The Tribune

By NOELLE NICOLLS

and ALESHA CADET

A TEAM of international experts on women’s rights has encouraged the government to educate the population at large about its commitments to the international Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women.

Last month, the government sent a nine-member team to the United Nations to report on the Bahamas’ progress in implementing the various provisions of CEDAW. The Bahamas ratified the convention in 1993, and has since been obligated to abide by its provisions, which define the meaning of equality and point to how it can be achieved

Former ambassador and advisor to the Ministry of National Security, Missouri Sherman-Peter, said CEDAW reaffirms that women’s rights are human rights, and sets out the essential rights and fundamental freedoms to which women are entitled.

“It provides the context in which governments are to address, as the convention states, all forms of discrimination against women and importantly to work for the elimination of such discrimination,” said Ms Sherman-Peter.

She said CEDAW represents the commitment of the United Nations, to not only set standards for gender equality worldwide, but also to encourage governments to be accountable to their people and the international community for the obligations which they voluntarily accepted in this area.

In response to the governments report, the CEDAW committee produced concluding observations, praising the Bahamas for several legislative accomplishments, including the adoption of the 1996 amendment to the Education Act, which provides for universal and equal access to education; the enactment of the Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence Act of 1991; and the Domestic Violence Protection Orders Act of 2007, among others.

However, the committee also express areas of concern and gave recommendations for the Bahamas to further its obligations under the convention.

“The committee expresses its deep concern at the persistence of adverse cultural norms, practices and traditions as well as patriarchal attitudes and deep-rooted stereotypes regarding the roles and responsibilities and identities of women and men in the family (in which men are considered breadwinners and woman family caretakers), in the workplace, in politics and in society.

“The committee notes that stereotypes contribute to sex-based inequalities in all areas of life and the persistence of violence against women,” states the concluding observations by the committee of international experts.

The committee also urged the government to widely disseminate the findings of the committee to make people aware of the steps that have been taken and still need to be taken to ensure equality for women.

This information should not only be distributed to government officials, politicians, parliamentarians, women’s and human rights organisations, but also to the general public, it said.

The committee also urged the government to organise a series of meetings to discuss the progress achieved in the implementation of these observations.

• For full coverage of the CEDAW report on abortion, see the Tribune’s Woman Section.