Colombia
450. The Committee considered the revised combined second and third
periodic reports of Colombia (CEDAW/C/COL/2-3/Rev.l) at its 250th meeting,
on 31 January (CEDAW/C/SR.250).
451. In presenting the report, the representative read out a letter from
the President of Colombia to the Chairperson of the Committee, in which
the President reaffirmed the commitment of the Government to guaranteeing
equal rights for women as spelled out in the Constitution of the country.
That commitment had been demonstrated by the establishment of the Presidential
Council for Youth, Women and the Family and by the adoption of an integrated
policy for women and a development policy for rural women.
452. The representative focused on the achievements made by her country
since 1987, the year of the presentation of the initial report. She said
that the ratification of the Convention had been the result of pressure
exercised by women's organizations, international groups and the nascent
awareness of national institutions, in addition to events promoted by the
United Nations within the framework of the United Nations Decade for Women.
The creation of the Colombian Women's Integration Council in 1980 had marked
a milestone in that it recognized the necessity of creating a national
mechanism for coordinating the various sectoral efforts to integrate women
into their activities. Certain sectoral developments had been successfully
initiated and had led to the creation, in 1990, of the Coordination and
Control Committee on the Convention and to the establishment of the Presidential
Council for Youth, Women and the Family.
453. In connection with the celebration of the International Year of the
Family in 1994, the Government had taken care to ensure that the achievements
and the progress made with regard to the status of women would not be jeopardized
by the general concept of the family. The rights of all family members
had to be respected and it should be possible to reconcile individual projects
with family responsibilities. The subject of family violence would be a
priority issue.
454. Regarding the preparations for the Fourth World Conference on Women,
the representative said that the Presidential Council had been designated
as a focal point for the coordination and mobilization of governmental
and non-governmental organizations and also for the preparation of the
national report.
455. She assured the Committee members that their observations would be
taken into account in the elaboration of future government policies and
also for the subsequent report.
General observations
456. Members commended the Government of Colombia and the Colombian
non-governmental organizations for the progress made in spite of the difficulties
created by violence and the economic recession. Special mention was made
of the 1991 Constitution, which recognized very extensive rights for women,
and of the good representation of women in economic life, although their
proportion in public representative institutions was still low. In spite
of the fact that some women had assumed high political positions, their
representation in political decision-making was still very limited. They
welcomed the appointment of three female ministers. The members hoped for
the enactment of a draft law that provided a guarantee for the appropriate
and effective participation of women at decision-making levels of public
administration and encouraged political parties to present more female
candidates for elections. Furthermore, they urged the Government, in implementing
the Convention, to adopt programmes for rural women.
457. Members expressed appreciation for the message sent by the President
and for the dense, self-critical and frank report, as well as for the extensive
replies given. They commended the establishment of the Presidential Council
for Youth, Women and the Family and hoped that the new administration would
maintain its efforts for the advancement of women.
458. In reply to the question why the Coordination and Control Committee
had not functioned since its establishment, although it could have complemented
the efforts of the Presidential Council, the representative said that,
although the Committee's establishment had demonstrated the Government's
intention to create a national coordination mechanism for women's questions,
it could not fulfil its mandate because of its weak institutional structure.
That was why the present administration had created the Presidential Council
for Youth, Women and the Family.
459. Asked about the Council's budget and organizational structure and
the coordination between it and other government departments dealing with
women's programmes, the representative said that the Council was part of
the administrative structure of the State. The Council depended upon the
President and had to coordinate resources for projects and programmes that
guaranteed the promotion of women and the rights of the elderly. It was
also the focal point at the national and international levels for women
and gender-related issues. For the first time, gender-related issues had
been integrated into development. The Council's functions consisted in
defining policies, providing technical guidelines for integrating them
within the governmental bodies, developing methods for promoting social
and economic programmes and coordinating activities with ministries, institutes,
regional bodies and non-governmental organizations. In order to strengthen
the Council, strategies were being developed to make it into a permanent
institution that should survive a change in government. The Council also
gave support to departmental and municipal women's offices in order to
strengthen them to such an extent that they would survive a change in administration,
not only because of their legal structure but also because of their visibility.
460. The Council had been established by the President and currently had
a staff of 50 persons. Its programme also included issues related to youth,
the elderly, the disabled and the family, as well as income-generating
activities, and its goal was to make women benefit from the development
process. In addition, there was coordination with other sectors on subjects
such as developing coeducational programmes and non-sexist curricula, health
care for women, credit and training for women in micro-industries, and
support for female heads of households. The Council had already been institutionalized
to the extent that the current candidates for the presidential election
were already considering different administrative structures for a national
women's office.
461. The Council had its own budget, received in part from national allocation,
in part from international cooperation agencies. Additional funds for special
programmes came from ministries, decentralized institutes and regional
and municipal institutions.
462. Members requested information concerning programmes and measures directed
towards disabled women.
463. In additional comments, members noted that the Presidential Council
should be strengthened and hoped that the institution would be maintained
even if the government changed. They asked what the greatest achievements
of the Council had been. They also inquired about the impact of guerilla
warfare and drug trafficking on the lives of urban and rural women.
Questions related to specific articles
Article 2
464. The representative highlighted the most important provisions of
the Constitution, which had entered into force in 1991 and in which the
principle of gender equality was enshrined. The provisions of the Convention
had been incorporated in national legislation.
465. Other new laws that contributed to the equality of women and men were
the Social Security Law, the General Education Law and the law that allowed
divorce and gave support to single female heads of household. Currently,
a draft law concerning sexual violence, sexual harassment and the participation
of women in public administration were being discussed.
Article 3
466. Among institutions dealing with the advancement of women, the
representative mentioned the Presidential Council for Youth, Women and
the Family, the Office for Rural Women and 11 departmental and municipal
women's offices and sectorial programmes.
Article 5
467. The representative said that, in the mass media, as well as in
formal education, traditional stereotypical gender roles still tended to
be reproduced and maternity and reproductive activities remained the primary
responsibility of women.
468. Asked for additional information regarding violence against women,
the representative said that, in comparison with the importance of that
problem, the services available to female victims were still scarce. Statistics
and studies were insufficient and based on partial data, yet the available
information was alarming. According to a recent study, 65 per cent of women
who were either married or lived in consensual unions stated that they
had had a violent fight with their partner. One in 5 women said that they
had been beaten and 1 in 10 declared that they had been forced into sexual
relations. The current legislation did not cover that offence, nor were
there sanctions for violence against women. As the Constitution made specific
reference to marital violence, efforts were under way to adopt appropriate
legal norms to penalize violence against women.
469. Regarding the question whether female victims of violence were given
legal advice free of charge, the representative mentioned the family commissions
that had been created in 1989 to prevent such violence and to give assistance
free of charge to women who had become victims. Currently, there were about
100 commissions, which received special support from the Government. They
were municipal police-type bodies that undertook emergency measures until
the cases were dealt with by the appropriate judicial or administrative
authorities. However, because of budgetary limitations and lack of awareness
about the issue, not all municipalities had set up such commissions.
470. Regarding the availability of those commissions in rural areas the
representative said that they did not yet exist in all rural areas. Efforts
were under way to establish more family commissions so as to establish
a nationwide network and to provide the necessary training to the officers
and to extend the free legal advice services throughout the country.
471. Replying to a question about special training for the officers working
in family commissions, the representative said that, although there was
not yet any systematic training programme, some progress had been made
and training workshops and programmes were being organized for judicial
personnel who had to deal with female victims of violence as well as for
the officers of the family commissions.
472. Regarding a question about shelters for female victims of violence,
the representative said that there were only a few, which were run by non-governmental
organizations.
473. In additional comments, members commended the efforts made to obtain
more accurate data on violence against women. They noted that no mention
had been made of measures to eliminate the root causes of violence. They
said that one of the most important measures was the education of the entire
society. They expressed the hope that the question of violence would also
be dealt with in subsequent reports.
Article 6
474. Regarding prostitution, the representative said that the invisibility
of the problem and insensitivity to it hampered implementation of the relevant
provisions of the Convention. It was still felt that was a problem of private
morals and not an ethical problem in a society that pretended to be a developed
democracy.
475. In reply to the question whether HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment
programmes were targeted at women engaged in prostitution, the representative
said that, since 1992, the Ministry of Health had been training prostitutes
in the prevention of HIV/AIDS and in the use of condoms. Those training
programmes were confined to the main cities. The prevention of HIV/AIDS
through screening programmes was also difficult because of the high cost
involved. Apart from some big cities, there were generally as yet no services
specifically for the care of women prostitutes affected by HIV/AIDS. In
December, the Institute of Family Welfare had started an ambitious programme
for preventive and health care for girls who were at risk of becoming prostitutes.
476. Members requested that subsequent reports contain further information
concerning prostitution. They also said that particular attention should
be paid to the phenomenon of increased street prostitution. Some expressed
concern that only rape of minors below the age of 14 was penalized very
strictly, considering that aged and disabled women were equally vulnerable.
Article 7
477. The representative said that no legal measures discriminated against
women with regard to political participation. However, although they had
increased their participation, statistics showed that in practice women
had not reached the highest levels equitably and continuously. Whereas
more women could be found in leading positions in trade unions in the public
sector, in the private sector their number was much smaller. The representative
also highlighted the information given in the report regarding the role
of women in community organizations, political parties and the cooperative
movement. She said that 180 non-governmental organizations dedicated their
activities in 1993 to the promotion of women.
478. Members noted that the statement in the report that women were "not
yet organized in sufficient strength to constitute a pressure group"
was not valid. Women could not wait to be organized, they ought to take
action in all fields in order to achieve greater participation in decision-making.
They also asked whether any initiative was taken to promote the participation
of women in political life through increasing their numbers in political
parties or on candidates' lists.
Article 8
479. The representative stated that currently the Minister for Foreign
Affairs was a woman and that 10 per cent of all ambassadors were women.
Article 10
480. The representative said that measures had been taken to improve
and promote the concept of equality through the production of non-sexist
school texts. Women represented between 49 and 52 per cent of school enrolment
from primary to university education and there was a marked trend in favour
of coeducation. While considerably more women had taken up courses in administration,
economics, engineering, law and agronomy, women were still concentrated
in traditional areas.
481. Asked whether the draft General Education Law had been adopted, whether
it contained specific measures to combat discrimination against female
students and positive measures to counter traditional stereotypes, the
representative said that the law had been adopted in December 1993. It
did not contain affirmative measures or provisions specifically addressed
to women. Legislation did not contain any special measures directed to
education.
482. Members requested further information on the participation of women
in the various fields in which educational training was provided.
483. In additional comments, members requested further information about
provisions dealing with non-sexist education and were concerned that the
law did not devote more attention to the issue of non-sexist education.
Article 11
484. The representative mentioned a law for the support of women heads
of household that had been adopted in December 1993, which gave female
heads of households a right to social security, preferential access to
education, employment, credit, micro-enterprises and low-cost housing.
That law was the first example of affirmative action in Colombia.
485. As to whether measures had been taken to ensure the welfare and labour
rights of women working in the informal sector and whether the draft law
on social security mentioned in the report had been adopted, the representative
said that Law 100, which had created the basis for the integrated social
security system, had been adopted in December 1993. According to that law,
social security was no longer the sole responsibility of the State. For
old age and invalidity pensions, persons could choose between the social
security scheme maintained by the State and another scheme financed from
pension funds in the private sector. Over a span of seven years, the entire
population, including people who could not pay the premiums, should be
covered by a health insurance scheme. The contributions of the poorest
and most vulnerable persons in rural and urban areas would be subsidized
and special attention would be given to, among others, women during and
after pregnancy, lactating mothers, women heads of household and workers
in the informal sector.
486. Regarding questions whether the current laws were being enforced,
and by what means, and whether labour inspectors dealt with failures to
comply with the law, the representative said that the Ministry of Labour
and Social Security had the authority to supervise the application of the
laws through its Division for Special Relations. It was currently doing
research on discrimination against women in the field of employment. The
results of the study would be used to initiate training and consciousness-raising
of labour inspectors in that field.
487. Asked whether legal counsel and legal defence services were available
to women free of charge, the representative responded that free legal counsel
on labour matters was available to the vulnerable sections of the population,
such as working children, women, indigenous women and disabled persons.
In general, however, women were inadequately informed about their labour
rights and the services that were available free of charge.
488. Regarding further details about women's participation in the labour
market, the increase in the economically active female population, the
occupational categories, wage differences, women's employment in the informal
sector and the increase in the number of women heads of household, the
representative referred members to a 1993 document entitled "Latin
American women in figures" that had been distributed during the meeting.
Women's integration into the labour market had been much faster than men's,
but at the same time women had to face many adverse factors, such as their
concentration in the informal sector with its precarious social security
and legal protection, the higher rate of unemployment and the poverty that
affected women heads of households to a greater extent.
489. In additional comments, members congratulated the Government for all
the efforts undertaken and asked for the percentage of women heads of households.
Article 12
490. In reply to a question about plans to amend the existing laws
governing the voluntary termination of pregnancies, the representative
said that abortion was still illegal. The last attempt to legalize abortion
had been made in 1993, but the draft law had had to be set aside because
of strong opposition from members of Congress.
491. Regarding a question about campaigns to promote the use of condoms
in order to reduce the spread of HIV/AIDS, the representative said that,
in spite of massive resistance from religious groups, the Ministry of Health
had managed to set aside important resources for an intensive media campaign
to promote their use. None the less, widespread distribution of condoms
had not been achieved.
492. In additional comments, members said that women in Colombia should
fight for the legalization of abortion not in order to reduce births, but
in order to protect women from illegal abortions, which resulted in maternal
mortality. They said that the problems associated with abortion had not
been helped by the Government's family planning media campaigns and programmes.
Article 13
493. The representative made special reference to the newly adopted
Law on Social Security and Pensions, which contained, inter alia,
the obligation to organize special information and education programmes
for women in the fields of integrated health and sex education in less
developed parts of the country, especially for the rural population and
the young.
Article 14
494. The representative supplemented the information contained in the
report by mentioning a policy document for rural women, which contained
general objectives and basic strategies for rural women and which had been
approved in the latter part of 1993. Its purpose was to better the quality
of life of rural women by giving them equal opportunities for taking part
in the sectoral strategies and in political life and better access to productive
resources, and by increasing their revenues. The national machinery for
rural women should also be strengthened.
495. In additional comments, members observed that regulations and laws
were needed to govern the labour practices of flower producers.
Article 15
496. Although women had full equality before the law as spelled out
in the Constitution, that principle had not been translated into full de
facto equality. The major obstacles were insufficient information of many
women about their rights and about the legislative machinery that was available
to them for making them effective. In order to overcome that obstacle,
the Presidential Council would, in the course of the International Year
of the Family, disseminate widely information about fundamental family
rights, in particular the rights of women.
Article 16
497. The representative pointed out three major innovations: a decision
of the Constitutional Court in 1992, according to which domestic labour
was recognized as a contribution to the assets of the couple in a de facto
union; a law adopted in 1992 according to which divorce was permitted for
all marriages, including marriages in the Roman Catholic Church; and a
provision allowing for divorce by mutual consent.
498. The Committee deferred its concluding comments on the reports of Colombia
until its fourteenth session.
