WUNRN
Website to UN Working Group on Discrimination Against Women in Law & in Practice:
http://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Women/WGWomen/Pages/WGWomenIndex.aspx
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United Nations |
A/HRC/26/39 |
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General
Assembly |
Distr.: General 1 April 2014 Original: English |
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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 the issue of 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. |
I. Introduction
1.
The
present report is submitted pursuant to Human Rights Council resolutions 15/23
and 23/7. In section II, the Working Group summarizes its activities since its
last report to the Human Rights Council up until 18 March 2014. In section III,
it addresses the topic of eliminating discrimination against women in economic
and social life with a focus on economic crisis, the priority theme for
2013–2014.
2.
Frances
Raday took up her function as Chairperson-Rapporteur of the Working Group and
and Emna Aouij her function as Vice-Chairperson following the presentation, in
June 2013, at the twenty-third session of the Human Rights Council, of the
Working Group’s thematic report on eliminating discrimination against women in
political and public life with a focus on political transition (A/HRC/23/50).
II. Activities
A. Sessions
3.
The
Working Group held three sessions during the reporting period. At its seventh
session (1–5 July 2013), it engaged with a number of stakeholders, including
UN-Women, relevant parts of the United Nations Secretariat and other experts on
various issues related to women in economic and social life. At its eighth
session (30 September–4 October 2013), the Working Group continued to exchange
views with experts on its priority theme, and held a workshop on business and
gender.[1] It also convened for the first time a meeting
with representatives from regional human rights mechanism from the Americas,
Europe, Africa, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and the Association of
Southeast Asian Nations. At its ninth session (20–24 January 2014), the Working
Group consolidated the information it had gathered to inform the present report
and started consulting stakeholders on its next thematic priority for
2014–2015: discrimination against women in family and cultural life.
B. Country visits
4.
The
Working Group visited Iceland from 16 to 23 May 2013 (see A/HRC/26/39/Add.1)
and China from 12 to 19 December 2013 (see A/HRC/26/39/Add.2). It would like to
thank these States for their cooperation prior and during the visits. It would
also like to thank those States that extended invitations for country visits,
and urges other States to follow suit.
C. Communications and press releases
5.
The
Working Group continued sending communications to Governments during the reporting
period, either individually or jointly with other mandates, concerning a wide
array of issues falling within its mandate. It also issued a number of press
statements, either individually or jointly with other mandate holders, human
rights treaty bodies and regional mechanisms.
D. Commission on the Status of Women
6.
On
10 March 2014, Frances Raday, the Chairperson of the Working Group, took part
in a high-level round table on the priority theme of the fifty-eighth session
of the Commission on the Status of Women. She also met with a number of
stakeholders, including UN-Women and the Secretary-General’s Special Adviser on
Post-2015 Development Planning. She also participated in a side event on
“Beyond 2015: Due Diligence Framework to End Violence against Women”.
E. Other activities
7.
On
24–25 June, Frances Raday took part in the Annual Meeting of Special Procedures
and was elected to the Coordination Committee of Special Procedures. From 27 to
28 June 2013, she participated in an International Expert Conference entitled
“Vienna+20: Advancing the Protection of Human Rights”. On 7 October 2013, Emna
Aouij, Vice-Chairperson, participated in a discussion organized by the
Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women to inform a
general recommendation on rural women. She also participated in a regional
consultation on discrimination against women in the Middle East and North
Africa region with a special focus on family and cultural life (Tunis, 18–19
December 2013). From 27 to 29 October 2013, Kamala Chandrakirana took part in a
regional consultation with women’s rights organizations in the Asia Pacific
region, organized by the Asia Pacific Forum on Women, Law and Development,
focusing on economic and social life. Eleonora Zielinksa took part in an
international symposium on “Women in Prison and the Bangkok Rules” in Hong
Kong, China from 23 to 27 February 2014.
III. Thematic analysis: eliminating discrimination against
women in economic and social life with a focus on economic crisis
8.
This
report focuses on the gender aspects of economic and social rights.[2]
These rights have particular significance for women, who are disproportionately
affected by economic and social marginalization and poverty. Women’s right to equality
in economic and social rights is substantive, immediate and enforceable. It
concerns the division of existing resources, not the development of resources,
and therefore the principle of progressive realization does not apply. The
State has an obligation of due diligence to prevent discrimination against
women in economic and social life by private persons or entities. Furthermore,
temporary special measures may be required to accelerate the achievement of de
facto equality. In preparing this report, the Working Group availed itself
of a wealth of information gathered through a survey that elicited 70
Governments’ replies and other stakeholders’ inputs, and global and specialized
background papers. All this information is available on the Working Group’s web
page.[3] The Working Group also endeavoured to identify
good practices that will inform the compendium of good practices mandated in
paragraph 18 (b) of Human Rights Council resolution 15/23.
A. The international legal framework
9.
International
human rights law, including regional instruments, guarantees economic and
social rights and women’s right to equality in their enjoyment.
10.
International
human rights law establishes the obligation of States to ensure the exercise of
women’s economic and social rights under conditions of equality and free from
discrimination. The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of
Discrimination against Women and the International Covenant on Economic, Social
and Cultural Rights are the key human rights instruments guaranteeing these
rights. Articles 2 and 3 of the Convention establish a comprehensive obligation
to eliminate discrimination in all its forms. Article 4 encourages the use of
temporary special measures, while other provisions explicitly guarantee various
aspects of women’s economic and social rights, including articles 10
(education), 11 (employment), 13 (financial and cultural life), 14 (rural
women) and 15 (equality before the law). Articles 2 and 3 of the Covenant
prohibit discrimination based on sex and guarantee “the equal right of men and
women to the enjoyment of all economic, social and cultural rights set forth in
the present Covenant”. The Covenant recognizes the right to: work; just and
favourable conditions of work; social security; an adequate standard of living;
education; and to form trade unions. The international human rights framework
is complemented by key International Labour Organization (ILO) gender equality
Conventions, such as Conventions No. 100 (equal remuneration), 111 (discrimination
in employment and occupation), 156 (workers with family responsibilities), 183
(maternity protection) and 189 (domestic workers).
11.
Various
other international and regional human rights treaties also protect women’s and
girls’ social and economic rights.
12.
The
Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action of the Fourth World Conference on
Women identified, as critical policy priorities in the global economy, the
persistent burden of poverty on women, and inequalities in education, training,
economic structures and policies, productive activities and access to
resources.
B. Current state of legislation, structural and
cultural barriers and accountability[4]
1.
Constitutional
guarantees
13.
Most
countries guarantee equality in their constitutions, many of them expressly
requiring gender equality. Furthermore, several constitutions in
different regions expressly guarantee gender equality in economic and social
life and, in some cases, also specifically in working life.
2.
Remaining
discriminatory legislation
14.
In
a significant number of countries, discriminatory legislation, often through
application of personal law systems, continues to create an almost impassable
barrier to women’s equal economic and social opportunity. These include laws
that limit women’s access to education, legal capacity, freedom of movement,
ownership or enjoyment of property. Discrimination is also found with regard to
access to credit, equal retirement age and social security rights.
3.
Anti-discrimination
legislation
15.
There
are widespread prohibitions of discrimination against women in education and
employment. However, these laws have not led to effective implementation,
accountability and de facto equality. Furthermore, in some countries,
equal opportunity legislation is restricted to the public sector and has not
been applied to the private sector.
4.
Cultural
and structural barriers
16.
Women
are disadvantaged economically as a result of social and cultural parameters,
including stereotyping, discrimination and violence. A structural barrier to
women’s economic empowerment is the disparate feminization of unpaid care
responsibilities. These cultural and structural barriers appear
throughout girls’ and women’s life cycle and, indeed, women’s economic situation
varies throughout their life cycle more than men’s.
5.
Transformative
equality
17.
The
Working Group notes that while constitutional guarantees, elimination of
discriminatory laws and the establishment of anti-discrimination legislative
framework are vital, they are not sufficient to produce equality in the sphere
of economic and social life. In order to achieve women’s full and equal
participation in economic and social life, it is essential to adopt a
transformative agenda that eliminates the cultural and structural barriers to
women’s equal opportunity.
6.
Economic
empowerment
18.
Economic
governance is generated not only de jure by political decision-making,
but also de facto by the activities of economic and financial
institutions, enterprises and corporations at international, transnational and
national levels. The International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank,
regional development banks and the World Trade Organization (WTO) constrain
national economic policies. In the year 2000, the top 200 companies surpassed
the economies of 182 countries; they exercise significant power in determining
policy. The private sector creates and defines jobs, produces growth, sets
parameters of income distribution and affects the social and environmental
conditions of the communities in which they function.
19.
There
are barriers to women’s access to leadership and decision-making positions in
these economic and financial institutions, which generate policies that
determine the quality of life of women, men, children and communities.
Furthermore, in the emerging area of corporate responsibility, the gendered
harm to women resulting from transnational business and trade policies has been
largely invisible. There is a need to address these issues and develop tools
for gender responsiveness in economic leadership and corporate responsibility.
7.
Accountability
20.
Effective
elimination of discrimination against women in economic and social life
requires gender-responsive and effective accountability systems. Although there
are some judicial decisions on discrimination against women in economic and
social life at the international, regional and national levels, their number is
disturbingly low. The enhancement of women’s legal literacy, including poor and
rural women, is necessary to ensure women’s equal access to judicial remedies.
21.
The
gender-specific application of emerging international standards of the state
obligation to provide mechanisms of accountability for violations of economic
and social rights, including courts and quasi-judicial bodies, still requires
grounded elaboration. Promising developments exist. With regard to the state
obligation of due diligence for human rights violations by corporations, the
Guidelines for multinational enterprises of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation
and Development apply corporate conduct standards requiring non-discrimination
in the selection, promotion and dismissal of women. The extraterritorial
obligations of States, articulated in the Maastricht Principles adopted in 2011
by a group of experts in international law and human rights, have been applied
by General Recommendation No. 30 of the Committee on the Elimination of
Discrimination against Women to women’s rights in conflict prevention, conflict
and post-conflict situations.
22.
National
human rights institutions can play an important role in ensuring accountability
for violations of women’s rights in economic and social life. However, there is
little evidence of this occurring in practice, and no mechanism to review the
gender-responsiveness of these institutions is in place.
23.
Accountability
for States’ fulfilment of women’s economic and social rights is carried out in
some countries through gender budgeting and gender-mainstreaming state
budgetary allocations. The effectiveness of review and monitoring requires
governmental transparency and meaningful access to decision-making processes on
national and local budgets.
8.
Intersectionality
and poverty
24.
Although
women at all economic levels, in high-, middle- and low-income countries,
suffer from discrimination, they have primary responsibility for the provision
of care and are victims of violence. Women are not a homogenous group, and
their experience varies greatly between regions, countries, socioeconomic
classes within countries and their identities as members of minorities,
migrants, girl children, older women, or on account of single parenthood,
disabilities or sexual identity, among others.
25.
A
crosscutting issue in women’s life cycles is their vulnerability to poverty,
especially when they are from minority communities. As recommended by the
ILO and the Report of the Social Protection Floor Advisory Group chaired by
Michelle Bachelet, social protection floors are vital tools to reduce women’s
poverty and improve women’s level of economic empowerment.
C. Macroeconomic policy, economic crisis, austerity
measures and the post-2015 agenda[5]
26.
The
correlation between income and development and gender equality is well
established. Both theory and empirical evidence indicate that empowering women
means a more efficient use of a nation’s human capital endowment and that
reducing gender inequality enhances productivity and economic growth.
27.
The
2013 World Economic Forum Global Gender Gap Report shows that, although
globally almost 93 per cent of the gap in educational attainment has been
closed, the gender gap in economic participation and political empowerment
remains wide, with only 60 per cent of the economic outcomes gap and only 21
per cent of the political outcomes gap closed.
28.
Vulnerability
and economic disadvantage for women are exacerbated by macroeconomic policies
that increase inequalities and reduce social protection floors. This is clearly
visible in periods of economic crisis, particularly where governments adopt
austerity measures. Although the specific effects of the crisis differ by
context, the overall picture is one of disparate impact on women, with
deepening economic insecurity, an increase in precarious employment and a
heavier burden of unpaid care work. Nonetheless, economic crisis merely
accentuates existing structural economic disadvantages for women. Therefore,
addressing the crisis provides an opportunity to tackle patterns of gender
inequality and discrimination entrenched in the economic status quo and shape
new gender equality policy responses.
29.
Research
suggests that in general men have more economic security to weather an economic
crisis, having higher paying jobs with benefits such as health care and
pensions, unemployment insurance coverage, and owning more property.
Furthermore, in many crisis countries, women are disparately made redundant by
a reduction in public service jobs. In times of financial crisis, social
security guarantees are often undermined by austerity measures. The reduction
of budgets for care facilities, unemployment benefits, income maintenance and
pensions all disparately impact women, who are usually responsible for unpaid
care functions and who constitute a majority of the poor. The Bachelet Report
and reports by the Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
emphasize the role of social protection in cushioning the impact of the
economic crisis, particularly for women.
30.
Alternatives
to austerity have been applied successfully in some countries. Counter-cyclical
approaches in general have helped reduce the depth and duration of the impact
and leverage a more rapid recovery. The Swedish recovery programme focused on
avoiding labour market exclusion, particularly for women, and maintaining paid
parental leave and day-care subsidies, recognized as particularly beneficial to
women workers. Iceland stands out as a pioneer in adopting policies to protect
women in the recent crisis, mainstreaming gender in its recovery measures, and
appointing a working group to evaluate the impact of the economic crisis from a
gender perspective and ensure that gender equality principles are reflected in
State-led initiatives to restore the economy.[6]
31.
The
lessons learned from the economic crisis and the impact of macroeconomic
policies on women’s economic opportunities can and should inform the post-2015
agenda. Grounding development priorities in women’s human rights is not only a
legal and moral imperative, but can also enhance effectiveness and
accountability. In accordance with the proposal of UN-Women that gender
equality must both be mainstreamed into all development goals and also remain a
stand-alone goal, the Working Group recommends that transformative structural
change as regards unpaid care functions be duly taken into account in a
stand-alone goal of gender equality.
IV. Structural disadvantage and discrimination throughout
women’s life cycle
32.
No
country has succeeded in closing the gender gap in all aspects of economic and
social life. From her first days to her last, a woman’s experiences will
inevitably be marked by the expectations, beliefs, stereotypes, values,
opportunities, roles and responsibilities associated with being female in her
culture. While every girl is unique and every woman’s life is different, in all
societies they share certain aspects of quality of life as a result of living
in a gendered and patriarchal reality. Gender discrimination and inequality
manifest themselves at all stages of women’s life cycle.
A. The girl child[7]
33.
Education
of girls is key to quality of life for girls, adult women, families and
communities. Education has a multiplier effect, increasing labour force
participation and reducing child and maternal mortality. A country’s progress
depends, among other things, on the enhancement of its female human capital.
Above all, education is a basic human right that must, at all levels, be made
equally available to girls.
34.
The
gender gap in education is not as stark as it once was: today, female enrolment
is rising at greater rate than among males, and data show the achievement of
gender parity at primary and/or secondary levels in two thirds of countries. In
2013, 25 countries had fully closed the gap in educational attainment at all
levels (5 more than in 2012) with, in some cases, even disparities in favour of
girls.
35.
Despite
this significant progress, there are still social and cultural barriers
preventing girls’ access to school in some countries, as resonantly evidenced
by Malala Yousafzai, the young Pakistani schoolgirl who was the victim of an
assassination attempt by Taliban gunmen in 2012 and has since been a vocal
advocate for girls’ right to education.
36.
Most
countries only track enrolment and not completion rates, yet enrolment is an
inherently flawed measure of girls’ access to education. Attendance is a better
measure, as girls’ attendance may be cut short due to domestic responsibilities
such as cooking, fetching water and firewood, and childcare; lack of adequate
sanitation in schools to meet the needs of menstruating girls; early marriage
or pregnancy; and gender-based violence and harassment, including in schools.
In situations of economic contraction, as households cope with declining
household income, girls are more vulnerable to being pulled out of school, with
girls experiencing a 29 per cent decrease in primary school completion rates
versus 22 per cent for boys.
37.
Ensuring
girls’ education may require protecting their families against economic shocks
and incentivizing parents to keep their girls in school. Cash transfer
programmes, for example, have assisted families in return for committing to
keeping their girls and boys in school and attending regular health checks, or
by providing a stipend to girls who agree to delay marriage until they complete
secondary education. Such programmes have been successful in decreasing girls’
dropout rates.
38.
While
educational gender parity shows signs of improvement, it is often not reflected
in parallel gains in economic and political participation. Amongst countries
that have invested in girls’ education, some see returns in terms of women’s
economic and political participation, but others do not. These countries have
an untapped educated talent pool and would have much to gain through women’s
greater participation in the economy.
39.
Gender
diversification in academic disciplines and professional training are
necessary. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
points out that quality reforms include those that address the content or mode
of provision of particular educational inputs, such as revising curricula and
textbooks, or improving teachers’ skills in gender-aware teaching and learning
methods.
B.
Adulthood
40.
Women’s
adult lives both reflect the quality of their girlhood and predict the quality
of their older age. Their adult lives are the period of their economic activity
and productive capacity, which are characterized by duality. Women function in
the cash economy (as employees, self-employed, entrepreneurs or decision makers
in economic and financial institutions) and also as the primary unpaid carers
(for dependent family members, including children and elderly parents).
1.
Discrimination
in employment, formal and informal[8]
41.
Participation
rates of women in the global labour force continue to be lower than men’s,
hovering steadily from 1990 to 2010 at around 52 per cent.
42.
Gender
inequality in economic participation and opportunity remains a pressing
problem.
43.
In
many countries, a high percentage of employed women are in formal employment.
However, in many low-income countries, formal employment is scarce and the only
economic resource, especially for women, is informal work.
The formal labour market
44.
In
some States, discriminatory legislation persists, including through the
delegation of authority to religious personal law systems, obstructing women’s
participation in the labour market. However, in many countries, discriminatory
legislation has been eliminated and equal employment opportunity laws have been
enacted: 101 countries have laws prohibiting employment discrimination and 117
have equal pay laws.
45.
Nevertheless,
there is not full equality of results in any labour market. Discrimination in
hiring, promotion, conditions and wages and dismissal exists in all countries.
In many high- and middle-income countries, gender gaps in unemployment have
worsened since the economic crisis. Furthermore, cultural and structural
barriers close opportunities for women in the labour force. Maternity is a
focus for discrimination for women in most countries. Women’s hours of
workforce participation are, generally, reduced by motherhood, while men’s are
increased by fatherhood.
46.
The
gender wage gap persists: women’s wages represent between 70–90 per cent of
men’s wages in most countries. Research shows that differences in women’s
working hours, which are lower than men’s, cannot justify the wage gap, and the
wage gap cannot be attributed solely to a motherhood penalty. Furthermore, wage
gaps remain substantial despite women’ gains in education. Indeed,
wage gaps are usually wider between men and women with tertiary education.
47.
There
is a related problem of segregation in the formal labour market, with
women clustered in “pink collar”, largely service sector, jobs with inferior
working conditions, less job security and lower pay. In high-income countries,
more than 85 per cent of employed women work in the service sector, primarily
in education and health. In order to address wage gaps resulting from
occupational segregation, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of
Discrimination against Women and ILO Conventions require equal pay for equal
work or for work of equal value, comparable in skill, responsibility, effort
and working conditions. The ILO guide to gender-neutral job evaluation[9]
provides an objective evaluation system. The ILO also recommends that policies
to combat occupational segregation also encourage men to enter occupations
traditionally associated with women.
Informal work
48.
Women
are concentrated in higher numbers than men in informal work, not recognized,
recorded, protected or regulated by the public authorities, and overrepresented
in precarious, atypical and vulnerable work or employment. There are extreme
examples in which 93 per cent of women workers are in informal work.
49.
The
informal sector includes casual and seasonal workers, part-time workers,
temporary and agency workers, home workers, domestic workers, unpaid family
workers and also some forms of self-employment, such as street hawkers.
Informal employment is growing in both developing and developed countries: the
workforce is becoming increasingly “flexibilized” as employers attempt to avoid
regulation and cut labour costs.
50.
Women
in the informal economy have, furthermore, been deeply affected by economic
crisis. There is an “added worker” effect, whereby women enter the labour force
to provide additional income security to the household, often forcing them into
precarious work, migrant labour overseas or exposing them to trafficking.
According to Women in Informal Employment: Globalizing and Organizing, nearly
40 per cent of street vendors interviewed in developing countries in 2009 had
experienced an overall deterioration of employment and income levels, and 84
per cent of own-account home-based workers reported reduced monthly incomes.
Domestic and migrant workers
51.
Domestic
workers caring for children, the disabled and ageing people, are a highly
vulnerable category of employees, often in the informal sector. About 83 per
cent are women or girls, and many are migrant workers. Domestic workers often
encounter deplorable working conditions; labour exploitation; extortionate
recruitment fees resulting in debt; confiscation of passports; long,
unregulated hours of work; lack of privacy; exposure to physical and sexual
abuse; and separation from their own families and children. The ILO Domestic
Workers Convention (No. 189) calls for States to guarantee decent work for
domestic workers, and thus several countries have introduced new protections.
52.
Women migrant workers face exploitation and abuse,
often finding themselves in precarious employment without effective legal
protections, particularly if they have irregular or undocumented legal status.
About half of the world’s migrant workers are women, most of them finding work in traditionally
female-dominated occupations such as domestic work or in the garment and
textile industries. General Recommendation No.
26 of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, on
women migrant workers, emphasizes that all categories of women migrants
must be protected against discrimination. The ILO Migrant Workers Convention
(No. 143) and the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of
All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families also provide important
protections.
53.
General Recommendation No. 26 highlights that discrimination against women migrant
workers may be especially acute in relation to pregnancy. However, there are
some instances of good practice where, for example, the deportation of pregnant
migrant workers was expressly prohibited by a High Court decision.
Reduction and reconstruction of informal work
54.
In
order to secure decent work for women, the damaging impact of informal work
must be addressed. This requires
reduction and reconstruction of informal
work.
55.
Reducing
informal work for women means increasing women’s opportunities to work in the
formal labour market. States, in different regions and at different income
levels, have invested in the reskilling or professionalization
of unemployed persons, with targeted benefits for women, such as retraining for
jobs, especially for those with family responsibilities, or in setting quotas
for women in employment guarantee programmes targeted at the poorest
households. In the 2008 economic crisis, some States engaged in good practice
specifically preserving women’s jobs, and four countries in different regions
increased their public works programmes with focus on female participation.
56.
Reconstructing
informal employment is often possible through legal interpretation or law enforcement.
Legal factors that exclude informal workers from the coverage of protective
labour laws include narrow definitions of the employment relationship,
recognition of contracting out, specific
exclusions and lack of enforcement. There is some judicial good practice to
void the use of “flexibilized” patterns of employment by employers seeking to
avoid their labour law obligations; of extending anti-discrimination
legislation to leased employees; and of applying a pro rata system to
employment conditions of part-time, temporary or leased workers. Reconstructing
the informal labour in order to guarantee decent work for women also requires
extending all social security rights, including maternity and care rights, to
informal sector employees.
2.
Women as business leaders, entrepreneurs and economic decision-makers[10]
57.
Women
make important contributions to business around the world as business owners
and entrepreneurs, with 224 million women
globally operating businesses. Women tend to be concentrated in small and
medium enterprises (SMEs), which account for a significant share of employment
generation and economic growth potential, with full or partial female ownership
representing 31–38 per cent of SMEs in emerging markets. Women informal
traders contribute significantly to national gross domestic product, accounting
for between 40 and 65 per cent of value added in trade in some African
countries. Research shows that companies with female board membership and
diversity outperform others in return on sales, invested capital and equity.
Furthermore, during the financial crisis, companies with women in the
leadership had a better record of financial and employment sustainability.
58.
Nevertheless,
there is a significant gender gap in top leadership in decision-making bodies
in business, finance and trade, including in international institutions such as
the IMF and the WTO. Out of the world’s 2,000 top performing companies, just
29, or 1.5 per cent, had female chief executive officers in 2009. Women account
for 4 per cent of chief executive officers in Fortune 500 companies and 4 per
cent in information technology and telecommunications companies. In 2012, women
had only 16.6 per cent of Fortune 500 Board seats, of which only 0.6 per
cent were women of colour. Only 17 out of 177 governors of central banks were
women in 2012 (less than 10 per cent). Women are also greatly underrepresented
in the leadership of cooperatives and trade unions.
59.
However,
reports suggest that rates of women in senior management are slowly increasing
globally, currently reaching 24 per cent. The economies of the Group of Seven
are at the bottom of the list, with just 21 per cent of senior roles occupied
by women, and with only 7 per cent in one of these countries. This compares to
28 per cent in the BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China) economies, 32 per
cent in South East Asia and 40 per cent in the Baltic States, while in China,
51 per cent of senior management positions are currently held by women.
Discrimination in law and practice
60.
States
have a due diligence obligation, under international human rights law and in
accordance with article 2 (e) of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms
of Discrimination against Women, to prevent discrimination by corporate,
financial or trade institutions, whether national or transnational, which fall
under their jurisdiction.
61.
In
many economies, there are discriminatory laws, often emanating from personal
law systems, that create barriers to women operating in business. Examples
include restrictions on registering a business, travelling outside of a
country, owning land and other productive assets, opening a bank account,
inheriting family property and taking a job without a husband’s permission. In many
countries, the legal regulation of cooperatives allows membership for male
heads of household only.
62.
Additional
limiting factors include gender stereotypes, lack of
mentoring by senior male business leaders and lack of connection to chambers of
commerce to identify business and trade opportunities. Underinvestment in women
entrepreneurs is a worldwide phenomenon. Research shows that from 1997 to 2000,
women-led businesses in the United States received only 5 per cent of venture
capital money invested each year. Venture funds led by women constitute just
10–15 per cent of the investment sector and so, although they put 70 per cent
of investment in women entrepreneurs, their impact is limited. In Africa,
female-owned companies in the formal sector in urban areas have two and a half
times less start-up capital than male-owned equivalents. In addition, due to
their concentration in small businesses, women are more vulnerable to economic
fluctuations and financial crisis. Furthermore, the gender pay gap widens as
women reach senior positions. For example, in one West European country,
women’s average bonuses are half those of men’s.
Empowerment measures for women, including quotas
63.
A
number of countries have adopted temporary special measures specifically
directed at accelerating de facto equality for women in corporate
leadership, entrepreneurship and trade. Legislation with gender quotas for
membership of corporate boards has been adopted in 13 countries. Most of the
countries with quota requirements belong to the Western European and
other States Group, but some are in Africa and Asia. The quota requirements,
varying between a minimum of 1 and 40 per cent, apply to government companies
and publicly listed companies. In some States, failing to fulfil quota
requirements results in sanctions. Quotas have also been applied by local
government to boards of directors of cooperatives. On the evidence, it seems
that mandatory and not voluntary quotas are the most effective way to get women
onto boards.
64.
Preliminary
good practices for promotion of women’s entrepreneurship include the ILO Job
Creation in Small and Medium Sized Enterprises Recommendation 1998 (No. 189)
and Women’s Entrepreneurship Development and Gender Equality programme, the
Canadian Business Women in International Trade programme and the Malaysia
External Trade Development Corporation special programme for women exporters.
The International Trade Centre has encouraged States to devise gender-sensitive
national export strategies. Two countries also focused on female entrepreneurs,
in response to the economic crisis, cutting interest rates on loans to micro-
and small enterprises targeted at women-headed households or introducing
special credit lines for female artisans.
65.
Training,
information and provision of credit and saving facilities are all essential for
entrepreneurship. Multilateral initiatives to support women’s entrepreneurship
and facilitate their access to financial resources include the ILO Women’s
Entrepreneurship Development and Gender Equality programme, the Global Banking
Alliance for Women and the Mann Deshi Mahila Sahakari Bank, founded in 1997,
one of the first legally recognized women’s cooperative banks.
66.
Procurement
policies that target women can be a tool to advance women’s businesses. In
developing countries, governments are the largest buyer of goods and services,
accounting for 15–20 per cent of gross domestic product, and yet spend only 1
per cent on sourcing from women-owned businesses. Some countries have begun to
tackle the issue. One country from the Western European and other States Group
set a mandatory goal of 5 per cent of federal contract spending on women-owned
small businesses. An African country put in place Public Procurement and
Disposal (Preference and Reservations) Regulations to ensure access to
government contracts by enterprises owned by women, youth and persons with
disabilities.
3.
Gender analysis of corporate responsibility[11]
67.
Since
the 1980s, transnational corporate activity and economic and trade policies,
although creating economic opportunities for women, have also exposed them to
severe disadvantages and, in some cases, human rights violations.
68.
There
is an emerging business and human rights agenda focusing on corporate
responsibility for human rights violations. The Guiding Principles on Business
and Human Rights[12] establish three pillars of
corporate responsibility: the duty of the State to protect against human rights
abuses by private actors; corporate responsibility to respect human rights; and
the duty of both to provide remedies for rights violations. While the
Principles acknowledge that guidance to business should take into account
gender considerations, there is significant work to be done to elaborate upon
this and address the gendered impact of corporate activities on women.
Harm to women
69.
Corporate
governance has produced a dramatic increase in resources and income
inequalities, with harsh implications for women, given their concentration
lower on the value chain and in poverty. Furthermore, the increased mobility of
corporations and free trade agreements have resulted in the amassing of
political power vis-à-vis host States and can contribute to a lack of
accountability and insurmountable barriers for women to access justice. The
move of production by transnational corporations to export processing zones,
the reliance on home and sweatshop sectors, and land dispossession by
extractives industries are a locus for corporate abuse and violation of human
rights, and most of the victims are women.
70.
Export
processing zones are delineated industrial estates with special incentives set
up to attract foreign business and trade. They are feminized work enclaves in
which women make up the majority of workers, up to 100 per cent in some cases.
Women workers face particularly harsh employment conditions. Normal labour laws
are usually not applied. Whether de jure or de facto, there is a
lack of union organization and, typically, women’s wages are 20–50 per cent
lower than men’s. Furthermore, these zones are a health hazard for women, with
overextended working hours, rights violations relating to pregnancy protection,
maternity leave or childcare, and sexual harassment.
71.
Sweatshop
and home work sectors exploit cheap, informal labour, largely from female
workers. Businesses subcontract more than 300 million home workers in
developing countries, hired to work at home in textiles, electronics, packaging
and processing, for a piece rate without labour rights protections. A cut of
earnings is also taken by middlemen. Women make up 85–90 per cent of sweatshop
workers. Employers often force them to take pregnancy tests to avoid
supporting maternity leave. Thousands of women work in garment
factories, with the constant threat of fatal sweatshop fires largely because of
corporate cost-saving decisions.
72.
Extractive
industries, as well as, increasingly, biofuel, agribusiness and real estate
projects, are land intensive, and land dispossession has disproportionately
displaced women. Women, who make up 70–80 per cent of the world’s small-scale
farmers, lose their livelihood, often do not receive compensation paid to
landowners, who are male, and are the last in line for formal employment in the
industries. As primary carers, they are deprived of shelter and the ability to
feed their families. The arrival of a transient, largely
male workforce also increases prostitution, sexual violence and sexually
transmitted disease. Mismanagement of extractive projects can also lead to
severe violations of human rights that are manifested in unique ways for women,
including murder, torture, rape and sexual violence at the hands of security
forces brought in to impose order.
Gender-mainstreaming corporate responsibility
73.
There
are some initial efforts, although sporadic and preliminary, to
gender-mainstream corporate responsibility.
74.
The
Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women has, for instance,
held States responsible for denying equal access for women to private health
providers. One binational trade agreement, supported by the ILO, linked access
to markets in importing countries with improved labour conditions for the
largely female garment workers in the exporting country. There are examples of
corporate initiatives to provide childcare, career development and training for
female workers in overseas garment industries, or to prevent use of ultrasound
equipment, which may be used to increase sex-selective abortion.
75.
Additionally,
civil society and women workers have been important agents for change. They
have, for example, created drop-in centres where young women garment workers
learn about their labour rights, and they have organized and achieved
widespread change in conditions of agricultural workers, previously similar to
slavery practices.
76.
Civil
society representatives have joined a handful of business leaders to form the
Business and Human Rights Reference Group, which has begun to elaborate how
gender fits into the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights.
3. Access
to resources[13]
77.
Secure
rights over resources, including property, land, housing, food, water and
sanitation, are essential to women’s equality and well-being, and to their
economic independence and autonomy.
78.
In
some countries, discriminatory legislation or implementation of legislation
results in the negation of women’s rights to land and other productive
resources. These issues have been examined by a UN-Women/OHCHR expert group
meeting, in which a member of the Working Group participated, and have been
documented in an in-depth report.
79.
Furthermore,
failure to provide access to housing, food and water has disproportionately
burdened women as vulnerable members of communities, as childbearers and as
primary carers. These issues have been gender-mainstreamed in reports by, for
example, the Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right
to an adequate standard of living, and on the right to non-discrimination in
this context; the Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights; the
Special Rapporteur on the right to food; the Special Rapporteur on the human
right to safe drinking water and sanitation; and Independent Expert on the
effects of foreign debt and other related international financial obligations
of States on the full enjoyment of all human rights, particularly economic,
social and cultural rights.
80.
These
issues, though flagged as crucial, will not be dealt with in this report, due
to space limitations.
4. The
impact of parenthood and care functions[14]
81.
Reproduction
and care functions are the very basis of human life and society. These
functions, whether paid or unpaid, are performed either solely or largely by
women. The fact that these functions are performed by women creates a major
barrier to women’s equality of opportunity in the labour market or in business,
finance and entrepreneurship. Women’s maternity rights have been widely
recognized in formal employment, but not extended to either other spheres of
economic activity or care functions. There has been a systemic failure to
properly integrate the biological function of reproduction and the gendered
function of unpaid caring into macroeconomic policy in a holistic, effective
and coherent way, to ensure that reproduction and caring go hand-in-hand with
the overall economic empowerment of women. This policy failure in effect
endorses a major structural barrier to the equality of economic opportunity for
women.
82.
It
is crucial to recognize both the right to maternity benefits and also the right
to an equal and fair distribution of care functions as fully-fledged economic
and social rights. These rights are a prerequisite for the equal right of women
to the enjoyment of all economic social and cultural rights and, in particular:
the right to work; the enjoyment of just and favourable conditions of work; an
adequate standard of living; freedom from hunger; enjoyment of the highest
attainable standard of physical and mental health; and the right to take part
in cultural life.
83.
Barriers
to women’s economic opportunities resulting from reproduction and care
functions must be removed in order to permit choice by women and men as to how
they allocate economic and caring duties. Three possible patterns of allocation
have been identified: both parents as full-time workers; one full-time and one
part-time worker, where the part-time worker is usually the woman; or the male
breadwinner model. There is also the single parent pattern, which is usually a
woman.
84.
Patterns
of allocation are often not the result of choice, but rather of stereotyping
and discrimination. There is evidence, in most countries, of discrimination in
hiring, firing and workplace treatment of pregnant women; imposition of a
disproportionate share of unpaid care responsibilities on women; and negative
stereotyping of mothers and also fathers who are taking care of children.
Cultural assumptions of the motherhood role appear to exist in tension with the
conception of the ideal worker. Nevertheless, in a cross-regional comparison of
selected countries, it was found that motherhood does not uniformly reduce
labour force participation or occupational success and, indeed, it increases
these in some countries as compared to women without children. However, it does
reduce the number of hours worked and, even more, it increases,
disproportionately and beyond any difference that might be explained by the
reduction of work hours, the gap between mothers’ wages and fathers’ wages.
Reproductive functions
85.
Women’s
reproductive functions include pregnancy, birth and breastfeeding. These are
the biological functions of maternity. In accordance with the normative
framework created by the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of
Discrimination against Women and the ILO Conventions, in some States, there are
provisions, statutory or judicial, prohibiting discrimination during pregnancy
and protecting women against dismissal for a period of months or even years
after they give birth. Nevertheless, there has been a rise in complaints
of pregnancy discrimination in a number of countries, and effective measures
are required to guarantee women’s employment security during pregnancy and
after birth.
86.
The
frameworks of the ILO and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of
Discrimination against Women impose an obligation on States parties to provide
paid maternity leave to employed women, set by the ILO at a minimum of 14 weeks
with a recommended 18 weeks, and daily breaks for breastfeeding. The provision
of maternity leave has become almost universal: 51 per cent of countries
provide maternity leave of at least 14 weeks; 20 per cent of 18 weeks or more;
35 per cent of 12–13 weeks of leave. Only 14 per cent of countries provide less
than 12 weeks.
87.
State
obligation under the Convention and ILO Conventions is to provide paid leave.
Maternity leave policies without adequate compensation can lead to financial
stress, and research suggests that women who return to work without taking
their full maternity leave entitlement usually do so for financial reasons.
Good practice for payment of maternity leave is through social insurance or
public funds so as not to increase discrimination against women by employers
seeking to avoid the burden of paid maternity leave.
88.
Despite
efforts to extend the reach of ILO Conventions to women in precarious
employment, many women still do not have the basic rights set out above. The
informal economy, on which overwhelming numbers of women depend for their
livelihood, remains beyond the reach of labour
regulation and maternity rights. The extension of paid maternity leave to women
entrepreneurs or self-employed women is a good practice found in some
countries. Under European Union Directives, there is a requirement to provide
paid maternity leave for self-employed women, calculated on the basis of
average loss of income or profit (subject to ceiling) or a national allowances
level such as minimum wage. Leave is not compulsory, however, and the
conditions on which is it paid often differ from those for women in formal
employment. The Working Group welcomes in that regard a decision by the
Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (Communication No.
36/2012) in which it considered that the abolition of an initially existing
public maternity leave scheme, without establishing an adequate alternative
maternity leave scheme to cover loss of income during maternity immediately
available to self-employed women, constituted a breach of article 11 (2) (b) of
the Convention.
Care
functions
89.
A
disproportionate amount of unpaid care work falls on women, limiting women’s
capacity to engage in paid work. This is evidenced in empirical studies which
show that women, whether or not they are in paid employment, spend between
twice to four times the amount of hours on care functions than do men. Up to 90
per cent of home care due to illness is performed by women and girls.
90.
Unlike
women’s reproductive function, care functions do not necessarily have to fall
on women. All forms of care, including childcare, are amenable to social
reconstruction, and indeed in the Nordic countries, which have long pursued a
policy of gender equality in the division of work and childcare functions, the
distribution of care work comes close to parity. Good practice regarding
the allocation of care responsibilities, pioneered in the Nordic countries,
encourages men to enter traditionally women’s worlds, both in the family and in
the workplace, thus allowing women to participate and advance in the labour
market.
91.
The
Working Group considers that the three “Rs” of unpaid care work – recognition,
reduction and redistribution – should be integrated into macroeconomic policy
in order to fulfil women’s right to care services and to facilitate the women’s
economic empowerment.
92.
Recognition
of unpaid care work entails the imposition, on the international and
constitutional levels, of a state obligation to guarantee an equal distribution
of care functions as a fully-fledged economic and social right. It also
signifies the recognition of care expenses as part of the gross national
product, thus requiring integration of the care economy into the macroeconomy.
It necessitates the prohibition of direct or indirect discrimination on grounds
of care functions, as established by the ILO and the European Court of Justice.
Furthermore, it justifies the good practice of recognizing care expenses as
deductible for income tax purposes, since provision of care for dependents is a
necessary expenditure to allow an unpaid caretaker to generate income.
93.
Reducing
care work may, especially in developing countries and rural areas, be achieved
by improving the basic infrastructure, including water, sanitation and
transportation.
94.
Redistributing
care work involves restructuring the design, funding and delivery of care by
households, markets, the State and civil society so that a disproportionate
burden of unpaid care does not fall on women. The equal sharing of care amongst
different actors requires, on one hand, the sharing of care responsibilities by
men as well as women in households and, on the other, the provision by the
State of affordable and accessible care facilities, including childcare,
adequate hospital care and recuperation periods, and facilities for the care of
the disabled and the elderly.
95.
Sharing
of care responsibilities within the household should remain a matter of choice
for women and men. For any real choice to be possible,
paid care leave must be available to both parents. The Nordic countries were
the first to introduce an independent paternity leave in order to overcome
stereotypes and barriers to men sharing childcare functions. Such provisions
are becoming more common around the world, with increased awareness of men’s
parenting roles and their need to reconcile work and family life. Paternity
leave is usually much shorter than maternity leave and more often unpaid. Some
countries have introduced more gender-neutral parental leave options, and
recent best practice in one Nordic country provides symmetry in childcare
leave, with five months for each parent individually and two months that can be
allocated according to parental choice.[15]
96.
Need
for care continues for toddlers and older children after the period of parental
leave and also exists for the elderly and disabled. Responsibility for this
needs to be redistributed through care services. At present, international
minimum state obligations for provision of childcare services or for elderly
and disabled services are lacking.
97.
As
regards childcare, the Working Group supports the call of UN-Women for States
to guarantee quality and accessible childcare as a social protection floor.
This both serves the obligation to achieve de facto equality for women
in economic and social life and enables parents to reconcile work and family
life. The Working Group suggests that the provision of childcare may also be
engineered as an economic efficiency measure, with the right to fully
subsidized care services linked to the parent’s participation in economic
activity. In addition, good practice includes State support for community,
trade union and corporate initiatives to provide care services. Furthermore,
after children start school, it is good practice to synchronize children’s
school hours and holidays with adults’ work schedules.
C.
Older women[16]
98.
Women’s
poverty and quality of life in older age derives from the culmination of the
earlier phases in their life cycle and bears their imprint: stereotyping in
education and girlhood; precarious jobs; informal labour; the costs of caring;
interrupted career patterns; and the motherhood penalty in labour force
participation. Hence women’s situation in retirement can be regarded as a
litmus test for the quality of women’s economic and social life.
99.
There
is a gender pension gap both in wealth accumulation and income. The balance of
pension entitlements within multipillar systems has a direct impact on the
gender pension gap. Social (World Bank “zero pillar”) schemes, which give basic
flat rate citizens’ pensions, are non-contributory and do not, as such,
differentiate between men’s and women’s pension entitlement, thus producing
equality. Therefore, the trend to diversify pension systems to include
contributory first and second pillar systems, which base a substantial element
of pension entitlement on working life contributions, impacts women adversely,
increasing the gender pension gap, as women’s contribution to these funded
pension schemes is lower because of the structural factors in their labour
market and care work.
100.
Discriminatory
laws and practice prevail in most countries. Some such laws are self-evident,
such as mandatory early retirement for women. Some are what has been called
“statistical discrimination”, such as separate annuity tables for women and men
based on women’s greater longevity. Others are the result of the sociology of
the family and of legislative policy endorsing and perpetuating the economic
dependence of women on a husband’s income and pension entitlement.
101.
Good
practices include gender-specific compensatory measures such as continuing
pension contributions during maternity and childcare leaves, unisex calculation
of benefits, equalizing mandatory retirement age and mandatory joint annuities.
All these measures, with quite wide margins of difference in the extent of
their generosity and with some caveats as to the categories of women who do not
benefit from each of these measures, have some marginal impact in reducing the
pension gap. Of these gender-specific measures, the only one that almost closes
the gender pension gap is mandatory joint annuities. This suggests that the way
to rectify women’s relative poverty in old age is through mandating joint
annuities with their husbands. However, this does not solve the problem for
single or divorced women. Furthermore, it leaves the problem of engineering a
system that is equitable for traditional dependent marriages and yet can still
incentivize economically independent women.
V. Violence against women[17]
102.
Gender-based
violence against women, including state violation of women’s bodily integrity
and autonomy, violence in the public arena, violence in workplaces and
educational institutions, and domestic violence and economic violence by
intimate partners, can severely impact and restrict women’s economic and social
potential throughout their life cycle, including their access to education,
freedom of movement and employment. In economic
and social institutions, women are exposed to sexual harassment, including
unwelcome sexual behaviour, remarks, and
pornographic images and demands, whether by words or actions. Such conduct is
threatening and humiliating.
103.
Many countries prohibit sexual harassment in the
workplace, whether it is quid pro quo (extorting sexual cooperation by
threat of job-related consequences) or creating a hostile environment, and
impose accountability on the employer. Out of 100 countries
surveyed, 78 have laws addressing sexual harassment in the workplace, and of
these, 52 criminalize such conduct. The legal prohibition of sexual harassment
has been based, variously, on the concepts of discrimination against women and
of violation of women’s human dignity, and good practice is to apply a “double
approach” involving both concepts.
104.
In
addition, women are exposed to sexual harassment
in the public arena, including service institutions, public transport,
“street harassment,” cyberbullying and pornographic
advertising, producing a fear factor that severely curtails their
freedom of movement and occupation. However, only
8 out of 100 States have enacted laws prohibiting sexual harassment in public
places. Good practice includes
prohibition of sexual harassment in the provision of services. It entails
municipal responsibility for policing, lighting and introducing surveillance
cameras in public spaces.
105.
School-related gender-based violence takes different
forms, with girls in some countries violently targeted for attending school,
while in other countries, they are subject in school to sexual violence
or harassment, including by teachers. Such violence results in trauma,
stigmatization and sometimes pregnancy, and severely curtails girls’
educational opportunities. In many States, sexual intercourse with a minor is
considered rape, as minors are not capable of consent, but only 32 out of 100
States have specific provisions on sexual harassment at schools. Examples of
good practices by some States include introducing confidential school reporting
mechanisms, capacity-building for police, child-friendly courts, a public
register of sexual offenders and barring sexual offenders from teaching.
106.
Women
are also highly vulnerable to trafficking for sexual or work exploitation. This
form of gender-based violence will be addressed
by the Working Group in its report on health and safety.
VI. Recommendations
107.
The Working Group calls on States to ratify the Convention on the
Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and all relevant
international human rights treaties and ILO Conventions which guarantee women’s
economic and social rights. It calls upon
them to implement the obligations therein, including by ratifying the Optional
Protocols of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination
against Women and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural
Rights, by introducing the required constitutional and legislative guarantees,
and by adopting a transformative agenda which will produce an outcome of de
facto equality for women in their economic and social lives.
108.
The Working Group additionally recommends the adoption of concrete
measures based on the good practices which inform this thematic report.
109.
The Working Group recommends that States:
A. General
110.
Eliminate discriminatory laws which create barriers to women’s formal or
informal employment and to their enjoyment of economic and social rights;
expressly guarantee women’s right to equality in economic and social life in
the private as well as public sector, with immediate effect, and with special
measures to accelerate de facto equality;
111.
Ensure women’s access to judicial redress and remedies for
discrimination in economic and social life, accountability being an essential
part of the fulfilment of women’s right to equality and entailing affordable
access to justice and adequate remedies;
112.
Recognize that vulnerability and economic disadvantage for women are
exacerbated by macroeconomic policies which increase inequalities and reduce
social protection floors;
113.
Recognize the disparate impact of austerity measures on women in
response to economic crisis and adopt gender-sensitive strategies that avoid
labour market exclusion, loss of social protection floors and reduction of
social services.
B. The girl child
114.
Eliminate all discriminatory laws and practices which prevent girls from
completing their education, including child marriage;
115.
Ensure all girls’ de facto access to education, including
mandatory, free primary education and access to secondary and tertiary
education, free of discrimination;
116.
Adopt good practices to combat non-attendance by girls, such as
providing financial resources to parents to keep their girls in school,
preventing violence against girls in schools, providing proper sanitary
facilities and making provision for pregnant girls and school-age mothers;
117.
Ensure equality for girls in the quality of education at all levels,
including breaking down gender stereotypes in school curricula, teacher
training programmes, textbooks and teaching materials; and encourage girls’
engagement in non-traditional vocational skill areas and academic disciplines,
such as mathematics, science and technology;
118.
Introduce a universal core syllabus which will inform boys and girls of
their human rights, including women’s human rights.
C. Adulthood
1.
Working relationships, formal and informal
119.
Ensure that prohibition of discrimination on grounds of sex, pregnancy
or parenthood, are enforced for all women in work;
120.
Impose on employers the obligation to pay equal pay for equal work or
work of equal value through the use a variety of means, including by objective
job evaluation with participation by stakeholders and social partners, and by
desegregation of professions;
121.
Take measures to reduce and reconstruct informal work; to reduce
informal work, States should increase job opportunities for women in formal
employment, especially in the public sector, and with targeted programmes for
women’s training, professionalization reskilling and unemployment programmes.
To reconstruct, they should redefine the scope of protective labour law,
introduce pro rata pay and social security benefits for part-time or
casual work, and extend paid maternity leave and care rights to workers in both
the formal and informal sectors;
122.
Provide protection against discrimination and abuse of migrant workers
and domestic workers, and ratify and implement the ILO Domestic Workers
Convention (No. 189).
2.
Women and business
123.
Eliminate laws, including personal laws, that discriminate against women
as business leaders or entrepreneurs, particularly regarding registering a
business; freedom of movement; land and property rights; savings, credit and
inheritance rights; and membership in cooperatives;
124.
Take positive measures to accelerate de facto equality for women
in leadership positions in corporate, financial and trade institutions and
enterprises, including by the introduction of quotas for corporate boards;
125.
Advance women’s entrepreneurship opportunities through provision of
training, information, credit and saving facilities and government procurement
policies that target women’s businesses;
126.
Gender-mainstream the principles of corporate responsibility,
identifying, preventing and remedying the harm caused by corporate activities
to women, as workers, consumers and community members, especially with regard
to export processing zones; sweatshops and home working; the garment industry;
and land dispossession by extractive, biofuel, agribusiness and real estate
projects;
127.
International institutions and States should include women in senior
positions in economic, financial and trade governance, and should
gender-mainstream policymaking, including mitigation of dramatic increases in
inequality of resources and income and the feminization of poverty.
3.
Reproduction and care functions
128.
It is incumbent upon States and economic decision-makers to integrate
the care economy as an integral part of macroeconomic policy and recognize the
right to care as an economic and social right which requires a social
protection floor;
129.
States should recognize, reduce and redistribute unpaid care work for
children and other disabled or elderly dependents, by including unpaid care
work in gross national product; allowing deduction of care expenses for tax
purposes; improving the environmental and service infrastructure to reduce
private care burdens; and synchronizing school time with working time;
130.
Paid care leave should be provided on an equal basis to mothers and
fathers;
131.
Childcare should be guaranteed as a social protection floor and, in
addition, States should encourage community, cooperative, trade union and
corporate initiatives to provide care services;
132.
States must prohibit discrimination on grounds of maternity or of care
functions, whether performed by women or men;
133.
States must provide paid maternity leave of at least 14 weeks, 6 of
which are mandatory. Such leave should be fully paid and should be funded by
social insurance or public funds. Maternity leave should be provided for women
in the informal sector as well as the formal sector, entrepreneurship, trade
and corporate boards.
D. Older women
134.
Provide
adequate non-contributory pensions, on an equal basis with men, as a core
social and economic right;
135.
Ensure that women are not forced into early retirement; that women who
have been economically active have access to adequate occupational pensions,
including by introducing gender-specific compensatory measures such as
accumulation of pension rights during maternity and childcare absences; unisex
calculation of benefits; equalizing of mandatory retirement age and mandatory
joint annuities.
E. Violence against women
136.
Eliminate all laws which discriminate against women by punishment of
behaviours which are not punished when performed by men or by prescribing
invasion of women’s physical integrity and autonomy;
137.
Take preventive measures, deter and severely punish all forms of
gender-based violence and sexual harassment against women in the public arena,
including public transport and services, workplaces, educational institutions,
streets and cyberspace, whether it is perpetrated by state agents or by private
persons;
138.
Take special measures to prohibit and prevent gender-based violence, including punishing intercourse with
minors as rape, introduction of confidential school reporting mechanisms,
capacity-building for police, child-friendly courts and barring sexual
offenders from teaching.
[1] See the background paper and outcome document from the workshop at www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Women/WGWomen/Pages/Discriminationagainstwomenineconomicandsociallifeafocusoneconomiccrisis.aspx.
[2] This report has minimal footnotes due to word limit restrictions. A version of the report with full references and a bibliography for each section is available at www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Women/WGWomen/Pages/Discriminationagainstwomenineconomicandsociallifeafocusoneconomiccrisis.aspx.
[3] Ibid.
[4] This section draws upon the background papers by Sandra Fredman and Mayra Gomez. See also the bibliography for this section.
[5] This section draws upon the background paper by Mayra Gomez. See also the bibliography list for this section.
[7] This section draws upon the background paper by Mayra Gomez. See also the bibliography for this section.
[8] This section draws upon the background papers by Sandra Fredman and Mayra Gómez. See also the bibliography for this section.
[9] ILO, Promoting Equity: Gender-neutral Job Evaluation for Equal Pay: a Step-by-Step Guide (Geneva, 2008).
[10]
This section draws upon the background papers by Ama Marston and Efrat
Herzberg. See also the bibliography for this section.
[11] This section draws upon the background paper by Ama Marston. See also the bibliography for this section.
[12] A/HRC/17/31, annex.
[13] For more information, see the background paper by Mayra Gomez. See also UN–Women and OHCHR, Realizing Women’s Rights to Land and Other Productive Resources (2013).
[14]
This section draws upon the background paper by Sharon Offenberger. See also
the bibliography for this section.