Pre-session working group Fortieth and forty-first sessions16-20 July 2007

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

Slovakia

Introduction

The pre-session working group examined the combined second, third and fourth periodic report of Slovakia (CEDAW/C/SVK/4).

General

1.Please provide more detailed information on the process of preparing the combined second, third and fourth periodic report. This information should indicate which Government departments and institutions were involved and the nature and extent of their participation, whether consultations were held with non‑governmental organizations and whether the report was adopted by the Government and presented to the Parliament or its Committee for Human Rights, Nationalities and the Status of Women.

Constitutional, legislative and institutional framework

2.The report states that the Public Defender of Rights (the Ombudsman) has received more than 5,000 petitions, 37 per cent of which were filed by women. Please provide information about those cases (issues at stake and outcomes) as well as about any other activities of the Public Defender of Rights for the promotion and protection of women’s human rights.

3.In light of the amendment to the Constitution of 2001, please describe the legal position of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women in the legal system of Slovakia. Does the Convention take priority over national laws and is it directly applicable? Does it have the same legal status as other human rights instruments that Slovakia has ratified after the adoption of the above-mentioned Constitutional amendment? Please also provide information on whether the Convention has been invoked in the courts, and if so, give details of cases.

4.Please provide updated information on the preparation of the amendment to the Anti-Discrimination Act (see para. 51 of the report) and provide the number of cases of discrimination against women. Please also provide an update on the two cases described in paragraphs 75 and 76 of the report.

5.Has the Government considered amending its Anti-Discrimination Act to allow for the adoption of temporary special measures aimed at accelerating de facto equality between men and women in line with article 4, paragraph 1, of the Convention and the Committee’s general recommendation 25? Does the Government consider article 4, paragraph 1, of the Convention as directly applicable, providing a legal ground for the elaboration of temporary special measures?

Stereotypes and education

6.Please describe what efforts have been made to target men and boys to ensure that they actively contribute to the achievement of gender equality, including through sharing of family responsibilities.

7.Please indicate the role of the media in strengthening a non-sexist and non‑stereotypical image of women.

Violence against women

8.Have women brought claims of sexual harassment under the Anti-Discrimination Act which, according to the report (see para. 54 of the report), indirectly comprises sexual harassment? Please provide statistics on these cases.

9.Please provide statistics on cases of domestic violence against women, as well as remedies provided in such cases. With respect to the number of women murdered, please provide the number of women murdered per year as a result of domestic violence.

10.Please provide information on the use of the measures referred to in paragraphs 133, 134 and 135 of the report, including on the punishment of perpetrators.

11.Please provide the list of offences in cases of violence against women which still require the consent of the victim to be prosecuted, as well as the list of offences prosecuted ex officio.

12.Please provide data on the use of barring orders imposed under the civil code and on the rights of perpetrators in such cases to “dwelling replacement”, as noted in the report (para. 138).

Trafficking and exploitation of prostitution

13.Please provide, as requested in the Committee’s last concluding comments, detailed information on the number of women who have been trafficked into Slovakia and those returned to their country of origin, as well as statistics on the number of individuals arrested, prosecuted and sentenced as a result of their involvement in trafficking.

14.Please provide statistics, if available, on the number of women and girls engaged in prostitution. Please elaborate on laws and measures adopted to prevent and punish the exploitation of prostitution as well as measures taken to provide rehabilitation and support for the social reintegration of women and girls who wish to leave prostitution.

15.In the light of the concern raised by the Committee on the Rights of the Child at the high level of rape of children between the ages of 7 and 18, especially girls (CRC/C/SVK/CO/2, para. 63), what action is the Government contemplating taking?

Participation in decision-making and representation at the international level

16.Please explain the reasons why the attempts to introduce a 30 per cent quota for women in the electoral lists for the election to the National Council failed twice, in 2001 and 2003 (see para. 102 of the report).

17.Please provide updated statistical data on the participation of women in the Parliament, in the Government, in the judiciary, and in the diplomatic service, including the number of women ambassadors, as well as at the level of the self-governing regions. Please provide information on measures and a timetable envisaged under the project MATRA to achieve 30 per cent of women by 2010 (para. 160 of the report).

Roma women

18.Kindly provide statistical data on the status of Roma women and girls in the areas of education, health, housing, employment, restitution of property and social programmes as well as protection of Roma women and girls from all forms of violence, including trafficking to other countries for the purpose of sexual exploitation. Please provide information on measures taken to implement the recommendations of the Human Rights Committee with respect to Roma women and girls (see CCPR/CO/78/SVK, paras. 11 and 12).

19.The report refers to the Decade of Roma Inclusion 2005-2015 in which Slovakia is taking part as well as to the National Action Plan of the Decade adopted by the Government (see para. 304 of the report). Please provide information about the measures in the NAP that are specifically targeted at the needs of Roma women and girls, as well as about the resources allocated for these activities.

20.What is the situation of Roma women in terms of access to services essential to realizing fundamental civil, political, social and economic rights, such as obtaining birth certificates, identification cards and passports? What percentage of Roma girls finish obligatory primary education and what measures are available for Roma girls that drop out of school?

Employment

21.The report refers to newly set-up labour inspection authorities who, among other tasks, check compliance of employers with the provisions of the regulations regarding equal opportunities for men and women and reconciliation of work and family life (see para. 215 of the report). What steps can the labour inspection authorities take when there is a breach of these regulations?

22.Please give details about the situation of elderly women, in particular in terms of their entitlements to pension benefits and other forms of social assistance.

23.What is the impact of the risk assessment established for women applicants on their access to loans, mortgages and other forms of financial credit (see para. 276 of the report)?

24.The Labour Code recognizes the right of both parents to take leave from work to care for a child (see para. 224 of the report). Please provide information on the percentage of men that take parental leave and of measures taken to encourage them to do so. Please also provide more information on the parental allowance available up to six years as well as the amount of remuneration during that period.

Health

25.The report refers to the adoption in 2004 of the new Act on Healthcare No. 576 which includes sections on sterilization, informed consent and access to medical records. Please provide information on efforts to publicize the new provisions of the Act on Healthcare, particularly among women, medical professionals and social workers. Kindly indicate if the new legislation foresees regular and consistent monitoring of sterilization procedures, and describe these measures.

26.Has the Government established mechanisms to enable women who have been sterilized without informed consent to obtain compensation, as recommended in the Final Report by Mr. Alvaro Gil-Robles, ex-Commissioner for Human Rights, on the Human Rights Situation of the Roma, Sinti and Travellers in Europe (CommDH (2006) 1)?

27.The report refers to “baby nests” (para. 266 of the report) on which the Committee on the Rights of the Child expressed its concerns and recommended measures to be taken (see concluding observations on Slovakia of 2007, CRC/C/SVK/CO/2). Please provide information on follow-up measures undertaken in response to these recommendations.

Optional Protocol

28.Please describe measures in place to publicize the Optional Protocol to the Convention and encourage its use.

29. Please indicate when the Government intends to accept the amendment of article 20, paragraph 1, of the Convention on the meeting time of the Committee.