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| Department of Public Information • News and Media Division • New York |
Committee on Elimination of
Discrimination against Women
Chamber A, 767th & 768th Meetings (AM & PM)
Gender Equality Legislation, Anti-Trafficking Efforts Among Issues Raised As Women’s Anti-Discrimination Committee Takes Up Report of Greece
Secretary-General for Gender Equality Presents,
Says Gender Equality Issues Now Part of National Strategic Planning
The Committee charged with monitoring the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women took up the report of Greece today, with expert members highlighting the country’s legislation to promote gender equality, trafficking in women, gender violence, equality in the workplace and the situation of minority and vulnerable women.
The Committee was considering Greece’s sixth periodic report in Chamber A. Greece ratified the Convention in 1983 and was one of the first 22 countries to ratify the Optional Protocol in 2001.
Presenting the country’s report, Eugenia Tsoumani, Greece’s Secretary-General for Gender Equality, in the Ministry of Interior, Public Administration and Decentralization, outlined important institutional, legislative, administrative and social developments during the period under review. In particular, as a result of a 2001 revision of the Greek Constitution, the Government had an enshrined obligation to take positive measures as a means for the achievement of real equality and the elimination of discrimination against women. The country had also established a compulsory one-third minimum quota for either sex in electoral lists for local elections and for collective bodies of all governmental agencies.
She said gender equality issues had been a matter of national strategic planning, linked to priorities of development, employment, education and social cohesion. She also reported on the 2006 law on violence against women and measures to deal with trafficking in human beings. An integrated national plan for action and a new legal framework against trafficking included cooperation among law enforcement officials, protection for victims and strengthened interaction with countries of origin, destination and transit. Together with civil society, the Government was making tremendous efforts to comply with the best practices of international organizations and other Governments, seeking to bring together the “three Ps” -- prevention, prosecution and protection. The results had been encouraging, but organized crime managed to stay a step ahead, providing incentives to victims and discouraging them from coming forward.
While complimenting the Government for its anti-trafficking efforts, an expert said that the system was not working for victims, many of whom were repatriated before the trial. Thus, the drivers of trafficking were not experiencing the full force of the Greek laws. Several experts also asked for an assessment of the situation with prostitution, which was not prohibited, but regulated in Greece -- a popular tourist destination.
Another expert noted that, according to a report by Amnesty International, the rights of victims were being compromised both in law and in practice, as far as violence against women was concerned. The law was based on a philosophy that placed the preservation of the family over the rights of the victim.
In that connection, several experts expressed serious concern about the new procedure of mediation in domestic violence cases, cautioning that it might allow perpetrators to escape justice. One expert pointed out that, while the intentions for that initiative were good, the Government should monitor the implementation of mediation very carefully. Her concern was that the process of mediation was not initiated by the victim, but by the prosecutor. It was only after the perpetrator had agreed to accept mediation that the victim was asked to agree to the procedure. A victim in that situation might feel pressured to agree to the conditions imposed, especially if she was financially dependent on the perpetrator.
In response, a member of the delegation said that mediation had been introduced into law only for misdemeanours and not crimes. It was a new law and it was premature to anticipate its positive or negative implications. The Government’s task was to ensure its proper application and to do its utmost to note the weak points of the law. An evaluation that was due in three years would allow the Government to see what improvements were needed.
In connection with negative stereotypes that were still dominant in Greek society, an expert suggested that, in addition to media programmes, sensitization and training, the Government needed to address the causes of inequality. Towards that end, she proposed that the country’s research centre for gender equality carry out studies on specific manifestations of stereotypical ideology; the negative impact of differential roles and responsibilities on women and men; the costs of placing the burden of homemaking solely on women; the monetary value of women’s unpaid labour; and all institutional rules that gave privileges to men.
Several experts expressed serious concern about the family situation of the country’s Muslim minority women, who lived according to strict sharia, under which the right of divorce belonged only to the husband, and a woman must be listed as a certified virgin in marriage documents. They stressed, in that connection, that the Government had to safeguard the rights of those women, as it was obliged to do as a State party to the Convention.
A member of the delegation agreed that respect for tradition could not justify restrictions or lowering of standards in the human rights field. Members of the Muslim community were free to refer to either their local Muftis or the civil courts for their family matters. In case they chose the Mufti, sharia was implemented only to the extent that its rules were not in conflict with the Greek constitutional order. Polygamy, underage marriages and marriage by proxy were not permitted in Greece.
The Committee will take up Suriname’s reports in Chamber A at 10 a.m. tomorrow, 25 January.
Full Report at Website Link: