The UN committee dealing with women’s matters has expressed concern about the “high prevalence“ of violence against women here, the disadvantaged state of those in the hinterland and rural areas and the general lack of data which prevents the assessing of trends.
On July 27, 2012, the Concluding Observations of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) were released following CEDAW’s 52nd session during which a delegation from Guyana led by Human Services Minister Jennifer Webster presented Guyana’s seventh and eighth periodic report on the state of women.
While expressing its appreciation for the two reports from Guyana, CEDAW said that it lacked adequate data and was overdue since September 2006. Further, the committee regretted that the Guyana delegation did not provide answers to some of the questions asked and in relation to others “some of the answers provided were not sufficiently clear, precise or detailed”.
On its return from presenting its reports to CEDAW, the Guyana delegation had complained about some of the questions asked by the committee’s members and had planned to lodge a formal complaint.
“Guyana wishes to express some concerns as to the way some questions were posed… We wish to place on record that we will formally indicate through the respective channels our specific concerns,” Minister of Human Services & Social Security, Jennifer Webster told members of the media during a press conference on July 13 at the Foreign Service Institute.
Asked about the specific concerns of the team, Minister of Education Priya Manickchand, who accompanied Webster to the forum along with Advisor on Governance, Gail Teixeira, said: “We expressed concerns at the frequent use of alternative sources, especially where there were information that was publicly available that would refute the information given by those alternative sources that caused the basis of a question.”
Noting efforts made to address violence against women here, CEDAW nevertheless expressed concern about the high levels here and what it termed its cultural acceptance and underreporting.
It made a number of recommendations for Guyana to follow. These included:
“(a) To accord high priority to the full implementation of the Sexual Offences Act and to put in place comprehensive measures to prevent and address violence against women and girls, recognizing that such violence is a form of discrimination against women and constitutes a violation of their human rights under the Convention and a criminal offence and ensuring that women and girls who are victims of violence have access to immediate means of redress and protection and that perpetrators are prosecuted and punished, in accordance with general recommendation No. 19 of the Committee;
“(b) To provide mandatory training for judges, prosecutors and law enforcement officials in procedures to deal with women victims of violence;
“(c) To encourage women to report incidents of domestic and sexual violence by de-stigmatizing victims and raising awareness about the criminal nature of such acts;
“(d) To provide adequate assistance and protection to women victims of violence by strengthening the capacity of shelters and crisis centres, especially in hinterland areas, and enhancing cooperation with non-governmental organizations providing shelter and rehabilitation to victims;
“(e) To collect statistical data on domestic and sexual violence disaggregated by sex, age and relationship between the victim and perpetrator; and
“(f)To provide effective protection against violence and discrimination against all groups of women through the enactment of comprehensive anti-discrimination legislation that includes the prohibition of all forms of discrimination against them and the decriminalisation of consensual adult same sex relations as indicated in the oral statement of the delegation.”
On the controversial question of trafficking and exploitation of prostitution, CEDAW voiced concern about the prevalence of trafficking in women and the lack of shelters and counselling services for victims of trafficking.
It made the following recommendations:
“(a)Addressing the root causes of trafficking and prostitution, including poverty, so as to eliminate the vulnerability of girls and women to sexual exploitation and trafficking, and to make efforts to ensure the recovery and social reintegration of victims;
“(b)Providing training in how to identify and deal with victims of trafficking and in provisions of anti-trafficking legislation to the judiciary, law enforcement officials, border guards and social workers in all parts of the country, especially in rural and remote areas;
“(c) Ensuring systematic monitoring and periodic evaluation, including the collection and analysis of data on trafficking and exploitation of women in prostitution, and to include such data in its next periodic report;
“(d)Increasing cooperation at the international, regional and bilateral levels with countries of origin, transit and destination to prevent trafficking through information exchange and to harmonize legal procedures aimed at prosecution of traffickers; and
“(e)Taking the steps necessary to ensure that trafficked women and girls have access to high-quality medical care, counselling, financial support, adequate housing, training opportunities and free legal services.”
The 13-page CEDAW report which addressed a broad range of issues also alighted on the plight of women in hinterland, rural and remote areas which it said comprise the majority of women. While welcoming developments like the new Amerindian Act, the granting of legal title to 135 Amerindian communities and the launch of a rural electrification programme, CEDAW said it was concerned by the disadvantaged position of these women who face poverty, difficulties in access to health and social services.
It made the following recommendations:
“(a) Pay special attention to the needs of rural women to ensure that they have access to health, education, clean water and sanitation services and income-generation projects; and
“(b) Address negative customs and traditional practices, especially in rural areas, which affect full enjoyment of the rights enshrined in the Convention by rural and Amerindian women.”
On the question of data, CEDAW said that it is troubled by the general lack of available recent data to allow the accurate assessment of the situation of women given the diverse composition of the population. This is a complaint that has been made by groups locally and international agencies and the previous government had launched a project to correct this.
CEDAW in its recommendation said:
“The Committee calls upon the State party to enhance the collection, analysis and dissemination of comprehensive data disaggregated by sex, age, race, ethnicity, location and socio-economic background, and of measurable indicators to assess trends in the situation of women and progress towards the realization of women’s substantive equality in all areas covered by the Convention. In this regard, it draws the State party’s attention to the Committee’s general recommendation No. 9 (1989) on statistical data concerning the situation of women and encourages the State party to develop gender-sensitive indicators which could be used in the formulation, implementation, monitoring, evaluation and, if necessary, review of women’s and gender equality policies.”
Interestingly, the committee stressed the important role that Parliament can play in improving compliance by Guyana with its international obligations in relation to women.
The committee said:
“While reaffirming that the Government has the primary responsibility and is particularly accountable for the full implementation of the obligations of the State party under the Convention, the Committee stresses that the Convention is binding on all branches of Government, and it invites the State party to encourage the Parliament, in line with its procedures, where appropriate, to take the necessary steps with regard to the implementation of the present concluding observations and the Government’s next reporting process under the Convention.”
CEDAW also expressed concern that maternal mortality and morbidity remain high here and that women and girls have insufficient access to reproductive health-care services and contraceptive methods.
