Twenty-fifth session
Summary record of the 517th meeting
Held at Headquarters, New York, on Tuesday, 10 July 2001, at 3 p.m.
Chairperson:Ms. Acar (Vice-Chairperson)
Contents
Consideration of reports submitted by States parties under article 18 of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (continued)
Initial report of Andorra (continued)
In the absence of the Chairperson, Ms. Acar (Vice-Chairperson) took the Chair
The meeting was called to order at 3.05 p.m.
Consideration of reports submitted by States parties under article 18 of the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (continued)
Initial report of Andorra (continued ) (CEDAW/C/AND/1)
1.At the invitation of the Chairperson, the members of the delegation of Andorra resumed their places at the Committee table.
2.Ms. Corti commended the State party for its achievements in implementing the Convention and for bringing a delegation that was composed mostly of women. With respect to article 7 of the Convention, she said that Andorra had made significant progress in attaining political equality, in particular since women had earned the right to vote as recently as 1970. She praised Andorra for appointing women as Ministers of Finance and Agriculture, areas usually reserved for men, and noted the high number of women working in the ministries. It would be useful to know whether promotions were conferred in a non-discriminatory fashion, in particular since cultural stereotypes often intervened in those processes. In addition, she would like to know if there was a women's group within Parliament working towards legislation favourable to women, whether the Government enlisted the services of non-governmental organizations on subjects of importance to women, and whether Parliament was taking measures to eliminate any remaining discrimination in the labour market. Finally, it would be helpful to know whether Andorra had envisaged the introduction of gender mainstreaming into the ministries.
3.Ms. Ferrer Gómez asked, with reference to article 10, whether Andorran school curricula included teaching about human rights and equal rights, whether the Government had considered revising school textbooks with a view to eliminating cultural stereotypes, and whether any efforts were being made to encourage girls to take up technical studies.
4.Ms. Schöpp-Schilling said that, since Andorra had a variety of school systems, Spanish, French and Andorran, she would like to know the extent to which the Government could influence school curricula, whether it could order a review of school textbooks, whether Catholic schools were a separate entity from the free public schools, and whether reproductive education was provided in all schools, including the Catholic ones.
5.Ms. Shin noted that the chart on school staff found on page 35 of the report showed that school directors were predominantly men, and that most teachers and assistants were women. She wondered whether Andorra was aware of that imbalance and was taking measures to redress it.
6.Ms. González said that she had gathered from the remarks made by the Andorran delegation at the morning meeting that, despite the provisions of article 11 of the Convention and article 25 of Andorra's Employment Regulations, women were not paid at the same rate as men. She urged the Government to pay closer attention to the elimination of inequality and discrimination in the workplace. In that regard, she wondered whether women were entitled to a maternity certificate, demonstrating that they were pregnant and protecting them against dismissal, and whether women who had recently given birth were entitled to the same protection. The relevant legislation should be re-examined in the light of article 11 and of international labour standards.
7.Ms. Ferrer Gómez enquired what legislative measures the Government had taken, or envisaged taking to fill the gaps in labour legislation and end discrimination in the workplace, and what plans it had made to provide labour protections for domestic workers.
8.Ms. Schöpp-Schilling asked whether and to what extent women worked in the tourism industry as unpaid family helpers, whether such women were married or single, young or old, whether relevant statistics existed, and whether that form of work was recognized in the social security system and in pension schemes. Furthermore, Andorra should carefully assess the matter of equal pay for work of equal value, since the notion that physical work was more demanding than other sorts of work was both outdated and patriarchal. It should attempt to determine why such a significant income gap existed between men and women, both for the same job and for jobs of equal value.
9.Ms. Livingstone Raday urged the Government to envisage extending anti-discrimination protection to such employment areas as hiring, promotion, training and dismissal. The report on pages 37 to 39, indicated that there were insufficient data to determine whether or not wage discrimination existed. That situation required further investigation. The constitutional guarantees against discrimination were insufficient: legislative guarantees should be established that would allow women to bring private civil actions if they experienced discrimination. The enactment of such laws would also serve to educate both employers and employees. Had any cases involving employment discrimination come before the Andorran courts? The report on page 42, gave the number of complaints that had been lodged with the Labour Inspectorate but did not reveal the subject of those complaints.
10.Ms. Abaka commended Andorra for the very real progress it had made towards attaining equal rights for women, and for its fine report. She noted that under Andorran law, the punishment for abortion was imprisonment, and that women wanting abortions travelled outside the country to have them performed. It would be useful to know what course was open to women with unwanted pregnancies who were unable to travel. The State party should provide statistics, disaggregated by age, on the number of women imprisoned for violating the relevant law.
11.The diminution of smoking among women was welcome, even though it was mostly among older women. She asked what age Andorran girls started to smoke. She would also like to know whether research had been conducted into domestic violence in the areas where substance abuse was more prevalent, and what type of domestic violence occurred in those areas.
12.Apparently, around 25 per cent of Andorran women, usually of a lower educational level, had mental problems. It would be useful to know the nature of those problems. Were the women suffering from depression, and had the depression been linked with menopause in any of the cases? She would also like to know what programmes, if any, had been created to address the emotional suffering of women.
13.Ms. Gabarre (Andorra), thanking the members of the Committee for their comments and questions, said that her delegation would reply to the best of its ability.