Womens Economic Rights and State Accountability under CEDAW

Alison Aggarwal IWRAW-AP

Overview
What is interesting about economic rights, why the focus on these rights? What kinds of rights do we mean by economic rights? What has the CEDAW Committee said about them? What do other human rights instruments say? CEDAW principles and State obligations relevant to economic rights Strategies for realising womens economic rights

Why look at economic rights?

Prevalence of discrimination against women in the area of economic rights Need for greater engagement with CEDAW on addressing womens economic rights

What kinds of rights are economic rights?

Rights to work equal wages, safe conditions, choice of work, sexual harassment, discrimination on the basis of pregnancy or care responsibilities Right to livelihood, land and inheritance Rights to access financial resources, technology, markets, trade, Right to development Others?

Global context of womens economic rights?

Discrimination against women in the context of: Globalisation Global financial crisis Poverty Development

Economic rights in CEDAW

CEDAW Preamble In situations of poverty women have the least access to food, health, education, training and opportunities for employment and other needs; recognising womens contribution to and benefit from national development; Article 1 non discrimination and substantive equality Article 4 special measures for maternity protection Article 5 recognising role of women goes beyond motherhood; shared responsibility for child rearing Article 11 employment - right to work, equal remuneration, safe conditions, right to social security, paid maternity leave, social support services, protection during pregnancy, Article 13 family benefits, bank loans, mortgages, financial credit Article 14 rural women including work in non-monetized sectors, participate in development planning, social security programs, self-help groups and cooperatives, agricultural credit and loans, extension services for technical proficiency

Employment rights CEDAW Committee

General recommendation No. 13 - equal remuneration for work of equal value General recommendation No. 16 - unpaid women workers in rural and urban family enterprises unpaid work is inconsistent with CEDAW General recommendation No. 17 - measurement and quantification of the unremunerated domestic activities of women and their recognition in the GNP General recommendation No. 19 -violence against women sexual harassment in the workplace General recommendation No. 26 on women migrant workers Inquiry under article 8 of the Optional Protocol to CEDAW in regard to Mexico

Employment rights CEDAW Committee

Concluding Comments - 44th session (August 2009): Lack of realisation/ violations and strategies Vertical and horizontal work segregation - low participation in senior levels; low wages, part time, insecure jobs for women Special measures for education, training, academia, full time work, child caring responsibilities Working conditions in garment factories Persistence in wage gap High unemployment of women Gender sensitive migration policies Stimulus packages to incorporate gender perspective The Committee has also commented on the integration of gender equality in poverty alleviation programs and land distribution by the State under Art 14 on rural women.

Economic rights ICESCR

Importance of working with CEDAW in conjunction with other international human rights instruments ICESCR Articles 6,7,8,9 remuneration, equal pay for work of equal value, safe and healthy work environment, reasonable working hours, living wage, paid holiday, social security, unions, strikes CESCR general comment 16 non-discrimination direct, indirect, substantive equality, multiple discrimination CESCR General Comment 18 right to all forms of work; choice of work; decent work in terms of conditions; shift from informal to formal sector; availability, accessibility, acceptability and quality; Obligations to respect protect fulfill, remedies, monitoring etc.

Economic rights BPFA

BPFA CEDAW forms the legal basis and framework of the BPFA BPFA internalises womens human rights perspectives into the development project: Develop national action plans for gender equality; Mainstreaming a gender perspective into all policies and programmes; Full participation and empowerment of women; International assistance for the implementation of BPFA. BPFA critical area of concern - women and economy: Promote womens economic rights access to employment, appropriate working conditions, control over economic resources; equal access to resources, employment, markets and trade; ; access to markets and technology and information; commercial networks; eliminate occupational segregation; employment discrimination; harmonization of work and family responsibilities for women and men.

Economic rights MDGs, ILO

Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) Goal 3 promote gender equality and empower women: ensure access to full and decent employment, support womens entrepreneurship, especially in rural areas, through access to property and economic assets, microfinance, agricultural inputs such as a seeds and ferterlizers, training and markets; guarantee womens land and property rights through legal reforms; Social protection and freedom from harassment Goal 1 eradicate extreme poverty and hunger - Need: promote equitable access to economic resources and decent work opportunities, especially for disadvantage groups such as women ILO No. 156 - recognises the family as fundamental to society, and emphasises the need for workers to maintain family obligations No. 100 - equal remuneration for men and women workers of equal value

CEDAW principles and State obligations

Principles
Holistic approach Substantive equality Non-discrimination de jure / de facto Multiple discrimination Temporary special measures

State obligation
Respect Protect Fulfill address underlying causes Private actors due diligence Progressive realisation (employment rights) vs immediate effect (nondiscrimination) These obligations should be implemented in an integrated fashion and extend beyond a purely formal legal obligation of equal treatment of women with men.

Strategies for realising womens economic rights

CEDAW a plan of action (article 2): (a) Embody the principle of the equality in national constitutions and other laws; (b) Prohibit all discrimination against women through law and other means; (c) Legal protection for women against any act of discrimination - remedies; (d) Refrain from engaging in any act or practice of discrimination against women; (e) Eliminate discrimination against women by any person, organization or enterprise; (f) All appropriate measures, including - legislation, modify or abolish existing laws, regulations, customs and practices which constitute discrimination against women; (g) Repeal all national penal provisions which constitute discrimination against women.

Strategies for realising womens economic rights

Law reform prohibiting discrimination and sexual harassment in the workplace, paid parental leave TSM/ women specific programs micro-credit programs, removing occupational segregation, Data collection sex disaggregated Monitoring shadow reports; budget analysis Litigation examples from Indonesia (lower retirement age), Japan (payment of household allowances to head of the family) National institutional mechanisms Advocacy - incorporation of gender perspective and protection of womens rights in employment, financial, economic and development policies Networking, organising Awareness raising, education OP inquiry on womens economic rights? Important to use a combination of strategies.

Strategies for realising womens economic rights

Law reform - experience of gender equality laws (Vedna Jivan, University of Technology, Sydney) Monitoring womens economic rights in the CEE region (Aleksandra Solik, KARAT Coalition ) Researching and litigating womens economic rights (Genoveva Tisheva, Managing Director, Bulgarian Gender Research Institute; Director, Womens Human Rights Training Institute)

Group Work
1 hour group discussion: Situation of womens economic rights: What are the key economic rights issues for women in your country/region Select one of these issues to analyse. Fulfillment of State obligation What kind of State action is being taken to address your issue? What are the gaps in State action? What strategies can non-government actors take to seek State obligation being fulfilled? Report back (5 mins/ group) 2-3 examples of womens economic rights issues in your country/ region; For your chosen issue give examples of action taken by States For your chosen issue key strategies identified for non-government actors

Conclusion
CEDAW provides a powerful normative standard for ensuring womens economic rights. CEDAW can inform economic measures such as:
employment policies and programs financial, land, inheritance laws, policies and programs economic and development policies,

to ensure the protection and fulfillment of womens economic rights.