against Women

List of issues and questions prior to the submission of the fifth periodic report of Liechtenstein *

General

1.Information and statistics, disaggregated by sex, age, nationality, religion and location, on the current situation of women in the State party are required to monitor implementation of all areas covered by the Convention. In the light of the Committee’s previous concerns (see CEDAW/C/LIE/CO/4, paras. 2, 17 (a) and 41 (a)), please indicate the measures implemented by the State party to make use of this data for policymaking and programme development and for measuring progress towards the implementation of the Convention.

Constitutional and legislative framework

2.Please provide information on the steps taken to incorporate the provisions of the Convention into national laws and to ensure the availability of effective remedies for all women, including disadvantaged groups of women, in the State party. Please also provide information on the provisions of the Gender Equality Act on non-discrimination on the basis of sex in all areas covered by the Convention and whether it prohibits intersecting forms of discrimination, in line with articles 1 and 2 (b) of the Convention and in compliance with indicator 5.1.1 of the Sustainable Development Goals. Please also provide examples, if any, of court decisions directly applying provisions of the Convention.

Access to justice

3.Please provide information on the impact of the Gender Equality Act regarding women’s access to justice and specifically if it has been invoked before a court, arbitration office or administrative board for cases of discrimination. Please also provide information on the measures taken to provide legal aid and raise awareness of how to use legal remedies against discrimination on the basis of sex and gender.

National machinery for the advancement of women

4.Please provide information on (a) the mandates and the financial, human and technical resources allocated to the Association for Human Rights (Verein für Menschenrechte in Liechtenstein) and (b) the institution taking up the responsibilities formally assumed by the Equal Opportunities Commission (Stabsstelle für Chancengleichheit). Please further indicate if those bodies provide legal counselling and if they can lodge complaints with the court, either in their own name or in the name of an affected party. Please also inform the Committee whether the creation of the Association for Human Rights is part of a broader human rights strategy promoting women’s rights.

Temporary special measures

5.Please provide information on the measures taken to promote and accelerate the de facto equality of women and men, including through the adoption of temporary special measures in the field of political life, employment and education (see paras. 29 (a) and 35 (a)), based on the provisions of the Gender Equality Act and in accordance with article 4 (1) of the Convention and the Committee’s general recommendation No. 25 (2004) on temporary special measures. Please also explain whether the Convention is used as a legal framework for their adoption and implementation. Please include information on the enforcement, monitoring and outcomes of those measures, supported by statistical data.

Stereotypes and harmful practices

6.Please provide information on the implementation and monitoring of measures taken to change attitudes concerning the traditional roles of women in the family and in society, and on the effectiveness of those measures. Please specify the measures taken to address the stereotypical portrayal of women, including migrant women, in the media. Please also indicate whether the State party has adopted a comprehensive policy targeted at women and men, boys and girls to combat such traditional stereotypes, as previously recommended by the Committee (para. 19 (a)) and accepted by the State party during the universal periodic review (A/HRC/23/14).

Violence against women

7.Please inform the Committee about the current legislation on the prevention, prohibition and prosecution of all forms of gender-based violence against women and on the progress made on the ratification of the Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence. Please provide updated data on violence against women, disaggregated by type of violence and by the relationship of the perpetrator to the victim, and on prosecutions and convictions of the crimes of domestic violence and marital rape, which reportedly remain prevalent in the country. Please also provide information on the attention being paid to such gender-based violence against women during the processing of asylum applications. Please also indicate the achievements and challenges in the implementation of the national action plan on violence against women and on the steps taken to develop a new action plan (CAT/C/LIE/CO/4, para. 20).

Trafficking and exploitation of prostitution

8.Please provide information on the outcome of discussions of the round table on human trafficking, established in 2006 (see CEDAW/C/LIE/Q/4/Add.1, para. 28). Please also report on the mechanisms established for the identification of victims of trafficking and on referral mechanisms. Please also provide information on the measures taken to ensure that asylum applications are addressed in a gender-sensitive manner, taking into account the age of the applicants, in order to respond to the specific protection needs of women and girls who are victims of trafficking, and to ensure that temporary residence permits, protection and support are provided to all victims of trafficking (para. 27).

9.Please provide updated information on the extent of prostitution in the State party, including data disaggregated by sex, age and nationality. Please provide updated information on the applicable legal and policy framework for prostitution and sexual exploitation in the territory of the State party and by its citizens outside its territory. Please also report on the activities implemented to protect and support women in prostitution and provide data on the support granted by the interdisciplinary expert group against the sexual abuse of children and young people. Please also provide information on the action plans and other measures taken to prevent the exploitation of women and girls in prostitution and through pornography. Please also indicate whether measures exist to support women in prostitution who wish to leave prostitution, including by guaranteeing their access to alternative means of livelihood.

Participation in political and public life

10.Please provide updated data, disaggregated by sex, on the situation of women in political and public life. Please also provide information as to whether the reasons for the lack of interest in the women’s pool database, leading to its dissolution, have been assessed, and provide information on the results of the study on non-candidacies in the 2011 municipal elections. Please also elaborate on the measures taken, including the use of quotas, to increase the number of women in elected and appointed bodies, in particular in decision-making positions in both the public sector (the legislature, executive, judiciary, diplomatic service and in senior positions in the Government and in academia) and the private sector at the national, regional and local levels, in line with target 5.5 of the Sustainable Development Goals. Please also provide information on the mechanisms available for monitoring the impact of those measures. Please further indicate if campaigns are conducted to raise awareness of the importance for society as a whole of the participation by women in decision-making and for their necessary empowerment.

Education

11.Please provide updated information on the measures taken to diversify academic and vocational choices for girls and boys and to encourage women and girls to choose non-traditional fields of education, such as science, technology, including digital technology, engineering and medicine, and in corresponding careers (para. 31). Please also report on the measures taken to guarantee that teachers at all levels benefit from continuous training on the ways in which their behaviour contributes to gender stereotyping. Please also provide information on the incentives used to ensure the representation of women in leadership positions in colleges and universities, as docents and professors, as well as in the Office of Education and the education inspectorates (para. 33).

Employment and social security

12.It is indicated that the median wage of women is about 17 per cent lower than the wage earned by men. Reportedly, the wage gap is even bigger in the private sector. Please provide information on the measures taken to reduce the pay gap and to ensure full respect for the principle of equal pay for work of equal value in the private sector.

13.Please provide information on the initiatives taken to increase employment opportunities for women in traditionally male-dominated areas and on the measures taken to effectively address vertical labour market segregation, including on the results achieved through the implementation of priority measures to increase the proportion of women in management positions.

14.Please provide information on the measures taken to facilitate balancing work and family life, such as increasing the number and capacity of “day structures”, ensuring flexible and part-time work arrangements for men and encouraging fathers to take advantage of these possibilities (para. 37). Please also provide information on the beneficiaries of the “Coming back” programme, after prolonged absence due to family work, and on the field of work into which they have been reintegrated.

15.Please provide information on the measures taken to prevent and monitor the sexual harassment of women in the workplace and data on the number of complaints, as well as on cases taken before the competent arbitration office and the Court of Justice.

16.Please explain the State party’s rejection of the recommendations addressed to it during the universal periodic review (A/HRC/23/14) to become a member of the International Labour Organization (ILO) and to ratify the ILO Domestic Workers Convention, 2011 (No. 189). Please also provide a timeline for the ratification of the ILO Equal Remuneration Convention, 1951 (No. 100), the Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention, 1958 (No. 111), and the Workers with Family Responsibilities Convention, 1981 (No. 156) (para. 35 (c)).

17.Please provide information on the measures taken to guarantee the integration of women working part-time into the State party’s social welfare system, especially with regard to provisions for older persons and health insurance, and report on the support granted for their career development (para. 35 (b)). Please also provide information on the measures taken to mitigate the reported deterioration in the financial situation of single mothers.

Health

18.Please provide updated information on the review of legislation in relation to “pregnancy conflicts” and on the measures taken to decriminalize abortion (para. 39 (a)), and on the decriminalized grounds for abortion. Please also provide updated information on the current jurisprudence regarding legal and illegal forms of abortion and the act of promoting and encouraging an abortion without a careful inquiry into its medical necessity. Please provide information on the status of women’s sexual, reproductive and mental health (para. 39 (b)). Please also report on the strategy used to address the mental health of women and girls, including facilitating access to the relevant services.

Women’s economic empowerment

19.Please provide information on the measures taken for the economic empowerment of women and on the efforts made to enhance the participation of women in the design and implementation of strategies for sustainable development and climate change, such as the Alpine Convention, in compliance with target 5.a of the Sustainable Development Goals.

Disadvantaged groups of women

20.Please provide updated information and data on the human rights situation of refugee and migrant women, older women, including widows and divorcees, rural women, Muslim women, women in detention, women with disabilities and lesbian, bisexual, transgender and intersex women, and specify the measures taken to ensure that they have effective access to education, health, housing, employment and participation in political and public life, including through the use of temporary special measures (para. 41). Please also report on the measures taken to address incidents of racism and xenophobia in the State party. Please also indicate a time frame for the ratification of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of all Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families.

21.Please provide information on the specific measures taken to promote the integration of currently underrepresented migrant women in secondary and tertiary education. Please also explain the State party’s rejection of the recommendation addressed to it in the context of the universal periodic review process (A/HRC/23/14) to alleviate the barriers pertaining to the process of applying for family reunification. Please further provide information on the measures taken to guarantee compliance with the international obligations of the State party towards women and girl refugees and asylum seekers, including protection of their fundamental rights and the provision of basic services, and on training and guidelines for law enforcement officials and border guards on their gender-sensitive treatment at all stages of the asylum procedure.

22.The Committee, recalling its general recommendation No. 27 (2010) on older women and the protection of their human rights, invites the State party to provide information on the measures taken, based on the results of the “Women’s lives 50+” study, such as support for their reintegration into the workforce after losing employment, and on the measures taken to combat their relative poverty, owing to their previous lower pay, high level of part-time work and interrupted careers.

Marriage and family relations

23.In line with the Committee’s general recommendation No. 29 (2013) on the economic consequences of marriage, family relations and their dissolution, please provide information on the measures taken to ensure that the concept of joint marital property extends to intangible property, including pension and insurance benefits and other career assets, and on the efforts made to analyse the economic consequences of divorce for both spouses, with specific attention paid to the enhanced human capital and earning potential of male spouses on the basis of their full-time and uninterrupted career patterns (para. 43). Please also provide information on the reform of inheritance regulations. Please further indicate the status and content of the reform of custody regulations for the children of separated and divorced parents and report on the procedures allowing gender-based violence to be taken into account in such custody decisions. Please also report on the measures taken to prevent the systematic use of reconciliatory mediation in divorce procedures and under what conditions cases are diverted to mediation.

Additional information

24.Please provide any additional information deemed relevant regarding legislative, policy, administrative and any other types of measures taken since the consideration of the previous periodic report to implement the provisions of the Convention and the Committee’s concluding observations. That may include recent laws, developments, plans and programmes, the recent ratification of human rights instruments and any other information that the State party considers relevant. Please take note that further to the issues raised herein, the State party will be expected to respond during the dialogue to additional questions posed by the Committee within the framework of the Convention.