Committee on the Elimination of Discriminationagainst Women

Sixty-fif th session

Summary record of the 1444th meeting

Held at the Palais des Nations, Geneva, on Tuesday, 1 November 2016, at 3 p.m.

Chair:Ms. Hayashi

Contents

Consideration of reports submitted by States parties under article 18 of the Convention (continued)

Seventh periodic report of Argentina (continued)

The meeting was called to order at 3.05 p.m.

Consideration of reports submitted by States parties under article 18 of the Convention (continued)

Seventh periodic report of Argentina (continued) (CEDAW/C/ARG/7; CEDAW/C/ARG/Q/7 and Add.1)

At the invitation of the Chair, the delegation of Argentina took places at the Committee table.

Articles 7 to 9 (continued)

Ms. Majdalani (Argentina), replying to questions about women’s participation in the political life of the country, said that the National Women’s Council and the National Institute of Indigenous Affairs had collaborated on a project to build the capacity of female indigenous leaders as a means of promoting the participation of indigenous women in the political process. The National Women’s Council also had a role in organizing competitive examinations for the public administration and ensuring that due account was taken of the gender perspective in selection and recruitment processes. In addition to the three women serving as Cabinet ministers, five women were currently serving as provincial governors.

Ms. Nwankwo asked when the national early childhood programme had been adopted and whether its impact had been assessed.

Ms. Majdalani (Argentina) said that the national early childhood programme had been finalized in July 2016 and adopted by decree shortly thereafter. As the programme had only been in place for a short period of time, its impact had not yet been assessed. The programme provided for the opening of 4,000 new early childhood centres throughout the country, including in the most deprived areas, and for the training of childcare workers to run the new centres. The opening hours of the new centres would be flexible to encourage the sharing of childcare responsibilities.

Articles 10 to 14

Ms. Bailey said that the Committee remained concerned about the persistence of marked disparities in education in certain regions and among certain groups. The high prevalence of teenage pregnancy and the consequently high school dropout rate underscored the need to strengthen the implementation of Act No. 26.150, setting out the National Programme for Comprehensive Sex Education. In its previous concluding observations (CEDAW/C/ARG/CO/6), the Committee had called upon the State party to ensure that education on sexual and reproductive health was undertaken in all schools at all levels. As the State party had failed to provide information on the steps taken to give effect to that recommendation in its follow-up report (CEDAW/C/ARG/CO/6/Add.1), the Committee had concluded that the recommendation in question had not been acted upon and had requested the State party to include the relevant information in its seventh periodic report (CEDAW/C/ARG/7). That report indicated that, although the National Programme for Comprehensive Sex Education was supposedly mandatory at all levels, only 10 provinces had taken steps to implement it so far. Furthermore, the fact that the Programme was not integrated into the mainstream curriculum and that teachers were not properly trained to deliver its content appeared to be major obstacles to its implementation. Given the pressing need to reduce the rate of teenage pregnancy, it would be helpful to know how the State party intended to ensure that Act No. 26.150 was implemented in all provinces and that the obstacles impeding its implementation were removed.

Although there were significantly more women than men in higher education, that trend was not reflected in women’s labour market performance. She wondered whether that situation was attributable to the underrepresentation of women in certain fields of study, such as information and communication technology. Given that the labour market was becoming increasingly technology-driven, it would be useful to hear more about the measures taken to address the gender gap in the information and technology sector and other technical and vocational fields, in keeping with Act No. 26.058 on technical and vocational education.

The delegation should clarify the enrolment rate of indigenous women and girls in preschool, primary, secondary and higher education, as the statistical data provided in paragraph 73 of the State party’s written replies to the list of issues (CEDAW/C/ARG/Q/7/Add.1) were unclear and seemed to contradict the 2012 report of the Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples on his visit to Argentina (A/HRC/21/47/Add.2), which indicated that indigenous women had a lower level of education than both indigenous men and non-indigenous women. The report of the Special Rapporteur also alluded to the fact that indigenous girls often abandoned their studies to fulfil family obligations and that indigenous boys were provided with more opportunities for schooling. A further cause for concern was the plight of indigenous girls who, having moved to the city to study, were forced to stay in school hostels with male students and under male supervision, leaving them vulnerable to sexual abuse. She invited the delegation to comment on those observations and to outline the measures envisaged to improve access to education for indigenous women and girls.

Ms. Arocha Domínguez said that the paucity of statistical data available on women’s employment made it difficult to assess the progress achieved in that area. It would be helpful to receive more information on the measures taken to address the gender pay gap in all sectors of the economy and to encourage women to take up employment in non-traditional fields, as well as on the impact of those measures.

Noting that the country’s most deprived areas were also home to a large number of female heads of household and women working in the informal sector, she asked what steps the State party had taken to mainstream a gender perspective in development projects targeting those areas and to involve those women in local development activities. She also wished to know what measures the State party had put in place to assist women in reconciling their work and family life more effectively.

While the Committee welcomed the adoption of Act No. 26.844 on the rights of female domestic workers and the ratification by Argentina of the International Labour Organization (ILO) Domestic Workers Convention, 2011 (No. 189), there was evidence to suggest that insufficient progress had been made in registering all domestic workers and guaranteeing them access to social security protection. The matter was particularly pressing as many women and girls travelled, or were trafficked, from neighbouring countries to work in domestic service in Argentina. The delegation should provide additional information on the body competent to deal with labour disputes involving domestic workers, the labour inspection system applicable to those workers, and the mechanisms for enforcing the legislation regulating their rights and entitlements.

Turning to the issue of child labour, she enquired as to the specific sectors and settings in which girls were forced to work and the measures taken by the State party to eradicate the phenomenon.

She asked whether the measures taken to safeguard the labour rights of lesbian, bisexual and transgender women in Buenos Aires had been extended to the different provinces of the country and to rural areas. Lastly, noting that many transgender women worked as prostitutes as no other viable employment options were available to them, she asked whether the State party had devised a strategy to assist those women.

Ms. Patten said that the Committee remained concerned about the high maternal mortality rate in Argentina and the large number of maternal deaths attributable to clandestine abortion. Noting that the statistical data provided in the State party’s report dated back to 2010, she asked for up-to-date information on the current maternal mortality rate and on the main causes of maternal deaths in Argentina. The delegation should also describe the measures taken to date to reduce the maternal mortality rate.

A further cause for concern were the significant barriers women and girls continued to face in accessing sexual and reproductive health services. Indeed, the Committee had received reports that women and girls had to apply to the courts for permission to undergo an abortion, which was only legal if the life of the woman was at risk or in the case of rape. She asked whether the State party intended to amend the Criminal Code and other legislation criminalizing abortion so as to broaden access to that service; how the State party guaranteed access to safe and legal abortion services for indigenous women, impoverished women and teenage girls; how many women had been prosecuted and punished for having undergone an abortion in circumstances other than those provided for in the Criminal Code; what penalties had been imposed in those cases; how many clinics provided abortion services; and how many legal abortions had been performed in recent years. She would also like to know when the bill on voluntary interruption of pregnancy, which had already been brought before the National Congress on several occasions, would be enacted; and to receive an update on parliamentary discussions on the decriminalization of abortion.

It would also be useful to know whether contraceptives were readily available to unmarried women and teenage girls; how much they cost; and how the State party encouraged their use. Had it sought to engage with community partners, such as religious leaders, as part of its efforts to promote family planning and remove cultural barriers to the use of contraception?

She would also welcome more information on the strategy for implementing the National Mental Health Act, the obstacles to its implementation, and the availability of mental health services in general and for rural, minority and impoverished women in particular. She asked whether a study had been conducted to determine whether the share of budgetary resources allocated to the provision of mental health services was adequate.

Lastly, she asked what measures the State party had taken to guarantee access to quality health care for older women; and whether a survey had been conducted to assess their needs and identify any gaps in the health-care services provided for that population group.

Ms. Majdalani (Argentina) said that, although the National Programme for Comprehensive Sex Education had been rolled out in every province in the country and the necessary learning materials had been distributed, effective enforcement of Act No. 26.150 remained a real challenge. The adoption of Act No. 27.234, which required all educational establishments to devote one day per year to raising awareness of the need to prevent and eradicate gender-based violence, served to complement the Government’s efforts to mainstream a gender perspective in the education system. The National Action Plan for the Provision of Assistance and Prevention and Elimination of Violence against Women for the period 2017-2019, which had been published pursuant to the Comprehensive Act on the Prevention, Punishment and Elimination of Violence against Women (Act No. 26.485), listed Act No. 26.150 and the National Programme for Comprehensive Sex Education as effective means of preventing gender-based violence.

The National Women’s Council, in cooperation with the Ministry of Education, was using a loan from the Inter-American Development Bank to fund teacher training on the prevention of gender-based violence and gender mainstreaming issues. Efforts were also under way to mainstream a gender perspective in the school curricula in order to facilitate the implementation of Acts Nos. 26.150 and 26.485.

There were two scholarship programmes designed to encourage more women, including indigenous women, to train in scientific and technological disciplines and to choose non-traditional careers, namely the National Bicentennial Scholarship Programme for students beginning or already enrolled in a higher education course in science or engineering, and the National University Scholarships Programme for students embarking on or already pursuing an undergraduate or graduate degree course in national universities or university institutes. Applicants for either scholarship were considered to belong to priority groups and were exempted from having to provide proof of a basic income if they were mothers or pregnant, or if they received the Universal Child Allowance. However, in spite of such initiatives, guaranteeing indigenous women access to higher education remained a major challenge.

The aim of intercultural bilingual education was to guarantee the inclusion of indigenous children in the education system and to preserve and reinforce their cultural identity and traditions.

Ms. García (Argentina) said that the National Institute of Indigenous Affairs, which had previously come under the authority of the Ministry of Social Development, now reported to the National Secretariat for Human Rights. Indigenous issues were now addressed through a human-rights based approach, whereby indigenous communities were no longer considered solely as beneficiaries of protection but as full rights holders.

Ms. Massa (Argentina) said that the previous two population censuses had included questions intended for indigenous peoples and persons of African descent. According to the population census conducted in 2010, there were fewer than 500,000 indigenous persons living in Argentina. The illiteracy rate among indigenous persons aged 10 and over stood at 3.7 per cent, while the illiteracy rate among indigenous women stood at 4.2 per cent.

The greatest obstacle to addressing child labour was the paucity of information on the phenomenon. To remedy that situation, the Ministry of Labour and the National Institute of Statistics and Censuses had developed a survey to measure the prevalence of child labour in Argentina, which would be launched in early 2017.

Although the Mental Health Act required surveys on mental health to be conducted periodically, to date no such survey had been carried out. However, the Ministry of Health was in the process of designing a survey to identify persons with mental health problems who could be treated at home instead of in mental health-care facilities. Under the Mental Health Act, persons caring for a family member with mental health problems were entitled to a subsidy.

In 2014, the maternal mortality rate had stood at 3.7 deaths for every 10,000 births. The main causes of death included hypertension, sepsis and post-partum haemorrhaging.

Ms. Majdalani (Argentina) said that article 86 of the Criminal Code set out the circumstances in which an abortion could be performed legally. A Supreme Court ruling had served to clarify the scope of that article, stipulating that prosecutions should not be brought against persons who underwent abortions in cases of rape. Public health-care institutions were urged to perform abortions in the circumstances provided for in the Criminal Code and a guide to legal abortion had been prepared to that end.

Within the National Council for Scientific and Technical Research, the number of female researchers, women in receipt of a scholarship and women occupying technical posts had risen dramatically over the period 2013-2014.

Ms. Tuñez (Argentina) said that, in response to the recommendation contained in paragraph 36 of the Committee’s previous concluding observations, the Government had launched a number of programmes to support the employment of women, including training programmes to encourage women to enter non-traditional areas of work and a monitoring system to ensure that companies, trade unions and government organizations incorporated a gender perspective in their employment policies. Regional contexts were taken into account when designing training programmes for women so as to ensure that the skills imparted were suited to economic activity in their respective regions. In addition to enabling women in situations of vulnerability to complete their education and develop their skills, the “Ellas Hacen” programme run by the Ministry of Social Development helped them to access the microcredit that might ultimately bring them economic independence.

Ms. Bailey asked whether, in view of the challenges noted, the National Programme for Comprehensive Sex Education was, in reality, fully enforced in all provinces. She would like clarification as to the distinction made between the programme implemented under Act No. 26.150, on sexual education, and programmes implemented under the National Education Act (Act No. 26.206), which provided for non-discrimination and the incorporation of a gender perspective in education: it seemed to her that, despite their differing focuses, the two pieces of legislation were treated as a single body of law for implementation purposes. She also asked whether precise statistics on the number of indigenous women at each level of education were available.

Ms. Arocha Domínguez said that the Committee required detailed statistics on the impact of measures to promote gender equality, particularly in non-traditional areas of employment. Precise statistics on women in domestic employment would also be appreciated.

Ms. Pimentel said it was deeply regrettable that girls as young as 12 years old who had been sexually abused, sometimes by members of their own family, could be denied the right to an abortion. That treatment was regarded by some as akin to torture. She would like to know what was being done to combat the stigma surrounding abortion and to prevent abuse of the right to conscientious objection enjoyed by medical practitioners individually, but not by medical institutions.

Ms. Patten asked whether she was correct to interpret the provisions of article 3 of Act No. 26.130 as authorizing the forced sterilization of women with disabilities, in violation of their right to free and informed consent, and as depriving them of their legal capacity. She also wished to know what the Government was doing to ensure that women with disabilities had full access to sexual health and reproductive services.

Noting that teenage girls in Argentina were more likely to smoke than boys, she asked why Argentina had still not ratified the World Health Organization (WHO) Framework Convention on Tobacco Control; whether the authorities had assessed the efficacy of the anti-smoking laws and regulations currently in place; and whether the delegation could provide up-to-date statistics on tobacco consumption.

Ms. Majdalani (Argentina) said that statistics on indigenous women in education could be found in annex III of the replies to the list of issues (CEDAW/C/ARG/Q/7/Add.1). Her earlier comments regarding the National Programme for Comprehensive Sex Education had been intended precisely to clarify that the Programme was effectively being enforced in all provinces, despite the challenges. However, the National Women’s Council was currently working with the Ministry of Education to overcome any obstacles to its implementation that did still remain. The Programme incorporated a gender perspective, in line with the provisions of Act No. 26.206 of 2006. Training programmes to raise awareness of the new legislation had also been launched.

Ms. Tuñez (Argentina) said that the federal Government was engaged in ongoing dialogue with provincial governments with a view to eliminating any barriers to implementation of its gender policies while respecting the autonomy of provincial authorities. Conscious of the lack of statistics available to demonstrate the impact of its gender policies and programmes, it was endeavouring to carry out surveys that would measure the country’s problems more accurately, and would use the findings to inform and improve public policies. Although the National Institute of Statistics and Censuses had encountered various setbacks over recent years, efforts were being made to ensure that all new surveys reflected the full spectrum of gender equality-related issues.

Ms. Rodríguez (Argentina) said that Argentina had acceded to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, and the Convention’s provisions had thus been incorporated into national law. The Civil Code established the legal capacity of persons with disabilities, and a system of support to help them exercise that capacity. Consequently, any decision to sterilize a person could be taken only after the person in question had given their informed consent, and any decision taken in violation of the provisions of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities or national legislation constituted an unlawful act.

Ms. Majdalani (Argentina) said that, as she had explained in her introductory statement, the Government was taking steps to uphold women’s right to voluntary family planning and non-punishable abortion and to provide contraceptives and support, primarily through the National Sexual Health and Responsible Parenthood Programme, which was being implemented in all provinces. In addition, training was being delivered to health-care providers in order to improve access to comprehensive post-abortion care for all women. Statistics on non-punishable abortion were not currently available but would be provided in the eighth periodic report.

The National Women’s Council was continuing to work with the family of the 12-year-old girl who had been denied an abortion in the case alluded to by Ms. Pimentel and was taking steps to ensure that the protocol on comprehensive care for persons with a legal right to termination of pregnancy was implemented throughout the country.

Ms. Vilar (Argentina) said that a study was under way to assess the causes of maternal mortality that encompassed all women of child-bearing age across 24 jurisdictions. As teenage pregnancy remained an issue of concern, the Government was working with the United Nations Children’s Fund and the United Nations Population Fund to identify the causes of all pregnancies of girls under the age of 15 years and to assess how pregnant girls were treated by the health services. A sexual education programme under which one-to-one counselling was provided to schoolchildren had also been launched in 12 provinces.

Ms. Pomeranzi said that she would welcome any statistics and related analyses attesting to the impact of the country’s social protection policies on the situation of women, including, in particular, the efficacy of those policies in eliminating poverty and promoting gender equality. She would also like details of any plans to introduce specific policies to make it easier for women in all areas of the country to access formal loans and microcredit facilities and find support for social entrepreneurship. She invited the delegation to comment on the effectiveness of Act No. 26.727, on rural labour, in improving the situation of rural women, and on the impact of new legislation developed under the current Government, including Decree No. 820/2016, amending Decree No. 274/2012 on rural land, which had eased restrictions on the leasing of land by foreign individuals. Lastly, she asked what steps the Government intended to take to protect the rural development budget in coming years, given that many families in rural areas were dependent upon such funds.

Ms. Acosta Vargas asked whether the Government kept statistics on indigenous women’s access to land; whether it had developed any policies to facilitate such access; and whether it had adopted any specific measures to protect indigenous peoples’ ancestral lands from encroachment by agricultural activity. She would like to know whether any studies had been conducted to assess the impact of water scarcity on the lives of indigenous women in the Gran Chaco region and whether any policies had been drawn up to address that specific problem. What were the reasons for the Ministry of Health’s failure to respond to complaints concerning the contamination of the water supply of various indigenous communities with toxic agrochemicals? And were women aware of the authority to which they should report the presence of toxic substances in their water supply?

She asked whether any assessment had been made of the barriers to indigenous women’s access to justice, the prevalence of that problem in the majority of indigenous communities, and the reasons for indigenous women’s profound distrust of the judicial system. It would be helpful to know whether action had been taken to help professional indigenous women to join the labour force, either by creating special funds to support them or promoting their recruitment to decision-making posts in public institutions handling agrarian affairs.

With regard to conditions of detention for women, she wished to know whether the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners (the Nelson Mandela Rules) and the United Nations Rules for the Treatment of Women Prisoners and Non-custodial Measures for Women Offenders (the Bangkok Rules) were applied in practice in Argentina. She asked what the reasons were for the inadequate implementation of the law providing for the use of non-custodial sentences, namely house arrest, for female offenders who were pregnant, had children under the age of 5, or had responsibility for caring for persons with disabilities. The delegation should also explain why the new regulations governing the admission of prisoners allowed for women to be subjected to bodily inspections that were degrading and contrary to human rights standards. Were persons who practised obstetric violence in prisons duly sanctioned, and were measures taken to ensure respect for the identity of transgender women in all prison facilities?

Ms. Tuñez (Argentina) said that respect for the rights of women prisoners was a matter of great concern to the Government, which acknowledged that there were deficiencies in the implementation of the Bangkok Rules and the Nelson Mandela Rules in Argentine prisons. A campaign to promote observance of those rules, as they related to women prisoners, had been organized by the Office of the Ombudsman for the Prison System and the Chief Public Defender’s Office. In August 2016, the National Women’s Council had signed agreements with each of those institutions; both agreements were intended to facilitate information sharing, public policy monitoring and the provision of direct assistance to female prisoners.

Measure No. 21 of the National Action Plan for the Provision of Assistance and Prevention and Elimination of Violence against Women called for the establishment of an inter-institutional mechanism to coordinate efforts to identify and respond to incidents of institutional violence against vulnerable groups, including women prisoners, indigenous women, women belonging to the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community, women with disabilities and women with HIV/AIDS.

The National Women’s Council headed an inter-institutional working group composed of representatives from 14 institutions whose aim was to examine the problems encountered by women in prison and to identify areas in which action was needed. The areas identified had included the provision of gender-sensitive training for all prison system staff members; the provision of occupational training for women prisoners; and the systematic logging of information on incidents of gender-based violence. An oversight and inspection mechanism whose members included high-ranking members of the judicial branch, the executive branch, the Public Prosecution Service, the Public Defence Service, the Argentine bar association and various NGOs had been set up within the prison system. A variety of public health programmes were available to persons deprived of their liberty, including prevention, consultation and treatment services and sexual and reproductive health care.

Ms. Rodríguez (Argentina) said that there were currently 12 pregnant women and 28 mothers with small children who lived with them in prison, although Ministry of Justice resolution No. 808/16 allowed judges to order house arrest accompanied by electronic surveillance for certain categories of prisoners, including pregnant women and women with children. The Ministry of Justice was cooperating with the Chief Public Defender’s Office in order to evaluate the implementation of the Bangkok Rules in prison facilities.

Ms. Majdalani (Argentina) said that the State was in the process of returning ancestral lands to several indigenous and Creole communities whose pre-existence in Argentina had been recognized. According to the most recent studies carried out by the Rural Change Unit, only 6 per cent of landowners were women; in order to increase that figure, the Unit was developing programmes to promote rural women’s empowerment. With financial assistance from the Adaptation Fund of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, programmes to provide access to water had been carried out in the provinces of Chaco, Santiago del Estero, Corrientes and Santa Fe in which women were the primary beneficiaries. The Rural Change Unit had recently published a study on the new generations of rural women as promoters of change, which she would transmit to the Committee in due course.

The National Women’s Council was endeavouring to expand social programmes and those promoting women’s empowerment beyond the traditional family model so as to include transgender women and women engaged in prostitution. A centre for female entrepreneurs that provided training and access to microcredit for women emerging from situations of violence had also been developed.

Ms. Castañares (Argentina) said that progress had been made in breaking down barriers to access to justice by indigenous women through a Supreme Court initiative to organize a roster of cultural, rather than merely linguistic, interpreters.

Ms. Pimentel asked whether it was true that the majority of transgender persons in prisons were migrants.

Ms. García (Argentina) said that a published report on the presence of pesticides in water that detailed the specific measures being taken to address that problem could be sent to the Committee within the next 48 hours. In July 2016, the National Institute of Indigenous Affairs had signed an agreement with the National Water Institute on the coordination of research projects and human resources training in the management, conservation and stewardship of water and other natural resources in indigenous communities.

Ms. Majdalani (Argentina) said that the Government had set up a working group to study ways of promoting entry to the labour market for professional indigenous women and was coordinating its efforts with those of the Indigenous Participation Council, which had recently established a gender committee. It would provide additional information on that point in its next report to the Committee.

An inter-institutional working group on the prevention of violence against women in prisons would be meeting in the coming week, and the specific needs of transgender women in prison would be addressed in its deliberations. A division had been created within the Public Prosecution Service to prevent violence in prison facilities. Any violation of the rights of women in prisons would be examined in the context of the agreement between the National Women’s Council and the Office of the Ombudsman for the Prison System.

Citizens could report suspected toxins in their water to the Ombudsman’s Office through the hotline operated by the Office. Legal advice was provided to conscientious objectors to the performance of legal abortions; however, measure No. 27 of the National Action Plan for the Provision of Assistance and Elimination of Violence against Women called for all medical facilities to have staff on hand who were capable of performing safe legal abortions.

Ms. Rodríguez (Argentina) said that one of the reasons for indigenous and rural women’s inadequate access to justice and restricted enjoyment of many of their basic rights was the lack of formal justice and administrative systems and services in the remote reaches of the country. The Government was aware of the magnitude of the problem and was working towards its resolution.

Articles 15 and 16

Ms. Nadaraia said that she would appreciate information on the implementation of the provisions of the new Civil and Commercial Code that gave judges the discretion to waive the minimum age of marriage, which was 18, and allow marriage as from the age of 16, depending on the level of maturity of the prospective spouse. She would also appreciate information on provisions relating to shared parental responsibility for children and the economic value ascribed to the work of the spouse who looked after children. In addition, the delegation should provide an account of the criteria used by judges to establish the settlements granted to the economically disadvantaged spouse in divorce proceedings and indicate what kind of legal advice was available to women going through a divorce.

Ms. Majdalani (Argentina) said that, although the new Civil and Commercial Code was in full force, the criteria it established had not been applied long enough to permit a meaningful evaluation. Specialized legal services were provided free of charge to women going through a divorce. The discretion of judges to authorize marriage at the age of 16 had been established to reflect the recent lowering of the minimum age of voting to 16 and the emphasis placed in the Code on the rights, autonomy and empowerment of minors. The marriage provision had been adopted only recently but the Government would be able to report on its implementation in greater detail in its next periodic report.

Ms. Rodríguez (Argentina) said that the discretion to authorize marriage at age 16 depended on an evaluation of the prospective spouse’s capacity for making autonomous decisions, and that such a decision represented an exception to the rule that could be granted only when warranted by the individual’s level of maturity.

Ms. Tuñez (Argentina) said that the Government would redouble its efforts to ensure that all public policies reflected its commitment to the elimination of all forms of violence and discrimination against women. The progress made by the new Government, which had been in power for less than one year, would be reflected in the State party’s next report to the Committee.

The Chair thanked the delegation for its constructive dialogue with the Committee, which had provided additional insight into the situation of women in Argentina.

The meeting rose at 5.05 p.m.