LEGISLATIVE MEASURES NEEDED TO ERASE GENDER DISPARITIES IN NEW ZEALAND, COMMITTEE EXPERTS SAY

Press Release
WOM/1072

LEGISLATIVE MEASURES NEEDED TO ERASE GENDER DISPARITIES IN NEW ZEALAND, COMMITTEE EXPERTS SAY

Concerns Expressed on Women's Employment Opportunities, but Praise for Overall Human Rights Record

New Zealand had a range of measures to deal with gender inequity, but serious gender disparities pointed to a need for legislative measures, expert members of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women said this afternoon as they continued considering that country's third and fourth periodic reports on implementing the Convention on Elimination of All Discrimination against Women.

The experts said that while progress in withdrawing one of New Zealand's two reservations to the Convention -- regarding women and military service -- the other, on paid maternity leave, was striking. The lack of State support for maternity leave, combined with a weakened collective bargaining power, amounted to structural discrimination; it was a way of segregating women in low-paid, part-time work.

The social side of New Zealand's economic policy was being neglected, experts said, expressing other concerns about women's rights in the field of employment. Those were related to marginal employment, lack of affirmative action and a disturbing level of pay inequity. Particular concern was expressed about a different wage scale for men and women existing in the same job right after graduation from school.

In her concluding comments, the Committee's Chairperson, Salma Khan, of Bangladesh, said that New Zealand had a strong track record for advancing human rights. With its small population, vast resources and sound educational system, the Committee's expectations had been high. In some areas, the country had failed to address the problems faced by Maori women. Still, New Zealand had achieved a great deal and could be a model to many countries in the Asia Pacific region.

The Committee will meet again on Friday, 10 July, to conclude its nineteenth session. It will take action on the report of its three-week session, including closing comments on the eight States that presented reports during the session: Slovakia, South Africa, Panama, United Republic of Tanzania, Nigeria, Peru, Republic of Korea and New Zealand.

Committee Work Programme

The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women met this afternoon to continue its consideration of New Zealand's third and fourth reports on implementing the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. Specifically, members of the 23-expert body were scheduled to make comments on the situation of women in New Zealand, having heard presentations on the matter this morning.

(For background information on the report, as well as on the presentation made by New Zealand this morning, see Press Release WOM/1071 of 8 July.)

Experts Comments

An expert made note of the mention of Maori people throughout the report. She said other reports had indicated that 34 per cent of Maori girls were school dropouts, and there was a disproportionaly low enrolment of Maori women in colleges. The unemployment rate was three times higher for Maori women than others. Among lawyers, 4.4 per cent were Maoris; how many of those were women? The incidence of violence was higher among Maoris than among the rest of the community; how many of those women used the resources available to them?

The Government's approach to the age-old problem of prostitution was forward-looking, she said. Were the persons who worked with "sex workers" social workers or former "sex workers" themselves? The laws on division of property were also forward-looking, especially the de facto relationship bill.

Another expert highlighted New Zealand's achievements in advancing women's rights, including the Maori policies and the legislation on domestic violence. The large percentage of women in parliament was good, but their commitment to gender-sensitive legislation should be assured. Guidelines on women's issues should be considered in both the monitoring and legislative process of lawmaking.

Concerns with regard to women's rights in New Zealand were related to women's position in the labour market, pay equity, paid maternity leave, marginal employment for women and lack of affirmative action for them, the expert continued. The pay inequity was most disturbing. The situation in New Zealand was not one of relative differences between men and women in jobs. Rather, there was a pay differential right from the start, in the same job, for men and women straight out of school.

New Zealand had mix of measures to deal with gender inequity, but it needed legislative measures, the expert said. It had been a mistake to repeal the previous employment equity law. For example, women were clustered in

Women's Anti-Discrimination Committee - 3 - Press Release WOM/1072 402nd Meeting (PM) 8 July 1998

sectors of the labour market. Determining a wage-scale in female-dominated areas required other measures than just incentives, and those had to be legislated. Progress of the economy and productivity growth could not be gained at the expense of exploiting women.

Government-monitored legislation was missing in New Zealand's implementation of the Beijing Platform, she said. Also, in considering its policy on maternity leave, for example, New Zealand had chosen countries such as the United States and the United Kingdom to study, but those countries did not have good records in the area. Maternity leave should be at full salary and it should be paid by the Government since women were giving birth to the next generation. Making employers pay was discriminatory because it made women more expensive to hire.

A whole range of measures was available to take care of inequity by legislative means, she said. That included quotas and targets mandated to be met. They should be incorporated into the policy. A flexible numerical goal should be as an affirmative action mechanism. Some governments gave incentives for achieving equality for women in the labour market. How was the employment contract Act impacting on women? Contract work was increasing even though women would have preferred longer work relationships. Was this a way of avoiding maternity leave benefits?

New Zealand's market liberalization had put an emphasis on the individual, she concluded. The approach of viewing men and women as individuals on the labour market was a mistake. Family responsibilities still fell more heavily on women's shoulders. New Zealand should look at its framework. Child-rearing was a societal function, but as long as it was done by individuals, the Government should look out for the interests of those who performed it.

An expert commended New Zealand's legislation on human rights, but noted shadowy areas in the national labour code. He cited part-time work, where women were mainly involved, as well as wage arrangements in which women were unable to take legal redress, and unpaid maternity leave. Those were elements requiring redoubled government efforts. Equal pay for work of equal value was elaborated in the International Labour Organization (ILO) conventions, upon which some points of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women rested. What was being done to enforce those provisions? she asked.

In a world increasingly marked by economic crisis and insecurity, women were the most vulnerable to discrimination, she said. While it was clear that the State was acting as a catalyst to promote the rights of all women, more efforts were needed to establish equal pay and to take into account maternity

Women's Anti-Discrimination Committee - 4 - Press Release WOM/1072 402nd Meeting (PM) 8 July 1998

as a social function. Maternity should be supported by the nation. Economic growth could not be achieved at the expense of social rights.

An expert posed a series of questions about the Maori. She asked how the rights of the Maori were integrated into the national Human Rights Act. She asked how national law defined Maoris, and into what ethnic group children of mixed marriages were classified. Was Maori customary law officially recognized, and which law took precedence? she asked. Did the Maori have a specific court, and over what matters did it have jurisdiction? What percentage of Maori women workers held high-level positions in companies, as well as professional and international organizations, and what was being done to increase that number?

She said the Committee had been told the Maori language was an official language. Were laws, governmental and court decisions translated into Maori? she asked. Where Maori traditions and customs affected law, were those translated into English? Were all citizens required to know and speak the Maori language? She also asked what was being done regarding traditional rights for tribal lands which had been occupied by non-Maoris.

Another expert said that New Zealand had exhibited great sensitivity to a number of issues that ranked high on the international agenda and had taken active stands on environmental issues, nuclear issues, and the protection of human rights. In many countries, New Zealand's policies were held up as models.

Such a commendable record brought with it attendant responsibilities, she said, and she expressed concern about the country's continuing reservations to the Convention. The country lacked legislation on paid maternity leave and the Committee had even heard of constraints to unpaid maternity leave.

Men had primary access to full-time jobs, which was the route to career advancement and decision-making positions, she said. Men were thus advanced by women's decisions to take part-time casual employment, especially during critical periods in people's career, which coincided with the child-rearing period. Upon divorce, future earnings were not taken into account in the Matrimonial Amendment Bill, putting women in double jeopardy.

She noted that the de facto Relations Property Bill, drafted upon recognition of changing social institutions, allowed for sharing only a portion of property upon dissolution of the union. Why were married women protected to a greater degree, when the country accepted such unions as realities of contemporary society? she asked.

Another expert said that since New Zealand had played a leading role since the beginning of the history of human rights, she could not understand

Women's Anti-Discrimination Committee - 5 - Press Release WOM/1072 402nd Meeting (PM) 8 July 1998

how it could maintain two reservations to the Convention, particularly so many years after ratification.

New Zealand had been the first country to give women the right to vote, she said. After 100 years of women voting, and in light of the high level of education and broad participation in activities that enabled women to be politically oriented, the percentage of women in Parliament was not satisfactory. What practical measures were being taken? she asked. She requested information on the electoral system, which was neither purely proportional, nor majoritarian.

During the presentation this morning, the Committee had been told that New Zealand's economic performance had improved since the early 1990s, and that the country now had an open and competitive economy, she said. Those achievements were laudable, but how did they benefit individuals? Free markets never solved the problem of the poorest strata of workers. Despite its democratic tradition, New Zealand had practically eliminated trade union negotiations. This was especially significant for women, who were the most vulnerable working force. Was this policy to continue? The social side of New Zealand's economic policy was being neglected, she added. Perhaps those injustices could be redressed through jurisprudence, she added.

One expert said funding of women's ministries was a sensitive issue. Adequate funding had to be provided because implementing programmes depended on it. Also, a staff of 37 for the Ministry was insufficient. The importance of advancing gender equality in a developed country merited a greater investment.

With regard to Maori women, special measures should be taken to reduce the gaps between that ethnic minority and other women. New Zealand's efforts were impressive but discrimination still existed. It was a matter of achieving equity not just for the sake of fairness but also for social peace. Suicide was high among young Maoris, which was a sign of malaise. That meant young people were in danger and full importance had to be accorded the matter. Perhaps an emergency programme was needed.

Finally, genital mutilation had been mentioned in the report in the context of legislation against it being passed without being certain that the practice existed in the country. The problem was not just a matter of imposing penalties for the practice, but also recognizing that practitioners did not consider their activity to be wrong. Solid strategies and education campaigns were needed, along with a better-focused study of the populations possibly practising the activity.

One expert commended the inclusion of family violence prevention in the school curriculum, as well as the Government's initiatives for the Maori population, achievements in the number of women starting new businesses and

Women's Anti-Discrimination Committee - 6 - Press Release WOM/1072 402nd Meeting (PM) 8 July 1998

the number of women in Parliament. Those strategies should be made available as models for other nations, she said.

Another expert said the respect for diverse cultures in New Zealand was admirable. For many British commonwealth countries, New Zealand was a role model. However, there should be more Maori lawyers. Alcoholism was notoriously widespread among Maoris. Was the incidence greater among Maori men than women? Was there any relation between alcoholism and domestic violence? Were there any treatment programmes for them? What happened to the children of such alcoholics? Also, Maori women were disproportionately represented in the lowest income groups. What kinds of access did they have to services?

New Zealand was undergoing privatization. Had this had any effect on women's health?

An expert said it was important to highlight the political will of the Government in sending the high-level delegation to present the country's report to the Committee. New Zealand was active in the international labour field. Protections in the employment field should apply to both Maori and non-Maori women.

Another expert called for more comparative data on New Zealand's advances, commending the domestic violence Act and the fact that the Committee was cited in New Zealand legislation. The programme on women's health was impressive but the results of monitoring should be included. New Zealand's reservation on paid maternity leave in the Convention was striking and should be withdrawn.

Regarding violence against women, which was increasing, it would be of interest to know what effect the Government's policies had had, on both women and men, she said. It was not certain that decriminalization of prostitution was a step towards legalization, but the breadth of the problem had not been presented in the report.

DEBORAH MORRIS, New Zealand Associate Minister of Women's Affairs, said significant efforts were being made to address the needs of the Maori. Resources had been directed towards increasing the number of Maori health care organizations, to provide culturally appropriate health care. People were allowed to determine their ethnicity themselves; there were no national limitations on defining ethnicity. The Ministry of Women's Affairs was working to identify, train and promote women for decision-making positions.

The Maori language could be used in parliament and courts, she said. Great emphasis was placed on teaching the Maori language as an important way to strengthen the culture. A number of financial and land packages had been returned to the Maori in recent years. The Alcohol Advisory Council was

Women's Anti-Discrimination Committee - 7 - Press Release WOM/1072 402nd Meeting (PM) 8 July 1998

raising awareness among young people and parents to prevent excessive alcohol consumption.

In recent years, New Zealand's social policy had been afforded a new level of priority, she said. Record levels of expenditure were directed to health and education, and to those that needed it most.

The Government had seriously considered the issue of paid maternity leave and engaged extensively in discussions on the matter, she said. The effect on women in the labour force of having children was being addressed through financial assistance and free health care, among other means. Up to 14 weeks of continuous leave was provided for mothers, up to 2 weeks for fathers, and up to 52 weeks extended leave, which could be shared by both parents. Employers could not dismiss a woman for pregnancy, or related health complications.

She said it would be difficult to ask New Zealand's taxpayers to fund a programme that would benefit those already earning above-average salary. If such a programme was implemented, it should be for those earning less than a certain amount. Resources for strategic priorities such as health and education should not be redirected to maternity leave. Asking employers to contribute could impact negatively on women's work. Many countries which provided paid maternity leave had less generous provisions regarding job security and flexibility of hours, she noted. However, the Government would carefully consider the Committee's comments and continue to review the matter.

New Zealand strongly supported the United Nations human rights treaty process, and admired the Committee's recently improved working methods which facilitated greater exchange with States parties. She had met with the Prime Minister to discuss New Zealand's report prior to appearing before the Committee, and the two would be discussing the Committee's comments to see how they could be incorporated into policy.

SALMA KHAN, of Bangladesh, Committee Chairperson, said New Zealand's report was both exciting and well-structured. The Government had ratified a number of human rights instruments, and had implemented numerous domestic measures in areas critical to women's lives. New Zealand had a good track record for advancing human rights and with its small population, vast resources and sound educational system, the Committee's expectations of it had been high.

The reservation on paid maternity leave was an important concern to the Committee, she said. It discriminated against many competent women and was of disadvantage to society, since it removed those persons from the labour market. The national Human Rights Act of 1993 did not protect women's rights as a group, she noted, and she drew attention to efforts to produce an efficient labour market. She urged the Government to ratify the International

Women's Anti-Discrimination Committee - 8 - Press Release WOM/1072 402nd Meeting (PM) 8 July 1998

Labour Organization (ILO) Convention and withdraw its reservation to the women's rights Convention.

To some extent, New Zealand had failed to address the problems of Maori women, she said. Some concerns were the numbers of children born to single- headed households, the low rates of education among Maori teenagers and the fact that the Maori generally lacked information on national provisions for income support. Still, New Zealand had achieved a great deal and could be a model to many countries in the Asia Pacific region.

* *** *

Women's Anti-Discrimination Committee - 9 - Press Release WOM/1072 402nd Meeting (PM) 8 July 1998

wom1072