Alternative Report Presented to the Follow-Up Committee on the Convention for the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women - CEDAW

Latin America and Caribbean Committee for the Defense of Women’s Rights, CLADEM

Bogotá, December de 1998

This report was done by:
                                              Norma Enríquez Riascos

Presently, the Colombian population is approximately 37 million, the third country in population in Latin America, surpassed only by Brazil and Mexico. Segregated by sex, 51% of the population is feminine and 49% is masculine.

By sex and age groups, the total Colombian population is distributed thus:

- 34.5% of the total population corresponds to ages between 0 and 14 years. Of this total, 49.1% corresponds to women.

- 58.6% of the total population corresponds to ages between 15 and 59 years. Of this total, 51.6% corresponds to women.

- 6.9% of the total population corresponds to ages between 60 and more years. Of this total, 52.2% corresponds to women.

Between the fifties and the nineties, the distribution of the urban-rural population was inverted, with the urban population presently representing 71% of the total. Even though the migrating flow from the country into the cities has decreased during the last decade, it is still rather important, given the high levels of rural violence, which forces the people to migrate to the urban areas as a way of protecting their lives.

Colombia has an extension of 1,139,00 square kilometers, its per capita income in 1996 was US$1650, one of the lowest in South America, since it only surpasses those of Paraguay, Ecuador y Bolivia. Worldwide, it is classified as a country with medium low income, occupying the 67^th position in 1993 according to the World Bank.

It has achieved a high level of urbanization: slightly over 70% of the population is urban and the annual growth rate is 1.8%, the same rate as the average for Latin America and the Caribbean and 0.5% higher than the one for the group of medium low income.

Between 1985 and 1994, the growth rate of the per capita income in Colombia was 2.4% annual average.

If you compare it to the rest of Latin America, Colombia’s performance has been positive. In the last 25 years its GDP has grown at a rate that surpasses the regional median. During the 80’s (1981 – 1990), which were especially hard for Latin America, the accumulated variation of the per capita GDP was 17.9%. This positive result marks a clear contrast with the dynamics experienced by the region as a group, which decreased 7.9% (CEPAL1994, page 41).

During the 90’s, Colombia starts to fall behind, whilst the other countries show recovery signs. Between 1991 and 1994, the per capita GDP of the region grows 6.1% and Colombia’s 8.6%. Even though Colombia is still above the regional average, the distance is shortening.

During these 25 years the Colombian inflation rate has been around 23%. This "moderate and persistent" inflation is sui generis. When the Latin American neighbors were going through hyperinflationary processes, the growth of the Colombian price index was a symbol of stability. Nowadays, when the countries of the region have managed to reduce the prices’ growth, the Colombian inflation rate is high. Presently we are one of the few countries in the area that suffers an endemic and relatively high inflation.

In the social field, important advances can be observed regarding the expansion of the elementary school and primary health coverage. Illiteracy went down to 10%, life expectancy increased as did the public services coverage. Women have entered massively the job market, which means an improvement of the level and quality of life for half the Colombian population.

In spite of the economic and social advances, the growing persistence of high poverty levels that affect most of the country’s inhabitants, has led international organisms, such as the Economic, Social and Cultural Rights Committee of the United Nations, to insist that "it is an anomaly that such poverty levels persist in a country with a constantly expanding economy".

The increase of the per capita income has run parallel to the increase in violence. As violence and poverty increase, so has the concentration of the wealth. The relation between violence and inequity has been close during the last forty years in the country.

The changes produced by the restructuring and economic adjustment policies undertaken by the last two governments have entailed deep changes in the country’s economic life and have deepened the poverty and inequity situations. The 1990 labor reform imposed the liberation of the contracting and firing policies and the reduction of the permanency costs, seriously affecting the job market and the work conditions.

With the purpose of alleviating the enormous social cost derived from the adjustment, the Samper government tried to advance some aid and expense policies focused on the poorer sectors of the population. However, due to the tightness of the expenditure and the execution deficits of the budgets earmarked for this purpose, the funds amounted to less than 60% of the target.

What has indeed grown has been the military public expense, which from 1950 to 1996 has run parallel with the growth of the violence indexes. Presently, the military expense amounts to 4.5% of GDP, whilst in 1990 it was below 3%. Regarding this, the United Nations organs have expressed their concern for the "disappointing results achieved in most of the programs of fights against poverty and improvement of life’s conditions, especially since the budget funds earmarked for social expenses have not been fully utilized for these purposes"

The country has advanced notably during the last years in legislative measures for the protection of women, with the purpose of eliminating the conditions that generate their discrimination. The ratification of the Convention for the Elimination of all the Forms of Discrimination against Women and the Interamerican Convention to Prevent, Eradicate and Sanction Violence against Women, together with the advances achieved towards equality in the 1991 Political Constitution are the main legal tools to search for the equality of rights and opportunities between men and women; to obtain the adequate and effective participation of women in the public administration’s decision levels and to condemn all forms of violence exercised against women.

The above has not meant actual equality; in 1997 approximately 25% of the households was managed by women when for 1978 this percentage was only 20%; unemployment for women went from 11 to 14% between 1995 and 1996; the DANE statistics indicate that women’s unemployment is almost twice as high as that of men between 1992 and 1996. For 1994, whilst men’s unemployment was 6.7%, women’s reached 13.9%. In 1993, women earned, on average, only 70% of what men earned in the same job. In the rural sector the difference was larger since women only made 58%. In the public sector, the income difference between men and women with the same professional profile was 17% in 1995.

Women are mainly located in the informal sector, where they do not benefit from the labor norms nor do they have access to social security. For rural women the inequality is further accentuated: 58% of them received less than half of the minimum legal salary, in comparison to 31% of the rural men.

The Convention for the Elimination of all the Forms of Discrimination against Women was enforced in 1981 and it could be said that as far as legislation is concerned, Colombia has totally complied with eliminating any norm that implies inequality.

A legal mechanism that has brought together the law and women, protecting and enforcing their human rights, is the Guardianship or Protection recourse, which has permitted, by means of the development of jurisprudence emanated for the Constitutional Court, overcoming even the indolence and inequality attitude that has prevailed in the legislative environment to approve measures aimed at overcoming the discrimination against women.

On the other hand, the institutions that can make possible transforming women’s situation and enforcing the Equality policy for women, even though they have been slowly consolidating, going from the Secretariat for Women and Gender to the National Equality for Women Bureau, do not have the capability to execute plans and programs. Their nature is only as policy promoters and advisors to the other government entities, with no further possibilities. It must, nevertheless, be acknowledged that the advances vis a vis the positioning of the subject and the search for real social justice for women in all the aspects of civil life in Colombia is mainly the result of their actions and the close collaboration with the various groups and organizations of women’s movement.

THE POLICY AND THE LEGAL NORMS TO ELIMINATE DISCRIMINATION AND ENSURE WOMEN’s TOTAL DEVELOPMENT AND ADVANCEMENT

· Discrimination definition.

· States’ commitments to develop by all possible means a policy designed to eliminate discrimination against women.

· Requirement to the States to take positive measures that ensure women’s total development and advancement.

1. Are there policies that define discrimination against women? What do these state?

· Article 13 of the National Constitution establishes:

"All persons are born free and equal before the law, shall receive the same protection and treatment from the authorities and shall enjoy the same rights, freedoms and opportunities without any discrimination due to sex, race, national or family origin, language, religion, political or philosophical opinion.

The State shall promote the conditions so that equality is real and effective and shall adopt measures in favor of marginal or discriminated groups.

The State shall protect those persons that due to their economic, physical or mental condition, are in circumstances of manifest weakness and shall sanction the abuse or maltreatment committed against them".

It is worthwhile mentioning that the above article allows the State to perform affirmative actions with the purpose of promoting real and effective equality for all individuals. In this sense Article 40 of the National Constitution refers to the right of all citizens to participate in the formation, exercise and control of political power and in its last section establishes: "The authorities guarantee women’s adequate and effective participation in the decision-making levels of the public administration".

Article 43 of the National Constitution refers specifically to the prohibition of discrimination against women, establishing: "Women and men have the same rights and opportunities. Women may not be subject to any type of discrimination. During pregnancy and after childbirth she shall enjoy special attention and protection by the State and shall receive from it a food subsidy if she were unemployed or helpless at the time. The State shall support in a special manner the woman who is head of her household".

Article 5 of the National Constitution: "The State acknowledges, without any discrimination whatsoever, the primacy of the inalienable rights and protects the family as society’s basic institution".

This article relates to the primacy of the fundamental human rights, which are acknowledged under equal conditions for women and men and raises to constitutional norms some legal precepts about the family, such as equal rights within marriage among the members of the couple, the acknowledgement of the de facto unions such as family, intrafamily violence as an damaging element of its harmony and equal rights for all the children, among others.

On the other hand, the equality principle is stated in various different legal norms such as:

Article 8 of the Penal Code establishes: "Penal law shall be applied to persons without bearing in mind considerations different to the ones established in it".

Article 10 of the Substantive Labor Code establishes: "All workers are equal before the law, have the same protection and guarantees and consequently, any juridical distinction among workers by reason of the intellectual or material nature of the work, its form or retribution, except for the exceptions established by law, is hereby abolished".

Law 051 of 1981, which ratifies and introduces to the internal order the Convention for the Elimination of all the Forms of Discrimination against Women, in Article 1 defines discrimination against women as: "any and all distinction, exclusion or restriction based on sex that has as its objective or result, lessening or annulling the acknowledgement, enjoyment or exercise by women, independently of her civil status, based on the equality of men and women, of the human rights and the fundamental freedoms in the political, economic, social, cultural and civil spheres or in any other sphere".

Likewise, decree 1398 of 1990, which develops this law, in its articles maintains the above mentioned definition, adding the following paragraph:

"Discrimination can be direct or indirect. Direct discrimination exists when a person receives a treatment less favorable than another one for reason of belonging to another sex. Indirect discrimination is understood as the application of work conditions that, even though equal in a formal sense, in practice they favor one sex or the other".

Seeking to eliminate discrimination against women, the Colombian State has developed since 1990 a series of efforts to institutionalize a high level office that promotes women’s rights. In 1994 the government submitted for approval to the National Council of Economic and Social Policy, CONPES, the Policy for Women’s Equality and Participation, EPAM, that substitutes Women’s Integral Policy, in force until then. At the same time, it started the National Bureau for Women’s Equality.

This office is in charge of boosting and making viable in a transversal manner, in all the executing entities, women’s equality and participation policy, by means of technical advice and follow-up. Likewise, it supports the normative developments tending to propitiate and/or strengthen the equality conditions for women and promotes the participation of women’s organizations in different levels, where the decisions linked to women’s lives are made.

2. The definition of discrimination, is it sufficiently ample or amply interpreted so as to cover practices that are discriminating in their effect, even though the intention has not been to discriminate?

The Colombian Constitution is ample in establishing the rights under equal conditions for men an women. Such is the case of Article 13 sited above, which establishes that all persons are born free and equal before the law and shall enjoy the same treatment and protection of the authorities, the same rights, freedoms and opportunities without any distinction whatsoever; the same disposition establishes that the State shall promote the conditions so that equality is real and effective and shall adopt measures in favor of discriminated or marginal groups.

Article 43 of the Constitution expressly indicates that women may not be subject to any type of discrimination

3. Does the Constitution include a no-discrimination guarantee on the basis of sex or an equality guarantee?

Article 43 of the National Constitution expressly states:

"Women and men have equal rights and opportunities. Women may not be subject to any type of discrimination. During pregnancy and after childbirth she shall enjoy special protection from the State and shall receive from it a food subsidy if she where then unemployed or helpless".

On the other hand, Article 13 of the National Constitution establishes:

" All persons are born free and equal before the law, shall receive the same protection and treatment from the authorities and shall enjoy the same rights, freedoms and opportunities without any discrimination for reasons of sex, raise, origin (national or family), language, religion, political or philosophical opinion (…)

4. Are there any laws or administrative provisions that discriminate women? Are these in the process of being derogated or changed?

Advances have been achieved in reference to legislation protecting women’s rights, although there still are residues of norms that maintain an unequal treatment for women in cases such as:

- Conjugal visits for women in prison are restricted, whilst for men there are no limitations. The law bases this restriction on the fact that there is room for releasing women in case she is more that 7 months pregnant, even though this favorable space, in a large number of cases is not always enforced and the prisoners remain confined until dates very close to childbirth. Therefore, to avoid that the women prisoners obtain this benefit by means of pregnancy as a result of conjugal visits, the law restricts this right in certain cases.

- In the labor norms, upon establishing that the fixed term contract can be unilaterally terminated by any of the parties, promotes the firing of women that are pregnant, without any indemnity and without sanction for the employer.

- Article 242 of the Substantive Labor Code, establishes: "Women without age distinction cannot be employed at night in any industrial company, except in the case of a company in which only members of a family are employed..."

- In civil and family matters, so that the marriage can be celebrated it must be held indispensably at the woman’s domicile.

5. What legal or administrative measures have been adopted to prohibit or eliminate discrimination against women? Which are these? Are they being applied?

At the legal level we find the following measures:

Decree 1398 of 1990 that develops law 051 of 1981, approving the CEDAW Convention, expressly prohibits discrimination against women in the different environments, such as the family, public and political acting, education, employment, access to health services in the rural sector, juridical training to access justice, to perform contracts, to wander freely and to choose residence and domicile, among others.

Employment-wise, non-compliance of the public or private convoking to occupy jobs under equal conditions for men and women causes sanctions for the employer by the Ministry of labor as per law 11 of 1984.

In the other cases, the decree does not establish the type of sanctions for the persons that incur in discriminating conduct against women, nor does it grant the competence of any authority to get to know the denunciations.

The same decree created a Committee in charge of overseeing compliance of the law as well as of the decree, but in spite of having determined its conformation, in practice it has never operated.

Resolution number 4050 of 1994, by which the Ministry of Labor and Social Security clarifies a resolution, establishes in its Article 2 "the practice of proof of pregnancy may not be ordered as a requirement prior to the contract of a female worker, except when the activities to be developed are cataloged as high risk…". Nevertheless, in spite of the importance of the norm no type of sanction is established for non-compliance or transgression and in practice the proof of pregnancy is still being requested by private companies, together with other medical exams, considered necessary to be admitted for the job.

6. The Courts and other tribunals, do they affirm or protect women’s rights?

Before concrete discrimination cases, due to equality being a fundamental right, you can go to a Guardianship Action, established in Article 86 of the National Constitution, which can be presented before any judge or tribunal of the Republic. It has priority concerning paperwork over other judicial actions and it must be resolved by means of an expedite procedure within the 10 days following the date in which it was presented. The guardianship action’s objective is not to impose sanctions or penalties, however, not obeying the court’s decision does cause sanctions such as arrest.

The juridical mechanism used for the protection of women’s rights against all acts of discrimination during the last years has been the protection recourse or guardianship action, in areas of the family (custody and care of the children, the right to goods of the de facto marital society, the right to circulate, the right to sexual freedom, to work, to a job, among others), intrafamily violence (against women or children by the partner or husband), the right to education (in the case of pregnant adolescents that have been expelled from school for this reason).

In the cases in which it was demonstrated that the behavior was discriminatory and violated fundamental human rights, there has been a positive attitude on the part of the judges and tribunals to issue verdicts favorable to the action takers.

7. Have some measures for the advancement and improvement of women’s situation or to guarantee the fundamental liberties and women’s equality of rights been issued?

Colombia ratified the Interamerican Convention to Prevent, Sanction and Eradicate Violence against Women, by means of Law 248, sanctioned by the President of the Republic on December 29, 1995.

After the presidential sanction of the law, the Constitutional Court in its function of constitutional control declared the attainability of same on September 4, 1996, by means of sentence C-408/96.

Presently the Government is advancing actions of a preventive and promoting nature of women’s rights, with the purpose of complying with the Convention. In this measure the Women’s Participation and Equality Policy turns into one of the State’s action platform with respect to the applicability and effectiveness of the law that approves the Convention.

According to Article 93 of the National Constitution, any person can invoke said Convention before the national tribunals, since this disposition establishes the prevalence of the international treaties or agreements related to human rights, in the internal order, thus:

ARTICLE 93 of the National Constitution:

"The international treaties and agreements ratified by Congress, which acknowledge human rights and that prohibit their limitation in the states of exception, prevail in the internal order. The rights and duties established in this document shall be interpreted according to the international treaties on human rights ratified by Colombia".

In this way, any person that goes to the tribunals with the purpose of requesting protection of some of the rights covered by the Convention may invoke its application.

TEMPORARY MEASURES (AFFIRMATIVE ACTION) TO ACCELERATE EQUALITY BETWEEN MEN AND WOMEN

· In this article the Convention stipulates that the temporary measures to accelerate a "de facto" equality, must not be considered discriminatory.

1. What positive temporary measures (affirmative action) have been adopted to achieve equality between men and women? Which are the inequalities that should have been corrected?

Although Colombia’s Political Constitution, as previously shown, advocates equality and has developed a mechanism such as the Guardianship or Protection Action, accessible to all Colombians and some legislative developments, which exist but are not carried out in practice. No type of affirmative actions for women has materialized since the signing of the Convention.

The only action that could be classified as affirmative is the one related to the age of pension for women, which is five (5) years less than for men, which already existed before the Convention.

As has been pointed out, the 1991 Constitution advances notably in the matter of acknowledgement and guarantee of human rights in general and of women’s rights in particular.

Additionally, throughout the last two decades, the Colombian legislation for the advancement of women has developed mainly in relation to:

Law 11 of 1988: Special Social Security regime for the workers of the domestic service.

Law 50 of 1990: Protection of motherhood and breastfeeding.

Law 54 of 1990: Patrimonial regime between female or male partners.

Law 11 of 1992: Protection to women and children victims of armed conflicts.

Law 82 of 1993: Special support for women heads of households. Acknowledges women as heads and offers guarantees for her children to access education. (It has not yet been regulated).

Law 160 of 1994: Women’s right to access loans for land and agricultural activity.

Law 294 of 1996: Refers to intrafamily violence (in the process of de-judicialization)

Law 360 of 1997: Reforms the Penal Code in matters of sexual offenses.

Regarding policies and programs, Colombia has developed the Equality for Women Policy and has designed and implemented sector programs in the agricultural, health, intrafamily violence and in relation to women as heads of households, especially in constitutional developments and legal reforms.

These policies and programs of the compensating type could be understood as affirmative actions articulated to programs such as the programs focused on rural women, the benefits for women heads of households, and other similar ones, of modest nature and scope. It is worthwhile to point out that these programs and their impact have not been evaluated in depth.

In synthesis, it can be said that regarding temporary measures (of affirmative action) to accelerate equality between men and women, Colombia lags behind considerably, if compared to other countries of Latin America. Several projects have been presented before Congress in this sense, mainly in matters of equality in the Public Administration positions and of representation in the collegiate bodies (Quotas law), without achieving their approval to date.

2. How are these affirmative actions put into practice? What have been its effects?

A clear resistance is perceived by the legislative, executive and judicial organisms to make effective the affirmative measures: either by rejecting bills in the Senate and Congress aimed at strengthening women’s participation in public decision spaces. (Example: Quotas law).

In the Executive Power you also do not perceive the political will to strengthen significantly the Equality for Women Policy and the National Equity for Women Bureau, transforming the latter from advisor to executor, since presently they can only perform at the proposals level.

3. The affirmative actions, are they considered non-discriminatory under the law?

The affirmative actions are not discriminatory before the law. The National Constitution in its Article 13 points out: "The State shall promote the conditions so that equality be real and effective and shall adopt measures in favor of discriminated or marginal groups.

4. What mechanisms have been established to put them into practice? How do these work?

No mechanisms have been established to put them in practice, in spite of the protective legislation.

SEXUAL ROLES AND STEREOTYPES

· Article 5 of the Convention refers to social and cultural patterns that lead to discrimination and stereotyped roles for men and women. It emphasizes the joint responsibility of men and women in the upbringing of their children.

1. What cultural and traditional practices preclude women’s advancement in society?

2. Religion and customs, do they impose practices or beliefs that interfere with the improvement of women’s status? If so, which are these?

Given the ample weight that the Judeo-Christian tradition and especially the Catholic church has had and still has in the cultural construction of the country, both questions have been grouped together to broach them jointly.

Society’s gaze in general on the role that women must play; what is expected of them and the construction itself of the social life, materialized in institutions, beliefs, cultural guidelines and women’s interpretation of these demands and expectations as valid, contribute to maintain women’s subordination as something "natural".

The tendency of many officers, to be guided by their own criterion and not by what is established in the Constitution and in the laws, or an incorrect interpretation of the law or of the assigned functions, cause these officers and administrators of justice to maintain an attitude of defense of the family over the quality of life of its members.

To judge according to moral precepts or utilizing laws already derogated; or in the case of the legislators, maintaining regressive laws, which preclude women’s advancement. Such are the cases of divorce applications, where in certain governmental entities they insist on its non-convenience for the children, and women are asked "to make an effort so things can improve" or "to desist from denouncing her husband so he does not go to jail, for the children would be fatherless or without protection" or in the reference to maintain abortion penalized, even in the cases in which pregnancy is the product of rape, of artificial insemination without consent or when the mother’s life is at great risk, or when damages to the fetus are evidenced, which are incompatible with its life.

The stereotypes about the feminine such as: obedient, fragile, weak and maternal, which are maintained as the ideal of women, as the "must be", which on the other hand merits granting them protection; deciding about their lives and assigning them tasks related to reproduction and to the material care of her family in the domestic environment.

The obedience to the husband, father or permanent partner, was reinforced by the legislation well into the 70’s and purified by the catholic precept of obedience to the husband.

The persistence of social values that reinforce the idea that marriage and motherhood must be the first priority for their personal fulfillment.

All the above reinforced by, among others, the schoolbooks, the religious messages, the institutional messages, the attitudes of the officers and the communications media.

3. What roles are men and women supposed to assume?

In spite of the fact that some modifications are shown vis a vis the socially expected roles, women are supposed to keep on assuming practically everything related to the care and upbringing of the children, whether they are hers or not. It is expected that the domestic chores, understood as those of the "housewife", be performed by them. They must take care of their husbands, do the buying, and take care of the elderly and the sick. All the above circumscribed to the domestic environment.

On the contrary, men are the suppliers, the ones that "support" the family, the ones that work outside, manage the money, do the heavy work, impose the disciplinary rules of the household and make others "respect" their wife and children. They set criteria, decide regarding public and private matters.

4. Are men and women stereotyped in the school texts and in the communications media?

Yes. Even though some advances are perceived, all in all the elementary school texts’ sexist stereotypes persist, both in images as well as in writing. Everything that is related to the strength, power, decision, participation, that which is public, is still associated with men. The domestic, feelings, family, beauty, weakness, religiousness issues are linked to women.

In the communications media, it is surprising that although a National Television Commission exists, never have shows or commercials where women are constantly being stereotyped, where they perform strictly domestic roles, are assumed as sex objects and/or with messages in which their dignity is clearly damaged, been censored.

5. What efforts are being made to eliminate men and women’s stereotypes? Which are the obstacles to eliminate these stereotypes?

The efforts to eliminate the sexist stereotypes are of little significance. Previous governments have advanced some dialog processes with editorials that produce school texts; a program for women to promote technical training, previously considered only for men, such as automobile mechanics, finishing’s and other related construction work, has been started at the National Learning Service (SENA), but it is unknown whether there have been any advances.

The biggest efforts come from teachers linked to women’s movement and to the teacher’s syndicate, which in spite of counting with little or no governmental help, it has embarked on sensitization processes with teachers, parents and pupils, with the purpose of contributing to the elimination of sexism. Although its coverage is minimal, it implies a commitment for equality.

6. Who is considered by law or custom, to be the "head of the household"?

Traditionally, men are considered heads of the household or boss of the home. Even the word "boss" which has a feminine counterpart (in Spanish), is never used by the National Administrative Department of Statistics (DANE) as a possibility in the census data collection forms or for the surveys of homes. In any other type of surveys they ask for the father, assuming immediately that they mean the head of the household.

In the "reception" form, which allows to collect data on women that request information at the "Women’s House" in Bogota, they are previously asked: who makes decisions in the household? Who brings in larger income? Who takes care of the children? … and in almost 50% of the answers to: who is the head of the household?, women, in spite of having replied in the first part to all or almost all the previous questions: "the woman", tend to point out the man as the head of the household.

The same concept is perceived in the "Schools for Parents", "parents’" meetings linked to the educational process, in which the ones that attend, in percentages usually over 70%, are the mothers.

7. Are there certain types of work that are considered "men’s" or "women’s"? What are the percentages of men and women in these types of work?

In the activity areas, the ones related to: the gas, energy and sewage services: construction and related; agricultural and fishing and transport are considered appropriate for men’s work and it is thus shown as a trend between 1988-95 in the participation percentages of the population employed: for 1995 the numbers were as follows:

Types of Activity Population Employed

Men Women

Agriculture, forestry, fishery 31.3 8.3

Construction 9.3 0.7

Transport 7.8 1.4

Mining 1.2 0.3

Electricity, gas, vapor 0.6 0.3

On the contrary, in services and manufacturing, where the tasks are predominantly "feminine", it is observed:

Services 14.2 37.4

Manufacturing 13.9 18.4

The works related to transport, energy, gas, vapor and construction not only occupy a lot of labor, but also, in general, present better salaries than the ones related to services and manufacturing.

8. What types of work are women forbidden to do, either by law or by tradition?

By law, the work in mines and shafts are prohibited, the work that demands great physical efforts and the night industrial work in non-family companies and those that pose health risks. (Articles 2079 and 2080 of the Substantive Labor Code).

In this respect, it is worthwhile to point out that the Constitutional Court has produced a series of guardianship sentences designed to harmonize the ILO agreements and the existing legislation with the current times, acknowledging that one cannot presume manifest weakness for the sole fact of being a woman or that the sole presence can hamper the work that has traditionally been done by men or women collectively, just because the sex is different. This guardianships demand that the general criteria be eliminated and that it should be analyzed in each case whether it is justified to limit the access to certain jobs. These sentences advocate no discrimination at work, adhering to law 051 of 1981, by which the Convention for the Elimination of all the Forms of Discrimination against Women is introduced into the internal legal regime. (Guardianship Sentences: T- 230/94; T- 326/95; T- 624/95 and T- 330/97).

9. Are boys and girls expected to do different tasks at home as in school?

Even though the school program is universal, the trend persists among the teachers and the administrative staff, to assign to girls tasks such as: nursing, classroom cleaning, decorative chores, events geared to collecting money through reigns, cheerleading, among others.

Boys, on the other hand, participate mainly in cultural and sports competitions such as soccer and in the science and technology fairs.

Within the homes, whilst the girls perform domestic tasks such as the preparation of food, cleaning, taking care of younger brothers; the boys do the buying, have more time to play and study and spend more time away from the house than girls.

10. In the divorce cases, who typically gets custody of the children and why?

In general, it is the woman who assumes the responsibility of the children in the cases of divorce or separation, temporary or definitive. The aggravating part of this situation is given by the tendency of the fathers to not provide the food quotas, nor to assume part of the responsibility vis a vis the younger children. Even though no pertinent data could be obtained from the family courts, this could be reflected in the figures of homes that have only one parent: the ones where a woman is in charge represented 85% in 1978 and had descended to 73% in 1993, which supposed a masculine leadership of 15 and 27% respectively, according to the National Planning Department.

It must be added that anyway, the households with feminine heads grow at a rate of 4.1%, whilst the ones with masculine heads do so at a rate of 2.5%.

Actually, women that see in their maternal roles the possibility of personal realization as women, in almost all the cases request custody of the children. Men, when the breaking up is due to their having entered into a new relationship, usually accept. When it is the women who have decided to break the relationship, men claim custody of the younger ones, for a short period of time and assume their children in most cases with the solidarity of other women of their family or with their new partner.

Additionally, the justice administrators assume that the children seven years old or more, are better of with their mother.

A mother who cedes custody, even though it is due to precarious economic conditions, is questioned socially.

TRAFFIC AND PROSTITUTION OF WOMEN

· Requires State actions to suppress all forms of women’s traffic and exploitation of prostitution.

1. What is the prevailing social attitude towards prostitution?

Prostitution is not penalized in Colombia. Together with this fact there is a double-standard moral that on the one hand condemns socially and morally the women dedicated to it, but the same does not happen with the men users of their services.

During many years, even well into the second half of this century, in some towns and cities the "red zones" or brothels, were maintained, places where bars concentrated and prostitution was rampant, as a way of keeping them apart from the rest of society.

It cannot be affirmed that this situation and attitude have been greatly modified, for up to only 8 years ago the Social Welfare Administrative Department of the Capital City, jointly with some local trade sectors, tried to carry out a nursery assistance program where the children of the prostitutes would be located, separately. Also, it tried to train the mothers in chores that would allow them to generate income. Unfortunately, these were extremely lower than those generated by prostitution.

On the other hand, some sexual workers have developed an effort to group themselves and claim their rights and have even participated in the Municipal elections with their own candidates.

2. Which are the laws on women’s traffic and the exploitation of prostitution?

Colombia’s Political Constitution prohibits inhuman or degrading treatment and slavery, bondage and the traffic of human beings in all its forms.

On February 7, 1997 law 360, which seeks to norm the offenses against freedom and human dignity, was enforced.

Article 311 of the Colombian Penal Code refers like this to the Traffic of persons: "He who promotes, induces, constrains or facilitates entry or exit to or from the country of a person so she can indulge in prostitution, shall incur in prison for two (2) to six (6) years and a fine equivalent to multiplying times fifty (50) or five hundred (500) the monthly legal salary in force."

Although it is acknowledged as an advancement, since previously the traffic of persons was not contemplated in the Colombian legislation, the legislation does not assume the problem in its entirety, since it leaves aside the traffic of persons within the country, and the traffic performed internally but with an international purpose.

On the other hand, pimping, compulsion to prostitution and the places for the exercise of prostitution are prohibited.

In practice, sanctions are reduced to a short time of confinement of the pimp and to reduced penalties, when the offense does not go unsanctioned.

3. Being legit, how does the law treat prostitutes and their clients? Do prostitutes have licenses or are they regulated in some way? Are there any laws regarding child prostitution?

- Since prostitution is not illegal, in practice the woman who offers her services as well as the man who demands them should be treated as persons that act legally even though socially it is not an accepted practice. In reality, the treatment given by the authorities to the prostitutes is very different from the one given to their clients. The former are arrested, raided, and considered delinquents. When they are arrested, according to demands presented by some of them and to public denunciations, the police mistreat them; in some opportunities they are sexually abused and/or money is requested from them to set them free or not to harass them at work. Clients, on the other hand, in the worst of cases are conned to leave the premises, but are not arrested. The authorities themselves tend to think that what is "morally" incorrect in women, is not so in men.

- The administrative authorities can regulate prostitution and require women dedicated to it to attend periodic health control sessions and/or bear a card stating her job and which allows them at the same time, in most cases, access to health services to control sexually transmitted diseases.

Child Prostitution:

- The National Constitution establishes that the rights of children prevail over the rights of others and that children "shall be protected against all forms of abandonment, physical or moral violence, kidnap, sale, sexual abuse, labor or economic exploitation and risky work.

Additionally, Colombia is a signatory of the Child’s Convention, which in its Article 11 commits the States parties to "fight against the illicit transfers of children abroad and the illicit retention of children abroad". And to take measures to preclude "the enticement or coercion so that a child engages in any illegal sexual activity; the exploitation of children in prostitution or other illegal sexual practices and the exploitation of children in pornographic material or shows"

Likewise, in its Article 16, declares that "no child shall be subject to arbitrary or illegal interference in their private lives, their family, their domicile… nor to illegal attacks on their honor or reputation and they reiterate the right to said protection".

Great difficulty exists to obtain approximate figures in relation to child prostitution nationwide. A study performed by Bogota’s Chamber of Commerce, showed that, only in the central zone of the Capital District the population of minors between 9 and 17 years old engaged in prostitution had increased two and a half times in three years, during 1990/93, from 1,200 to 2,959. It is known that also in two other large cities, Cali and Medellin, there is a growing population of youngsters related to prostitution.

In the last years, the national police has performed successfully the dismantling and arrest of persons organized in criminal bands dedicated to women’s and children’s traffic, as well as to child pornography. It is unknown what specific weight these arrests have regarding the entirety of the related offenses.

4. Is the sale of sexual services by third parties illegal? Is the sale of women to other countries to be prostitutes illegal? How do you enforce these laws?

Yes. Law 360 of 1997 in its Article 8 and 308 of the Penal Code establish: Induction to prostitution. "He who with the purpose of making a profit or to satisfy the desires of others, induces another person into carnal commerce or prostitution, shall be subject to prison for two (2) to four (4) years and a fine equivalent to multiplying times fifty (50) or five hundred (500) the monthly legal salary in force.

It is worth indicating that the two years prison terms are releasable and even though the fines do represent a considerable amount, there is no information as to whether they are executed or not.

Regarding the issuance of visas and the control of foreigners, the latter can be expelled if they engage in the traffic of persons or pimping.

5. What obstacles are there to eliminate the exploitation of prostitution and the traffic of women?

- One of the largest obstacles is the absence of denunciations. According to a report from the District Attorney, between 1992 and 1995, 3 cases were presented. From 1996 to 1998, 33 cases of women’s traffic were presented, in which the victims amounted to 72 women. Of these, only two cases correspond to denunciations presented by the victims.

- According to "ESPERANZA", a Colombian-European NGO dedicated to the information and prevention of women’s traffic and to the protection of Colombian victims of that offense, the elimination of women’s traffic is made difficult by several reasons:

- The existence of structural causes, such as poverty, unemployment, low level of education and the chronic violence that affects the country, which lead women to seek better life conditions and which makes them vulnerable to the traffic of persons.

- The lack of knowledge of all the dimensions of the problem, which does not make possible the enacting of laws that attack the phenomenon integrally, and the small operative function of legislation itself, and the size of the penalties (from two (2) to six (6) years) causes that those who are sentenced to the minimum term, can be released and,

- The lack of prevention mechanisms that allow young girls to get to know the conditions in which they shall perform their work, in case they know beforehand that it is about prostitution and of knowing that additionally there are other types of traffic of persons, such as: slavery, domestic service, and/or servile marriages.

- Yet another one is the power of the international mafias, which networks in the country and abroad have enough power to locate the women that denounce them and to evade to a great extent the action of justice.

- And finally the cultural and of moral origin concepts that see prostitutes as beings of lesser value and therefore less capable of demanding protection of their rights, whilst at the same time they are made responsible to some extent of the offense committed.

PUBLIC LIFE AND POLITICS

· Article 7 requires that the governments take the appropriate measures to eliminate women’s discrimination in politics or in the public life.

1. Do women have voting rights in all elections in equal conditions to men? If so, what percentage of women vote compared to men?

Yes, Colombian women accessed the right to vote legally in 1954 and enforced it for the first time in 1957.

Constitutionally and legally, Colombian women enjoy the same civil and political rights as men. There are no formal discriminatory economic, social or cultural requirements. Nevertheless, the barriers for the female political representation are of a structural and institutional nature, as well as cultural and of the political practices.

Women generate close to 50% of the voting in all the election processes, but they only obtain a maximum representation of 10% in the different political spaces, at the national and regional levels. This situation is repeated in the Public Administration, the judiciary, and the organizations of civil society, among others. The lack of an organization and an internal democratic structure of the political parties worsen this situation, in spite of women’s plentiful participation and political activism in organizing the parties and political movements.

In the Colombian Federation of Teachers, FECODE, where the majority of its members are women (72%), the representation in the management positions is barely 14%. At the Workers’ Unit Central (CUT), which is the one that groups together most of the syndicates and federations in the country, out of 2,869 leaders, in 92 direction levels, only 166 are women, that is, 5.7%. In the CUT’s Executive Committee, female representation went from 10% in 1995 to 14% in 1996. Which shows the barriers existing for women, even in spaces that try to widen democracy, to access the decision-making spaces.

2. Can women be candidates for high positions in the same terms as men? What percentage of candidates are women? List all high public posts and political positions occupied by women. Include both the nominees as well as the appointees.

In matters of participation and political representation, two dynamics in the construction of citizenship are considered here: a) as a by-law formed by a group of rights and duties, citizenship is based on a competition logic, and b) as a form of participation in the social life and as conscience of belonging to society, the construction of citizenship is based on a group of organizational practices that permit its exercise with some influence over the public space. In this sense, the social construction of citizenship is based on the construction of a political and social subject that has "the right to have rights", to represent and be represented.

The traditional political culture of the groups, organizations and institutions of civil society and the State limit the decisive presence of women in the country’s life. At the central and local government level and in the collegiate bodies, the quota achieved by women does not correspond to their electoral potential (49.7% of the voting population), nor to an equal distribution of power in society and the State.

Bearing in mind that women’s active participation in the community and local environments has translated into factors of economic, social and political development both in the rural as well as in the urban sector, the visibility and political recognition of women are too precarious.

This feminine "deficit" in politics is related to factors of institutional nature that continue obstructing women’s access to the political game. Among the structural factors are the political regime, the political culture that it produces, the legal status and the socioeconomic conditions that translate material poverty into political poverty. The institutional factors that act as "opportunity thresholds" for the political participation and representation of women, that has to do with the parties, movements, and groups of political interest, as well as the traditional electoral systems.

In the last three presidential elections, six (6) women have been candidates for the top position. Up to the last election, the voting level achieved by them was not significant. In the last election, in the first round, one woman reached a voting close to three (3) million votes. The proportion of women to men candidates is one (1) to seven (7) approximately.

The participation of women in the Senate of the Republic has not managed to exceed 8% in the last three legislatures and in the Chamber of Representatives, the maximum representation ascended to, in the 1994/98 legislature, 11.6%, which represents close to 10% of the Congress total.

Nationwide Women’s Participation in Popular Election Positions

Sources: Civil Status National Registry, 1998. Social Indicators Report Issue 18, 1997 Summit of the Americas.

At the regional level women have also not achieved a good level of representation and less in the major power level, as observed in the graph. Only at the level of the Municipal Council there seems to be some advancement, when going from 5.6% to 10.3% presently.

In nominee posts in the last two governments, three and four women have been appointed woman Minister respectively, although it must be mentioned that their period in the ministries has not always been for more than two years. Presently there are two women Ministers.

At the Vice-Ministry level their participation has been 9.0%. This proportion has decreased during the present Administration.

In the Judiciary, women have presence in the medium and low levels. In the high Courts, Constitutional and Justice, never has a woman been appointed. In the State Council, only five women have been appointed. In the Superior Council of the Judiciary, there are presently three women.

At the level of assistants of the high judicial corporations, women are close to 33% of the total.

Regarding the large heterogeneity in the distribution of opportunities and achievements that exist among women, it is obvious that black, indigenous, young, elderly and rural women face stronger restrictions than the others for the fulfillment of their citizenship rights.

The above also cannot lead us to ignore the fact that women that have enjoyed a wider array of opportunities such as the ones that have superior education, also face discrimination problems that attempt against their full citizenship, such as the ones resulting from a sexist university education, or even further, unemployment levels higher than men with the same education level.

Nevertheless, in order that women as a group have access to real equality it is necessary to perfect and complete the normative developments of the constitutional principles of non-discrimination and equality and it is necessary to transform the attitudes, behavior, values, roles, ways of life and social and political structures that preclude women from attaining free human development and their active participation in culture, politics and work.

3. Are there property, cultural or other requirements to vote? Do these requirements eliminate women or do they have a greater effect on women’s faculty to vote than on men’s?

There are no such requirements; legally all persons in the national territory can vote once they are 18 years old and put in practice the requirements demanded for it. The voting restriction for poorer women and of minimal education levels is based on these inequalities, which preclude them from obtaining their citizen’s card or exercise their rights well informed or in freedom.

4. Do women possess the same right as men to participate in political parties, non-government organizations and associations related to the country’s political doings? Do they actually participate?

Legally yes, since the Constitution establishes the right to free association. But in fact, not even statutorily have the parties or other social organizations advanced proposals or affirmative actions tending to the equalitarian participation of women in the leadership positions, so for example, whilst the largest number of women in the national leadership of the Liberal Party has been two, the Conservative Party has none.

However, both the political parties as well as the syndicates and community organizations do promote their massive affiliation.

At the level of bases and intermediate levels women participate in larger numbers each time and with greater dedication, but as in the voting, this is not reflected in the leadership posts.

5. Which are the obstacles for women’s full participation in the political life?

As has been noted before, the obstacles are of the structural type:

- A patriarchal culture that sub-values the feminine and denies possibilities of participation in the spaces of major power and decision, that sees as proper and natural men’s presence in the public space and does not see complacently women’s participation.

- Some collective imaginaries that maintain the conviction of women’s lesser capabilities and experience to govern and administer that which is related to the public. In a vicious circle, women’s inexperience does not allow them to access these spaces and since they cannot access, they cannot gain experience.

- A smaller possibility of generating economic resources that would make their participation possible.

- Women’s subordination position itself, which precludes them from rescuing their contributions, valuing their capabilities and believing in themselves and in their fellows, among others.

A good example of the above is that two bills aimed at promoting women’s political participation have not worked their way in Congress.

In the same manner, the political reform presently being debated in the Congress of the Republic, contains elements of affirmative actions in favor of minorities such as the indigenous and the black communities, assigning a minimal quota of representation in the Senate and the Chamber of Representatives, benefit that extends to minority organizations and political groups, however the political reform project does not include positive actions in favor of women.

6. What measures have been taken to ensure women’s participation in the design and implementation of the planning for development at all levels?

With the purpose of boosting the participation of women in the design of the planning for development, in law 152 of 1994 women’s participation was contemplated as one more of the social and economic sectors present in the National Planning Council. Women have two representatives in said Council.

Also in the Territorial Councils and the Municipal Development Councils, women have managed to gain presence and to contribute towards their interests being present in the planning of the different levels and in some cases, being taken into consideration.

7. Are women discriminated against or are their human rights violated for their political activities as members of women’s organizations? If so, please give details.

Not formally.

8. Are the political prisoners or arrested women subject to sexual abuse? If so, please document.

There is no information in this respect, although the torture and sexual violations of the male and female political prisoners have decreased notably in the country, since approximately a decade ago, as evidenced by the reports of the Human Rights organizations. Nevertheless, between October 1995 and September 1996, 172 women were killed and 12 disappeared as a consequence of the socio-political violence. During that same period, 35 were tortured…. It is not reported whether as part of the torture sexual violations were produced.

INTERNATIONAL REPRESENTATION AND PARTICIPATION

· Article 8 establishes that women must have equal opportunity of being the representative of a country and participant in the work of the international organizations.

1. Do women have the right and opportunity to represent the government at the international level and to participate in the work of the international organisms?

What percentage of the country’s representatives are women? What percentage of other representatives before foreign governments or international organisms are women? Where do they render their services?

There is no legal or constitutional restriction.

In the posts of the country’s international representation, embassies and consulates, women represented in the previous government approximately 32% of all posts, according to the data supplied by Colombia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The distribution of the main posts: 6 female Ambassadors, 9% of the total; 3 Plenipotentiary Ministers, 23%; 4 Council Ministers, 20%; 33 women Consuls, equivalent to 41% of the total.

2. Have there been circumstances where women, due to their gender, have been denied the opportunity to represent the country or to participate in international events? Please describe them.

In relation to the feminine representation in international organisms, the Ministry of International Relations presently does not have the consolidated information about this matter, which implies that it must be established directly with each international organism. However, women have had participation in international organisms at least in: CEDAW, Human Rights Committee and Sub-Commission for the Prevention and Protection of Minorities.

But in this respect it must be affirmed that legally it is not possible to deny opportunities to women. It is not known if any cases have been presented.

NATIONALITY

· State’s obligation to grant equal rights to women and men to acquire, change or maintain their nationality.

1. Do women have the same rights as men to acquire, change or retain their nationality? What economic, cultural or social factors affect the exercise of these rights for women?

Yes, both men and women possess equal rights to be Colombian nationals by birth or by adoption, according to Article 96 o the Political Constitution of Colombia.

Inasmuch as birth is concerned, the factors that could affect the verification of their nationality are linked to the absence of documents that identify her as such. This is the case of a good number of poor women who inhabit rural zones; also due to the immense forced displacement due to internal armed conflicts (approximately 1,500,000 male and female Colombians) and the one produced towards frontier zones. The victims in most cases cannot prove their nationality due to the loss of their identification documents.