General Assembly WOM/1875 - Ministry of Social and Family ...

Experts’ Questions and CommentsVIOLETA NEUBAUER, expert member from Slovenia, said it appeared that anumber of ministries, including that of finance, did not participate in the Governmentgroup dedicated to the implementation of the Convention. She asked whether gendermainstreaming was widely applied or if there was a more narrow approach. Regardingspecial temporary measures of affirmative action, she said that was not enough totreat women equally in many areas. Often, special measures were required to fulfil thetreaty obligations. The problem was not always disadvantages of women, but theadvantages already enjoyed by men. She asked if proactive efforts were beingconsidered to help increase women’s participation on boards of public organizationsand to ensure participation of women with disabilities.AYSE FERIDE ACAR, expert member from Turkey, said she was concernedabout the overemphasis on women’s beauty in Singapore, including increased plasticsurgery, which reinforced the idea of women as sex objects. In addition, she said, itappeared that the role of men as heads of households was being reinforced. Sheasked what kinds of programmes were being put in place to counter thosestereotypes. Regarding the remaining reservations to the Convention, she said “it wasimportant to achieve equality of results, not just equality of opportunity”.NAELA MOHAMED GABR, expert member from Egypt, recommended a review ofbest practices of other Muslim countries to see how sharia was integrated. She encouragedthe ratification of the International Labour Organization (ILO) Convention on DomesticWorkers. On trafficking, she asked if the Government was working with civil societyorganizations. She said the legal definition of trafficking was too narrow, and she askedabout services for the protection of victims and witnesses. She also asked when theGovernment might accede to the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking inPersons, Especially Women and Children (Palermo Protocol) of the United NationsConvention against Transnational Organized Crime.SOLEDAD MURILLO DE LA VEGA, expert member from Spain, congratulatedSingapore on having extended maternity leave, but said the father’s responsibility forchild care was not addressed strongly enough. She noted also that women could notdo military service. Pointing to advertisements in magazines, she asked if Singaporeregulated international marriage agencies, and if the Government intervened to assistwomen who developed problems in the resulting marriages. She asked also what wasdone to prevent discrimination against divorced single mothers or widows. Finally, sheasked how violence against domestic workers was addressed.SILVIA PIMENTEL, Committee Chairperson and expert member from Brazil, askedhow a grievance of gender stereotyping could be brought, if a general anti-discrimination lawwas being considered and if reform of censorship laws on homosexual matters was beingconsidered. She also asked about laws to prevent domestic violence in the context of samesexrelationships.ISMAT JAHAN, expert member from Bangladesh, said that, in practice, traffickingvictims were usually deported, so they were discouraged from reporting the crime, and as aresult, few substantiated cases had been brought to justice. The full means called for by thePalermo Protocol, therefore, was not being applied. She asked what was being done toredress the situation, as well as what kind of monitoring of the trafficking task force wasbeing conducted. She added that restrictive immigration laws could increase trafficking. Ondomestic foreign workers, she asked if separate legislation for their protection was beingconsidered. Finally, she asked about protection measures for foreign wives.