, whose reports will be considered during
the first week of the session.

Representatives of non-governmental organizations in the Philippines

delivered oral reports in which they noted that the Magna Carta for
Women had been enacted in 2009 and said that the authorities still
needed to show strong political will to be fully compliant
complian with the
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against
Women. The State was unable to address discrimination against women
and gender-based violence, particularly for women with disabilities who
continued to be the poorest and most discriminated against. Speakers
also raised concern about the situation of rural women who had been
failed by the agrarian reform, and the increasing violence and poverty
among indigenous women.

Discrimination against women in Myanmar was deeply rooted and the

result of entrenched patriarchy, decades of oppressive military
dictatorship and the continued power and influence of the military
throughout society. Women had limited means to pursue accountability
and obtain redress and reparations for violations, the rule of law was
weak and justice institutions lacked independence and resources.
Speakers were also concerned about the situation of Rohingya women
and girls who continued to experience discrimination on multiple fronts,
including ethnicity, gender, and religion.

Despite remarkable legislative advances over the past four years, the real
equality between women and men was yet to be achieved in France.
Speakers raised concern about violence against women, including
intimate partner violence, which was the number one killer of women
aged 19 to 24, and also killed one woman every three days. Violence did
not only take place in domestic settings, but in the workplace as well,
where five per cent of rapes and 25 per cent of sexual harassment
occurred. Other issues of concern were gender pay gap and gender
inequality in public and political life, the situation of indigenous people in
French Guyana, and the continued practicing of involuntary gender
modification on intersex children, with impunity.

Speaking during the discussion were representatives from the following

civil society organizations from the Philippines: National Rural Women’s
Congress, CEDAW Working Group in the Philippines, Women’s Legal and
Human Rights Bureau, Inc (joint statement), Indigenous Women’s Network
in the Philippines, TEBTEBBA Inc. (joint statement), EnGenderRights, Inc,
(joint statement), Defend Job Philippines, and Centre for Migrant
Advocacy, as well as a representative from the Commission on Human
Rights of the Philippines.

Speakers from Myanmar included CEDAW Action Myanmar (joint

statement) and Amnesty International (joint statement).

The following French organizations took the floor: Coordination Francaise

pour le Lobby Européen des Femmes, Regards de femmes, Stop IGM.org,
Organization des Nations Autochtones de Guyane, Women’s International
League for Peace and Freedom, La grande lodge feminine du France, and
Association de Defense des droits de l’homme, as well as the National
Consultative Commission for Human Rights, France, High Council on
Equality and Défenseur des Droits.

The country reviews can be watched via live webcast at

http://www.treatybodywebcast.org.

When the Committee reconvenes in public on Tuesday, 5 July at 10 a.m., it

will begin its consideration of the combined seventh and eighth periodic
reports of the Philippines (CEDAW/C/PHL/7-8).

Statements by Non-Governmental Organizations

Philippines

National Rural Women’s Congress said that, among other reasons, the
failed agrarian reform and armed conflict threatened the survival of rural
women, while the liberalization of trade and cheap imported agricultural
produce had a significant negative impact on local production.

CEDAW Working Group in the Philippines said that the State was unable to
address gender equality more so with intersectional discrimination.
Women faced violence to the point of death, women victims were arrested
and treated as criminals, and the reproductive health needs of lesbian,
bisexual and transgender women were neglected. Women with disability
continued to be among the most discriminated against because they were
poor and lived mainly in rural areas. No public data existed about the
violence against women and girls with disability, and the public education
system reached only two per cent of girls with disability, and in mainly
segregated environments.

Women’s Legal and Human Rights Bureau, Inc, speaking in a joint

statement, said that the Magna Carta for Women had been enacted in
2009 and yet the authorities needed to show strong political will to be
fully complian
compliant with the Convention. There was still a need to ensure the
critical participation of marginalized women in order to achieve
transformative equality. The non-governmental organization called
attention to the lack of consideration of rights of women in disaster
preparedness and management plans, as disaster response and
rehabilitation was dominantly male oriented and resulted in subordination
and invisibility of women. The situation was even worse for women with
disabilities, and other marginalized groups.

Indigenous Women’s Network in the Philippines, TEBTEBBA Inc., speaking

in a joint statement, called the attention of the Committee to the
increasing number of deaths, escalating human rights violations, poverty
and growing vulnerability of indigenous women, despite the adoption of
the Magna Carta for Women and the Indigenous Peoples Rights Act.
Most of those who had been killed were defenders of their rights to land
and life, and natural resources from the corporate and state projects.
Another problem was the violence, including intimate partner violence,
against indigenous women.

EnGenderRights, Inc, speaking in a joint statement, spoke about

inadequacies in the reproductive health in the Philippines, where three
women per day were dying from unsafe abortions because of the abortion
ban, limited access to contraceptives, and denial of post-abortion care.
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex persons suffered
discrimination in many walks of life, including denial of right to security of
person, the right to health, the right to education, etc.

Defend Job Philippines said that under the Aquino administration, many
jobs and livelihoods had had to make way for mega-development
projects. Forced evictions had a disproportionate impact on women, said
the speaker.

Centre for Migrant Advocacy said that Filipina women migrant workers
continued to experience violence and abuse at all stages of the migratory
cycle. Most were engaged in domestic work and many held on to their
jobs for as long as they could, regardless of hardship. The Government
had inadequate mechanisms to track whether employers met their legal
requirements.

Myanmar

CEDAW Action Myanmar, speaking in a joint statement on behalf of 170

women’s groups throughout the country, said that discrimination against
women was deeply rooted, the result of entrenched patriarchy, decades of
oppressive military dictatorship and the continued power and influence of
the military throughout the society. Women had limited means to pursue
accountability and obtain redress and reparations for violations, the rule
of law was weak and justice institutions lacked independence and
resources. Women had been excluded from participation in political life,
including from the current peace process and any policy and decision-
making.

Amnesty International, speaking in a joint statement, expressed concern

about the situation of Rohingya women and girls who continued to
experience discrimination on multiple fronts, including ethnicity, gender,
and religion. Since violence had swept Rakhine state in 2012, as an
estimated 120,000 individuals, mostly Rohingya, remained in squalid
conditions in internally displaced persons’ camps, and because of
restriction of movement they were confined to the camps and effectively
segregated from other communities.

France

Coordination Francaise pour le Lobby Eurpéen des Femmes said that

despite remarkable legislative advances over the past four years, the real
equality between women and men had yet to be achieved. Because of
violence, including sexual violence and intimate partner violence, one
woman continued to die every three days and only 14 per cent of
incidents of violence were reported. Women’s’ rights could not progress
without the separation of religion from public life.

Regards de femmes said that because of Constitutional provisions of

gender equality in France, all women should be able to achieve
emancipation, but this was not the case for women who were subjected
to unequal religious considerations, sexual apartheid, and patriarchal
attitudes.

Stop IGM.org said that involuntary gender modification was still practiced
in France, on intersex children, with impunity, and there were no
mechanisms to protect intersex children from this human rights violation.
France still refused to consider this issue as a human rights issue and
preferred to leave it in the hands of the medical profession. France had
an obligation to explicitly prohibit the harmful practice of involuntary
gender modification.
Organization des Nations Autochtones de Guyane stressed the need to
modify the school curriculum to the needs of indigenous people in
Guyana. The lack of identity documents limited access to health care and
also limited freedom of movement. The main health problem arose from
mercury pollution from mining activities. Protected areas must be
established where the traditional game could be hunted, and indigenous
people must be allowed to practice their customary law.

Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom spoke about the
negative impact that arms exports and trade had on human rights and
urged France to cancel all arms trade deals where there was a risk that
they would be used to impinge on the human rights of women and girls.
France should present its excuses to French Polynesians for the negative
impact of decades of nuclear testing on the health of the population, in
particular women.

La grande lodge feminine du France remarked that there were very few
women in the French Parliament, the world of work was very unequal and
there was concern about several laws that had been passed recently.

Association de Defense des droits de l’homme was concerned about

racist declarations made by politicians against Muslim women wearing
veils, and those women also suffered discrimination in education, work,
and political life. Seventy-four per cent of victims of Islamophobia were
women, and because France failed to present a way of life, veiled Muslim
women were excluded from French public life.

Questions by Committee Members

An Expert took up the issue of shelters and support services available to

victims of domestic violence in Myanmar, and asked whether the recently
passed Legal Aid Law included provisions for legal aid to women victims
of human rights violations. Another Expert remarked that human
trafficking was a priority issue. Experts also asked about complaint
mechanisms that women victims of violence by the military could use,
and also asked for further information about the situation of
statelessness in the country, particularly by Rohingya. Civil society
organizations were asked to comment on the recent law on race and
religion and on the potential it had to limit access to reproductive health
care for women.

Experts asked the civil society organizations about the laws on

Islamophobia in France and the situation of Muslim veiled women, about
what could be done to remove obstacles to freedom of movement for
indigenous women in French Guyana, and to ensure that indigenous
communities could practice customary law.

In the Philippines, Experts said that indigenous people and Muslims

resorted to customary law and customary justice mechanism, but with the
recent signing of the peace agreement in the Mindanao, the Muslims were
governed by the Muslim Personal Law which was very discriminatory
against women in many areas, and which Muslim indigenous women
strongly opposed. How was civil society supporting indigenous women in
this regard?

Response by Non-governmental Organizations

Representatives of organizations from the Philippines said non-Muslim

and non-Moro indigenous people were currently not recognized as people,
and that advocacy efforts were focused on expanding the access to
justice by allowing the use of customary justice mechanisms. Indigenous
women had very weak access to justice, partly because they still lacked
information on the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of
Discrimination against Women and how it was operationalized in the
country, and because official implementation mechanisms still did not
reach the remote areas. That was why civil society advocated that their
access to justice should be strengthened by allowing access to traditional
justice mechanisms.

In Myanmar, there were currently no shelters for women victims of rape

and domestic violence. Although the Legal Aid Law had passed in
January 2016, the bylaws had not yet been adopted; there were no
specific provisions on how the law would address the issue of domestic
violence, and there were no specific provisions on how to implement the
law. Women victims of violence had very few options to file complaints
and access justice through the court, while investigations lacked
transparency and accountability. The Race and Religion Law had been
adopted last year with a lot controversy, there was a fear that it would
introduce population control and would establish zones where restrictions
on birth and birth spacing would be established, but it was not clear how
those zones would be selected. The fear was that the law would be used
to impose such zones on certain ethnicities and certain religious.

Representatives from non-governmental organizations from France were

concerned about the limitations of religion on the exercise of freedom
and rights of women, and strongly supported secularism. Concerning the
due diligence law, representatives of civil society organizations explained
that the law, accepted by the Parliament in March 2016, would establish
legal responsibility for transnational corporations operating abroad. The
law could be stronger, and there were some crucial elements missing
from it. A representative explained that the situation of Muslim women as
described did not concern only veiled women, but all Muslim women who
had to suffer the limitations imposed by religion, had to suffer gender
apartheid, although they wanted to live fully in the society, and have
access to universal laws and the laws of the Republic. Another civil
society representative stressed discrimination and exclusion that veiled
Muslim women faced in many areas of life, particularly in education and
employment.

Responding to a question on identity cards for indigenous people in

French Guyana, a civil society representative explained that identity cards
were necessary to ensure freedom of movement, and to ensure access to
health structures. Many indigenous people, especially women, did not
have them. France did not collect ethnic data, so the situation of suicide
of indigenous people was not well known. There were data which
indicated that up to three persons committed suicide every month, and
those seemed to be indigenous children who were boarding far away from
their families, in hardship conditions. Some also abused drugs and
alcohol.

Dialogue with National Human Rights Institutions

Commission on Human Rights of the Philippines, said that the Magna

Carta of Women had designated it as the Gender Ombudsman, sharing
the monitoring function with the Philippine Commission on Women. The
Commission’s findings on the violations of the Magna Carta of Women
were merely recommendatory, they said and asked the Committee on the
Elimination of Discrimination against Women to urge the Philippines to
protect and strengthen the Commission’s independence amidst attacks
on its mandate and mandate holders, and to act on the Commission’s
findings and recommendations. The Commission was concerned about
the continued weak access of women to justice and barriers to remedies,
which were compounded by multiple and intersecting forms of
discrimination, especially for marginalized and vulnerable women, in
particular women of diverse sexual orientation and gender identity and
expression. The Committee should urge the Philippines to increase
efforts to ensure access to justice, and to address stigma and
discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity and
expression. The Commission was very concerned about the
implementation and application of the Responsible Parenthood and
Reproductive Health Act of 2012, particularly in the city of Sorsogon
which had declared itself a “pro-life city”. Criminalization of abortion
remained in place and despite of the provisions of the law on post-
abortion care, the stigma of abortion affected the availability and
adequacy of health care in health facilities. The Commission urged the
Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women to ask the
Philippines to report on its strategies in implementing the Responsible
Parenthood and Reproductive Health Act of 2012 and the realization of
women’s right to reproductive health.

National Consultative Commission for Human Rights, France, raised the

issue of gender pay gap that still existed in France, particularly in high-
skilled jobs. The situation persisted in both private and public sectors.
There were areas where the gaps could not be explained by for example
the prevalence of part-time work, indicated gender-based discrimination
and exclusion, such as “glass ceiling” or “sticky floor” jobs. Little account
was being taken of intersectionality and multiple forms of discrimination,
and very few solutions were being advanced to address such
discrimination. There was a need to adopt policies to address female
genital mutilation which would take into account the culture and place of
origin on migrant communities which still practiced it. The Commission
was concerned about discrimination against Roma women, about women
with disabilities who were four times more likely to suffer sexual violence,
and about girls subjected to early and forced marriages. The main cause
of death of women aged 19 to 24 was domestic violence, while five per
cent of rapes and one quarter of sexual harassment took place at work.
The authorities were very reluctant to take action to address those issues,
citing also lack of resources. Women were prime victims of trafficking in
persons and France had in place an independent national rapporteur for
trafficking in persons, but the plan to address trafficking in persons was
not yet operational due to failure to allocate it any resources.

Committee Experts asked the national human rights institution from the
Philippines about its structure and human and financial resources, and
about the updates on its resolutions concerning violations of the Magna
Carta of Women.

Committee Experts asked the national human rights institution from

France, about the additional resources which would be required to ensure
that the National Advisory Commission for Human Rights in France
operated as an independent monitoring body for trafficking in persons.
They asked about measures that should be undertaken to increase the
participation of women in work and in public and political life, and the
impact of Islamophobia on discrimination against women.

Responding to the questions, the Commission on Human Rights of the

Philippines, said that it had received funding for 200 new positions –
mainly technical - which would enable the Commission to respond better
to complaints and respond better to human rights issues across the
country. These resources would enable the Commission to grow by about
30 per cent.

National Consultative Commission for Human Rights, France, said that

the authorities were not very sensitive to the issue of women’s
presentation in work and public life. It was men who held the positions
which needed to implement the 30 per cent quotas on representation of
women, and many claimed that women were not interested in such
positions because they had young children. Women were always on the
frontline of race or religion-motivated offences, and yet, those were not
taken into account by public prosecutors. The Convention on the
Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women was not that
well known in the country, and there seemed to be lack of interest in the
international law, with French experts thinking that the French system was
closed and not that open to international law. There must be specific
training not only for judges and magistrates, but also for other legal
professions.

Other Organizations

High Council on Equality, France expressed satisfaction for the

coordination with the National Consultative Committee on Human Rights
that monitored human rights conventions and with the Office of the
Ombudsman. In 2012, there had been a real will to have a cross-cutting
equality policy, but things had slowed down since 2014, with the Ministry
downgraded to a Secretariat, and a reduced number of meetings, which all
indicated a loss of political will. The Commission’s budget had been
significantly reduced, and was only seven million Euro this year. There
was a need to work harder to promote gender equality.

Defenseur des Droits, France said that gender was at the heart of all
discrimination in France. The problem in France was not the lack of
instruments to combat discrimination, but it was a problem of
effectiveness. Research showed that few women were aware of the
options and information, and did not come forward because of fear of the
impact of complaints on their private or professional life. There was a
need to establish a model of class action, on the model currently used in
Quebec. Sexual harassment was the essential cause of gender inequality
– many women did not complain because of what was at stake and
because they did not feel protected. The Government must urgently
address the effectiveness of the protection extended to victims of sexual
harassment. Another issue was the non-respect of the basic rights of
foreigners in France, and there was a huge difference between rights that
existed and their enjoyment, particularly for women.

In their questions, Committee Experts asked how the class action model
could work in practice, the possibility to file a civil suit against an
employer who had not done anything to prevent sexual harassment or had
failed to sanction perpetrators, and the ideal budget needed for the full
realization of the mandate of the High Council on Equality, including the
preparation of the report on sexism.

Responding, Defenseur des Droits recognized that many women victims

of violence and discrimination did not file complaints because of the
costs involved. There were ongoing discussions on the establishment of
the possibility of a group action by trade unions, while human rights
defenders had asked that ad hoc groups be established to deal with
complaints.

High Council on Equality said that legal protection that was available for
charges of sexism was very weak, and courts did not have much history in
dealing with such cases. The High Council had three permanent positions
and needed another two permanent positions, as well as an additional
budget of 125,000 Euro, in particular for drafting the regular biannual
report on sexism in France.

__________

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