WOMEN'S ANTI-DISCRIMINATION COMMITTEE CONTINUES CONSIDERATION OF REPORTS OF LUXEMBOURG ON CONVENTION'S IMPLEMENTATION

Press Release
WOM/979

WOMEN'S ANTI-DISCRIMINATION COMMITTEE CONTINUES CONSIDERATION OF REPORTS OF LUXEMBOURG ON CONVENTION'S IMPLEMENTATION

Punishing women who underwent abortion was inappropriate, experts in the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women said this afternoon, as they commented on the initial and second periodic report of Luxembourg.

Saying that the abortion law in Luxembourg was punitive, the 23-member Committee, which is the monitoring body for the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, said the Beijing Platform for Action adopted at the 1995 Fourth World Conference on Women had urged governments to review abortion laws.

Experts asked for statistical information on the rate of legal abortions in Luxembourg, which are permitted to some extent and under certain conditions. They also inquired about the number of prosecutions for abortion. In addition, attention was drawn to the need for disaggregated data on the health needs of men and women.

The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women reviews reports of States parties submitted in accordance with article 18 of the Convention, which requires States to submit reports within one year after accession and thereafter at least every four years. Reports focus on legislative, judicial and administrative measures adopted by States to give effect to the Convention provisions.

Commenting on other aspects of Luxembourg's reports, experts asked if there were any sex education programmes aimed at male responsibility. They expressed disapproval for a law which forbade widowed or divorced women from remarrying until 300 days after the end of the previous marriage. That law was an outdated one aimed at establishing paternity and could be done away with.

The Committee will meet again at 10:30 a.m. tomorrow, Thursday, 10 July, to consider the initial, second and third periodic reports of Antigua and Barbuda.

Committee Work Programme

The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women met this afternoon to continue consideration of the initial and second periodic report of Luxembourg on its implementation of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. (For background information on the report, see Press Release WOM/978 issued today.)

Comments on Specific Articles

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 asked for statistics on violence against women. She wondered why violence against women was not penalized and why there was no information on violence against boys and girls. Further, she expressed concern at a statement in the report that spousal rape was not considered a crime.

On article 6, which requires States parties to suppress all forms of traffic in women and exploitation of prostitution of women, an expert wanted to know if Luxembourg had agreements with third countries to prevent trafficking in women. Did such trafficking affect the women without resident permits more often than the Luxembourg women?

Speaking on article 7, which states that women shall share on equal terms with men in the political and public life of the country, an expert wanted to know the steps being taken to increase the number of women in the legal profession.

On article 10, which calls for women to be granted equal rights with men in education, an expert said that there was no focus on university education in the report. She asked for statistics on men and women who went for such education as well as statistics on those who were awarded scholarships and those who dropped out.

Commenting 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 wanted data on the breakdown of men and women employed in full-time as well as part-time employment. She asked if steps had been taken to give value to non- remunerative work. Further, did men and women receive pension when they retired and what was their average pension?

Still on article 11, an expert wanted to know what measures had been taken to bring about equality in pay for the sexes in both private and public

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sectors. The expert suggested that the Luxembourg authorities should look into the reasons why women did not seem enthused about full employment. She would like information on the situation of disabled women.

Another expert sought information on whether migrant women were given benefits and whether they enjoyed legal rights. She asked whether there was a law to enforce the provision of child care facilities and if so, how that was carried out. She would also like to know whether women were being encouraged to enter the professions, and what job retraining programmes were available to help women obtain highly remunerative work.

With regard to article 12, which deals with access to health care services, including those related to family planning, many experts concentrated their comments and questions on the issue of abortion. The Luxembourg initial report states that while abortion had been punishable by law since 1879 in all cases, new provisions introduced in 1978 legalized it to some extent and under certain conditions. The report also states that while abortion was still banned, in principle, it was punishable only by a fine. One expert said Luxembourg's abortion law was punitive and drew attention to the Beijing Platform for Action's call to governments to review abortion laws.

The expert said punishing women who had undergone abortion was inappropriate. She wondered why women still travelled abroad for abortion if it was legalized under certain conditions in the country. The expert said the Luxembourg reports lacked statistical information, adding it was important that figures on the rate of legal abortion and those being prosecuted were provided to the Committee. The expert also asked for figures for teen pregnancies and the ages of those involved. She said contraceptives should be provided to discourage abortion. Questions were also asked on private and public health insurance available to women, and how health insurance schemes operated. The experts stressed the need for statistical information on those issues. Information should also be provided on HIV/AIDS among women, and the age group of those infected. The experts commended the government for the health services planned for prostitutes, and also asked whether victims of domestic violence were provided with any assistance under the various health insurance schemes.

An expert said it was important that women were educated about breast cancer to demystify the disease. The expert would be interested to know what the Luxembourg Government was doing in the area of women's reproductive health. In abortion cases, who was fined, was it the person who sought it or the doctor who performed it? the expert asked. Was there any statistics on abortion cases brought before the courts? The expert stressed that the Committee needed statistical information to understand the trends in those cases. The expert also urged the government to take note of general recommendations the Committee had made. She wanted gender breakdown of

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figures on number of doctors and pharmacists, as well as information on drug addiction among women and what was being done to help them.

On article 14, an expert expressed concern about lack of information about the situation of rural women which the article covered. The two reports of Luxembourg did not sufficiently deal with the problems of rural women, the expert said. What was their exact situation and their income level compared with those of urban women? she asked.

With regard to article 16, which spells out equality of women's rights in matters relating to marriage and family relations, the experts said the Luxembourg law on the issue seemed outdated. It should be done away with, they added. How was blood relationship established, as in the past it was shameful for women to establish paternity? Noting the observation in the initial report that "natural children" had the same rights as legitimate children, the experts asked what rights had the child whose paternity had not been established. How many illegitimate children were there in Luxembourg, one asked. To what degree was male responsibility part of sex education. The experts in their comments on the article expressed disapproval for a law which forbade widows or divorced women from remarrying until 300 days after the end of the previous marriage.

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