* Adopted by the pre-sessional working group on 1 November 2022.

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

General

1.Please provide information and statistics, disaggregated by sex, age, nationality, disability, ethnicity and socioeconomic background, on the current situation of women in the State party, to enable monitoring of the implementation of the Convention. In accordance with the State party’s obligations under articles 1 and 2 of the Convention, and in line with target 5.1 of the Sustainable Development Goals, to end all forms of discrimination against all women and girls everywhere, please indicate how the State party intends to improve the collection and analysis of data pertaining to the areas covered by the Convention, so as to support policymaking and programme development and to measure progress towards the implementation of the Convention and the promotion of substantive equality between women and men, including with regard to the specific areas covered in the present document.

Women’s rights and gender equality in relation to the pandemic, recovery efforts and global crisis

2.Please describe efforts made and mechanisms put in place to face the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic and its long-term impact, and ways to apply these in the State party’s response to current and future crises, such as armed conflict, food insecurity and the energy crisis. Please report on strategies taken to ensure that gender equality and women’s empowerment are a fundamental requirement in addressing such crises and in elaborating adequate responses, such as policies, assistance programmes, recovery efforts and the consolidation of the rule of law. Please also report on measures taken to ensure the equal and meaningful participation of women in these processes, and that such crises will not lead to a reversal of progress made in the protection and promotion of women’s rights.

Reservations

3.In the light of the Committee’s previous concern (CEDAW/C/LIE/CO/5/Rev.1, para. 10), please provide information to the Committee on the measures taken by the State party to review and withdraw its reservations to article 1 of the Convention.

Women’s access to justice

4.Please provide information on the challenges and achievements in ensuring access to justice for all women. Please report on measures taken to ensure that women have access to effective remedies in respect of complaints about violations of their rights, in accordance with the Committee’s general recommendation No. 33 (2015) on women’s access to justice, including:

(a)The number of complaints concerning cases of discrimination on the grounds of sex submitted to the Association for Human Rights in the past five years, the recommendations made to remedy the discrimination experienced and the follow-up to those recommendations;

(b)The number of complaints concerning cases of discrimination on the grounds of sex submitted to the civil courts in the past five years, including information on subsequent prosecutions, sentences imposed on perpetrators and the reparations provided to victims;

(c)Raising awareness among the general public of the legislation prohibiting discrimination against women and of the remedies available to victims, and providing capacity-building for the judiciary and training for the police regarding the strict application of the legislation.

National machinery for the advancement of women

5.In the light of the Committee’s previous recommendations (para. 16), please provide information on:

(a)Strengthening the Equal Opportunities Unit and ensuring that it is provided with the authority, visibility and human and financial resources necessary to effectively advance women’s rights, regularly assess progress in the implementation of gender equality policies, plans and programmes, and evaluate the impact of those efforts;

(b)Ensuring that sufficient financial resources are allocated for the effective functioning of the national machinery for the advancement of women and for the implementation of the Convention in the State party;

(c)Establishment of interministerial synergies in connection with the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals and the Convention.

National human rights institution

6.Regarding the Association for Human Rights, please inform the Committee of the steps taken:

(a)To ensure that it can fulfil its mandate, in particular with regard to women’s rights and gender equality, in full compliance with the principles relating to the status of national institutions for the promotion and protection of human rights (the Paris Principles) and seek accreditation from the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions;

(b)To empower it to lodge complaints in its own name;

(c)To provide it with adequate human, technical and financial resources;

(d)To ensure its cooperation with women’s civil society organizations.

Civil society and women’s organizations

7.Please provide information on the support and funding provided to civil society organizations, in particular women’s organizations, so as to enable them to advance women’s rights and gender equality.

Temporary special measures

8.Please provide information on:

(a)Measures taken to familiarize all relevant State officials and policymakers, the media and the general public with the concept of temporary special measures to achieve de facto or substantive equality between women and men, in line with article 4 (1) of the Convention and the Committee’s general recommendation No. 25 (2004) on temporary special measures;

(b)Adoption of time-bound targets and allocation of sufficient resources for the implementation of temporary special measures with specific incentives, with a view to achieving substantive equality between women and men in all areas under the Convention in which women are underrepresented or disadvantaged, such as political and public life.

Stereotypes

9.Please provide information on measures taken to combat discriminatory stereotypes about the roles and responsibilities of women and men in the family and in society. Please indicate whether the State party has adopted a comprehensive policy with proactive and sustained measures, targeted at women, men, girls and boys, to overcome stereotypical attitudes about the roles and responsibilities of women and men in the family and in society, as recommended by the Committee (para. 22), and provide detailed information thereon. Please provide information on measures adopted against hate speech, especially towards women facing intersecting forms of discrimination.

Gender-based violence against women

10.Please provide updated data concerning violence against women, disaggregated by age and type of violence and by the relationship of the perpetrator to the victim, and on the associated investigations, prosecutions and convictions, including the penalties imposed on the perpetrators. In the light of the Committee’s previous recommendations (para. 24), please provide information on:

(a)How the adoption of the Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence will be translated into legislation and policies related to the prevention of violence;

(b)Measures taken to ensure the effective implementation of the legislation against gender-based violence, as well as the steps taken to review the standard of proof required by judges, with a view to revising any excessive thresholds by adopting a more victim-friendly approach;

(c)Steps taken in order to prohibit mediation or counselling by the police in cases involving gender-based violence against women;

(d)Provision of specialized capacity-building to the judiciary and training to the police and other law enforcement officers on gender-based violence against women.

11.Please provide information on measures taken to combat domestic violence. Please also provide data on complaints of domestic violence received from women, including the number of cases reported but not prosecuted, the number of prosecutions, convictions obtained and sentences handed down, and the number of acquittals.

Extraterritorial State obligations

12.Please provide information on measures taken to consolidate State action and policies in favour of transparency and the establishment of due diligence legislation on supply chains worldwide.

Trafficking and exploitation of prostitution

13.Please inform the Committee on measures taken to combat trafficking in women and girls, including:

(a)Data on trafficking in women and girls, including the number of cases reported, prosecutions, convictions obtained and sentences handed down;

(b)National action plan or other policy document for combating and preventing trafficking in persons, awareness-raising and training on the issue;

(c) Awareness-raising activities in the State party related to trafficking in women and girls;

(d)International, regional and bilateral cooperation to combat trafficking.

14.Please provide updated information on the extent of prostitution in the State party, including data disaggregated by sex, age and nationality. Please inform the Committee on the number of criminal investigations and prosecutions in cases of exploitation of women in prostitution, and on measures taken to decriminalize women exploited in prostitution in all settings and provide them with support and exit programmes.

Equal participation in political and public life

15.Please provide information on the persistent unbalanced situation of women in politics in the State party. Please also provide updated sex-disaggregated data on the situation of women in political and public life, including the number of women in elected and appointed bodies, particularly in decision-making positions, in both the public (the legislature, executive, judiciary, diplomatic service and in senior positions in the Government and in academia) and private sectors. Please indicate any temporary special measures adopted and implemented, including time-bound goals, quotas or preferential treatment, to accelerate the equal and inclusive representation of women in decision-making positions in all areas and at all levels, in both the public and private sectors.

Women and peace and security

16.In line with its general recommendation No. 30 (2013) on women in conflict prevention, conflict and post-conflict situations and with Security Council resolution 1325 (2000) and subsequent resolutions on women and peace and security, in particular with regard to the extraterritorial obligations of States parties, please inform the Committee on initiatives to promote the protection of the rights and the effective representation of women in peace initiatives and reconstruction of countries in situations of conflict.

Education

17.Please provide updated data, disaggregated by sex and age, on primary, secondary and tertiary education in the State party; data, disaggregated by sex, on the educational choices of students from Liechtenstein who study abroad; and information on the following:

(a)Strategies to ensure a balance between girls and boys in new fields of education, such as science, technology, engineering, mathematics, information and communications technology, and artificial intelligence, and the corresponding career paths;

(b)The content and provision of age-appropriate sexual and reproductive health and rights education for girls and boys in school curricula, as well as educational programmes that address the principle of non-discrimination and substantive equality of women and men and the prevailing stereotypes against women;

(c)Measures taken to ensure permanent access to and the promotion of inclusive education for women and girls with disabilities.

18.Please inform the Committee on:

(a)Legal provisions that prohibit discrimination against women, girls and other vulnerable populations in education, as well as legislation prohibiting violence in schools;

(b)The mechanism for students to report bullying and sexual harassment.

Employment

19.Please provide information on the challenges and achievements in ensuring equality of women and men in the field of employment and in eliminating discrimination against women. In particular, please provide information on:

(a)Vertical and horizontal segregation in the labour market and the concentration of women in low-paid jobs, and measures taken to address these phenomena, notably in the areas of innovation, particularly in the high-tech industry and artificial intelligence;

(b)Sharing of family and care responsibilities between women and men, the representation of women in part-time work, and measures taken to promote equal sharing;

(c)Number of reported cases of sexual harassment against women, investigations and prosecutions, as well as the sentences imposed on the perpetrators.

20.Article 9 (3) of the Civil Code contains the prohibition of unequal pay for equal and equivalent work for men and women. Please provide information on the measures implemented to ensure the closing of the gender pay gap, including through gender-neutral analytical job classification and evaluation methods and regular pay surveys. Paragraph 1173 (a), article 49 (1) (b), of the General Civil Code provides that maternity leave follows childbirth for 16 to 20 weeks, during which time 80 per cent of the insured salary is paid to the employee. Please inform the Committee of measures taken to ensure a minimum of 26 weeks of paid maternity leave and an additional minimum of 4 weeks of paid leave to be taken by the supporting parent. Please provide information on the monitoring and evaluation of the Equal Pay Act adopted in 2018, which applies to companies with more than 100 employees, in particular taking into account the absence of financial constraints.

Health

21.In view of the Committee’s previous recommendations (para. 36), please provide information on:

(a)Measures taken to prevent adolescent pregnancies and ensure access to information on contraceptives for young women and girls;

(b)Measures taken to prohibit medically unnecessary sex-reassignment surgery on intersex persons and develop and implement a rights-based health-care protocol for intersex children;

(c)Access to effective contraceptive methods and emergency contraceptives, the extent to which emergency contraceptives are available in the State party, and on possible evolution of the State party’s position on the legalization of abortion.

Economic empowerment

22.In view of the Committee’s previous recommendations (para. 38), please provide information on:

(a)Measures taken to ensure that flexible working arrangements, part-time work, telecommuting and other measures are available to women and men working in all sectors, in order to reduce segregation with regard to work and benefits;

(b)Measures taken to expand economic opportunities for women and promote women-led businesses;

(c)Evaluation of the impact of part-time work by women on their access to social benefits, particularly pensions.

Disadvantaged groups of women

23.Please provide information on women facing intersecting forms of discrimination, in particular on the situation of women with disabilities, bearing in mind the accession to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in 2020. In view of the study on the integration of migrants in Liechtenstein published in June 2020 and the newly approved integration strategy, please inform the Committee on the findings of the study, in particular the situation of migrant women in all spheres of political, public and economic life, and the measures adopted to address discrimination against migrant women in the integration strategy. Please provide information on measures taken to ratify the Domestic Workers Convention, 2011 (No. 189) of the International Labour Organization or to ensure that labour standards meet the minimum requirements therein.

Marriage and family relations

24.Please provide information on measures taken by the State party:

(a)To ensure that domestic violence is taken into account by courts and authorities in making decisions concerning child custody;

(b)To study the economic consequences of divorce on both spouses, in accordance with general recommendation No. 29 (2013) on the economic consequences of marriage, family relations and their dissolution.

Additional information

25.Please provide any additional information deemed relevant with regard to legislative, policy, administrative and other measures taken to implement the provisions of the Convention and the Committee’s concluding observations since the consideration of the previous periodic report (CEDAW/C/LIE/5), in 2018. Such measures may include recent laws, developments, plans, programmes and ratifications of human rights instruments, as well as any other information that the State party considers relevant. Please also provide information on the measures taken to integrate a gender perspective into all efforts aimed at achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. Please note that, further to the issues raised in the present document, the State party will be expected, during the dialogue, to respond to additional questions relating to areas covered by the Convention.