ECUADOR’S GENDER EQUALITY MECHANISMS NEED REAL POWER TO ACHIEVE POSITIVE RESULTS, SAY EXPERTS IN WOMEN’S ANTI-DISCRIMINATION COMMITTEE

Committee on Elimination of

Discrimination against Women

622^nd & 623^rd Meetings (AM & PM)

ECUADOR’S GENDER EQUALITY MECHANISMS NEED REAL POWER TO ACHIEVE POSITIVE RESULTS,

SAY EXPERTS IN WOMEN’S ANTI-DISCRIMINATION COMMITTEE

Ecuador’s gender equality mechanisms, including National Council of Women, needed to have real power to advance actual equality between sexes and implement the laws enacted in the country, several members of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women stressed during today’s day-long discussion of the situation in that country.

Acting in their personal capacity, the Committee’s 23 experts monitor compliance with the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, which is often described as an international bill of rights for women.  Ecuador, which ratified that instrument without reservations in 1981, is one of eight countries presenting reports to the Committee during its current three-week session.  The others are:  Brazil, Costa Rica, France, Morocco, Japan, Slovenia and New Zealand.

Introducing the country’s fourth and fifth periodic reports, Ecuador’s Director of the National Council of Women, Sonia Garcia Alvarado, said that notwithstanding economic difficulties, poverty, political instability and natural disasters, which impeded improvement in the status of women in Ecuador, the Government had undertaken a serious review of its national legislation.  Those efforts had resulted in over 30 revisions of the Constitution and numerous amendments of the civil code.  Other examples of legislative action included reforms of the penal code and laws on domestic violence and sexuality.

Ecuador was the first Latin American country to grant women the right to vote, she said.  Still, only some 50 per cent of women had voted in recent elections.  The reform of the election law and the establishment of quotas had led to some 27 per cent women’s representation in local elections, but patriarchal forms of exercising power prevented women from participating in government, judicial and legislative positions.

Although the laws and institutional machinery for equality had been put in place, prevailing gender stereotypes still promoted multiple forms of discrimination against women, imposing on them most family responsibilities and giving priority to boys’ education, for example.  She said labour and political discrimination was still present in Ecuador.

During the Committee’s article-by-article consideration of Ecuador’s compliance with the Convention, its members commended “some admirable strides”, which included the country’s legal, institutional and political initiatives, including temporary special measures for the advancement of women.

One speaker pointed out that elimination of legal discrimination was crucial for the implementation of the Convention.  With great disparities between the de jure and de facto situation of women in Ecuador, however, it was necessary to strengthen national gender equality machinery to achieve real changes and move from the strategies of the Convention to the institutionalization of its provisions.

Speakers pointed out that a large portion of the country’s female population lived in conditions of poverty and was still unaware of its rights.  Violence against women still presented a serious source of concern, as did the economic, political and educational situation of vulnerable groups of women, including indigenous and rural women.  The issue of child labour needed to be addressed.

In that connection, an expert said that not only was there a high number of early pregnancies in Ecuador, but in rural areas, eight out of 10 children were engaged in manual work.  It was very sad that instead of getting an education, children were forced to either work or have children at a very young age.  The expert from Bangladesh said that child labour existed in her country, as well, but incentives were also provided to encourage children to go to school.

Quite a few questions were also asked about the country’s remaining outdated and discriminatory legal provisions.  For example, sexual conduct of women played a role in paternity suits, and widows and divorced women could not remarry, unless a certain period of time had elapsed.  The Committee Chairperson, Ayse Feride Acar, an expert from Turkey, pointed out that the guarantee of equality contained in the Constitution did not seem to apply to married women.

Others noted that while the age of marriage in Ecuador was 18 years, in fact, a large number of girls got married at an earlier age with authorization from their parents.  Although not invoked for the last 35 years, an article justifying so-called “crimes of honour” still existed in the country’s legislation.

Among other issues highlighted in the debate were illiteracy, early pregnancies, the situation of indigenous women, sexual education and prostitution.

Also participating in the discussion were the delegation’s expert on domestic violence, Elsie Aguilar Montalvo, and expert on international relations, Susana Flores Ortiz, as well as Silvia Espindola and Marisol Nieto of the country’s Permanent Mission.

       The Committee will resume its work at 10 a.m. Monday, 14 July, when it is scheduled to take up the situation of women in New Zealand.

Background

Today, the Committee was scheduled to take up the situation of women in Ecuador, which ratified the Convention in November 1981.

Ecuador’s combined fourth and fifth periodic reports (document CEDAW/C/ECU/4-5) cover the period from 1990 through 1998.  The Government has also submitted a report on its implementation of the outcome of the fourth World Conference on Women to the preparatory committee to the special session of the Assembly entitled “Women in 2000: gender equality, development and peace for the twenty-first century”.

The Government reports that the country’s civil code was amended in 1989 in order to address the issues of the legal status of women within marriage, the administration of conjugal property, mutual and responsible parenthood, marital rights and obligations of spouses, parental rights and termination of marriage.  Recent legislation also includes the Law to Combat Violence against Women, Children and the Family, the Employment Protection Act and the Free Maternity Reform Law.  In response to the Committee’s request to strengthen the National Agency for Women, the Government created an autonomous National Council for Women in 1997, which is tasked with coordinating public policies on gender issues.

In addition to enforcing relevant laws, the Government’s efforts to prevent and punish acts of violence against women include information campaigns and setting up of Women’s Commissariats –- institutions that have backing from the legal system, the police and non-governmental organizations.  Regarding measures to overcome sexual stereotypes and eliminate prejudices, the report states that changing mentalities is a complex process in a multi-ethnic country where sexist practices are deeply rooted in tradition.  The condition of women and values varies according to geographic location and the medium involved.  For example, indigenous women “tend to pay more attention and give higher priority to the daily needs of the family than men do”.

While the Government strives to raise awareness of human rights through the media, much still remains to be done to alter the standpoint of news analyses and their presentation.  Gender-specific advertising still persists in Ecuador, especially regarding domestic service.  One television programme, however, also broadcasts short commercials promoting the concept of democracy based on the equality of children and adolescents of both sexes.  Efforts are being made to change stereotypes in textbooks as part of the wider curriculum reform.

Regarding the country’s measures to eliminate discrimination in political and public life, the report states that Article 102 of its Constitution provides for equitable participation of men and women as candidates in elections.  There is also a transitory provision, which ensures that women should constitute 20 per cent of the lists of candidates for multi-person elections.  There is no sex discrimination in public sector appointments, which are governed by the Civil Service and Administrative Career Act.

The 1997 Employment Protection Act provides for positive discrimination measures, the report states.  Paradoxically, however, application of this law, “without having established a system of alternacy and given the system of quotas per province, prevented greater representation of women in Parliament” at the congressional elections in May 1998.  Nonetheless, women’s participation was then at its highest level in the country’s history (16 women deputies at the national and provincial levels).

Despite scant female presence in the top decision-making posts, a feature of the 1990s was the presence of women in the public domain.  During that time, there was always at least one female minister in the Government, and women have held positions of governor and mayor, as well.  In 1998, 50 per cent of participants in the diplomatic training course were women.  In 1994, three of the country’s
69 ambassadors were female.

As for the situation of rural women, the report states that gender issues are mainstreamed in the national economic development plan.  Various projects have prioritized participation by women and young people as direct beneficiaries of development projects.  A project entitled “Integrated Development for Campesino Women” began in 1994, focusing on opening up opportunities for women’s participation and on direct action to generate employment and income for women, give them access to community power structures and raise their self-esteem.  Also in the nineties, a “Land Tilting by Gender” project handed over some
12,500 property deeds to women.

Regarding equality in marriage, the Government reports that marriage is based on free consent of the contracting parties and equality of rights, obligations and legal capacity of spouses.  Similar rights and obligations are upheld with respect to common-law unions.  Divorce can be initiated by either husband or wife, although the law establishes that where no specific declaration has been made, “it shall be understood” that the ordinary administrator of such conjugal society is the husband.  The minimum age for marriage is 18 years old.  In the case of minors, either parents’ authorization, or a decision of a competent judge is required.

Introduction of Report

Among those presenting Ecuador’s report were: Silvia Espindola, Second Secretary; Marisol Nieto, Second Secretary; Elsie Aguilar Montalvo, expert on domestic violence; and Susana Flores Ortiz, expert on international relations.

MIGUEL CARBO BENITES (Ecuador) said Ecuador had made great progress since ratifying the Convention in 1981.  In 1997, the National Council of Women (CONAMU) was created to coordinate public policies regarding women.  Ecuador was convinced of the need to strengthen the role of women, as it was crucial to the country’s socio-economic and political well-being.  Ecuador was committed to protecting the rights of women, girls and children.

SONIA GARCIA ALVARADO, Director of the National Council of Women, said CONAMU had prepared the draft report, which was then examined by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.  CONAMU was created in 1997 with clear financial and political autonomy in its structure and leadership.  The CONAMU’s predecessor, DINAMU, had focused on small projects, whereas CONAMU focused on general issues and public policy in general.  The work of the new institution had resulted in important constitutional reforms.

In the 1990s, Ecuador had faced a serious political and economic crisis, she said.  There had been six successive presidents.  The parliament had denied the first female Vice-President the right to sit in her post.  The economic crisis had resulted in the collapse of the economy, and the dollarization of the economy.  Five out of 10 Ecuadorians lived below the poverty line.  Some two out of
13 million Ecuadorians lived outside its borders.  The country had also suffered from numerous natural disasters resulting from the El Nino effect.  Throughout the time of difficulty, however, the indigenous and the women’s movement had gained strength.

Local governments in Ecuador were autonomous since the 1998 Constitution, she said.  There had been numerous reforms to the civil code to eliminate discrimination against women.  The National Constituent Assembly had reformed the Constitution, enacting 30 reforms for the enjoyment of fundamental human rights.  That achievement had been a result of a well crafted alliance between the women’s movement and female members of Parliament.  In 1986, 18 draft laws to eradicate discrimination had been presented to the Congress.  The law against violence in the family, the electoral law, the law on sexuality and love and reforms to the penal code were examples of legislative reforms.

The CONAMU, with the participation of the women’s movement, had formulated an equal opportunity plan as the primary instrument to coordinate women’s policies, she said.  Despite much juridical progress, cultural patterns remained at the ground level that introduced different forms of discrimination against women, including giving priority to educating boy children and sexual harassment.  The decade could be characterized as one of formal and institutional progress, with the maintenance of cultural practices that promoted discrimination against women.

Violence against women and the family was covered by special legislation, she said.  That legislation included civil and penal provisions, and appeal measures.  It also had established responsibility for political and civil officials.  In 2002, the public ministry had adopted medical and legal protocols for dealing with violence.  In March 1994, five commissariats for women and the family had become operational as a pilot project.  By 2002, the number of commissariats had grown to 32, and a decentralized plan had been crafted to prevent violence in certain provinces.

In the 1990s, the topic of domestic violence had been placed on the social agenda, she said.  It was first recognized as a public health problem in 1998.  Institutional machinery had been created for the prevention, punishment and implementation of the law.  Corrupt practices within the judiciary existed, along with sexist cultural attitudes that prevented the implementation of domestic violence legislation.  The 1998 Constitution established protections for women in several areas, and the labour code guaranteed pregnant women the right to protection in the workplace.  The law on labour protection had established a
20 per cent minimum quota for women in the judiciary and election lists.  In 2000, a reform of the electoral law to include quotas had been adopted.

With the new millennium, there had been a proliferation of programmes for the poor, she said.  School vouchers were available to guarantee equal access to education.  The new Government was currently developing human development vouchers.  Women and children were the main beneficiaries of social protection programmes in the 1990s.  In everyday language, they were called poverty vouchers.

Sexual harassment was considered a crime in Ecuador, she said.  Until 1998, there had been no research on the phenomenon of prostitution.  Of the total number of sex workers, some 50 per cent were organized.  In 1998, HIV-prevention programmes were created and 33 per cent of prostitutes used condoms.  Prostitution was a criminal offence in Ecuador.  However, certain establishments with municipal permits for sanitation were maintained.  The network against child abuse had not established care for minors who were sexually exploited.

Ecuador was the first Latin American country to grant women the right to vote, she said.  Despite that, only some 50 per cent of women had voted in recent elections.  The reform of the election law and the establishment of quotas had lead to some 27 per cent women’s representation in local elections.  Patriarchal forms of exercising power hindered the number of women participating in government, judicial and legislative positions.  Regarding diplomatic careers, while there was no de jure discrimination, women did not hold higher-level positions in the Foreign Service.

She said gender equality and equal opportunity in the field of education was now incorporated in the educational process.  Indigenous languages were now also taught in the schools.  The CONAMU had had different programmes to include a gender approach in education, working with different training modules that allowed for promotion when training courses were taken by professors.

Noting that public school education was inferior to private education, she said sex education was also being incorporated into school curricula.  Despite the fact that literacy and education gaps had narrowed between men and women, gender stereotypes existed throughout the education system.

Regarding employment, in the 1990s, the number of self-employed women was some 26 per cent.  The Constitution guaranteed equal pay for equal work.  Social security coverage was 100 per cent for women in public positions.  In the private sector it was 60 per cent.  Some 90 per cent of indigenous workers lacked coverage.  Given the conditions, the migratory process had increased.  Of the total number of people migrating, some 30 per cent were women.

Ecuador had seen a drop in the maternal mortality rate, she said.  There had been an increase in the number of visits women had to make to doctors during and after childbirth.  Indigenous women usually only had two prenatal visits.  One great achievement had been the access of pregnant women to health care.  While the modernization of the health system had resulted in considerable achievements for pregnant women, other areas of health had not progressed.

On rural women, she said Ecuador was a multi-ethnic country.  Rural women did not fare as well as urban women in terms of employment and education, receiving about 35 per cent less income than men.  Women headed about 50 per cent of rural households.  The establishment of a council for indigenous groups had led to the creation of programmes for rural women for credit, training and development assistance.  About 50 per cent of rural women who migrated to cities did so to help their income.

The constitution recognized the same rights of men and women in marriage and civil unions, she said.  Although legal reforms provided for equal status for men and women in marriage, culture still placed heavy burdens on women, who assumed the costs of economic adjustments.  The 1990s had made great formal progress in the social programmes for poor and ethnic groups to eradicate discrimination.  The maintenance of cultural and patriarchal patterns persisted, however.

Reaction of Experts

As the Committee began its article-by-article consideration of Ecuador’s compliance with the Convention, its members commended the Government for its will to implement the Convention through amendments to national legislation, despite the constraints imposed by economic difficulties, political instability and natural disasters.  Experts pointed out, however, that patriarchal and sexist stereotypes still hindered progress in Ecuador.  A large portion of the country’s female population lived in conditions of poverty and was still unaware of its rights.  Violence against women also represented a serious source of concern.

In that connection, MARIA REGINA TAVARES DA SILVA, expert from Portugal, said that she was struck by great disparities between the de jure and de facto situation of women in Ecuador.  With some 88 per cent of the population living in conditions of poverty, many women did not get recognition for their work, and the wage gap was growing.  With the Government displaying the political will to improve the situation of women, national mechanisms needed to have real power and means to advance the actual equality of women.

MARÍA YOLANDA FERRER GÓMEZ, expert from Cuba, agreed that there was a need to strengthen national gender equality machinery to move from strategies of the Convention to the institutionalization of its provisions within the judiciary and legislative branches.  Was there a plan to raise the National Council of Women to the Ministerial level?  Did focal units still exist in the Ministries?  Regarding the problem of emigration, she wondered if there was a Government policy to protect the rights of the women left behind to take care of families.

Several experts expressed serious concern over the phenomena of sexual violence and exploitation, which were widely spread in Ecuador.  KRISZTINA MORVAI, expert from Hungary, said that various manifestations of sexual violence testified to the fact that men felt entitled to treat women and children as “something less than human”.  It was important, however, not to use the label of cultural norms to justify complacency towards violence.  Under international law, the Government was called on to address the roots of the problem and was entitled to request assistance from the international community towards that end.

On the same subject, VICTORIA POPESCU SANDRU, expert from Romania, noted that, while several legal provisions had been adopted to address violence against women, in practice, sexual exploitation still persisted.  What measures was the Government envisaging to deal with that serious situation? she asked.  She also expressed concern over the situation of indigenous women and requested additional information in that regard.

FATIMA KWAKU, expert from Nigeria, addressed the issue of effectiveness of the Government’s efforts, asking if an assessment had been made of the national human rights plan and other measures undertaken by the Government.  She also wondered about the details of the country’s most recent equal opportunities plan.  What strategies had the Government put in place to monitor the implementation of its employment legislation?  How many complaints by women workers had been heard and resolved by employment inspectors?

AÍDA GONZÁLEZ MARTÍNEZ, expert from Mexico, wondered about various types of crimes against women and children and asked about the phenomenon of denunciations described in the report.  It was worrying that incest was not criminalized by the penal code.  She was also concerned that trafficking in women was not prosecuted, as it should be.

An expert from Croatia, DUBRAVKA ŠIMONOVIC, stressed that elimination of legal discrimination was crucial for the implementation of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women.  Last time, the Committee had pointed out that not all laws in Ecuador had been brought in compliance with the Convention.  The answers received indicated that many laws were in the process of adoption, and she wanted to know about the reforms of the criminal court, which were based on the notion of family honour.  Did the courts acquit persons under that norm?  How many people had been acquitted?

The Committee Chairperson, AYSE FERIDE ACAR, an expert from Turkey, congratulated the country on its presentation and welcomed the ratification of the Optional Protocol in Ecuador 2002.  Both the achievements and remaining challenges had been articulated by the Government in its reports.  At the same time, she recalled that the country’s sixth report had been due in 2002.  Welcoming the fact that the Government had taken advantage of the Committee’s decision to invite the countries with overdue reports to combine them in a single document, she still reminded the delegation of the need to keep up to date with further reporting.

Country Response

Ms. GARCIA ALVARADO said structural adjustment programmes and unfair trade patterns had had a particularly negative effect on women.  Prostitution in Ecuador was an ongoing problem.  While the Ministry of Health had attempted to tackle the problem, it had legitimized the phenomenon to a certain extent.

Ecuador had not been able to promote a law to institutionalize the National Women’s Council, she said.  The last Government had issued a decree that would limit CONAMU’s role.  So far, the present President had not used that prerogative.  The women’s movement was actively engaged with civil society, and it was important to strengthen its technical and leadership abilities.

In the 1990s, much time and energy had been lost, working with officials that were going in and out of governments, she said.  There had been very little progress in implementing State policies.  The CONAMU provided technical assistance, but did not have the capacity to monitor policies.  That was a major shortcoming for the Council.  The restructuring of DINAMU to CONAMU had been an achievement in that CONAMU had much larger status.  Delays in overcoming cultural patterns had hindered its effectiveness, however.

On violence against women, she said Law 103 was most important as it countered deeply rooted cultural patterns.  Some 80 per cent of the women were aware of the law, even though they could not issue complaints.  The new Equal Opportunity Plan had not been completely developed, as the political process to consider it had stopped during a time of transition.  A new Equal Opportunity Plan would be a Government plan, assigning responsibility to the various Government sectors.

The National Commissariat was a traditional system for resolving and handling penal offences, another member of the delegation said.  Many turned into Women’s Commissariats.  The system had been applied to offences not falling within the judicial system.  The 1998 Constitution had ordered the unification of all judicial authorities.  In the coming years, women’s and family commissariats and national commissariats would fall under the judiciary.  There was no political will to do so now, however.  Commissariats provided eight different measures to deal with violence against women, including vouchers to make phone calls in cases of violence.  The level of women filing complaints, however, was very low.

As for sanctions for rape of children, the revised penal code had determined the crime of rape, including the rape of minors, and had prescribed a punishment of eight to 12 years in prison.  However, the rape of boys and girls was not specified as an aggravating factor.  The owners of houses of prostitution could not be punished under the law.  Sanctions were stipulated for cases when minors were discovered there, but they were often not imposed.  The crime of incest was not included in the code.

Members of the delegation also informed the Committee that a series of initiatives had been started in the past decade to address the needs of immigrant women, and women whose husbands had left to find work in other countries.  Some counties, with the help of the Church and non-governmental organizations, had set up networks to provide credit and assistance to the families of emigrants.  Measures were also being introduced to strengthen migrant women’s organizations within the country.

Work was under way to modify laws relating to the family, a country representative said.  Following a detailed discussion, it had been decided not to push for the law to be reviewed now, since the main players involved did not think that the right attitude existed for the new code to be adopted.

Experts’ Comments

MERIEM BELMIHOUB-ZERDANI, an expert from Algeria, said Ecuadorian women had achieved significant progress, and she was proud of their determination.  While the results were not excellent yet, the achievements were quite impressive, particularly in view of the country’s economic difficulties and its developing country status.  While the world’s rich States had been called upon to provide some 0.7 per cent of their gross domestic product to the developing countries, many of them had failed to do so, and she appealed to the Ecuadorian women to continue their fight on behalf of all the third world women.

Country Response

Ms. GARCIA ALVARADO said Ecuador wanted to create more programmes to eradicate discrimination against women.  Many programmes focused on rural women.  The terms “rural” and “indigenous” women, however, were not used interchangeably in Ecuador.  Many rural women lived in urban areas.  In some cases, rural women were not indigenous.  There was no clear data, however, on the ethnic breakdown of rural women.  Senior women had not been included in “vulnerable” groups.

Responding to a question on political participation of women in Ecuador, she said that at the end of 1998, as part of the Constitutional reform, a transitional article had been inserted into the Constitution, whereby parties were required to include 30 per cent women on the their election lists.  Top posts were essentially given to men.  A draft law to modify the quota was pending.  Women often acted as fillers on the bottom of electoral lists.

Expert’s Comments and Questions

SJAMSIAH ACHMAD, expert from Indonesia, said she was concerned about intercultural, bilingual education programmes started in 1993.  While such programmes might be successful in terms of allowing indigenous students to attend schools, she was concerned that local language education programmes might increase their isolation.  On the reform of the education system, she said not many countries started their reforms with teachers.  Ecuador should be congratulated in that regard.  How was the reform being taught to teachers?  Did life-skills education include sexual and reproductive health?

HANNA BEATE SCHÖPP-SCHILLING, expert from Germany, said she was concerned that CONAMU’s efforts were not being implemented in all Government ministries.  She could not understand why the Ministry of Health had not been able to report on its activities.  Had the Committee’s concluding remarks been examined by the different Government ministries?  She applauded temporary special measures under the employment act.  Who monitored implementation of the quotas?  What had been the impact of CONAMU’s sitting on the minimum wage commission?

FRANÇOISE GASPARD, expert from France, said, given the economic and political situation in Ecuador, as well as the number of natural disasters, Ecuador had done quite well.  Such disasters adversely impacted women, often reinforcing negative stereotypes.  On the question of women’s access to sport, she said it would be interesting to know the relative participation of women and men in Ecuador’s Olympic teams.  The next report should include more information on that inequality.

Regarding early pregnancies, she said the figures in the reports dated from 1994.  At the time, some 17.5 per cent of young girls were mothers or pregnant.  The rate was even higher in the countryside.  Unwanted pregnancies were tragic for young girls, often leading to unwanted marriages, high drop out rates, abortion and even suicide.  Had CONAMU considered media campaigns to help young women avoid undesired pregnancies?

Ms. FERRER GÓMEZ said that the problem of poverty was far more extensive in rural areas, where the situation was serious indeed.  Several programmes had been introduced by the Government to improve the situation, and she wanted to know about their results.  As many women did not have access to land ownership or leases, it was important to know about the projects to improve the position of rural women.  Another issue of great interest was women’s illiteracy.

PRAMILA PATTEN, expert from Mauritius, noted an abundance of labour legislation promulgated in the country.  Yet, she was very concerned that huge inequities existed.  The Government admitted that those laws were often not implemented.  Women were paid up to 46 per cent less than men for their work, and it was important to know what concrete steps the Government was taking to rectify the situation.  Sex disaggregated data should be provided on work distribution.  What were the obstacles to women filing complaints against their employers?

FATIMA KWAKU, expert from Nigeria, said that she herself came from a developing country, but she had never seen revelations as shocking as those contained in the report concerning the situation of young women, including a high number of early pregnancies.  She had been shocked to read that in 1995, some
43 per cent of the girls between the ages of 10 and 17 had been either working or seeking employment.  In rural areas, eight out of 10 children were doing some manual work.  It was very sad that instead of getting an education, children were forced to either work or have children at a very young age.  She wanted to know what the Government was doing to change that shocking situation.

SALMA KHAN, expert from Bangladesh, agreed that child labour was a serious concern.  In her country, it existed, as well, but incentives were also provided to encourage children to go to school.  She also asked if sexual education was provided to young women in rural areas and wanted to know what was being done to address domestic violence in rural areas, where, as far as she knew, no centres for victims of violence existed.

FUMIKO SAIGA, an expert from Japan, asked several questions about the country’s education system, wondering if primary education was free and obligatory.

Ms. POPESCU SANDRU, expert from Romania, asked for updated information on the number of children carrying out productive activities in Ecuador.  Children had a right to be free from exploitation under the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which had also been ratified by Ecuador.

Country Response

Regarding education reforms, Ms. GARCIA ALVARADO said bilingual teachers had to be indigenous members of the community.  The reform had expanded the primary education period and there was also no longer a strict division between primary education and high school.  Education concepts to treat the issue of gender stereotypes had also been introduced.  Another crosscutting theme was that of values.  The educational reform was ten years old.  It had been a slow process.  She hoped the next report could include more data on the tangible results of the plans and programmes in place.

Regarding education in remote areas, she said there was usually only one teacher for every 100 students ranging in ages from 5 to 14.  Teaching was one of the worst paid professions in the country.  In many cases, teachers in rural areas did not take the time to include crosscutting themes.

Addressing the issue of domestic labour, she hoped that in the future, women working in the home could have access to social security.  Regarding quotas, she said there was no system to monitor the labour quota for women in private firms.  Sanctions were issued when pregnant women lost their jobs.

Early pregnancy was a problem, especially in coastal areas, where many girls aged 15 to 17 were already mothers, she said.  Ecuador did not have policies to protect against early pregnancy.  Children in many indigenous communities often had their first childbirth early in life.  The situation had worsened, as Ecuador did not have a serious or sensible policy on sex education.  Many early pregnancies were indeed unwanted.  The CONAMU, along with the Ministry of Health, was implementing a project for the first time to prevent early pregnancy.  It was very early in the programme, however.

On child labour, she said a programme called “support for child workers” ensured that child workers could have access to schools.  The programme was quite limited, however.  It would not be possible to remove schools from the labour market any time soon, since they were part of the economic survival of many families.  The CONAMU was developing a programme to improve women’s access to land deeds.

Continuing with their response, the country representatives said the Government had been discussing universal health coverage for the country’s population.  The project envisioned measures to improve basic health care, sanitation and nutrition.  Currently, a large percentage of the population lacked medical insurance.  The risk involved in the proposal was that Ecuador was planning to place health care in the hands of private companies, following an example of several other countries.  Employees would be insured through their companies, and a special programme would facilitate rural women’s access to credit.

As for agricultural reform, the Government envisioned re-distribution of land to the rural inhabitants involved in farming and the country’s indigenous population.  It was true that indigenous women did not have easy access to justice, and effective services for indigenous people were needed.  Denunciations were quite frequent among the indigenous population, and there was a high degree of violence there.  Since 1997, work had been under way with women leaders.  Indigenous courts also dealt with cases of violence.

Regarding child labour, it was said that precise statistics were provided in the report.  Under prevailing cultural traditions, girls were supposed to participate in household chores, and boys were sent to work at an early age.  The legislation prohibited child labour, particularly in harsh conditions, but those laws were not strictly enforced.  The revenue generated from child labour was in the hands of the entrepreneurs, but no precise statistics were available in that respect.

Experts’ Comments

CORNELIS FLINTERMAN, expert from Netherlands, noted that over 90 amendments to the civil code had been enacted in the past decade.  At the same time, the question remained whether any discriminatory provisions remained in the legislation.  For example, he knew that under the country’s laws, the sexual conduct of women played a role in paternity suits, and widows could not remarry unless a certain period of time had elapsed.  While the age of marriage in Ecuador was 18 years, he asked if in fact women could marry at an earlier age with authorization from their parents.

Ms. PATTEN, expert from Mauritius, echoed that concern, as did Ms. GONZÁLEZ MARTÍNEZ, expert from Mexico, who said that quite a few discriminatory and outdated provisions remained in Ecuador’s family code.  For example, women’s conduct should have no impact on the determination of paternity.  A waiting period between marriages to determine if a woman was pregnant from her first husband also seemed obsolete, in view of recent scientific developments.  The number of marriages authorized between the ages of 15 and 19 seemed quite high.  What were the eligibility criteria for divorce and what were the rules for division of property?  What were the provisions of the law regarding alimony?

Also on family matters, Ms. TAVARES DA SILVA, expert from Portugal, said that the high incidence of early pregnancies was not the only troubling phenomenon.  Connected to that were such issues as teenage abortions and a high number of school dropouts.  According to the country’s response, there was no law –- only some pioneering experiments -– on sexual education.  That issue needed to be seriously addressed.  It was also necessary to monitor the courts’ compliance with the laws.

HUGUETTE BOKPE GNANCADJA, expert from Benin, said that she highly appreciated the legal reform, but was concerned about the gap between the legislation and its implementation.  Court procedures lasted a long time, and stereotypical attitudes were reflected in the judges’ decisions.  The reports acknowledged that, in many cases, the country’s institutions made implementation of reforms difficult.  For example, if land belonged to a couple, the property title was not issued in the names of both partners.  In practice, she wondered how the law requiring written authorization from a spouse for the conclusion of contracts was applied.  What was the country doing to address the gap between the de jure and de facto situation of women?

Ms. ŠIMONOVIC, expert from Croatia, said that international treaties and conventions had precedence over domestic legislation.  What was the status of the Convention in relation to the country’s laws?  She also asked if the country had plans to change the norm under which women could not remarry immediately after a divorce.

Country Response

Responding to the question of early pregnancy, Ms. GARCIA said statistics provided by the Ministry of Public Health did not account for social class.  There were numerous reasons for early sexual activity, including poor living standards, shorter life expectancies and lack of education.  Abortion was a criminal offence in Ecuador and those who practised it were strictly judged.

The Code for Children and Adolescents stipulated that people could enter into contracts and legal acts at age 15.  Marriage, therefore, could be contracted at 15 years without permission from parents.  Common law marriages enjoyed the same rights as legal marriage.  Under common law marriage, couples must live together for two years.  In cases of divorce, property was divided equally before both parties.  In civil cases, the State did not provide legal assistance.  Some NGOs, however, had set up legal aid offices to help women in dealing with family affairs.

Regarding the civil code, she said it contained provisions for pregnant women.  Prenatal care was provided even when paternity was not proven.  According to the code, women had to wait one year to remarry following divorce.  Women were still unable to belong to an agricultural cooperative if her husband was a member.  Regarding land ownership, reforms to the civil code had meant that women had equal rights to land and property.  Some aspects of the law, however, were not equal.

She said acts of violence were often classified as misdemeanours, which meant that such cases did not have to go through the legal system.  The penal code still contained an article justifying honour crimes.  That provision, however, had not been used in 35 years.

The Constitution clearly stated that international treaties had primacy over national law, she said.  In that respect, measures were being taken to adjust national laws.  It would take at least four years for those measures to enter into force.

Concluding Remarks by Committee Chairperson

Committee Chairperson and expert of Turkey, AYSE FERIDE ACAR, said the difficult economic and political conditions facing Ecuador were well known to the Committee.  She congratulated the Government for efforts to implement the Convention in the period covered by the report, as some admirable strides had been made in the legislative arena.  Many new laws had been amended, including the constitutional reform for gender equality, the law on domestic violence, reforms of the penal code and amendments to the civil code.  The employment protection act that provided for temporary special measures was a welcome addition to the legal system.

Ecuador’s’ recognition of violence against women as a social problem and health issue was well appreciated, she continued.  However, the essence of the Convention was to recognize violence as a violation of women’s human rights.  In that regard, much remained to be done.  Inconsistencies between laws and implementation of the laws were striking, as were discrepancies between the economic, educational and employment status of different population groups.  Vulnerable groups, namely, rural and indigenous women, faced compounded forms of discrimination.  Regarding the protection of women and girls from prostitution, the laws needed to be enhanced with stronger sanctions and vigorous implementation.

There was still a long way to go regarding family laws and matters regarding married women, she added.  The guarantee of equal rights under the Constitution did not extend to married women.  That was a consequence of numerous factors, including a reluctance to apply the law and persistent stereotypical patterns.  To eliminate discrimination, laws must be both proactive and effective. 

The continued adherence to stereotypical roles was a foundation for de facto discrimination in Ecuador, she said.  The Committee would expect the next report to contain results, particularly in the areas of education and employment.  Other concerns included a gender segregated labour market and its impact on women, the gender gap in literacy and early pregnancy and child mothers.  She urged the delegation to widely disseminate the Committee’s concluding recommendations.  Ecuador’s ratification of the Optional Protocol was a sign of the country’s political commitment to the Convention.

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