Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women

Sixty-fif th session

Summary record of the 1443rd meeting

Held at the Palais des Nations, Geneva, on Tuesday, 1 November 2016, at 10 a.m.

Chair:Ms. Hayashi

Contents

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

Seventh periodic report of Argentina

The meeting was called to order at 10 a.m.

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

Seventh periodic report of Argentina (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.

Ms. Tuñez (Argentina), introducing the seventh periodic report of Argentina (CEDAW/C/ARG/7), said that the new Government had made special efforts to promote a multisectoral, cross-cutting, federal approach to gender, focusing on the full empowerment of women, particularly women facing situations of violence and multiple discrimination. After a string of demonstrations across the country in which Argentinians had, for the third time in two years, expressed their outrage at femicide, the Government had taken note of the strength of public feeling and had for the first time placed the elimination of gender-based violence at the top of the political agenda.

As required under the Comprehensive Act on the Prevention, Punishment and Elimination of Violence against Women in their Interpersonal Relations (Act No. 26.485), the first National Action Plan for the Provision of Assistance and Prevention and Elimination of Violence against Women, covering the period 2017-2019, had been adopted in July 2016. Thus, for the first time, Argentina had an interdisciplinary strategic planning tool designed to guarantee equal access to quality services for all women and policies to prevent and eliminate violence for society as a whole. The Action Plan made explicit reference to the Convention and covered all the various forms of violence described in the Act. It had two focuses — prevention and comprehensive support for women in situations of violence — and addressed them using a three-pronged, cross-cutting methodology based on training in the gender perspective, inter-institutional coordination and capacity-building, and ongoing policy monitoring and evaluation. It encompassed a total of 69 measures and 137 actions, to be carried out over three years, and had been given a preliminary budget of 750 million pesos, representing an unprecedented investment in women’s rights.

As part of the campaign to prevent violence, and in the context of an agreement between the Ministry of Social Development and the Ministry of Health and Sport to promote gender mainstreaming in education, during the month of November 2016 all schools and higher education institutes would be required to run a day of activities, entitled “Educar en igualdad” (Education for equality), around the topic of preventing and eliminating gender-based violence.

As part of efforts to attain substantive equality between men and women, special economic empowerment programmes had been devised that targeted women in prostitution, and transgender women in particular, while the latest national early childhood programme incorporated the gender perspective by encouraging the provision of childcare and facilitating women’s access to the labour market.

In the important area of data collection, the National Institute of Statistics and Censuses and the National Women’s Council were working on a central register of cases of violence against women and the Supreme Court kept records of femicides.

The question of parity between men and women in elections was currently a major topic of discussion in Argentina. The debate on the quotas introduced by Argentina to ensure women’s representation in the legislature had resulted in moves to introduce parity democracy, along the lines of the framework law adopted by the Latin American and the Caribbean Parliament in November 2015. A bill that would amend the Electoral Code to ensure equal representation between men and women in national and Mercosur elections and introduce adjustments to two other laws with similar content had been given provisional approval by the Senate, and the Chamber of Deputies had provisionally approved an electoral reform bill providing for gender parity in party lists starting in 2017. Some of the reforms had already been implemented in several provinces.

Referring to paragraph 11 of the Committee’s previous concluding observations (CEDAW/C/ARG/CO/6), concerning the need for a mechanism to ensure that provincial governments were able to fully implement the Convention, she said that the Federal Women’s Council had recently adopted a charter and put in place a permanent secretariat that would enable it to carry out its mandate to support and coordinate public policy on women’s rights at the provincial and municipal levels, thereby guaranteeing full implementation of the Convention and related legislation throughout the country.

Similarly, following up on the recommendation made in paragraph 16 of the Committee’s previous concluding observations, the #Justicia2020 programme had been launched in May 2016 under the coordination of the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights. The component of the programme that addressed access to justice contained a subsection on gender policies and human rights and the overall programme objectives included developing widespread and balanced access to justice through “access to justice” centres; strengthening and coordinating local legal aid and assistance centres, according particular attention to vulnerable groups; guaranteeing the rights of indigenous peoples and vulnerable groups; and consolidating policies that promoted equal opportunities and the elimination of discrimination. The programme thereby addressed the Committee’s concerns in that area, as expressed in its general recommendation No. 33. In addition, the Public Prosecution Service had established a Directorate General for Access to Justice to set up decentralized offices in vulnerable areas, and thus improve access to justice for those living in places that were historically not well served. Around 75 per cent of those visiting the offices were women. Furthermore, the Supreme Court had made formal agreements with the provincial high courts to mainstream the gender perspective in the justice system and the judiciary’s women’s offices had trained nearly half the judicial personnel to date.

Despite all the benefits of a free national public health service, maternal mortality in Argentina remained high. One of the main causes was abortion and the Government had taken steps to safeguard women’s right to take their own decisions on family planning by improving access to contraception and ensuring that women experiencing an unplanned pregnancy received prompt, non-discriminatory and humane care. Under the National Sexual Health and Responsible Parenthood Programme, a protocol on comprehensive care for persons with a legal right to termination of pregnancy — an update of the technical guide for the provision of comprehensive care in non-punishable abortion cases issued in 2010 — had been published in 2015. The protocol clarified article 86 of the Criminal Code and reflected the Supreme Court judgment in the 2012 FAL case, which had clearly stipulated that legal abortion in cases of rape was not subject to criminal prosecution. The objective of the protocol was to promote the right of women, girls, adolescents and anyone capable of bearing a child to have recourse to legal termination of pregnancy for any of the reasons set forth in the country’s legal order. The National Action Plan for the Provision of Assistance and Prevention and Elimination of Violence against Women specified that the protocol, along with the relevant training for medical and non-medical personnel, was to be implemented in all hospitals.

The National Sexual Health and Responsible Parenthood Programme had also published a guide to the comprehensive care of women undergoing abortion in order to reduce maternal morbidity, and a guide to health care for transgender persons in line with the Gender Identity Act.

In the case of CER v. Argentina, (communication No. 63/2013) brought under the Optional Protocol to the Convention, the State party wished to report that the parties had reached an amicable settlement.

Articles 1 to 6

Ms. Haidar said that, although the Committee commended the State party on its excellent progress since the consideration of its previous report, it was concerned at the continuing lack of coordination between the federal Government and the decentralized jurisdictions in the implementation of regulations and policies. That situation gave rise to unequal treatment and discrimination among women living in different provinces, regions and municipalities, with a particularly negative impact on groups such as rural and indigenous women.

The Committee was also concerned about the drastic budget cuts that had been announced, and about certain plans to reform government structures. Since, ultimately, the cuts would have an impact on women’s rights, the Committee would like to know how the State party intended to prevent that happening and how it might increase resources rather than decrease them, especially at the provincial level. What measures would it take to remedy the disconnect between the various levels of government so as to ensure proper implementation of policies and regulations, plans and programmes, and how did it intend to synchronize legislative amendments and updates?

She asked when the State party expected to complete the census in order to obtain data disaggregated by sex, age, community and province that would inform policies and programmes, in particular for women suffering from multiple discrimination. According to alternative reports the Federal Human Rights Council and the Federal Women’s Council were somewhat fragile as institutions, especially at the national and provincial levels; how did the State party envisage strengthening the institutional framework in that area?

Notwithstanding the steps taken to strengthen the justice system and improve access to justice, the Committee remained concerned about the persistent discrimination resulting from the macho culture within the judicial system, especially at the provincial level. She wondered whether any studies had been conducted to ascertain the obstacles impeding women’s access to justice, and what action was planned to deal with the obstacles already identified.

The United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention had recently determined that the pretrial detention of Milagro Sala amounted to arbitrary detention and had asked the State party to release her forthwith so that she might stand trial. Had any decision been taken on that case?

Ms. Majdalani (Argentina) said that the Government was aware of the disparities in implementation at the various levels of government and steps were being taken to improve coordination. In addition to the measures already mentioned in the opening statement, special resources were being allocated by the Federal Women’s Council to strengthen the local women’s offices in all municipal and provincial jurisdictions in accordance with the provisions of the Action Plan for the Provision of Assistance and Prevention and Elimination of Violence against Women.

Ms. Rodríguez (Argentina) said that a study to assess unmet legal needs had been carried out. Specialist centres provided access to justice to those in disadvantaged areas, including comprehensive assistance from psychologists and lawyers. Targeted measures had been taken to help indigenous communities, whose access to justice was hindered by cost issues and their remote location. A pilot project under which mobile units would be used to provide health and legal services to indigenous and Creole communities in five provinces had been designed, and consultations on its implementation would be conducted in the near future.

An association that would support lawyers representing victims of gender-based violence was currently being established. Doctors, social workers and other professionals had been recruited to provide technical assistance, as well as auditors who would receive and assign cases, using specially designed software to ensure the same level of service across the country. The lawyers working with the association would be required to have a minimum of five years’ experience, pass an initial training course, and attend periodic courses administered by the association’s training unit. The head of the association, which would include a monitoring and accountability system, had a human rights background.

Ms. García (Argentina) said that the detention of Ms. Milagro Sala in the case examined by the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention had come to an end; she was now in pretrial detention in relation to a different case. The Working Group’s ruling had been communicated to the High Court of the Province of Jujuy, which had ultimate jurisdiction in respect of her detention.

Ms. Massa (Argentina) said that, to improve data collection at the provincial level, the National Institute of Statistics and Censuses was establishing links with its provincial counterparts through training courses and other measures, and was working with the World Bank to extend the Permanent Household Survey to rural areas in order to gather information on living and employment conditions in remote communities.

Ms. Majdalani (Argentina) said that there had been no regression in women’s rights. The National Action Plan for the Provision of Assistance and Prevention and Elimination of Violence against Women included a comprehensive range of measures to address inequality, which was the root cause of gender-based violence. The Government was committed to implementing public policies through the various gender mechanisms in place at the national, provincial and municipal levels, and also through additional measures such as the signature of pledges of commitment between the National Women’s Council and provincial governors.

Ms. Haidar said that she would welcome information on the timetable for the review of federal legislation. Budget cuts could cause progress on gender to stagnate, which amounted to regression. She asked whether a system for monitoring and evaluating access to justice in all of the country’s jurisdictions had been established.

Ms. Pimentel asked whether the association providing support for lawyers would include a monitoring mechanism for identifying shortcomings; and whether the State party could provide disaggregated data on the number of cases of discrimination against women taken to court and the sentences handed down, and information on the institutional mechanism, if any, that monitored sentence enforcement. She wished to know how girls and adolescents could access justice and information; how secondary victimization in judicial proceedings was prevented; whether action had been taken to ensure that public officials respected rights, including those established under the Gender Identity Act; whether there was a specific mechanism to encourage NGOs and civil society organizations to participate in litigation concerning women’s rights; and whether information and communication technology was used to support women’s access to justice.

Ms. Tuñez (Argentina) said that work on women’s rights had not stagnated; the total budget allocated to gender had increased in the last year, and sufficient resources had been allocated to all measures included in the National Action Plan for the Provision of Assistance and Prevention and Elimination of Violence against Women. The implementation of those measures would be coordinated by the Federal Women’s Council, thus ensuring that women living in isolated communities benefited, and a midterm progress evaluation would be performed. Furthermore, the budget of the National Women’s Council had risen by 30 per cent relative to the previous year.

Ms. Rodríguez (Argentina) said that the work of the lawyers’ association would be monitored by means of auditors, software and a case management dashboard. The procedure for selecting and training lawyers would also involve monitoring processes. The recent survey on unmet legal needs had been designed to identify potential obstacles to access to justice and the types of policies that should be implemented to mitigate them. Agreements regarding legal assistance would also be signed with the professional associations for notaries and scriveners.

Ms. Castañares (Argentina) said that statistics on sentences would be compiled by means of a computer system currently being developed by the Women’s Office of the Supreme Court. That system would enable provincial judicial authorities to submit data on the implementation of international instruments, including the Convention.

Ms. Majdalani (Argentina) said that civil society participated in the monitoring of legislation by means of a formally constituted advisory council composed of NGOs of legally recognized status and a less formal forum open to organizations without such status. The National Women’s Council was also open to cooperation with civil society, and working groups involving trade unions had been established. The National Action Plan for the Provision of Assistance and Prevention and Elimination of Violence against Women made provision for monitoring and evaluation by means of an interministerial body established to validate its content, a forum through which civil society could submit observations, and a dashboard for verifying progress, among other methods.

Ms. Rodríguez (Argentina) said that the #Justicia2020 programme also provided a forum for dialogue with civil society.

Ms. Acosta Vargas, noting that the federal Government was responsible for ensuring compliance with the Convention at all levels of the federal system, suggested that, in view of the National Women’s Council wide-ranging responsibilities, it should be given ministerial status in order to facilitate the coordination of gender matters across the country. She would welcome the delegation’s comments on that suggestion.

Ms. Nwankwo said there had been reports that more than 10 per cent of electoral lists at the 2015 elections had failed to comply with the Quota Act, and that the law establishing a quota for women’s representation in trade unions was roundly ignored. Moreover, the State party’s report contained no evidence of efforts to enforce that legislation. She wished to know the status of the parity bills that had been approved by the Senate and what specific measures would be used to ensure full compliance with their provisions once passed.

Ms. Tuñez (Argentina) said that the new Government had broadened the remit of the National Women’s Council to encompass all aspects of the Comprehensive Act on the Prevention, Punishment and Elimination of Violence against Women and to meet the demands of civil society and the general public. The Council had always had the status of State secretariat and its institutional stature was recognized by the country’s provincial governors. Work was under way to strengthen its role as a policy oversight body, and it had recently assumed responsibility for coordinating the work of the Federal Committee to Combat Trafficking, which would incorporate representatives of three NGOs as of November 2016.

Ms. Majdalani (Argentina) said that support was being given to bills that would guarantee gender parity in electoral lists and other spheres of public life and thus improve on the provisions of the Quota Act (Act No. 25.012). A number of NGOs had proposed that the National Women’s Council should establish a strategic litigation unit to ensure that the measures envisaged to achieve gender parity in political participation were actually implemented. It was possible that bills calling for gender parity in the Supreme Court, the executive branch of Government and the ranks of trade union representatives would be debated by the National Congress in the coming months.

Ms. Tuñez (Argentina) said that, since January 2016, the National Women’s Council had held five meetings with representatives of more than 50 women’s sections of trade unions. It had used those meetings as an opportunity to discuss and encourage progress towards gender parity in trade unions.

Ms. Acosta Vargas asked whether she had understood correctly that the National Women’s Council had the authority to attend Cabinet meetings and oversee interministerial coordination efforts without the explicit consent of the ministry to which it answered.

Ms. Pimentel said that she wished to know what efforts the State party had made to involve women in the design and implementation of public policies.

Ms. Tuñez (Argentina) said that the National Women’s Council, which reported to the Office of the President, was working closely with the Ministry of Social Development and the Executive Office of the Cabinet of Ministers to expedite efforts that had come to seem less urgent in previous years.

Ms. Majdalani (Argentina) said that the Council oversaw a number of initiatives to promote the participation of women in all areas of public life. Various government bodies had specific units to ensure that women’s voices were heard, and it was the Council’s responsibility to bring representatives of those units together with a view to strengthening them and ensuring that they had a greater impact on the design and implementation of public policies.

Ms. Pimentel asked what the Council did to ensure that provincial laws in the State party were in line with the Convention and the Committee’s general recommendations.

Ms. Patten said that she would appreciate an indication of the financial, human and technical resources allocated for implementation of the National Action Plan for the Provision of Assistance and Prevention and Elimination of Violence against Women. In particular, she wished to know whether resources for implementation of the Plan had been allocated to each of the provinces; what mechanisms for monitoring the nationwide implementation of the Plan were envisaged and how they would work; and what partners would be involved in ensuring that the Plan’s objectives were achieved.

She would welcome information on any measures that had been taken to address stereotyping and gender bias in the justice system. In that connection, she asked whether the police had special units that dealt with sexual and gender-based violence; whether there were any mechanisms in place to ensure that legal proceedings were not tainted by gender bias or stereotypes; and whether there was a complaints mechanism accessible to women whose dealings with law enforcement or the courts had been negatively affected by such stereotypes. She also wished to know what measures, in addition to those already mentioned in the periodic report, had been taken to combat the pervasive culture of machismo, which took a number of malevolent forms. Which partners did the Government intend to enlist to contribute to its efforts to change entrenched attitudes?

She further enquired as to whether the Government had evaluated, or was planning to evaluate, the effectiveness of the measures it had taken to address negative portrayals of women in the media; and, if so, what the results had been. She wondered whether there were any plans to allow the Office of the Audiovisual Services Ombudsman to penalize media outlets that ignored the measures.

More information on the Framework Protocol for Shelter Facilities mentioned in the report would be welcome. In particular, she wished to know what measures had been taken to ensure that facilities were accessible to women with disabilities and that shelters used by indigenous women were culturally appropriate; whether shelter users had access to counselling, rehabilitation and other support services; and whether the authorities had collected any data on the use of the shelters and their services.

She invited the delegation to provide data on the number of reported cases of hate crimes targeting lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) persons, including the number of cases that had led to prosecutions and convictions and the penalties that had been handed down. What measures had the Government taken to promote the rights of LGBTI persons? And who were its partners in those efforts?

Ms. Jahan asked what steps the Government had taken to address the root causes of trafficking and ensure that federal trafficking laws applied uniformly in all the State party’s jurisdictions. In that connection, she would appreciate an explanation as to how the possibly overlapping activities of the Federal Committee to Combat Trafficking and the Executive Committee to Combat Human Trafficking were coordinated. She would also welcome an indication of the resources allocated to the two Committees; an explanation of the reasons that had prevented the Federal Committee from meeting until June 2016; information on the composition of the Trafficking Victims Rescue and Support Office; and up-to-date statistics on prosecutions and convictions for trafficking-related offences.

Lastly, she asked whether the delegation could indicate how many women had been forced into prostitution in the State party, including through trafficking; whether the prohibition on advertising sexual services in the newspapers had been effective; and what steps had been taken to reduce demand for prostitution and help women who wished to leave the profession.

Ms. Majdalani (Argentina) said that the mechanisms in place to ensure effective implementation of all federal programmes and policies were being strengthened. The preliminary budget for the National Action Plan for the Provision of Assistance and Prevention and Elimination of Violence against Women was equivalent to approximately US$ 50 million and was intended to fund the actions led by the National Women’s Council for the next three years and the construction of 36 shelter homes providing comprehensive protection to women. Most of the shelters would be built in the province of Buenos Aires, which was home to nearly 40 per cent of the country’s population. The budgetary resources not earmarked for the construction of shelters would be allocated by programme rather than by province. Efforts were being made to ensure that the new shelters would be accessible to women with disabilities, welcoming to women from the country’s diverse communities, and places in which women could rebuild their lives rather than simply places of refuge.

Ms. Tuñez (Argentina) said that the establishment of a network of shelters providing comprehensive protection to women would ensure uniform standards nationwide. The shelters would also offer their users opportunities to learn trades not traditionally plied by women, and beneficiaries would receive government support for subsequent entrepreneurial initiatives.

Ms. Majdalani (Argentina) said that law enforcement officers could not earn promotion if they had not received training on gender issues. A number of additional steps had been taken to ensure that police officers and other law enforcement personnel adopted a gender perspective in their everyday work: for example, a comprehensive gender centre, which organized courses on gender issues, had been established within each of the country’s law enforcement services.

Considerable efforts were made to combat the stigmatization of women in the media, including new media. For example, the National Institute to Combat Discrimination, Xenophobia and Racism ran a complaints mechanism as part of efforts to combat discriminatory speech online, and in social media in particular.

Ms. Rodríguez (Argentina) said that the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights was undertaking a structural reform of the justice system, which had been developed to deal with violence taking place in the public sphere. Efforts were therefore being made to ensure that there were courts specialized in more private forms of violence. Judges, for example, needed to view acts of domestic violence not as isolated incidents, or snapshots, but as part of a continuing process in which threats could culminate in femicide. Under the integrated service model favoured by the Ministry, a single judge would have jurisdiction over all family disputes in a given case, meaning that women would no longer have to deal with a confusing array of courts and officials. Training for the judges involved would be compulsory. The software and facilities budgets for the reform programme were considerable.

Ms. Castañares (Argentina) said that the Supreme Court had taken steps to tackle the stereotypes that persisted among law enforcement officials. For example, it had established a Women’s Office that worked closely with other women’s agencies around the country to design and conduct awareness-raising workshops. An impact assessment of those workshops was in the pipeline. In addition, the Vice-President of the Supreme Court had recently issued a statement reminding judges of their obligations and urging them to ensure that gender perspectives were fully taken into account. Efforts were also under way to increase access to training on gender-related issues for judges. Training for judges was monitored and evaluated from both a quantitative and qualitative point of view, in order to track the number of persons trained and assess the training’s impact on sentencing.

Ms. García (Argentina) said that the records unit of the National Secretariat for Human Rights logged cases of gender-based killing, including femicide and the killing of transvestites, a phenomenon referred to as transvesticide. A qualitative analysis of gender-based killing had been carried out during which relevant court cases had been followed up on and in-depth interviews had been conducted with family members of victims and other stakeholders. A dedicated department for sexual diversity policy had been created within the National Secretariat for Human Rights to formulate policies to promote and raise awareness of the rights of LGBTI persons.

Ms. Monferrer (Argentina) added that the Supreme Court kept a database of femicides, which, from 2017, would also incorporate data on killings of transgender women and transvestites. In parallel, specialized training on the issue would be provided by the Women’s Office of the Supreme Court.

Ms. Tuñez (Argentina) said that the operators staffing the toll-free 144 helpline had received appropriate training on the diversity of women’s identities and the myriad of challenges women faced. In addressing crimes against transgender persons, the National Women’s Council cooperated closely with various bodies and agencies, including the Ministry of Justice and the National Sexual Diversity Coordination Unit of the Ministry of Social Development, and had recently begun working to provide support and reparation to victims’ families. To address gender-based violence in general, in conjunction with the Buenos Aires Observatory on Gender-Based Violence, the Council organized workshops across the country and provided training for interdisciplinary teams in the provinces.

Ms. Madjalani (Argentina) said that various educational measures were being taken to eradicate macho behaviour from society and prevent violence against women. For example, all schools and universities nationwide were required by law to devote at least one day a year — 25 November, which coincided with the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women — to educating students on gender equality and the prevention of violence. The cross-cutting #AmorEs (“Love Is”) campaign was also helping to ensure that gender issues were addressed in education and that school curricula were devoid of sexist content.

Ms. Tuñez (Argentina) said that the concerted effort being made to promote awareness of gender perspectives in education had also included the development of specific training on gender issues for students of social work and medicine, inter alia, and more general training for the university student population as a whole. It was hoped that, by incorporating gender issues at all levels of education, Argentina would soon become a fairer, more democratic society.

Ms. Rodríguez (Argentina), responding to questions concerning trafficking in persons, said that a series of protocols had been formulated to provide guidance for law enforcement officials dealing with multi-jurisdictional cases in which offences of procurement or sexual exploitation were subsequently found to be connected to human trafficking. The protocols were designed to ensure that such cases were handled quickly and efficiently, and provided for the establishment of first points of contact trained to detect the likely existence of connected offences.

Several ministries were represented on the Executive Committee to Combat Human Trafficking, each of which had specific trafficking-related responsibilities and ran specific-trafficking related programmes. The Executive Committee met to ensure that public policies and programmes were implemented in a coordinated manner. It had also launched a successful campaign to raise awareness of the commonplace, tell-tale signs of human trafficking and encourage the general public to report suspected cases. A three-fold increase in the number of offences reported through the toll-free 145 telephone hotline had been recorded to date. The Federal Committee to Combat Trafficking, which comprised representatives from the provinces as well as from the various government ministries, the judiciary and the National Women’s Council, had a quite different role, overseeing and monitoring the implementation of public policy and the work carried out by the Executive Committee.

A study was under way to identify common barriers to the investigation and prosecution of trafficking offences. The Government was keen to ensure that such crimes were investigated proactively rather than reactively, particularly with regard to the role of online platforms and social networks in creating demand. The rescue programme for trafficking victims included the provision of shelter as well as support throughout the legal process.

Ms. Monferrer (Argentina) added that the Supreme Court was currently designing a database that would incorporate all relevant trafficking-related indicators. The Domestic Violence Office attached to the Supreme Court was also starting to record data on cases of trafficking for the purposes of sexual exploitation and prostitution.

Ms. Pimentel said that, while the information provided about the State party’s efforts to combat gender stereotypes through education was very helpful, she would like to hear more about the issue of femicide and the role of the communication media. She had been particularly struck by the extraordinary #NiUnaMenos (“Not One Woman Less”) social movement sweeping Argentina and Latin America as a whole. Thousands of women had been protesting against macho behaviour and gender-based violence and in favour of greater equality and autonomy for women. She wondered to what extent the National Women’s Council envisaged aligning itself with that movement so that more far-reaching, more continuous campaigns against deep-rooted stereotypes and cultural attitudes might be launched.

Ms. Patten, referring to the Committee’s previous recommendation that the State party should implement a system to encourage women to report marital rape, said that she would welcome statistical data on the number of such cases reported, and on the number of prosecutions brought and convictions obtained. She would also be interested to know whether appropriate training had been provided to judicial and law enforcement officers; and what support services were available to women victims.

Ms. Jahan, noting that her questions concerning measures to reduce demand for prostitution and help women wishing to leave the profession had not been answered, said that she also wished to know how many cases of trafficking in persons had been reported through the various telephone hotlines and how many of those reports had resulted in investigations, prosecutions and convictions. Data on the ages and nationalities of the victims would be useful. She asked what steps had been taken to ensure that public officials complicit in human trafficking, in particular trafficking for the purposes of sexual exploitation, were prosecuted and convicted; and whether the State party had established shelters for women victims of trafficking.

Ms. Tuñez (Argentina) said that, while the #NiUnaMenos movement had initially emerged from online social networks, it was now an intrinsic part of Argentine culture: all of society was engaged in the fight to end femicide. At the outset, the movement had called for five specific measures to be implemented, all of which had since been actioned by the Government. Tackling violence against women and femicide was a strategic priority for the National Women’s Council; a round table comprising family members of victims had been established, and the Council worked closely with provincial administrations and service providers to ensure that victims’ families received enhanced support. On the occasion of the recent day of action planned by members of the movement, staff of the National Women’s Council and other public entities had shown their solidarity by wearing black to work.

Ms. Madjalani (Argentina) said that the National Women’s Council worked tirelessly with the communication media to tackle stereotypes and macho culture. For example, following press reports of misogynistic comments made by a well-known Argentine musician, they had joined forces to create a mechanism to ensure that chauvinist discourse no longer had a place in the country’s media.

Ms. Rodríguez (Argentina) said that figures for the first six months of 2016 indicated that more than 10,000 victims of trafficking had been rescued as part of a targeted programme to tackle the problem. The vast majority of the victims were adults, 46 per cent of them were of Argentine nationality, and 48 per cent had been trafficked for the purpose of sexual exploitation. Victims who were not Argentine citizens included nationals of Paraguay, the Plurinational State of Bolivia, the Dominican Republic and Brazil. Around 7,000 cases had been reported through the 144 telephone hotline since the start of 2016. Information on the number of prosecutions and the sentences handed down could be found on the website of the Office of the Special Prosecutor for Offences of Human Trafficking and Exploitation.

Ms. Monferrer (Argentina) said that there was no justification for marital rape under Argentine law: the offence was treated in the same manner as non-marital rape. More than 11,000 rapes had been reported to the Domestic Violence Office in Buenos Aires in 2015. In over 75 per cent of those cases, the victims had been women attacked by a current or former spouse or a cohabiting partner.

Ms. Madjalani (Argentina) said that a programme was in place to facilitate access to social services for vulnerable women, in particular women affected by violence and women with multiple children. It was designed to foster women’s autonomy and reduce the need for them to resort to prostitution.

Articles 7 to 9

Ms. Nwankwo said that, while progress had been made in various areas of public and political life, much remained to be done to achieve substantive equality and equitable political participation for women. At present, just one of the 19 government ministries was headed by a woman, and fewer than 3 per cent of provincial mayors were women. It was a similar story in the business sector, where women were underrepresented in high-ranking roles. She wished to know what specific measures were in place to advance women candidates seeking election to public bodies, including through the provision of technical advice, training on public policies and governance, and support for campaign funding; to foster change in the structure of political parties, including by promoting gender equity; and to adopt rules to ensure transparency in political campaign financing. She would also be interested to know what action had been taken to prevent harassment and violence against women in public office; whether there were any plans to introduce public polices to foster shared parental responsibility and improve the childcare infrastructure so as to facilitate women’s greater participation in political and public life; and what measures were in place to ensure that women could contribute to the work of international organizations.

Ms. Madjalani (Argentina) said that the National Action Plan for the Provision of Assistance and Prevention and Elimination of Violence against Women contained measures to promote the concept of parity democracy, since de facto equality was one of the ways to bring about substantive change in society. Various steps were being taken to empower women to assume public office. For example, a bill providing for gender parity in party lists was pending approval; the new national early childhood programme provided for the establishment of comprehensive childcare centres that would have the effect of facilitating women’s entry into the labour market; new guidelines were being drafted to encourage men to take paternity leave and share parental responsibility more equally in the home; and the public and private sectors were contributing to a review of employment contract law that would consider, inter alia, the inclusion of gender-based violence as a grounds for dismissal. Lastly, with the cooperation of all government ministries, efforts were being made to put women candidates forward to represent Argentina at the international level and in international organizations.

The meeting rose at 1 p.m.