Committee on the Elimination of

Discrimination against Women

Fifty-fourth session

11 February – 1 March 2013

List of issues and questions with regard to the consideration of periodic reports

Greece

The pre-session working group considered the seventh periodic report of Greece (CEDAW/C/GRC/7).

General

1.Please provide updated statistical data, disaggregated by sex and geographical location, pertaining to the main areas and provisions of the Convention, such as education, employment, health and violence against women. Please indicate what steps have been taken to establish regular collection and analysis of data to capture the real situation of women belonging to disadvantaged groups.

2.Please provide detailed information on the process of the preparation of the report,including to what extent consultations were held with civilsociety, in particular, with women non-governmental organizations (NGOs). Please also explain whether the report was adopted by the Government and submitted to Parliament.

3.Please provide updated data and information on the effects of the financial crisis on poverty and of budget cuts affecting the status of women. Please elaborate on the measures taken to redress or mitigate the effects of the financial crisis on women since 2010.

Constitutional, legislative and institutional framework

4.The report indicates (annex 1, para. 6) that in July 2010, a Specialized Legislative Commission has been established and at the moment of the submission of the report, this Commission was drafting a new law on substantial equality of the sexes (annex 1, para. 12)and redrafting the legislation related to combating violence against women (annex 1, para.6). Please provide detailed information on the mandate of this Commission and its composition, as well as updated information on whether the above-mentioned legislation has been drafted and amended.

5.The report indicates (annex 1, para. 25) that the Specialized Legislative Commission was examining, at the moment of the submission of the report, the current family law provisions in order to “modernize and improve them” with regard to the contradictions in the application of national law and sharia law in the State party. Please provide information on whether these revisions have been undertaken, and if so, what was their outcome.

Access to justice

6.The report indicates (para. 23) that in order to facilitate access to justice for women, the General Secretariat for Gender Equality was planning to conduct a systematic study in 2011 on the current legislation on gender equality in public and private sectors in order to improve and to simplify regulations for their effective implementation in administration, courts and monitoring mechanisms. Please provide updated and detailed information on the status of this study, as well as on the concrete steps taken to improve women’s access to justice in the State party.

Violence against women

7.The report indicates (annex 1, para. 3) that the General Secretariat for Gender Equality established Advisory Centres to be operational from 2011 in all regions of the country to provide specialized legal information and combat gender-based violence across the country and free legal representation of women victims of violence. The report further indicates (annex 1, para.5) that some SOS hotlines for victims of domestic violence have been established and were supposed to be fully operational in 2011. Please provide updated information on whether these centres and hotlines are operational.Please indicate if any evaluation mechanism has been established to assess the impact of the National Action Plan to Prevent and Combat Violence against Women 2009-2013 (annex 1, para.5)and provide information on the progress achieved so far through its implementation.

8.Please provide information on steps taken to ratify the Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence and Domestic Violence against Women, which the State party has signed.

Trafficking and exploitation of prostitution

9.The report provides some data on trafficking in human beings (para. 79), however, this data is not disaggregated by sex and geographical location. Please provide updated and detailed statistical data, disaggregated by sex and location, on trafficking in women and exploitation of prostitution, in particular, on the number of victims, including minors, the number of complaints received, investigations, prosecutions, convictions and penalties imposed on the perpetrators of such crimes. Please provide information on measures to address the root causes of prostitution.

Political participation and decision-making

10.The report indicates (para. 136)that despite the several steps taken by the State party to increase women’s participation in decision-making, women continue to be underrepresented in politics, political parties, parliament, government and public administration, as well as in the foreign service and in tertiary education. Please provide information on measures taken to ensure that more women enter into decision-making bodies in all sectors and at all levels. Please also indicate whether these measures include awareness-raising campaigns about the importance of women’s participation in decision-making for society as a whole and monitoring of the impact of these measures.

11.The report indicates (para. 47) that article 3 of Law 3636/2008 (G.G.11/A/1-2-2008) on the elections of members of parliament stipulates that a minimum of a third of the candidates within political parties – nation-wide, not per election region – must be of each sex. The report further provides some data (para. 143) on women’s participation in the National Parliament in 2007 and 2009. Please provide information on the implementation of the above Law, as well asinformation on the latest elections in the State party, in June 2012, and on the composition of the new Parliament with regard to the gender-balanced representation.

12.The report indicates (paras. 31 and 33) that laws 3387/2005 and 3448/2006, abolished the 10 per cent quota for women’s admission to the Fire fighting Academy Schools of the Hellenic Fire Corps and the 15 per cent quota on employment of women in the Municipal Police Force. Please clarify whether higher quotas have been established in order to achieve substantive equality of women and men. Please provide information on whether after the abolishment of these quotas women’s admission to the above-mentioned institutions has increased and provide comparative data on the period before and after this amendment.

Education

13.The report acknowledges (para. 172) that in secondary education the number of boys is higher than the respective number of girls. Please provide information on the root causes of this difference, the dropout rates and measures taken to retain girls in schools.

14.The report acknowledges (para. 173) that women’s educational and professional choices remain defined by gender stereotypes. The report further indicates (annex 1, para. 16) that some measures have been taken, according to the National Action Plan for Substantive Gender Equality 2010 – 2013, to reform curricula for higher education to mainstream gender. Please provide information on measures taken to review teaching materials, curricula and textbooks, to integrate gender equality and human rights therein and eliminate sex and gender-based discrimination at all levels of education.

Employment

15.The report mentions (annex 1, para. 22) that the Labour Inspectorate has been reconstituted. Please provide information on the new composition, the mandate and the measures taken by the new Labour Inspectorate and other State party’s bodies in order to address gender pay gap. The report further indicates (para. 232) that in the framework of developing new forms of employment organization, social partners have annexed to the 2008 – 2009 National General Collective Labour Contract a framework agreement on teleworking, the promotion of which is anticipated to contribute to the harmonization of family and professional life and the strengthening of women’s employability. Please provide information on the outcomes of this initiative, as well as on other recent measures taken to promote women’s equal opportunities in employment and equal sharing in family responsibilities between women and men.

16.The report of the International Labour Organization refers to Act No. 3846 of 11 May 2010 on “financial management and responsibility”, which institutionalized a range of flexible forms of employment and indicates that women have been identified as the ones most often offered flexible form of employment, notably part-time or rotation employment. The report further indicates that working mothers returning from maternity leave are being offered part-time and rotation work, reducing their levels of pay. Please provide statistical data, disaggregated by sex, on the use of part time work, rotation work or flexible forms of employment and its impact on women’s levels of pay. Please also provide information on measures taken to address theabove issue.

Health

17.The report indicates (para. 19) that in 2007, the Hellenic Ministry of Health and Social Solidarity executed National Actions Plans for sexual and reproductive health, HIV/AIDS and Sexually Transmitted Diseases. The report further indicates (para. 255) that the Ministry designed another plan for 2008 – 2012. Please provide updated information on the outcome of the first plan and on the current status of implementation of the second one. Please indicate the main achievements so far and the major challenges encountered.

18.The report is silent on the tobacco and alcohol consumption by the population of the State party. Please provide information on the extent of tobacco and alcohol consumption by women, on measures taken to address illnesses resulting from this consumption, and on the campaigns, if any, designed to reduce tobacco and alcohol consumption.

19.The report indicates (para. 256) that one of the objectives of the National Action Plan for Sexual and Reproductive Health 2008–2012 is to update the national legislation on abortion. Please provide information on the steps taken in this regard, and on the outcomes.

Refugee and asylum-seeking women

20.Information before the Committee indicates that despite the adoption of the Presidential Decree 114/2010, which incorporates the Asylum Procedures Directive into domestic law and provides that women applicants are assisted by women interpreters during the application procedure, refugee and asylum-seeking women do not know about their rights and experience discrimination. The report provides no official statistical data on refugee and asylum-seeking women, or on asylum claims based on gender-related persecution. Please provide recent statistical data, disaggregated by sex and geographical location, on refugee and asylum-seeking persons, on the number of facilities available to them, as well as information on the quality of these facilities. Please also indicate whether training and guidelines provided to the law enforcement officials and border guards on how to deal with gender-related persecution and provide protection to refugee and asylum-seeking women.