ICEM WOMEN’S BULLETIN N° 18

1. Belgium – St Nicolas Tries To Close the Pay Gap
2. Bolivia – Women Lead the Fight Against Neoliberalism
3. Brazil – CUT Women Fight Work-Related Violence
4. Canada – Women Fight Against Government Cuts
5. Colombia – UN High Commission for Refugees Calls Attention to Violence Against Women in Colombia
6. Finland – Being a Mother of Young Children Lowers Pay
7. Spain – CCOO Fights Against Violence Against Women
8. Tanzania – Female Genital Mutilation Is Declining
9. United Nations – Kofi Annan Winds up his Tenure with a Package for Women
10. UN Development Programme – Domestic Violence Is a Burden on Budgets
11. Uruguay – Men March Against Gender-Related Violence
12. Resources

1. Belgium – St Nicolas Tries To Close the Pay Gap

On the eve of the St Nicolas holiday, 5 December, St Nicolas had to pass a series of obstacles at the Brussels North Station, symbolising the barriers that women have to cross in their careers. At the same time, members of the CSC union passed out chocolate coins to people passing by in order to close the pay gap between women and men.

In Belgium, as well as in Europe, statistics show that the pay gap has not narrowed in ten years. To find out more about wages and salaries and to compare your pay with others, see www.votresalaire.be (in French). The site also gives information about pay breakdown, trends in pay, what major employers pay, and so forth.

2. Bolivia – Women Lead the Fight Against Neoliberalism

Women are leading the struggle to resist the neoliberal model, making proposals and demands on free trade agreements in networks that are growing all over Latin America. This was the finding of the workshop held in the framework of the Social Summit for Peoples’ Integration, which took place in Cochabamba, Bolivia from 6 to 9 December 2006. Women were represented from Brazil, Argentina, Costa Rica, Bolivia, Venezuela, Ecuador and Chile.

It was felt that the neoliberal model has most dire effects on women’s lives. Women have been the greatest victims of policies that are solely geared to markets and meeting multinationals’ needs.

One of the proposals was a 12-point paper from Costa Rica, drawn up by women’s networks, expressing the need to reject the CAFTA agreement. One of the main points was for multinationals to develop conversion and retraining in the area of technology, so that women would stop being cheap labor. For more about the summit, see: http://movimientos.org/noalca/integracionpueblos

3. Brazil – CUT Women Fight Work-Related Violence

On 2 December 2006, the CUT state organisation in Curitiba held a conference, sponsored by the government, on Fighting Violence and the Changes in the World of Work. ICEM was asked to speak. The backdrop to the conference was a ‘train the trainer’ project, involving more than 2000 women who are being trained as trade union leaders and community facilitators, and who, in turn, train other women to deal with their struggles, learning, lives and loves.

The project has the support of the Federal Government, and of the Secretariat for Women’s Policies in particular. The conference was held to commemorate the International Day of Violence against Women, on 25 November, as well as AIDS Day, on 1 December.

4. Canada – Women Fight Against Government Cuts

Trade unions in Canada have been protesting against the government’s cuts in women’s programs. The fight culminated on 10 December in Ottawa, which is not only Human Rights Day, but also the 25th anniversary of Canada’s ratification of the UN Convention on the elimination of all forms of discrimination against women.

Canadian unions call upon the government to withdraw the cuts. The Status of Women Canada commission would no longer be able to do research, advocacy and lobbying.

Gisèle Pageau from CEP Canada asks everyone to have a look at the website www.nawl.ca and take action, as indicated here below :

On September 25, the federal Government announced a 5 million dollar cut to the 13 million dollar "administrative" budget of Status of Women Canada. This cut will drastically reduce SWC's capacity to sponsor independent research, to ensure that other ministries take into account the impact of their policies on women and to report to the United Nations on Canada's international commitments to women.

On September 27, the government announced the new mandate for the Women's Program, that funds NAWL and other national and provincial women's groups. This program used to focus on the promotion of women's equality in economic, social, political and legal life. It funded groups to provide input in policy and law reform. While the 11 million dollar budget of the Women's Program has not been cut, the new mandate of the program no longer mentions any reference to women's equality.

The Program will now only fund groups that promote women's "participation" in the social, economic and cultural life of their community. Most importantly, the Women's Program will no longer fund research, advocacy and lobbying. These measures will dramatically weaken the capacity of the women's movement - and of NAWL in particular- to engage governments on egalitarian law reform for women.

These new policies come in a context where the federal government has introduced several retrogressive measures that will most certainly have a negative effect on women, such as the abolition of the national childcare program last Spring, the decision not to implement proactive pay equity legislation that was announced on September 18, and the cancellation of the Court Challenges Program on September 25.

Please join NAWL in taking action against these governmental policies that represent a clear set back for women's equality. This Thanksgiving week, we are encouraging you to let your MP know that you are not particularly thankful about the cuts to Status of Women Canada, and the silencing of women's groups who advocate for women's rights. We also invite you to send a letter of support calling for the re-instatement of the Court Challenges Program.

Please take a few minutes to go visit our website at www.nawl.ca, get more information, and get involved.

Andrée Côté
Directrice, Affaires juridiques
Director of Legislation and Law Reform
Association nationale Femmes et Droit
National Association of Women and the Law
1066 Somerset West, suite 303
Ottawa, Ontario K1Y 4T3
Tel: (613) 241-7570 #25 fax: (613)241-4657
[email protected]

* * * *

Le 25 septembre dernier, le gouvernement fédéral annonçait des coupures de 5 millions de dollars au budget « administratif » de 13 millions de Condition féminine Canada. Ces coupures réduiront gravement la capacité de CFC à commander des recherches indépendantes, à s'assurer de la prise en compte par les autres ministères de l'impact sur les femmes de leurs politiques et à faire rapport aux Nations Unies quant aux engagements internationaux du Canada envers les femmes.

Le 27 septembre, le gouvernement redéfinissait le mandat du Programme de promotion de la femme, qui finance l'ANFD ainsi que plusieurs autres organisations nationales et provinciales. Auparavant, le mandat du PPF avait toujours été de soutenir les groupes qui font la promotion des droits à légalité sociale, économique, politique et juridique des femmes.. Il devait les aider à intervenir auprès des décideurs afin d'influencer le développement de politiques et de pratiques qui soient égalitaires.

Même si le budget de 11 million du PPF n'a pas été coupé, le nouveau mandat ne fait plus référence à l'égalité des femmes, et ne vise maintenant que la « participation » des femmes dans la vie sociale, économique et culturelle. De plus, le Programme de promotion de la femme ne financera plus les activités de défense de droits et de lobbying. Ces mesures mineront considérablement la capacité des organisations de femmes - notamment de l'ANFD- à persuader les gouvernements d'entreprendre des réformes égalitaires pour les femmes

De plus, ces mesures sont introduites dans une conjoncture où le gouvernement a annoncé toute une séries de mesures rétrogrades: abandon au printemps dernier du financement fédéral de services de garde pour enfants; refus formel d'introduire une loi fédérale sur l'équité salariale, annoncé le 18 septembre; et abolition du Programme de contestation judiciaire, qui finance d'importantes causes-types sur les droits à l'égalité et les droits linguistiques, le 25 septembre.

Nous vous invitons à vous joindre à l'ANFD pour protester contre ces mesures qui menacent les droits à l'égalité des femmes. En cette semaine de l'Action de grâce, nous vous invitons à passer à l'action pour dire à votre député-e ce que vous pensez des coupures au budget de Condition féminine Canada et du nouveau mandat du Programme de promotion de la femme. Nous vous invitons aussi à envoyer une lettre exigeant la remise sur pied du Programme de contestation judiciaire.

Nous vous invitons à prendre quelques minutes pour aller sur notre site web au www.anfd.ca et obtenir plus d'informations sur ces importantes questions.

Andrée Côté
directrice, Affaires juridiques
Director of Legislation and Law Reform
Association nationale Femmes et Droit
National Association of Women and the Law
1066 Somerset West, suite 303
Ottawa, Ontario K1Y 4T3
tel: (613) 241-7570 #25 fax: (613)241-4657
[email protected]

5. Colombia – UN High Commission for Refugees Calls Attention to Violence Against Women in Colombia

On average, one woman a day dies because of armed conflict in Colombia. Every four years, about 1600 women are killed as a result of combat and executions, carried out by armed groups in the country. Women are also murdered and raped as a result of domestic violence and psychological abuse.

Those women that are forced to leave their homes are particularly vulnerable. Women that seek refuge are victims of domestic violence, but also of rape by armed groups who use sexual violence as a tool of war.

Teresa Díaz is the director of the group Yo mujer (I, Woman), who has won prizes for her work. She has, however, also been threatened by armed military groups. Two of her colleagues disappeared, others have been raped and even killed.

6. Finland – Being a Mother of Young Children Lowers Pay

A recent Finnish study indicates that the negative impact of being a mother on wages and salaries is significant. On average, the “family gap” is 11 percent. No such disadvantage was found for men. The negative impact grows steeply with each child.

One under school-age child means a wage or salary reduction of about 10 percent, two under school-age children a reduction of 19 percent and three under school-age children a reduction of even 30 percent. The gap shrinks to 5 percent when the children go to school.

The results of the study indicate the need to reform the system of sharing costs for young children. At present the system treats mothers of young children unfairly. There is no acceptable reason why their pay should be lower than that of childless women.

In addition, the Service Union United is not satisfied with the government’s goal in narrowing the pay gap. In 2004, the average pay gap between men and women was 80 percent, which meant it was even wider than in 1999.

The Finnish government plans to raise women’s average pay to 85 percent of men’s pay by 2015. According to the government’s official plan, it would take 40 years to finally eliminate the gender-based pay gap.

Ann Selin, President of Service Union United, says: “Already in the next bargaining round we have to make agreements that bring women’s pay and pay in the female-dominated sectors closer to men’s pay and pay in the male-dominated sectors. Wages and salaries in the female-dominated service sectors have annually to be raised 0.7 to 0.8 percentage points more than the wages and salaries in the industrial sector.”

She points out that we must appreciate the skills employees have to have in the service sector: “Customers have become more demanding, and the goals for economic results have been raised. Nowadays, one also expects developed social skills from employees in the service sector jobs.”

7. Spain – CCOO Fights Against Violence Against Women

On the occasion of the 25th of November, CCOO reiterated its condemnation of gender-related violence and reaffirmed its commitment to eradicate this social problem. It condemned the violence exerted against women in all parts of the world, which is tolerated and justified by armed conflict and by cultural and religious fundamentalism. In order to combat the violence, CCOO demands:

• Better coordination among the relevant institutions, health services, legal assistance, etc., to correct and detect violent situations
• Provide more budgetary resources for assistance and emergency services, shelters, as well as adequate counseling and legal advice
• Create awareness and develop training against gender-related violence for professionals in the different areas
• Strengthen preventive action and promote company agreements to stop violence
• Make the most of collective bargaining to protect the employment of women victims of violence
• Carry out trade union campaigns for training and awareness.

8. Tanzania – Female Genital Mutilation Is Declining

A study released by the Tanzania Ministry of Health reported that female genital mutilation is on the decline. A health survey showed that the prevalence of female genital mutilation had declined from 18 percent in 1996 to 15 percent in 2005. Local organisations attributed the decline to continued awareness campaigns against the practice.

Last month, in a conference on female genital mutilation in Cairo, Muslim academics and scholars urged the Egyptian religious establishment to end the practice, Gulf News reported on Nov. 23. A Muslim cleric told the conference that the main sources of Islamic Sharia, the Quran and the Sunnah, did not have any firm evidence that circumcision was obligatory for women.

"This practice must be stopped especially if doctors confirmed to us that it does no good to the woman's health," said Yousuf Al Qaradawi, an Egyptian scholar and journalist. In Egypt, female genital mutilation was practiced on 97 percent of girls 10 years ago, but the total now has dropped to 50.3 percent, with 75 percent of those procedures performed by doctors.

Up to 140 million girls and women around the world have undergone some form of female genital mutilation, which is practiced extensively in Africa and in some parts of the Middle East, according to UNICEF. The international community is making some strides to condemn the cultural practice.

9. United Nations – Kofi Annan Winds up his Tenure with a Package for Women

A high-level panel on UN reform has endorsed a proposal by Stephen Lewis, UN Special Envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa, to create a new UN agency focusing specifically on women. Lewis said earlier that such an agency is needed because HIV/AIDS disproportionately affects women and girls in Africa, and that an agency targeting women could reduce the HIV prevalence within the group.

The reform panel found that gender is central to the delivery of poverty reduction, and yet the UN has been weak on it. They noted in the report that the three UN entities that currently handle women’s issues should be consolidated into one enhanced and independent gender entity, adding that the agency also would be fully and ambitiously funded.

Responding to the report, Lewis said that this is the most dramatic step forward in decades, for women and the UN, adding that this holds the prospect of transforming the lives of women, removing the worst poverty and oppression, saving lives in the midst of the AIDS pandemic and other massive health problems. Kofi Annan is expected to call on the General Assembly to adopt the proposal before his terms ends of 31 December.

10. UN Development Programme – Domestic Violence Is a Burden on Budgets

The regional director of the UN Development Programme in Latin America claims that domestic violence makes up 2% of GNP in Latin America and the Caribbean. Domestic violence affects productivity because women cannot go to work. It is a high cost for health systems and services for psychological treatment. The point is to create awareness of the fact that violence is a barrier to developing fair and equitable societies.

The regional director of the UNDP, Rebeca Grynspan, stated that the greater economic independence and decision-making power women have, the less levels of violence are, although there is no direct correlation between a higher education level and a reduction in violence.

11. Uruguay – Men March Against Gender-Related Violence

On 27 November about 400 men joined the first Latin American march against domestic violence, inspired by the Portuguese author José Saramago. The men at the march said they commit themselves to bringing about change in the family, as well as in public.

Men of all ages and all walks of life joined the march that evening, together with trade unionists and people from all political parties. José Saramago sent a message to the rally which read, “Physical and psychological violence and women’s deaths are men’s business, and it is men who have to solve it.”

12. Resources:

The rise of women in Arab countries goes beyond redressing historical injustices against them and ensuring their equitable treatment - notwithstanding that both are due obligations for Arab societies. Indeed, the advancement of women is a pre-requisite for a comprehensive Arab renaissance.

Arab countries have undoubtedly attained significant achievements in the advancement of women, but the ultimate objectives of this endeavour, as conceptualised in the Arab Human Development Reports, require further effort. For more, see the Arab Human Development Report 2005 at:

http://rbas.undp.org/ahdr2005.shtml

State of the World’s Children 2007

Eliminating gender discrimination and empowering women will have a profound and positive impact on the survival and well-being of children, according to a new UNICEF report issued on its 60th anniversary.

"The State of the World’s Children 2007" report examines the discrimination and disempowerment women face throughout their lives -- and outlines what must be done to eliminate gender discrimination and empower women and girls. It looks at the status of women today, discusses how gender equality will move all the Millennium Development Goals forward, and shows how investment in women’s rights will ultimately produce a double dividend: advancing the rights of both women and children.

The UNICEF report presents seven key interventions to enhance gender equality: Education, Financing, Legislation, Legislative quotas, Women empowering women, Engaging men and boys, and Improved research and data.

To read this report, please go to http://www.unicef.org/sowc07.

The Center for Women’s Global Leadership has launched its online version of its new human rights report, Strengthening Resistance: Confronting Violence Against Women and HIV/AIDS available at: http://www.cwgl.rutgers.edu/globalcenter/
publications/strengthening.pdf 

“Promoviendo la igualdad de Género” (Promoting Gender Equality) in Spanish from the ILO: http://www.oitchile.cl/pdf/igu027.pdf.

For resources on health and violence: http://www.isis.cl (in Spanish)

http://www.radiomilenia.com.pe is a resource containing information among other things on the national tribunal for women’s rights (in Spanish).

http://www.demus.org.pe is a resource on violence and women’s rights (in Spanish).

http://www.worldpulsemagazine.com is a magazine that makes it possible to see the world through the eyes of women.

http://www.genderit.org gives a gender perspective on information and communication technologies.

http://www.acsur.org is a resource in Spanish which addresses development and gender issues (in Spanish).

http://mys.matriz.net is a portal on women and health (in Spanish).

http://www.nib-jiq.org/html/es is a resource on women’s organisations and local initiatives.

http://www.policydialogue2006.org addresses the Global Compact 2006 Policy Dialogue on Combating Discrimination and Promoting Equality at the Workplace.

ILO Report – A Comparative Analysis of Promoting Pay Equity which examines the costs and benefits of promoting pay equity. Available from www.world-psi.org.

http://www.itinerant.qc.ca/femmes.html is a resource that contains news from the French speaking world (in French).

For European work-life balance policies and a Roadmap for equality between women and men 2006-2010, see:
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=CELEX:52006DC0092:EN:HTML.