Concluding Observations/Comments - CEDAW : El Salvador. 20/03/2003.
A/58/38(Part I),paras.242-280. (Concluding Observations/Comments)
Convention Abbreviation: CEDAW
Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination
against Women
El Salvador
Concluding comments of the Committee
Introduction
242. The Committee welcomes the El Salvador delegation, headed by the Director-General of Foreign Policy, which through the inclusion of representatives of various institutions and disciplines has provided a broad overview of the progress made and the obstacles that remain to the achievement of gender equality in the country.
243. The Committee expresses appreciation to the State party for the considerable amount of information contained in its combined third and fourth and fifth and sixth periodic reports, which follow the guidelines for the preparation of reports, and for its responses to the list of issues and questions prepared by the pre-session working group, which provide additional information on the situation of women in El Salvador. The Committee is also grateful for the delegation's detailed oral responses, which permitted a constructive dialogue with the Committee.
244. The Committee takes note that the State party's National Policy on Women falls within the framework of the commitments made at the Fourth World Conference on Women, as well as the launching of the respective 1997-1999 and 2000-2004 Plans of Action, which mainstream a gender perspective into all their programmes.
245. The Committee recognizes and regrets that the State party has had to face severe natural disasters, such as Hurricane Mitch in 1998 and two consecutive earthquakes in 2001, which have resulted in the postponement of the implementation of programmes and plans aimed at the advancement of women.
Positive aspects
246. The Committee welcomes the creation in 1996 of the Salvadoran Institute for the Advancement of Women as the government body which coordinates and oversees the implementation of the National Policy on Women.
247. The Committee congratulates the State party on its efforts to implement the Convention through the reform of existing legislation, including the Family Code, from which all pre-existing discriminatory legislation has been removed, the Domestic Violence Act, the Labour Code, the Health Code, the Penal Code, the Code of Criminal Procedure and the General and Higher Education Act., The Committee also commends the State party on the creation in 2002 of the Inter-institutional Legal Commission within the Salvadoran Institute for the Advancement of Women, ISDEMU, charged with bringing domestic legislation into line with relevant international treaties ratified by El Salvador and with proposing necessary amendments.
248. The Committee welcomes the inclusion of gender issues at all levels of the educational system, as well as the incorporation of teaching materials in such programmes and activities.
Principal areas of concern and recommendations
249. The Committee is concerned that, although legislative reforms have been introduced in many spheres, such laws and policies have yet to be effectively implemented. The Committee is also concerned that the Constitution of El Salvador does not include a specific prohibition against sex-based discrimination or the definition of discrimination contained in the Convention and that El Salvador's legislation provides for equality in the exercise of civil and political rights but makes no mention of economic, social and cultural rights. The Committee is likewise concerned that only "serious" discrimination is punished by the Penal Code and that the Agrarian Code still contains discriminatory concepts.
250. The Committee encourages the State party to incorporate fully into its legislation the principle of non-discrimination set forth in the Convention, in order to progress towards de jure equality as an essential prerequisite for achieving de facto equality of women. The Committee also recommends that concepts that are not in keeping with the provisions of the Convention be amended or abolished, with a view to protecting and guaranteeing women's human rights.
251. The Committee is concerned at the weakening of efforts to provide training in, raise awareness of and disseminate the Convention.
252. The Committee recommends that the State party implement broad-based dissemination, training and awareness-raising programmes to familiarize the whole population with the Convention. Such programmes should be aimed at society in general, and Salvadoran women and the judiciary in particular.
253. Although the Committee welcomes the establishment of the Salvadoran Institute for the Advancement of Women as the government entity which oversees the implementation of the National Policy on Women, it is concerned at the fact that the Institute has neither the lead and normative role that it should have, nor the political, institutional and budgetary capacity to define, implement, monitor and guarantee a comprehensive policy for the elimination of discrimination against women to be executed effectively by the various sectors of government. The Committee further expresses its concern that there are insufficient active linkages between the Institute and women's organizations representing civil society.
254. The Committee encourages the State party to continue to strengthen the role of the Salvadoran Institute for the Advancement of Women as a lead and normative body by giving it an adequate budget and the requisite authority among State institutions to ensure the effective mainstreaming of a gender perspective and the promotion of gender equality. The Committee also recommends that the Institute establish, in practice, greater cooperation and joint work with women's organizations of civil society.
255. The Committee notes with concern that, while the Constitution refers to the principle of equality, the terms "equality" and "equity" are used as synonyms in plans and programmes.
256. The Committee urges the State party to note that the terms "equity" and "equality" are neither synonymous nor interchangeable and that the Convention is intended to eliminate discrimination against women and to ensure equality between women and men.
257. While the Committee welcomes the effort made by the State party to combat domestic violence through the recent establishment of a National Plan on Domestic Violence, it views with concern the persistence of violence against women in El Salvador. The Committee is also concerned about the legal consequences of conciliation between aggressor and victim in the pre-trial phase, which could work to the detriment of the latter.
258. The Committee urges the State party, taking into account General Recommendation 19 on violence against women, to undertake practical measures to follow up and monitor the application of legislation, evaluating its effectiveness and making the appropriate adjustments, in particular so as to ensure that the legal consequences of conciliation provided for by law do not work to the detriment of the victim.
259. The Committee observes with concern the lack of necessary sex education programmes and their dissemination and the resulting impact on the high rate of teenage pregnancy, in particular in rural areas, and on the increase in the spread of sexually transmitted diseases and HIV/AIDS. The Committee is concerned at the obstacles that women face in gaining access to adequate health-care services, including those for the prevention of cancer.
260. The Committee recommends to the State party that it adopt measures to guarantee and expand access to health-care services, paying special attention to the implementation of programmes and policies for disseminating and raising awareness of sex education, particularly among adolescents, including information on contraceptives and their availability in society as a whole, taking into account that family planning is the responsibility of the couple and placing special emphasis on preventing and combating sexually transmitted diseases and HIV/AIDS.
261. The Committee is concerned at the high level of poverty among women, especially rural and indigenous women.
262. The Committee urges the State party to develop a poverty eradication strategy that gives priority attention to rural and indigenous women through the allocation of budgetary resources, and to take appropriate measures to inform itself about their situation with a view to formulating effective specific programmes and policies to improve their socio-economic situation and ensure that they receive the services and support they need.
263. Although the overall illiteracy rate has declined, the Committee is concerned that the problem persists, especially in rural areas. It is also concerned at the high drop-out rates among girls, especially in rural and indigenous areas.
264. The Committee recommends that efforts to address this problem should be intensified, through sustainable plans and programmes, particularly in rural and indigenous areas.
265. The Committee is concerned at the persistence of traditional stereotypes relating to the roles and responsibilities of men and women in the family and in society at large.
266. The Committee recommends that policies be developed and programmes directed at men and women be implemented that will help to ensure the elimination of stereotypes associated with traditional roles in the family, the workplace, politics and society.
267. The Committee is concerned at the lack of priority given to women in employment policy, which could result in their increased vulnerability in the economic adjustment process taking place in the country, in particular, the insufficient measures taken to enable them to reconcile their family and professional responsibilities and the persistence of wage disparities for work of equal value.
268. The Committee recommends that the necessary measures should be taken to ensure compliance with the provisions of article 11 of the Convention and of the relevant International Labour Organization conventions ratified by El Salvador.
269. The Committee notes with particular concern the precarious employment conditions of women working in maquila industries, where their human rights are frequently violated, especially insofar as safety and health are concerned.
270. The Committee urges the State party strictly to enforce labour legislation in maquila industries, including their supervision and monitoring, especially occupational safety and health measures, and requests that information on this matter be included in its next report.
271. Although there is legislation on trafficking and mention is made of a bill on the exploitation of children, the Committee notes with concern the problem of exploitation of prostitutes and trafficking and sale of women and girls and the lack of studies, analyses and gender-disaggregated statistics on its incidence.
272. The Committee urges the State party to take measures to combat the phenomenon of trafficking and sale of women and girls and exploitation of prostitutes and to evaluate this phenomenon and compile systematic sex-disaggregated data on it with a view to formulating a broad strategy to address this problem and punish perpetrators.
273. The Committee is concerned at women's low level of participation in politics and in high-level posts in all areas.
274. The Committee recommends the adoption of strategies to achieve an increase in the number of women who participate in decision-making at all levels, including the application of temporary special measures in accordance with article 4 of the Convention, and the strengthening of activities to promote women to leadership posts in both the public and private sectors through special training programmes and awareness-raising campaigns on the importance of women's participation in the political life of the country.
275. The Committee observes a lack of gender-disaggregated data in the reports, as well as insufficient information on indigenous women.
276. The Committee recommends the comprehensive and exhaustive compilation of sex-disaggregated data and urges the State party to include relevant statistics that show the evolution and impact of programmes on the country's female population, particularly indigenous women, and to include the data in its next periodic report.
277. The Committee urges the State party to ratify the Optional Protocol to the Convention and to accept, as soon as possible, the amendment to article 20, paragraph 1 of the Convention, concerning the meeting time of the Committee.
278. The Committee requests the State party to respond to the specific issues raised in these concluding comments in its next periodic report pursuant to article 18 of the Convention.
279. Taking account of the gender dimensions of declarations, programmes and platforms for action adopted by relevant United Nations conferences, summits and special sessions (such as the special session of the General Assembly to review and appraise the implementation of the Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development (twenty-first special session), the special session of the General Assembly on children (twenty-seventh special session), the World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance and the Second World Assembly on Ageing), the Committee requests the State party to provide information on the implementation of those aspects of the above documents relating to relevant articles of the Convention in its next periodic report.
280. The Committee requests that these concluding comments be disseminated widely in the State party in order to make the people of El Salvador, particularly public officials and politicians, aware of the measures taken to guarantee de jure and de facto equality of women and such other measures as are necessary to that end. It also requests the State party to continue to disseminate widely, particularly among women's and human rights organizations, the Convention and its Optional Protocol, the general recommendations of the Committee, the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action and the outcome of the twenty-third special session of the General Assembly entitled "Women 2000: gender equality, development and peace for the twenty-first century".