BELGIUM'S AFFIRMATIVE ACTION PROGRAMMES, EFFORTS TO ADDRESS VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN, COMMENDED IN ANTI-DISCRIMINATION COMMITTEE
Press Release
WOM/891
BELGIUM'S AFFIRMATIVE ACTION PROGRAMMES, EFFORTS TO ADDRESS VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN, COMMENDED IN ANTI-DISCRIMINATION COMMITTEE
19960126 Concludes Considering Belgium's ReportBelgium's affirmative action programmes and efforts to combat violence against women were commended by experts of the 23-member Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women this afternoon, as it concluded consideration of that country's report. The Committee is the monitoring body for the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women.
While praising Belgian efforts to sensitize police officers to violence affecting women, an expert suggested that judges also undergo training to combat systemic discrimination. The need to harness the media to portray a positive image of women was stressed, and Belgian legislation to combat traffic in human beings was positively noted. Other issues discussed included the rights of rural and immigrant women, coordination of the Federal system, abortion, education, employment and health care.
Belgium's delegation was comprised of the following representatives from the Department of Equality of Chambers, Ministry of Employment and Labour: Marie-Paule Paternottre, Advisor; Martha Franken, Director (Flemish community); and Annie De Wiest, Advisor (French community).
The Committee will meet again at 10 a.m. Monday, 29 January, to consider the third periodic report of Ukraine.
Committee Work Programme
The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women met this afternoon to continue its consideration of the report of Belgium. The Committee examines measures taken by States parties to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women to ensure equal participation of women in their countries' political, economic and cultural life (for details of Belgium's report, see Press Release WOM/890 issued today.)
Introduction of Report of Belgium
MARIE-PAULE PATERNOTTRE, Advisor, Department of the Equality of Chambers, Ministry of Employment and Labour, continued the introduction of Belgium's report, which had started at today's morning meeting. She turned to article 14 of the Convention, which addresses the particular problems of rural women and spells out their economic and social rights. She said women in rural areas enjoyed the same rights as other women. However, the problems of women working in farming needed to be considered in light of the principles of the social security system, in particular with regard to derived rights.
By the current system, she continued, a spouse working together with a self-employed worker, for instance a farmer, had the same rights as the self- employed worker. Of course, that was a problem when a marriage broke down, because the social protection was lost. Social security insurance made it possible to receive maternity allowances and a rest period, but that system was not used. There was great debate over the way social security should be reorganized. It was hoped that reform would occur that would be beneficial to women.
Turning to article 16 -- which spells out the equality of women's rights in matters relating to marriage and family relations -- she said that since 1990 the minimum age required for marriage for both sexes was 18. Belgium's tax legislation had been drawn up when the traditional situation was a household with one breadwinner and a housewife and children. With the increase in working women, a different law had been enacted. In the case of conflict between parents in divorce, the interest of the child prevailed and visitation rights were granted to grandparents. There was also the possibility for visitation rights for the parent that did not have custody. If there were fears of abduction, then visitation rights could be executed in a neutral place. On another issue, the current system gave priority to the transmission of the father's name to children and debate continued on that matter.
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Discussion of Report
The Acting Chairman of the Committee, EMNA AOUIJ, expert from Tunisia, thanked the delegation of Belgium for its comprehensive report. The Government had drawn up an equal opportunity system and progress was being made. The question of equality had been addressed in all its aspects and manifestations. Measures were being taken to increase women's participation in decision-making positions and to change attitudes that hindered women's rights. The various representatives had stressed issues that were important to their communities and it seemed a harmony had been achieved between the communities.
In general, experts commended the Belgian delegation for its comprehensive report. One expert said she was a bit sorry that more statistics had not been given in the report. She congratulated the Government on its withdrawal of reservations and said Belgium was a model in the post- colonization period. The future of Belgian women was well assured.
Another expert said the presentation was excellent. She was gratified that the Council of Equal Opportunity had been developed with a broad range of participants. It was good to hear that the Flemish community had its own national machinery with a solid financial base. The provisions made in the French community to provide Government-subsidized women's shelters were commendable. Additional information would be welcome on statistical progress made by the Federal Government in the various communities. It was encouraging to see that Belgium was a pluralistic and democratic society. She asked if there were programmes to ensure that immigrant women enjoyed a smooth cultural transition.
An expert said she was heartened by the establishment of the Ministry of Equal Opportunities and asked how large countries like China, India and Indonesia could implement similar mechanisms. Regarding the feminization of language, she asked how men had reacted. Were there publications in the Dutch language? How did the situation in the Flemish part of Belgium compare to the situation in the Netherlands?
Another expert congratulated Belgium on the enormous work it had done to assemble the huge amount of information which had been presented. The frankness of the delegation was something to be applauded. Given the fact that Belgium was late in submitting its reports, it would have been extremely helpful if the oral presentation had been presented earlier in written form.
She expressed disappointment at the written report, which did not contain enough information on what was actually being accomplished in the achievement of women's rights. The time for pilot projects had passed in western Europe. It was time to legally mandate equality measures. The danger
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of being a Federalist country was that the sovereign regions could develop at different rates. The Federal Government should monitor that situation. Regarding social security and taxation, there was hidden discrimination and European countries had to do some heavy thinking about that issue. On the issue of moving women into non-traditional jobs, that should be pursued diligently in the near future. Further, she asked for a response to the issue of the interruption of pregnancies. Was the documentation process being done anonymously and were counsellors under supervision? she asked.
On article 4, which states that temporary measures may be taken to accelerate women's equality, as well as maternity protection measures and shall not be considered discriminatory, an expert wondered why there were so few women in politics. Another expert wanted to know the result of the campaign to bring about changes in the attitudes of men and women so far as household work was concerned. She suggested that studies be employed to asses the use of time by the sexes. She also wondered about the impact of the new legislation against the traffic in persons and sought details on policies to combat poverty among women.
An expert said the programmes of affirmative action of the Belgian Government were interesting. She wanted to know how the minority German speaking women in Belgium were faring. Another expert said she admired Belgium's approach to violence and wondered how the minorities related to the legislation on violence. Was there still a taboo on rape that prompted them to not report it? She also stressed the need for harnessing the media to portray a positive image of women.
Speaking on article 5, under which States parties are required to eliminate practices based on the idea of the inferiority or superiority of either sex, and to ensure that family education teaches that men and women share a common role in bringing up children, an expert said it was generally difficult to publicize sexual harassment in the private sector and commended the Government for its efforts in that direction. She asked about the impact of the law in actually reducing the number of incidents of sexual harassment.
Another expert said that even in countries with sophisticated systems for protecting women, it was difficult to actually prosecute people for violating women's rights. Judges often failed to understand why women retracted cases of violence by their spouses. She asked if there was a programme to train judges in light of the fact that gender discrimination was a systemic problem.
On article 10, which calls for women to be granted equal rights with men in education, an expert wanted to know if steps to "masculinize" professions such as nursing and midwifery were being taken. Just as the feminization of
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professions was important, so was masculinization of other professions, she said.
Speaking on article 11, which obliges States to eliminate discrimination against women in employment, and to prevent discrimination against women on the grounds of marriage or maternity, an expert wondered about the success of the Government's retraining programmes and asked if steps had been taken to train women in self-employment. Another expert questioned why more women were unemployed than men. The unemployment rate of women was 10.7 per cent, while for men it was about 4 per cent.
On articles 13 and 14, which state that women shall have the right to family benefits, bank loans and mortgages and deal with the particular problems of rural women, respectively, an expert wanted to know how the delegation was certain that there was no discrimination in the disbursement of loans. She suggested that studies be carried out to determine whether women were treated equally. She also wanted to know the average income of the rural men and women and asked about the advantages and disadvantages that rural women faced.
On article 16, which spells out the equality of women's rights in matters relating to marriage and family relations, an expert wanted more information on one-parent families. She also asked if the divorce rate was increasing or decreasing. Another expert asked if the women migrants from the Maghreb kept their customs of polygamy and mutilation of young women.
Response by Belgium
Ms. PATERNOTTRE, Advisor, Department of the Equality of Chambers, Ministry of Employment and Labour, thanked the experts for their questions and apologized for the lateness of reports. The Government had wanted to present its third report earlier.
The Chairman of the Committee, IVANKA CORTI, expert from Italy, said the Committee had asked for an amendment to the Convention to allow it to meet more than once a year. As it stood now, each country had to wait several years to be put on the agenda. More meeting time was required for the Committee to consider national reports.
Ms. PATERNOTTRE said that immigrant women required special services and more was being done to help them. Discussions were under way on the best way to put together training programmes. Official documents were issued in three languages. Regarding pilot projects, they were intended to update existing instruments. The Federal system was based on local autonomy and measures could only be encouraged, not imposed. Sometimes measures were developed in
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one region and taken up in another. Just because there were different levels of government did not mean they could not work together.
She said studies were being conducted to define qualifications for various occupations to enable fair remuneration. Regarding the naming of children, the problem was that women retained their maiden name during their entire lives, while the children received the name of the father. Regarding interruptions of pregnancy, the woman was covered by medical confidentiality but repayment was carried out on the basis of identification. The legislative quotas adopted in Belgian legislation had been under discussion. The threshold was one-third participation. Affirmative action campaigns required long-term efforts to be effective. The Government had no statistics on unpaid work.
She said the German-speaking minority had not been neglected on women's issues. Regarding the North African minority, everyone in Belgium was subject to the same laws. Under legislation, a man could not have several wives. There were two royal decrees on sexual harassment -- one for the private sector and one for the public sector -- because of the administrative differences between the two sectors. The principles and rules which applied were the same for both sectors.
Women returning to the employment sector after long absences often faced difficulties, she continued. Belgium supported initiatives within the European Community to create jobs for women, but women's unemployment was much more structural than that experienced by men. Rural women had the same property rights as men. While it was true that 20 years ago a single mother could create difficulties, today the phenomenon had been accepted. The number of divorces was increasing and the age of marriage was rising. A majority of part-time workers were women. One could not be hired on a part-time basis for less than one-third full time, in order to ensure social protection.
ANNIE DE WIEST, Advisor, Department of the Equality of Chambers, Ministry of Employment and Labour, French community, said research showed that stress caused 10 per cent of absenteeism from work. The sharing of tasks and distribution of time was far from being solved. Regarding results of the laws on trafficking in women, the problem was far from being solved. The spotlight was on the problem. There had been a tremendous campaign in the French community on paedophilia. Also, there was a campaign against any kind of exclusion of immigrants, which stressed intercultural dialogue, and literacy courses were being organized for women of foreign origin.
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