SLOVAK
REPUBLIC
Initial report dated
27 June 1994
Location and People
The Slovak Republic
or Slovakia (Slovenska republika, Slovensko), is a landlocked
country in Central Europe. The majority of Slovakia's 5.4 million
population is Slovak (85.7 percent) but there exist sizable
minority communities include Hungarians (ten percent), Gypsy
or Romany (1.5 percent), Czechs (one percent), Ruthenians (0.3
percent), Ukrainians (0.3 percent), Germans (0.1 percent) and
Poles (0.1 percent). Roman Catholics are the largest religious
group and comprise about sixty percent, the Slovak Lutheran
church accounts for six percent and the Slovak Reformed church
for two percent of the population, and there are small numbers
of Orthodox Christians and Jews.
Slovakia became
independent from Czechoslovakia on 1 January 1993. Following
the overthrow of communism in Czechoslovakia, in the so-called
1989 "Velvet Revolution," the differences between the country's
two main ethnic groups, the Czechs and the Slovaks, over the
country's economic and political reforms became increasingly
clear and led to the split.1
Since independence,
the Slovak Republic has been undergoing "a triple transition":
a political transition; transition to capitalist market economy;
and identity-security transition aimed at negotiating differences
among national groups and defining territorial boundaries.2
In recent years, the country has been criticized by the international
community for the failure to implement democratic process and
values. The government has been accused of a pattern of intimidation
of judges and attacks against its critics, including the opposition
political figures and journalists. 1997
In December 1997, the European Union rejected Slovakia's (the
only rejected Central European country) candidacy for accession
because of doubts as to its commitment to democracy.4
In 1997, Slovakia also was excluded from talks on NATO expansion.
According to international observers, the free elections and
constitutional system in Slovakia are currently at risk.5
The country also found itself unable to elect a successor to
the president whose term expired in March 1998.
Government6
and Politics
Slovakia's Prime
Minister Vladimir Meciar of the Movement for a Democratic Slovakia
(HZDS), an ex-boxer and bullying leader, who was once described
by Western press as "an unstable autocrat prone to violence,"7
has dominated Slovak politics since the split from Czechoslovakia.
Meciar was the one who pushed for and negotiated the "Velvet
Divorce" from the Czech Republic without referendum despite
opposition from President Vaclav Havel8
and despite the fact that polls were showing that the majority
of the Slovak people supported a union with the Czechs. In recent
years, Meciar's government has been criticized by the European
Union and the United States for the slow pace and depth of country's
democratic reforms, and it has been accused by critics both
at home and abroad of authoritarian tendencies.9
Meciar's commitment
to democracy was put into question yet again by his role in
President Michal Kovac's dismissal in March 1998. According
to observers, Meciar engineered a political impasse that led
Kovac to step down on 2 March 1998 without a successor. 10
Meciar and Kovac, both members of HZDS, have been involved in
a bitter feud dating back to Kovac's role in dismissing by a
vote of non-confidence a previous Meciar government in the spring
of 1994. According to Kovac, the enmity started when he refused
to be "an obedient tool in [Meciar's] hands."11
Kovac's departure
resulted in the transfer of most of the presidential powers
to Meciar. He used them immediately to dismiss 28 pro-opposition
ambassadors, to block criminal proceedings over a disputed referendum
last year12 and over the
1995 kidnapping of president Kovac's son.13
Both the European Union and the United States criticized these
actions, and in March 1998 the domestic opposition began a campaign
against Meciar's assumption of presidential powers.14
At the same time, the political polls have shown that government's
popularity was much lower than the combined popularity of the
opposition (36 percent to 57 percent).15
At the same time,
despite several attempts to elect a new president by the Slovak
parliament, the polarization in the legislature and the divisions
in the opposition have made it difficult for any candidate to
obtain the required three-fifths of the vote. As Slovakia is
scheduled to hold legislative elections in September 1998, the
failure to elect a president by that time, could throw the country
into a constitutional crisis. For instance, Meciar as both prime
minister and interim president could not hand his government's
resignation to himself.16
Kalman Petocz of the Hungarian Civic Party, representing Slovakia's
ethnic Hungarian minority, expressed concern that when the election
campaign starts in September, Meciar would have "all the power
to sidetrack and to create legal chaos. And he does that well."17
Harassment Against
Opposition and the Media
In recent years
Slovakia has seen a pattern of harassment and violence against
Meciar government's critics that have included political leaders,
journalists, and their families. The Slovak intelligence agency,
the Slovak Information Service (SIS), has been suspected in
the kidnapping and torture of former President Kovac's son in
1995. Several persons who claimed to have evidence for SIS's
involvement have been removed from the investigation of the
case, and one person was murdered. Several politicians, including
the president, justices of the Constitutional Court and journalists
who were critical of the Meciar government, suffered beatings,
death threats and bomb attacks. In 1997, Miroslav Toman of the
Democratic Party was assaulted. Several journalists, including
reporters for Radio Free Europe, were beaten or assaulted in
the last few years. In March 1997, a bomb exploded in the car
of Peter Licak, editor of Presovsky Vecernik. The car of opposition
daily SME Assistant Editor Peter Toth was torched in September
1997. The government has either dismissed these attacks or accused
the opposition of staging them to discredit the government,
and many of these cases were closed ostensibly for the "lack
of evidence." 18
Government's hostile
attitude to transparency and unwillingness to accept criticism
is also illustrated by Meciar's abolition of government press
conferences in December 1997 under the pretext of a "low cultural
degree of some Slovak journalists and low professional reaction
in some media."19 On the
same occasion, Meciar accused opposition media, including dailies
SME, PRACA and Novy Cas, of publishing lies about the government.
In 1997, the government
also attempted to pass laws that could seriously limit freedom
of expression. In October 1997, a draft law presented in the
parliament would have amended the Penal Code by creating a new
criminal offense based on broad and ambiguous definitions of
"subversive conduct" and "defamation of the state." Former President
Kovac had refused to sign this law after the first vote in March
1997, and he subsequently rejected similar drafts in October
and December 1997. Amnesty International called for the repeal
of this bill which would undermine the right to freedom of expression
and association. 20
Economy
Since its separation
from the Czech Republic in January 1993, Slovakia has been undergoing
a double economic change: from a socialist to a free market
system and from a subordinate to an independent economy. 21
Privatizations started in 1991-92 and by mid-1995, the World
Bank put the private sector share of gross domestic product
(GDP) at fifty eight percent.22
In 1997, the private sector generated more than eighty five
percent of GDP.23
Slovakia consistently
has had one of the best growth rates in Central Europe. In 1997,
the GDP grew 6.5 percent. The country also has been successful
in reducing inflation (six percent in 1997).24
The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)
also estimates that unemployment will drop to eleven percent
in 1998 from the 1997 figure of 11.5 percent.25
Yet despite country's
good economic performance, its strategic location and highly
skilled work force, Slovakia has managed to attract only four
percent of total foreign investment in Central Europe since
1990. "Slovakia? It's a basket case," stated London-based investment
analyst Rod Benniger. "It shouldn't be. It has low labor costs.
It's located right next to the biggest markets - Austria, Poland,
Russia, Western Europe. But it's still the Wild East, and will
be for the foreseeable future."26
Despite these positive macroeconomic indicators, in 1997, Slovakia
was removed from the list of candidates for accession to the
European Union and NATO because of shortcomings in democracy.27
Discrimination Against
Minorities
Romanies
Slovak Romanies
(Gypsies) are the second largest minority (after the Hungarians).
The group has been affected by disproportionately high levels
of poverty. The Romas consistently have constituted the highest
number of unemployed as they face difficulties in finding and
holding jobs partly as a result of discrimination. The US Department
of State also reported discrimination of Romas in housing and
administration of state services.28
According to a recent report by the Budapest-based European
Romany Rights Center, Slovak Romanies are forced to live on
the edges of villages without running water, electricity, sewers
and toilets since their request for better housing are routinely
turned down by housing authorities.29
According to UNICEF's
recent report, as the health of Slovak children and young people
is generally deteriorating due to bad nutrition, the Romany
women and children are among the most affected. For instance,
according to the UNICEF study, as much as fifty percent of the
children are born to poor Romany women. The report states that
as a result, the Romany children are less intelligent because
of shortage of basic nutrients. UNICEF suggested that the problem
can be resolved by nutrition programs which have been effective
in other countries such as Chile. According to Slovak UNICEF
representative Viera Halamova, the Labor and Social Affairs
Ministry has provided no financial support for such programs.30
Press reports indicate
that forced sterilizations of Romany women in the poor villages
of East Slovakia continue as a legacy of the former communist
regime's program. Although women have not been directly forced
to have the operation, a system of coercion was in place, including
threats to take children away if they refused. In some cases,
Romany women were enticed with money to have the operation.
31
Several human rights
organizations, such as the ERRC and Human Rights Watch, have
reported incidents of police brutality against the Roma, including
a spontaneous attack of one hundred police officers on a Romany
village several years ago.32
In addition, Romanies have become a target of numerous racist
attacks, including verbal abuse and burning down their houses.
In a widely publicized July 1995 incident, a young Romany boy,
Mario Goral, was burnt alive by a group of Slovak skinheads.33
Also in 1997, there have been several attacks on Roma by skinheads.
For example, one person was killed when four Roma youth were
shot in a car near Levoca in June 1997. In August 1997, two
skinheads broke into a Romany home in Banska Bystrica and beat
the family with baseball bats. 34
According to ERRC, these human rights abuses routinely do not
reach a conclusion in court and the perpetrators are usually
charged with the lesser crime of infliction of bodily harm instead
of racially-motivated crime.35
Government officials
have fueled these sentiments by anti-Roma remarks. Several ruling
party representatives publicly blamed most of the Slovak crime
on the Roma community. Deputy prime minister, Jan Slota, declared
in October 1997 that the only way to deal with Gypsies was with
"a long whip and a small yard."36
Discrimination and
lack of opportunities has caused an exodus of Slovak Romanies.
In 1997, there was a particularly large number of Roma applications
for asylum in Great Britain.37
The Slovak government responded by allotting 1.6 billion Slovak
crowns for programs of solving Romany issues but the implementation
of such programs is yet to be seen.38
Hungarians
According to Bela
Bugar, leader of the opposition Hungarian Christian Democrat
Movement (MKDH), the situation Hungarian minority in Slovakia
is deteriorating in comparison with their rights under the Communists.
Since the Meciar government came to power in 1994, the Hungarian
minority in Slovakia has lost some of the rights it had enjoyed
previously. The government has eliminated bilingual school-leaving
certificates, and Hungarians may not use their own language
when they communicate with the authorities, even in the areas
where they constitute more than twenty percent of the population.39
At the same time, Hungarian-language newspapers and magazines
are disappearing for the lack of support and funding.
The following report
was sent to IWRAW for editing and submission to the CEDAW Committee.
The organizations that participated in production of this NGO
report are:
Dr. Eva Sopková,
ProFamilia, Humenné
Katarína Farkasová,
Alliance of Women in Slovakia, Bratislava
Ms. Juránová
and Ms. Cviková, ASPEKT, a women's interest association
Third Sector Gremium,
SAIA, Bratislava
Monika Grochová,
Fenestra, a women's interest association, Kosice
Alena Chudíková,
J.D. and Eng. Margita Barosová, Social Democratic Women's
Association, Bratislava
Helena Woleková,
Social Policy Analyses Center SPACE Foundation, Bratislava
Dr. Maria Orgonásová,
Alliance of Organizations of Disabled People in Slovakia, Bratislava
Dr. Kliment and
Dr. Cupaník, Slovak Society for Planned Parenthood (Slovak
Family Planning Association), Bratislava
Mrs. Daniela Klochánová,
Confederation of Trade Unions of Slovakia, Bratislava
INTRODUCTION
It is paradoxical
that in Slovakia the problem of women's discrimination became
painful after 1989, following the so-called revolution and after
commencement of processes that were designed to transform society
from totalitarian communism to democracy. The women in Slovakia
were affected adversely by these changes. For example, in the
labor market the free enterprise conditions led to the discrimination
against women, especially women over forty years of age and
those who take care of children.
The Slovak political
atmosphere has been marked by impunity of law offenders as a
result of the "power democracy" practiced by prime minister
Meciar and his party, Movement for Democratic Slovakia (Hnutie
Za Demokraticke Slovensko, HZDS). The presidential term of M.
Kovac expired in March 1998 and Meciar's HZDS has obstructed
appointment of a new president by the parliament. Meciar took
up most of presidential duties. Based on these "presidential"
powers he immediately granted amnesty to all offenders who had
ties to HZDS, that is to the "unknown" abductors of the son
of the former president and to murderers of a friends of one
of the key witnesses in the case, as well as to persons who
blocked the May 1997 referendum on the Direct Presidential Election
Bill. As a result of these developments and insufficient protection
of citizens against organized crime reaching to the highest
political circles, the society is pervaded by the atmosphere
of impunity and hopelessness. The abuse of power at the highest
political and decision making levels affects social relations,
influences interpersonal behavior and does not contribute to
the improvement of behavior of men towards women and children.
Instead of tolerance, the reality of "the stronger can venture
any action towards the weaker" prevails.
At the same time,
however, the move toward democracy opened information channels.
One of the most positive aspect of the 1989 changes is the emergence
of the many new civic independent (non-governmental and non-profits)
organizations, the so-called "Third Sector." The Third Sector
has a distinctive position within the Slovak community. At present,
approximately 10,000 organizations have been registered. Individual
organizations coordinate efforts, despite (partially maybe even
thanks to) the new restrictive law on NGOs that the Meciar government
passed to restrict and control civic activities. The passage
of the law was followed by a dramatic campaign "S.O.S. Third
Sector," which aroused common feeling among all active citizens,
demonstrated their power and provided for good mutual communication.
In Slovakia there
also is a variety of organizations which are heirs to communist
interest groups (the so-called GOGNOs-Government Organized NGOs),
such as the women's communist organization Women's League (Zvaz
Zien). Its successor, the Democratic Women's Union (Demokraticka
Unia Zien), still works as a government connected organization.
Individual political parties also have women's organizations,
which are concerned with civic life more than reflecting political
views of the parties. There are only a few truly independent
civic NGOs that work on women's human rights and women's status
in the society. However, they cooperate closely and communicate
on specific problems even with women from the ruling coalition.
MEASURES TO ELIMINATE
DISCRIMINATION - Convention Article 2
Even during the
communist regime, the labor unions had the primary role in supporting
status of women issues. Thanks to the unions (ninety percent)
and to the influence of the 1995 Beijing Conference (ten percent),
the Minister of Labor, Social Affairs and Family, Mrs. Keltosova
(presently the vice-chairperson of Meciar's HZDS party), established
a Coordination Committee for Women's Affairs at the Department
of Labor. It is an "advisory, coordinating and initiating government
authority dealing with questions that affect position and interests
of women in all areas of life."40
Members of the Committee come from the parliament, unions, regional
government authorities, central government authorities, research
institutions, churches and individual experts on women, children
and family matters. In response to a request from the Secretary
of the Committee, several NGOs delegated their representatives
as observers with the Committee.
However, when the
most important issue of funding women's institutions came up,
the Ministry of Finance refused to pay the membership fee of
823,500 Slovak crowns (membership fee for the European Commission
program of "Medium Term Community Action Program on Equal Opportunities
for Men and Women, 1966-2000). This made it impossible for Slovak
women to receive funding of 5,500,000 Slovak crowns promised
by this program for various projects. Similarly, information
on the possibility of commenting on the official government
report to CEDAW and the possibility to prepare a "shadow report"
reached Slovak women's NGOs only through external channels.
TEMPORARY SPECIAL
MEASURES - Convention Article 4
The government has
not adopted any temporary special measures aimed at accelerating
de facto equality between men and women. The idea of equal chances
has not even been understood. The existing situation is the
communist heritage of the notion of "men and women are the same."
The government does not support any special gender education,
any campaign against discrimination against women or counseling
for women in difficult situation. Women themselves are shocked
at the thought that they should demand measures to make them
equal with men. According to one survey, only thirty five percent
of women judge feminism positively, twenty percent judge it
negatively, and ten percent have distorted ideas about what
it is and thirty six percent could not answer.41
In some cases, such as in a recent discussion of shelters for
female victims of domestic violence and in a March 1998 open
discussion on quotas for women organized by the daily SME, the
opinion has been voiced that meeting needs of women means discrimination
against men.
SEX ROLES AND STEREOTYPING
- Convention Article 5
Social and cultural
customs in Slovakia go hand in hand with the traditional image
of a woman as a nursing mother and a wife and are reinforced
by the rural way of living (forty three percent of population)
and by the prevailing Christian, mostly Catholic, faith.42
Frequently the convenience of custom prevents women from attempting
to undertake the unknown and redefine their position within
the community and family.
According to a sociological
survey in Slovakia, the most important trait of "the right kind
of woman" according to both men and women is the "ability to
take care of household (eighty six percent of respondents),
while a woman's "ability to financially provide for family"
is important to only twenty three percent of male and female
respondents (whereas in regards to men it is important for ninety
two percent of both male and female respondents). A woman's
"ability to make independent decisions" is important to fifty
percent while for a man to be "decisive" is important to seventy
two percent of the respondents.43
Addressing in feminine
gender and using feminine nouns has not become a custom, despite
the fact the Slovak language has separate feminine and masculine
noun forms. The female gender of words such as citizen, voter,
participant, politician, members etc. is not used regularly.
From the time of birth, children (through first children's books,
school textbooks and media programs) are exposed to the traditional
division of household responsibilities. Pressure of public opinion
and a tradition of seeing the male offspring as "stronger,"
and thus "predestined for higher goals" prevents even educated
mothers from bothering their sons with household tasks. The
NGOs are not aware of any measures taken by the government to
change the culture of men-women relationships.44
POLITICAL AND PUBLIC
LIFE - Convention Article 7
Notwithstanding
mass protests by some domestic officials and NGOs, as well as
protests from the West, in July 1996 the government adopted
a new law on foundations that severely restricts civil society,
including women. Under the new law, to register a foundation,
it is necessary to have consent of the Ministry of Interior.
The government reserves the right to interfere with civic association.
It is necessary to complete annual budgets by March (which is
almost impossible for a Slovak donation-based foundation). The
law limits administrative expense to only fifteen percent of
the budget; because of high cost of office rent in Bratislava,
only the largest organizations can meet this limitation.
EDUCATION - Convention
Article 10
The literacy rate
in Slovakia is 99.99 percent for both males and females. The
major issue of discrimination in education is the division of
boys and girls into technical and humanitarian majors respectively.
Traditionally there have been very few women in the technical
majors. Sex roles and stereotyping are deeply rooted even in
first school textbooks that present a father and a mother in
different roles.
Males and females
have equal access to sex education, which is on a fairly high
level. Along with an elective course on Family Education, future
teachers will have available an elective course on sex education.
There also exists an elective course on Drug Prevention. Eighty
percent of all biology and ethics teachers (for kindergartens,
elementary schools and high schools) have taken supplementary
schooling in selected aspects of sex education.
EMPLOYMENT - Convention
Article 11
Although the Article
7 of the Slovak Employment Code declares that women have an
equal employment status with men, democratic changes brought
forth further feminization of the already strongly feminine,
and notoriously underpaid, sectors such as education and health.
According to one research study, the proportion of women in
these sectors exceeds eighty percent.45
Another common occupation for women is lower-level administration
or management. Discriminatory advertisements, offering different
kinds of work men and women are a common practice.
Operation of day
care institutions for children four months to three years (nurseries)
has been canceled. The decline in the number of kindergartens
has been halted; kindergartens are now supported by communities
by local budgets. These, however, are systematically and drastically
lowered by the government. At present, a number of public protests
against the lowering of local budgets is taking place. There
have been some cases of kindergartens refusing to accept children
of unemployed mothers or of mothers who were on a maternity
leave with a younger child. It is extremely difficult to find
a kindergarten for a three-year-old child.46
Generally women
are employed in positions below their qualifications and education
level. Even though more women than men complete secondary and
higher education, women account for only forty one percent of
employed college graduates and as much as fifty eight percent
of workers with only elementary education are women.47
Moreover, women's unemployment rate is higher than the overall
unemployment. In August 1997, the National Employment Authority
registered a total of 332,828 unemployed, out of which 177,204
(53.24 percent) were women.
As a rule, women
have fewer opportunities for career promotion. But discrimination
is especially distinctive (and most difficult to prove) in policies
concerning wages since men are generally considered to be the
"prime breadwinners." As a result of traditional understanding
of male-female division of responsibilities, women are only
considered to be "additional breadwinners." The reality, however,
is that as many as seventy three percent of women work because
their family depends on their income.48
Men also are given more discretionary pay (bonuses, supplemental
wages, premiums), because of subjective criteria. At the beginning
of 1996 the women's salaries were 81.93 percent of men's, by
the end of the same year they went down to 77.62 percent.49
A survey by the
Social Democratic Women Association showed that women are not
hired for well paid jobs for family reasons:
- if a woman is
not married, she is considered likely to do so - she would
then have a child and stay home;
- if a woman is
married with children, she would have to stay home every time
they are sick;
- if a woman is
divorced, it considered to be even worse since taking care
of children is solely her responsibility;
- if her parents
are sick, she is the one who would take care of them and neglect
her work.
If a woman is on
maternity leave, her levies (medical insurance payment, social
security payments, etc.) are paid by the state, but only up
to the limit of minimum wage. She is allowed to earn additional
money only to half a minimum wage, that is the amount of 1,500
crowns. She may not buy additional medical insurance. There
are reported cases of women who have been refused unemployment
benefits after their maternity leave expired, based on an argument
that during three years of their maternity leave they did not
work or pay their social security payment (which is a responsibility
of the state).
Discrimination tends
to multiply itself. There is a different retirement age for
men and women. Different age requirements for retirement are
responsible for the fact that disabled women cannot reach the
same amount of retirement pension as men with the same education,
the same profession, and the same kind of disability. The current
legislation (Law No. 100/1988 Coll.) enables women to claim
retirement pension when they reach the age of 57 years, or even
earlier depending on the number of children they bore and raised.
Men can claim retirement pension at the age of 60. This, however,
is only a possibility, not a duty, and many women and men alike,
especially those with higher education, continue working even
after they reach the retirement age. The possibility to retire
earlier is supposed to express the acknowledgment of the society
for women who work, keep the households, and raise children
simultaneously. In practice, however, the different age requirement
for retirement causes indirect discrimination when the amount
of disability pension is being calculated. According to the
current law (article 21 of the Law No. 100/1988), when the disability
pension is being calculated, the only income that can be taken
into consideration is the one that was earned before the person
reached the required age limit for retirement pension, that
is 57 or less in the case of women, and 60 in the case of men.
According to article 35, section 1 of Law No. 100/1988, any
disabled person whose health qualifies him/her for full disability,
and who continues to work under special circumstances, may receive
disability pension as well. If the person continues to work
for at least five more years and manages to achieve a higher
income, he or she may ask for a new calculation of the disability
pension. In the case of disabled woman, the legislation stipulates
that while calculating the new amount of the pension, the only
income that can be taken into consideration is the one she was
receiving before she reached the required age for retirement
(57 or less), even if her income situation improved only later.
The more children she raised the worse are her chances to improve
her pension because the required age limit for retirement decreases
with the number of children. In the case of men the limit remains
the same: it is always 60 years of age. This can cause a considerable
financial difference compared with men of the same age, education
and profession, and we therefore consider it a discrimination
of disabled women and mothers. It is also contradictory to the
Constitution of the Slovak Republic (paragraph 12, section 2)
as well as of the Guideline of the Council No. 79/1/EHS, and
Guideline 86/378/EHS concerning the implementation of equal
treatment of men and women.50
HEALTH CARE AND
FAMILY PLANNING - Convention Article 12
The situation in
health care in Slovakia at near-disaster level. The distribution
system for medication and drugs is near collapse as medical
insurance institutions refuse to pay the chemists their entitlements.
The status of material and technical equipment in hospitals
is critical. Pre-birth preparation of women (prophylactic preparation,
exercises for pregnant women, etc.) deteriorated because the
operation of the Health Education Branches that used to be located
with local state-owned hospitals has been canceled. There has
been a decline in nurturing and preventive care of children
up to one year of age. Nurses no longer visit newly born babies
in their homes which has impacted especially the poor areas
and Romany villages.51
Family Planning
and Reproductive Health
In Slovakia, the
notion that the state has the right to control fertility of
its citizens still prevails. The state fails to provide information
on contraceptives. Abortion is the primary method of regulating
the number of children. However, the rate has begun to decline.
In 1996, the number of births went down by 2.5 percent while
the number of abortions went down by 17.4 percent.52
According to the
Law No. 98/1998 Col., sterilization of a woman can only be carried
out for medical reasons, or on demand by a woman who has three
living children (in this case it is covered by medical insurance).
It is not possible to have the procedure solely as a personal
decision, even if one is willing to pay.
VIOLENCE AGAINST
WOMEN - Convention Articles 3, 5, 6, 12, 15, and 16
The term "domestic
violence" is not codified in the law. Article 163 of the Penal
Code requires consent of the victim before an offender may be
prosecuted. Cases of domestic violence are usually processed
as misdemeanors, punished by fine. For this reason, female victims
often try to avoid prosecuting since paying a fine would ruin
their family budgets.
There does not exist
a single shelter for abused women in Slovakia. There are only
homes for single women and asylum homes for indigent people
(homeless people who completed their prison sentences; people
who have come to an age when they have to leave children's asylum
homes). There is only one crisis intervention center in Petralka,
Bratislava for "women in a harsh living situation." It is funded
by the NGO, Help to Endangered Children, and run by personnel
without proper training (female psychologists).
There does not exist
a telephone helpline that would serve exclusively abused women
and which would be run by specially trained personnel. There
only are Centers for Consultations and Psychological Services.
Their staff, however, does not specialize in working with abused
women. Abused women do not have available free legal assistance.
Besides, no training is offered for professionals that are in
direct contact with victims of violence, such as police officers,
social workers, psychologists, attorneys, judges and medical
doctors.
REVIEW OF SLOVAKIA
BY OTHER UN TREATY BODIES:
International Covenant
on Civil and Political Rights (15 and 16 July 1997). The Human
Rights Committee considered the initial report of Slovakia under
this treaty on 15 and 16 July 1997.
Concerns and Recommendations:
- Address discrimination
against women through training and education campaigns and
establish mechanisms to monitor non-discrimination laws and
to receive and investigate complaints from victims.
- Address discrimination
against the Roma minority who are often victims of racist
attacks without receiving adequate protection from law enforcement
officers.
- Set up training
programs in human rights for law enforcement personnel to
prevent the use of excessive use of force and maltreatment
of detainees .
- Set up human rights
training for judges, lawyers and public servants and human
rights in order to develop a culture of human rights within
the society.
- Adopt measures
to guarantee the independence of the judiciary and protection
of judges from political influence.
- Review legislation
regulating the provision of free legal assistance which is
not guaranteed in each case.
- Adopt legislative
measures to ensure that churches and religions are not excluded
from being legally recognized.
- Review legislation
to ensure freedom of expression (present provisions of the
Penal Code carry the risk of restricting this right).
- Adopt legislation
on the use of minority languages to make it secure; allocate
adequate resources in regards to educational and cultural
rights of the Hungarian minority.
- Address concerns
that have not been addressed by the government including:
the right to free legal assistance; issues regarding detention
of asylum seekers; action to ensure that school textbooks
do not have material tending to promote racist views.53
Endnotes:
1
Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE; Helsinki
Commission), Human Rights and Democratization in Slovakia, September
1997, on-line, Internet, available from: http://www.house.gov.csce/,
accessed on 3/31/98. back
2
Quoted in : Carol Skalnik Leff, The Czech and Slovak Republics:
Nation Versus State (Boulder:Westview Press, 1997), 2-3.
back
3
Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE;
Helsinki Commission), Human Rights and Democratization in Slovakia,
September 1997. back
4
"EU Envoy Critical of Developments in Slovakia," CTK News
Agency (Prague, Czech Republic), 23 March 1998, Nexis, accessed
on 1 April 1998. back
5
Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE;
Helsinki Commission), Human Rights and Democratization in Slovakia.
back
6
Slovakia has a multiparty, parliamentary type of government.
The legislative body is the National Council (Narodna Rada),
composed of 150 deputies serving four-year terms, and a chairperson
elected by an absolute majority of the deputies. The National
Council elects the president, the head of state, to a five-year
term. Three-fifths of the majority is required to do so. The
executive branch consists of the prime minister (appointed by
the president) and his cabinet. back
7
Quoted in : Carol Skalnik Leff, The Czech and Slovak Republics:
Nation Versus State (Boulder:Westview Press, 1997), 155.
back
8
"Vladimir Meciar, Ex-boxer Turned Political Bruiser," Agence
France Presse, 3 March 1998, Nexis, 10 March 1998. back
9
Ibid. back
10
Meciar and Kovac have been involved in a feud over Kovac's
role in dismissing a previous Meciar government in the spring
of 1994. back
11
Jana Dorotkova, ""Slovakian Leader Shakes Things Up," Associated
Press, 3 March 1998, Nexis, accessed on 24 March 1998. back
12
In 1997, Meciar's government ignored the decision by the
Constitutional Court and an overwhelming public support to hold
a referendum question on the direct election of the President
to be printed on the ballot. back
13
"Slovak Premier Cancels Referendum on Elections," New York
Times, on-line, 4 March 1998, World Briefs. back
14
"Meciar Attacked on Powers," Financial Times (London),
26 March 1998, Nexis, 1 April 1998. back
15
"Slovak Government Support Stays Low After Crisis," Central
Europe On-line, 27 March 1998, on-line, Internet, available
from: http://www.centraleurope.com, accessed on 31 March 1998.
back
16
Fabrice Martin, "Autocracy Fears Grow as Slovakian President
Prepares to Step Down," Agence France Presse, 28 February 1998,
Nexis, 10 March 1998. back
17
Christine Spolar, "Lacking President, Slovakia Is in Deadlock,"
Washington Post, 3 March 1998, A11. back
18
Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE;
Helsinki Commission), Human Rights and Democratization in Slovakia,
September 1997. back
19
"Meciar To Restore Government Press Conferences," Slovak
Unofficial Magazine, 29 March 1998, on-line, Internet, available
from: http://svk.home.ml.org, accessed on 31 March 1998.
back
20
"AI Report 1997: Slovakia, Amnesty International, on-line,
Internet, available from: http://www.amnesty.org, accessed on
23 March 1998. back
21
The World Bank Group, Slovak Republic (October 1997), on-line,
Internet, available from: http:www.worldbank.org, accessed on
30 March 1998. back
22
"Slovakia-Economic Freedom," Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
, on-line, Internet, available from: http://www.rferl.org, accessed
on 23 March 1998. back
23
U.S. Department of State, The Slovak Republic Country Report
on Human Rights Practices for 1997 (Washington, DC: Bureau of
Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, 30 January 1998). back
24
Slovakia also had the lowest foreign debt in Central and
Easter Europe at 4.6 billion in 1995. back
25
"Oecd Predicts Strong Growth, But Voices Concern About
Banks," Czech News Agency (CTK), 8 April 1998, Nexis, 15 April
1998. back
26
James Drake," Deepening Sorrows In Slovakia; Strongman:
Saying They 'Are Ruled By Monsters,' Villagers Of U Sabotov
Fear Prime Minister Vladimir Meciar, Who Holds And Increases
Power By Default," Baltimore Sun, 11 April 1998, Nexis, 15 April
1998. back
27
The World Bank Group, Slovak Republic (October 1997), on-line,
Internet, available from: http:www.worldbank.org, accessed on
30 March 1998. back
28
U.S. Department of State, The Slovak Republic Country Report
on Human Rights Practices for 1997. back
29
"ERRC Report Details Pogroms Against Romany Community in
Slovakia," Czech News Agency (CTK), 8 December 1997, Nexis,
20 April 1998. back
30
"UNICEF Warns of Bad Nutrition of Slovak Children," Czech
News Agency (CTK), back
31
"La Libre Belgique on the Communist Sterilization of Romanies,"
Czech News Agency (CTK), 11 February 1998, Nexis, 10 March 1998.
back
32
"ERRC Report Details Pogroms Against Romany Community in
Slovakia." back
33
"Anti-Racist Project to Tour Sites of Romany Pogroms in
Slovakia," Czech News Agency (CTK), 23 February 1998, Nexis,
18 March 1998. back
34
U.S. Department of State, The Slovak Republic Country Report
on Human Rights Practices for 1997. back
35
"ERRC Report Details Pogroms Against Romany Community in
Slovakia," Czech News Agency (CTK), 8 December 1997, Nexis,
20 April 1998. back
36
James Drake," Deepening Sorrows In Slovakia; Strongman:
Saying They 'Are Ruled By Monsters,' Villagers Of U Sabotov
Fear Prime Minister Vladimir Meciar, Who Holds And Increases
Power By Default," Baltimore Sun, 11 April 1998, Nexis, 15 April
1998. back
37
"Ministry Joins British Warning Against Romany Exodus,"
British Broadcasting Corporation, 16 April 1998. back
38
Ibid. back
39
"Hungarians in Slovakia Worse Off Now Than Under Communism-Press,"
Czech News Agency (CTK), 16 February 1998, Nexis, 20 April 1998.
back
40
Coordination Committee's Information Bulletin. back
41
Zora Butorova, FOCUS, She and He in Slovakia, a sociological
survey for Alliance of Women in Slovakia, 1995. back
42
Vladimir Krivy et al., Slovakia and its Regions, 1996.
back
43
Zora Butorova, FOCUS. back
44
ASPEKT, a women's interest association, Bratislava.
back
45
Eng. Margita Barosova, Social Democratic Women Association.
back
46
FENESTRA, a women interest association, Kosice. back
47
Slovak Statistics Authority, Statistics Numbers and Charts,
1995. back
48
Zora Butorova, FOCUS. back
49
Eng. Margita Barosova, Social Democratic Women Association.
back
50
Mária Orgonásová, M.D., Ph.D., President
of Alliance of Organizations of Disabled People in Slovakia.
back
51
Slovak Society for Planned Parenthood, Bratislava.
back
52
Ibid. back
53
United Nations, Human Rights Committee, International Covenant
on Civil and Political Rights, Concluding Observations of the
Human Rights Committee: Slovakia (CCPR/CC/79/Add.79) 4 August
1997. back
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