WUNRN
WORKING GROUP ON DISCRIMINATION
AGAINST WOMEN IN LAW & IN PRACTICE, REPORT TO THE UN 2014
Website of UN Working Group on
Discrimination of Women in Law & in Practice
Direct Link to Full 23-Page 2014
Report:
|
|
United Nations |
A/HRC/26/39 |
|
|
General Assembly |
Distr.: General 1 April 2014 Original: English |
||
Human Rights Council - Twenty-sixth session
Promotion and protection of all human rights, civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights, including the right to development
Report of the Working Group on discrimination against women in law and in practice
Thematic report
|
Summary |
|
This report addresses discrimination against women in economic and
social life, with a focus on economic crisis. |
|
Discriminatory legislation in a number of States continues to obstruct women’s enjoyment of equal rights and access to economic opportunity and resources. The roles and responsibilities assigned to women and men on the basis of stereotypes relegate women to a subordinate status and limit their economic opportunities. A significant number of countries have adopted anti-discrimination measures, but these have not resulted in equality of opportunity in women’s economic and social lives. Women are disproportionately concentrated in informal and precarious employment; they are exposed to multiple forms of discrimination; the wage gap persists; maternity protections have not been fully and effectively implemented; and in many countries women do not have equal rights and access to resources. There has been little attention the negative impacts of the business sector on women’s enjoyment of human rights. Care functions are disproportionately allocated to women and create a major barrier to women’s full participation in economic market activity. Violence against women is another obstacle to women’s equal opportunity. Austerity measures taken by some States in response to economic crisis have had a disparate impact on women, increasing the precarity of their employment and their burden of unpaid care work. The Working Group calls for the establishment of gender-responsive and effective accountability systems at the international, regional and national levels to eliminate all forms of de facto discrimination against women. |
Contents
Paragraphs Page
I. Introduction....................................................................................................... 1–2 3
II. Activities........................................................................................................... 3–7 3
A. Sessions.......................................................................................................... 3 3
B. Country visits................................................................................................. 4 3
C. Communications and press releases................................................................ 5 3
D. Commission on the Status of Women............................................................ 6 4
E. Other activities............................................................................................... 7 4
III. Thematic analysis: eliminating
discrimination against women
in economic and social
life with a focus on economic crisis........................... 8–31 4
A. The international legal framework............................................................ 9–12 5
B. Current state of legislation, structural and cultural barriers and accountability 13–25 5
C. Macroeconomic policy, economic crisis, austerity measures and
the post-2015 agenda............................................................................. 26–31 8
IV. Structural disadvantage and discrimination throughout women’s life cycle 32–101 9
A. The girl child........................................................................................... 33–39 9
B. Adulthood.............................................................................................. 40–97 10
C. Older women........................................................................................ 98–101 19
V. Violence against women............................................................................ 102–106 20
VI. Recommendations..................................................................................... 107–138 21