1. Introduction 3 Understanding women’s economic and social rights 10
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2.4 Temporary special measuresTo remedy patterns of gender inequality, States are also required to put in place temporary special measures. This is an important concept within human rights, and applies across the full spectrum of rights – be they civil, cultural, economic, political or social. For our purposes here, we can define temporary special measures as measures of a temporary nature which are intended to accelerate the improvement of the position of women to achieve their de facto or substantive equality with men, and to effect the structural, social and economic changes necessary to correct past and current discrimination against women.118 Similar concepts include “affirmative action,” “positive action,” “positive measures,” “reverse discrimination,” or “positive discrimination,” but temporary special measures are the term of art under international human rights law.119 CEDAW explicitly requires under its Article 4 that: 1. Adoption by States Parties of temporary special measures aimed at accelerating de facto equality between men and women shall not be considered discrimination as defined in the present Convention, but shall in no way entail as a consequence the maintenance of unequal or separate standards; these measures shall be discontinued when the objectives of equality of opportunity and treatment have been achieved. 2. Adoption by States Parties of special measures, including those measures contained in the present Convention, aimed at protecting maternity shall not be considered discriminatory.120 The CEDAW Committee has itself adopted two General Recommendation in the area of temporary special measures, one in 1988121 and the most recent in 2004.122 The first of these (General Recommendation No. 5) encourages States to make more use of temporary special measures such as positive action, preferential treatment or quota systems to advance women’s integration into education, the economy, politics and employment.123 The second (General Recommendation No. 25) provides further insight into the nature of State party obligations in this area.124 In its General Recommendation No. 25, the Committee provides that the adoption of temporary special measures must be considered whenever issues of accelerating access to equal participation, on the one hand, and accelerating the redistribution of power and resources, on the other hand. It notes that “equality of results” is “the logical corollary of de facto or substantive equality. These results may be quantitative and/or qualitative in nature; that is, women enjoying their rights in various fields in fairly equal numbers with men, enjoying the same income levels, equality in decision-making and political influence, and women enjoying freedom from violence.”125 Therefore, in order to advance women’s equality within economic and social spheres, States are mandated to enact temporary special measures aimed at enhancing women’s status and ensuring that they are able to enjoy their economic and social rights on par with men. It is also important within the context of temporary special measures to also address patterns of intersectional discrimination which may be experienced by particular groups of women (please see below for further discussion). Many States have taken such measures, and some of these initiatives will be highlighted in the following Section as good practice. Within the context of its Concluding Observations on States parties, the CEDAW Committee has also repeatedly asked States to strengthen and expand the use of temporary special measures, including within economic and social spheres. Two recent examples include the CEDAW Committee’s Concluding Observations on Afghanistan and Hungary. On Afghanistan, the Committee urged the State party to “[a]dopt effective measures in the formal labour market, including temporary special measures, to increase female participation and eliminate both horizontal and vertical occupational segregation, to narrow and close the wage gap between women and men, and to ensure the application of the principle of equal remuneration for work of equal value, as well as equal opportunities at work.”126 On Hungary, the Committee recommended that the State party apply temporary special measures to “… [f]acilitate access to education and employment for women in rural areas, Roma women and women with disabilities.”127 The United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights has similarly recognized that “Substantive equality for men and women will not be achieved simply through the enactment of laws or the adoption of policies that are, prima facie, gender-neutral,” and that “The adoption of temporary special measures may be necessary to accelerate the equal enjoyment by women of all economic, social and cultural rights and to improve the de facto position of women.”128 3. Women’s economic and social rights throughout the life cycleA girl child born into the world is born into a world which is profoundly gendered. From her first days to her last, her life’s experiences – of others and of herself – will inevitably be marked by the expectations, beliefs, stereotypes, values, opportunities, roles and responsibilities that are associated with being female in her culture. While every girl is unique, and while every woman’s life is different, they can be said to share certain aspects of qualities of their life as a result of living in a gendered and patriarchal reality. How gender discrimination and inequality manifest themselves at different stages of the life cycle varies. Young girls, young women, middle-aged women and older women may have different experiences of gender discrimination and inequality, yet at all stages of life, gender discrimination and inequality are present and persistent factors in the lives of women and girls. No country has yet succeeded in closing the gender gap in all aspects of economic and social life. This Section explores women’s economic and social rights throughout the life cycle and attempts to illuminate three questions: First, what does women’s economic and social life look like when seen through the lens of their enjoyment of economic and social rights – for example, vis-à-vis education, work, etc.?; Second, how has the economic crisis of recent years impacted or impinged the realization of these rights for women and what can be learned from State policy responses?; and Third, how can economic and social rights be better understood from a gender equality perspective and what benefit does this have? |