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CEDAW
UNITED
NATIONS
Convention on the Elimination
of All Forms of Discrimination
against Women
Distr.
GENERAL
CEDAW/C/ARG/2/Add.2
18 August 1994
ORIGINAL: SPANISH
Committee on the Elimination of
Discrimination against Women (CEDAW)
CONSIDERATION OF REPORTS SUBMITTED BY STATES PARTIES
UNDER ARTICLE 18 OF THE CONVENTION
Second reports of States parties
ARGENTINA*
* For the initial report submitted by the Government of Argentina,
see CEDAW/C/5/Add.39 and Amend.1; for its consideration by the Committee, see
CEDAW/C/SR.112 and 118 and Official Records of the General Assembly,
Forty-third session Supplement No. 38 (A/43/38), paras. 341-396.
PART ONE
NATIONAL CONTEXT
1. BASIC DATA
Population
The population of the Argentine Republic in 1990 totalled 32,608,687,
16,639,706 of which were women.
Population since 1950
Census Total population Women
1950 17 150 336 8 323 381 (48.53%)
1960 20 616 009 10 146 109 (49.21%)
1970 23 962 313 11 943 475 (49.84%)
1980 28 371 149 14 191 678 (50.25%)
1991 32 608 687 16 639 706 (51.49%)
Source: INDEC - Population Census
Female population trends by age group
Age in years 1960 1970 1980 1990*
0-14 30.5 28.6 29.6 30.3
15-24 16.3 17.1 16.1 15.5
25-54 39.9 38.0 36.8 35.5
55-64 7.4 8.6 8.3 8.5
65-74 4.1 5.9 5.9 6.3
75 and over 1.8 3.3 3.3 3.9
Source: INDEC - Population Census
* INDEC - Population Projection 1970-2025.
* Note: Due to a lack of national data-gathering, updated statistical
data other than those shown in the present work are not available.
The Instituto Nacional de Estadisticas y Censos (INDEC) has not yet
completed the processing of the data related to the National Census on
Population and Housing for the year 1991. The definitive results of the 1980
Census have therefore been used. Furthermore, the semi-annual Permanent
Household Surveys (PHS) are made on the basis of samples taken from the
Federal Capital, 19 suburban areas and the major urban centres in the
remainder of the country (24).
The information obtained through the PHS cannot be extended to the
country as a whole in view of the special features of the centres from which
data are collected.
Other official bodies involved in statistical data-gathering use INDEC
figures as a basis. Therefore, their work cannot be used to make up for the
lack of updated data.
The overall mortality rate for 1990 was 7.9 per thousand and the birth
rate 21.6 per thousand.
The mean annual rate of growth was 14.7 per mille.
The Argentine Republic is located in the southern part of South America.
It is a very long, asymmetrical country running from north to south, with
varied ecosystems, topography and climates. Its continental area covers some
2.7 million square kilometres.
The mean population density for the Argentine territory is 11.9
inhabitants per square km2. However, the distribution of the population is as
asymmetrical as its water, soil and biological resources. Approximately 86 per
cent of the total population is urban and resides in centres of more than
2,000 inhabitants. There are 193 urban centres and 42 towns of more than
50,000 inhabitants. The Federal Capital and Province of Buenos Aires contain
some 50 per cent of the total population of the country. Next in size are
provinces such as Cordoba, Santa Fe, Tucuman. The remainder of the population
is scattered over a vast territory and concentrated in the oases in the arid
zones.
Under article 2 of the National Constitution, the Government supports
the Roman Catholic Apostolic Church. Although the Constitution guarantees
freedom of religion, most of the population is Catholic.
Social and Economic Situation
The crisis from which the country has been suffering for 15 years is not
only reflected in its enormous external debt but also in the huge social debt
which must be redeemed.
In 1970 Argentina was the Latin American country least affected by
poverty. The portion of the population living in poverty and indigence was
under a sixth of the average for the region (9 per cent against 59 per cent).
Data from the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC)
indicate that it rose to 17 per cent (against 54 per cent) by 1986.
The process that began in 1976 with the military Governments, the
restructuring of the production model and the consequent adjustment plans
applied, gave rise to negative results reflected mainly in a production
crisis, particularly in industry, manufactured goods production and
construction.
In 1990, the gross domestic product (GDP) was a mere 1 per cent higher,
in constant values, than the 1976 figure, indicating a reduction in per capita
production. The rate of gross investment fell from 21.3 per cent of GDP in
1970-1974 to 7.3 per cent in 1990. External indebtedness rose from 8,085
million dollars in 1975 to 62,031 million dollars in 1990.
The active portion of the workforce dropped from about 44 per cent in
1970 to 39 per cent in 1990. Real wages fell by 30 per cent between 1970 and
1988.
Composition of the workforce by sex (per cent)
Year Total Men Women
1960 100 78 22
1970 100 75 25
1980 100 73 27
1990 100 71 29
Source: INDEC - population projection 1970-2025
The proportion of women in the workforce has increased steadily since
the 1960s. In the mid-1970s the trend intensified and showed qualitative
changes.
The incorporation of women in the workforce has differed in content
from period to period. In the 1960s, it was based on the desire for
economic and social advancement and it related mainly to the middle
classes. Since the 1970s crisis and during the 1980s, women have been going
out to work because of the loss in income and the drop in the real wages of
the family members traditionally in paid employment and in order to offset
the effects of unemployment. The main suppliers of female labour are the
working class and low-income sectors. Jobs tend to be unskilled or
under-valued: domestic work and informal activities.
It is also important to bear in mind the growth in the number of women
heads of households in recent years. National statistics are not available,
but if we consider Greater Buenos Aires (the largest urban conglomeration
in the country with some 37 per cent of the total population), in 1980 17.5
per cent of heads of households recorded were women. By 1989 the percentage
had risen to 20.8 per cent. In Cordoba, another major urban and economic
centre, the figures show a growth from 21.9 per cent in 1980 to 24.5 per
cent in 1989 (Permanent Housing Survey). These figures are typical, with
minor variations, of the growth trend throughout the country.
As the report by INDEC's Standardization Department concludes, it can
be stated that in general terms female labour is marked by the following
overall features:
- Women are engaged in the lowest-paid work (horizontal segregation).
- Within each type of work, they occupy the lower positions in the
hierarchy and earn the lowest salaries (vertical segregation).
- Their work is remunerated with lower pay than equal work carried out
by men.
- A high level of involvement in the informal sector.
New forms of women's work
In recent years there has been a significant increase in this country,
as in other countries in the area, in the so-called informal sector of the
economy. In the Latin American and Caribbean region, according to REPLAC (ILO
Regional Employment Programme for Latin America and the Caribbean) estimates,
this sector rose during the 1980s from 25 per cent to 31 per cent. Even so, it
is estimated that these high figures do not cover the whole of the sector,
which seems to be underestimated. It could be as much as 40 per cent.
The definition of the informal sector includes the term "vulnerability".
The informal sector is where workers do not enjoy the same rights to
employment and related legal protection.
The increase in unemployment and the lower purchasing power of salaries
have encouraged the growing participation of women in the sector, reckoned to
be around 60 per cent.
Informal work has become one of the main survival strategies in
household budgets. In the first place, it grows out of the difficulty women
have in obtaining work in the formal sector, due to lack of training or the
need to apportion their time when they are heads of household and are
responsible for the family unit. Secondly, it is because women have to help in
making up for low incomes in response to the recession of recent years.
Women's work is mainly in tertiary areas of the economy: domestic
service, itinerant labour, small traders, catering, as cooks and waitresses,
and in other non-specialized activities. Their paid employment is generally
related to jobs learned in the context of unpaid domestic work.
Another significant form is work at home, complementing the output of
firms which use this form of recruitment to escape social responsibilities. It
is difficult to measure and generally remains an invisible form of employment.
All this shows that poor working-class women suffer from a growing
deterioration in their conditions of employment, not only in terms of their
wages, but also the insecurity inherent in their employment status: "black"'
labour, hiring through middlemen, lack of nurseries, sexual harassment, and
piecework are some of the features.
Political, legal and administrative regime
Under the National Constitution, Argentina has a republican and federal
form of government. The system is representative because "the people
deliberate and govern only through their representatives and authorities",
also established under the Constitution.
Another feature of the system of government is the division of power
between three branches, delimited and combined, which exercise executive,
legislative and judicial powers by virtue of the mandate of the people as
agents of the people. The Republic is further defined by the equality of all
citizens before the law.
The provinces of Argentina, united and constituting a general government
with specific attributes, set out in the supreme law of the nation, form a
Federal State. They do not constitute a simple federalization resulting from
agreements and treaties uniting entities which are independent and free of
permanent legal bonds. On the contrary, the Federal State is created by the
will of a sovereign nation. The provinces thus retain the powers inherent in a
full capacity to govern, subject only to the limitations expressly set out in
the National Constitution, which is the necessary consequence of the
delegation of certain powers to the Federal Government.
The Argentine Republic currently has 24 provinces and the Federal
Capital.
Each province, however, lays down its own constitution under the
representative and republican system, in accordance with the laws,
declarations and guarantees of the National Constitution, in order to provide
for its administration of justice and municipal administration.
The National Constitution, and hence the equivalent higher laws of each
province, recognize and guarantee political rights, rights of assembly and
petition, equality before the law, freedom of belief and religion, of
expression, of association, the right to teach and learn, to work, to carry on
any licit enterprise, and the right to property and to trade.
The National Executive is represented by a citizen with the title
President of the Argentine Nation: the President may appoint and replace a
body of minister-secretaries responsible for the various portfolios into which
the affairs of the nation are organized. They, in turn, authenticate and
execute the acts of the President. The President holds office for six years
and cannot be re-elected.
The executive authorities of the Federal Government have their seat in
the City of Buenos Aires, which is thus the Capital of the Federation. The
political powers of the nation govern from the capital. The Head of the
Executive appoints a Municipal Governor who administers the city jointly with
a deliberative council composed of representatives directly elected by the
citizens.
The legislative power is organized on a bicameral basis: a Chamber of
National Deputies and a Chamber of Senators from the provinces and the
capital. The bicameral system allows the two basic elements of the country,
the people and the states, to participate in its government. The Chamber of
Deputies is composed of representatives directly elected by the people of the
provinces and the capital by simple majority of votes.
The Senate is composed of representatives of each of the states, elected
by collegiate bodies which exercise legislative power in the provinces. All
these bodies are the result of direct election by the people and almost all
consist of a Chamber of Deputies and a Senate.
The basis on which the Constitution establishes the authority of the
Federal Judiciary, and which ensures its independence from other government
departments, is the permanent tenure of the judges. Judges of the Supreme
Court and the lower courts of the country retain their posts for as long as
they are of good conduct. The same principles apply to the judiciaries of the
provinces and the capital. Political legal proceedings guarantee the
responsibility of the judicial officials. The President of the Nation appoints
magistrates, with the approval of the Senate.
Judicial power is exercised by a Supreme Court of Justice, by Federal
Courts of Appeal and by area judges in the capital and each of the provinces.
This high court is, primarily, responsible for respect for the
principles and mandates of the Constitution and guides the development and
exercise of other powers. The Chambers act as courts of appeal in all cases
where the decisions of area judges are disputed and decide on questions of
competence between them. The courts of first instance decide all matters
governed by the Constitution, laws passed by Congress and treaties with other
nations.
The same procedure is followed throughout the provinces.
2. LEGAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE MEASURES ADOPTED TO IMPLEMENT THE CONVENTION IN
ARGENTINA
The restoration of the rule of law in December 1983, and the rule of
democracy in Argentina have ushered in a new era in which women have made
significant progress towards obtaining their full rights.
Various international conventions concerning women's rights have been
ratified by law. In particular, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms
of Discrimination against Women (Law 23.179) marks a fundamental step which is
linked with new legislative activity mainly concerned with Family Law.
This legal recognition has to a large extent been the result of demands
by a vast movement of women as members of political parties and many
nongovernmental organizations engaged in various activities. These range from
study, analysis and in-depth research into women's problems to women's
organizations among the working people set up to tackle day-to-day problems or
devise various survival strategies.
However, it should be borne in mind that there is still a long way to
go. It is necessary to eliminate many obstacles to discrimination which
persist in the complex web of political, social, economic and cultural
relationships on which our society is based.
(a) Evolution in the rights and protection of women
1853 Article 16 of the National Constitution establishes the equality of all
inhabitants of the country.
1871 The Civil Code stipulates the legal incapacity of married women.
1884 Law 1420 on general education establishes free and compulsory schooling
for all inhabitants of the country.
1886 Law 1920 which introduced the Criminal Code. Article 118 provides that a
woman who commits adultery will be punished by a prison term of one
month to one year. For a man, the offence arose only when he had a
mistress inside or outside the conjugal home.
1907 Law 5291. Protection for working women, in many ways comparable to the
same for children. Ban on night and unhealthy work.
1919 Law 11353. Provides a working day of eight hours for women or a 48-hour
week and three months' maternity leave.
1926 Law 11.357. Civil Code reform. Extension of the civil capacity of women.
Provides legal equality for single, widowed or divorced women at a
greater age than men. Allows married women to pursue an honest
profession, employment, trade or craft and grants freedom to dispose of
the proceeds without the authority of the husband.
1947 Law 13.010. Grants political rights to women.
1956 Ratification of international conventions adopted by the ILO
International labour Conference.
1957 Constitutional reform. Article 14 bis provides for the protection of the
law for labour in all its forms. It guarantees, inter alia, equal pay
for equal work.
1960 Law 15.786. Approves the Convention on the Political Rights of Women.
1965 Law 16.668. Makes a prenuptial certificate compulsory for brides. It
used to be compulsory only for the man.
1968 Law 17.677. Ratification of the ILO Convention on Discrimination in
Employment and Occupation.
1968 Law 17.711. Establishes full capacity for women of adult age whatever
their civil status. Married women under age are emancipated by marriage.
1969 Law 18.248. Provides that the woman is obliged to use her husband's
name.
1973 Law 20.392. Prohibits different pay for male and female labour for work
of equal value.
1974 Law 20.744. Legislates on contracts of employment. In Title VII it
includes a series of rules specifically related to women's work. It
provides for equality between workers of both sexes and lays down
antidiscriminatory rules.
1976 Law 21.297. Reforms the law on contracts of employment, deleting
guarantees and reducing rights, in particular for working women.
1985 Law 23.054. Ratifies the American Convention on Human Rights.
1985 Law 23.179. Ratifies the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of
Discrimination against Women.
1985 Law 23.264. Amends the provisions on parental authority and filiation
contained in the Civil Code. Establishes joint exercise of parental
authority by parents over their minor children, previously exclusively
the father's prerogative. The woman thus shares in the administration of
the property of her minor children. It establishes equality between
children born within and outside the marriage.
1985 Law 23.226. Gives pension rights to the spouse in a de facto marriage.
1986 Law 23.313. Ratifies the International Agreement on Economic, Social and
Cultural Rights and the International Agreement on Civil and Political
Rights and its Optional Protocol.
1987 Law 23.515. Reforms provisions governing the family regime. Legislates
on divorce and includes some of the precepts from the Convention on the
Elimination of Discrimination: choice of conjugal domicile by the
spouses jointly; abolition of the obligation to add the husband's family
name, and establishes equal rights for both spouses.
1988 Law 23.592. Constitutional rights and guarantees, discriminatory acts
sanctions against those who commit such acts.
1991 Law 24.012. National Electoral Code. Stipulates that the lists of
candidates presented by political parties must include at least 30 per
cent women for posts subject to election and in proportions such that
they may be elected.
(b) National Mechanisms
In 1986 the Directorate General for Women's Affairs was established
within the Under-secretariat for Human Rights in the International Sphere of
the Ministry of Foreign Relations and Ecclesiastical Affairs. It currently
operates as the Directorate General for Human and Women's Rights. It carries
out the following activities:
- Representation in international organizations on the subject of women.
- UNIFEM Programme: "Replacement of external debt by micro-enterprises
employing women with limited resources".
- Management of international financing of official and non-governmental
bodies for women's micro-enterprises.
- Agreements concluded with various institutions for the development and
promotion of women:
* Agreement with the National Council for Technical Education (CONET).
* Agreement with the border control authorities: "Women and border
control".
* Agreement with the Under-secretariat for Agriculture, Livestock and
Fisheries: "Rural Women".
- Holding of seminars and workshops with the participation and sponsorship
of international organizations.
- Strengthening the Interprovincial and Interregional Network for Women.
Decree 280/87 established the Secretariat for Women's Affairs within the
framework of the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare (which operated until
1990).
Finally, in March 1991, Decree 378/91 established the Coordinating
Council for Public Policies on Women, which acts under the jurisdiction of the
President of the Nation under the direct authority of the Chief Justice.
Its primary task is to fulfil the obligations incurred under the
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women,
ratified by Law 23.179 of 1985.
The Council is composed of: representatives from various areas of the
National Executive concerned with women and representatives of the provinces,
the Buenos Aires City Council and the legislature and judiciary. It permits
the formulation of national and federal policies for women. The function of
this body is to involve all concerned, and not just one ministry department or
special under-secretariat, in national planning as concerns the structural
disadvantage faced by women, and the coordination of activities to avoid
duplication.
Advisory Committees will be set up to advise on matters assigned to them
by the Council. This will allow the Council to act as a mediator between
social demands and to work with other State bodies at national, provincial and
municipal level.
Functions of the Council:
- To encourage measures helping to eliminate existing discrimination
against women in society.
- To monitor and follow up the application of Law 23.179 through agencies
of the National Executive and to draft the appropriate regulations.
- To coordinate, plan and evaluate the results of implementing policies,
programmes and activities, specifically related to women, to be carried
out by various ministries.
- To promote studies and research into the status of Argentine women in
the following fields:
Legal, educational, cultural, health, socio-cultural, economic,
production and employment, through the INAP Research Department and the
Civil Service Secretariat belonging to the Office of the President of
the Nation.
- To compile information and documentation on women, and to stimulate the
creation of an updated data bank to serve as a basis for devising public
policies on this subject.
- To coordinate the implementation of institutional agreements in order to
prevent discrimination against women.
- To establish relations with non-governmental organizations and establish
liaison between the Council and the relevant international
organizations, in conjunction with the Ministry of Foreign Relations and
Religious Affairs, participating in the conclusion of agreements arising
out of matters within its competence.
- To promote the provision of services for women, especially those geared
to the social sectors where there is a special need for assistance.
- To issue its own rules and procedures.
The Council is responsible for achieving three central goals in the
design and coordination of public policies for women:
- Design of public policies specifically oriented towards women.
- Promotion of women's involvement in the formulation of policies which
affect them.
- Promotion of collaboration between the various institutional levels
concerned with women.
The Women and the State Programme of the National Institute for Public
Administration provides technical support to the Coordinating Council for
Women, by the:
- Design and implementation of training programmes for women.
- Creation of a database on the status of women in the country.
- Projects and research.
Activities undertaken:
- Development of interministerial policies to receive and pass on women's
problems. The integrated communication network was established for that
purpose and has counterparts in the various jurisdictions.
- Advisory Committees attached to the Coordinating Council have been
created with members from non-governmental organizations and
associations, whose main objective is concerned with various aspects of
women's problems. These committees will function by subject area:
* Advisory Committee for Women in Politics, with representation of all
political parties active in national life. It takes an active part in
all negotiations and moves to obtain the support of the law on quotas in
representational elected offices.
* Establishment of the Permanent Commission on Women and AIDS, with
representation of NGOs, professionals, experts and departments concerned
with this subject.
- Conclusion of an agreement with the Ministry of Education aimed at
changing stereotypes of men and women in primary and secondary
education.
- Conclusion of an agreement with the Secretariat for Health to
participate in its Plan for the Protection of Maternity and Childhood.
- Presentation to international bodies of projects and programmes on:
child woman - child mother; women and AIDS; women, the environment and
the quality of life; programme for equal opportunities in education;
micro-enterprises for women; nutritional programmes, etc.
The following activities have been undertaken under the Woman and State
Programme:
- Publication of the survey of government agencies, their projects,
programmes and officials concerned with the subject of women.
- Survey of research centres and projects on the theme of women throughout
the country in order to develop a database.
- Holding of courses on:
* Module: introduction to the status of women in Argentina, for those in
charge of public programmes and policies.
* Formulation of social policies for women.
* Women and planning: the chance to participate.
* Intersectional work and the problems of women.
- Implementation of a competition for research grants on the subject of
women and public policies. Twenty grants were awarded.
Other Agencies
Department for Women's Affairs of the National Directorate for
Employment of the Ministry of Labour and Social Security. This department
receives technical assistance from ILO, and sections have been organized on
the use of professional information, research and statistics, labour
relations, environment, institutional work and relations.
Departments for women's affairs within the trade unions. The General
Workers' Confederation (San Martin) and the Confederation of Labour (Azopardo)
both have a Department for Women's Affairs. Secretariats or departments for
women's affairs have been set up in most of the unions.
Establishment of the Women's Institute of the National Federation of Labour of
the Argentine Republic (1992).
Progress January 1992/August 1993
National Women's Council
Established by Decree 1.426/92, under the jurisdiction or the national
Presidency and under the direct authority of the President, with its own
budget and staff. Its Chairman has the rank of State Secretary.
Its primary task is to fulfil the obligations assumed by the Government
of Argentina on ratifying the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of
Discrimination against Women, and to submit appropriate policies to the
various authorities.
Within the Government, the Council is the institutional body entrusted
with fostering the highest level of participation by women, in every sphere,
to attain the maximum development of the country.
The Council will be actively involved in all projects and actions
undertaken by the various agencies of the national executive branch in the
area of women's affairs.
The Council will be administered centrally through a Chairman's Unit,
three National Directorates and one Administrative Coordinating Department.
Cabinet of Women Advisers to the President
Decree 84 dated 26 January 1993 established the Cabinet of Women
Advisers to the President.
Based on Law 23.179, which ratifies the Convention and Law of Quotas
24.012, it establishes the post of Adviser to the President, linked to the
national Presidency, with the aim of involving women in the highest echelons
of the national Government's decision-making process. The post will have the
rank of Secretary of State.
The primary task of the cabinet is to encourage and monitor the
implementation of an overall policy aimed at incorporating women's needs and
interests into all Government plans with the objective of achieving equal
opportunity.
The Government of Argentina thus confers authority on the role played by
women in policy decisions, thereby contributing to a more democratic,
equitable and united society.
The Cabinet meets periodically with the national President, the
Ministers and other national and provincial officials in order to coordinate
and evaluate the policies and programmes implemented in the respective areas.
The Chairman of the National Women's Council will be responsible for the
organization of the Cabinet.
The Cabinet of Women Advisers to the President and the National Women's
Council will be entrusted with the task of drawing up and monitoring the
development of an Equal Opportunity Plan for Women and a Three-Year Plan of
Governmental Action for the Promotion and Equal Participation of the Women of
Argentina (1993-1995).
Actions:
- National Campaign to comply with the Law of Quotas during the
forthcoming elections in October of this year.
* Encouragement of the implementation of the Law of Quotas by means of
Decree 379/93.
* Monitoring the implementation of the Law of Quotas and its application
nationally by monitoring the lists of national deputy candidates
presented for official registration. Filing of appeals for amparo
against any provincial government which fails to comply with said Law.
* Follow-up and analysis to ensure that laws enacted at the provincial
level provide quotas for the participation of women candidates to be
elected to office, in the same manner as those established at the
national level.
* Creation of provincial multiparty frameworks for women's affairs.
* Proposal to set up a Forum of Women Legislators drawn from all political
parties for the purpose of coordinating legislation to benefit women at
all levels of society.
* Preparation and distribution of 40,000 information kits covering the Law
of Quotas.
* Awareness campaign to foster a positive image of women's social and
political involvement.
- Training for Women holding Public Office
* Training Programme for Women Leaders conducted by the National Institute
for Public Administration and the National Women's Council: "First
Workshop Seminar: Social Policy and Communication"; Seminars: "New
Approaches to Negotiations for the Positive Resolution of Conflicts",
and "Policy Communication and Marketing during Campaigns".
* Training Seminar for Political Leaders, organized by Professor Anita
Perez de Ferguson, National Director of the Democratic Party of the
United States and Vice-President of the United States National Council.
- Creation of a National Coordinating Centre within the framework of the
Ministry for Foreign Affairs to organize and coordinate activities
related to the VIIth Regional ECLAC Conference on the Integration of
Women in Latin America and the Caribbean to be held in Buenos Aires in
1994 in preparation for the Fourth United Nations World Conference on
Women, Beijing 1995.
- Programme for Women's Equality before the Law
* Analysis of the legislation and preparation of bills of amendment in
order to adapt domestic law to the provisions of the Convention.
* Creation of a Permanent Committee of Women Jurists under the National
Women's Council.
* Preparation of draft bills facilitating effective and speedy remedy in
all cases of discrimination against women; compliance with the
Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Agreement of San Jose,
Costa Rica.
* Proposal for the inclusion of measures benefitting women in a future
constitutional revision.
* Preparation of a draft bill, jointly with the Ministry of Justice, for
submission to the national executive authority.
* In conjunction with the Ministry of Justice, the creation of a committee
which will undertake to examine the revision of the Penal Code with
respect to those of its aspects directly or indirectly concerned with
the equality of women before the law.
- National Programme for the Promotion of Equal Opportunity for Women in
Education (PEOW). (See article 10 for further details.)
- Programme for Women's Equal Opportunity in Employment, under the
auspices of the Ministry of Labour. (See article 11 for further
details.)
- Programme for the Institutional Consolidation of Women's Affairs in
Provincial Areas. (See point 2.c. for further details.)
- Programme for the Enhancement of the Quality of Life and Society
* Participation in the Governmental and Non-Governmental Organizations
Forum at Eco '92 (Brazil). Presentation of a document: "Women,
Development and the Environment".
* Preparation of an information booklet on that topic, for nation-wide
distribution, containing the conclusions reached at the Conference.
* Inter-agency Cooperation Agreement with the Secretariat for Natural
Resources and the Environment to work together on matters related to the
environment and the quality of life.
* Encouraging the users, consumers and beneficiaries of public resources
to organize, with a view to achieving social control over public
services and resources.
* Promoting the institution of Ombudswomen.
- Economic Development Programme
* Agreement with the National Cooperative Action Institute on interagency
cooperation for the purpose of encouraging women to establish
cooperatives, through the development of nation-wide action projects or
programmes.
* Inter-agency Cooperation Agreement with the Social Action Secretariat to
include the subject of women in the agenda of the Federal Solidarity
Programme: Production zones; integrated community development;
productive micro-enterprises, etc.
* Creation of a Permanent Advisory Committee of Professional and Business
Women. The Committee provides training courses in management and
business administration.
- Cooperation Programme with International Agencies
* Aide-memoire signed by the Argentine Ministry of Economy, the
InterAmerican Development Bank and the National Women's Council, seeking
the following aims:
a) The approval of a technical assistance project within the framework of a
programme to strengthen the Council institutionally;
b) To harmonize the Council's Technical Assistance functions with the work
of the Under-secretariat for Financing and the Technical Design Units,
for the benefit of national priority programmes having a potential
impact on the status of women.
* Organization of the Network of South American National Agencies for
Women within the framework of the Network of Latin American and
Caribbean Government Agencies for Women.
* Preparation of the Latin American Conference on Public Policy and Equal
Opportunity, to be held in October 1993 in Buenos Aires.
(c) Provincial mechanisms
In most provinces there are councils or sections for women's affairs to
deal specifically with women's problems. In the provinces of La Rioja,
Santiago del Estero, Misiones, San Luis and Buenos Aires they have been
officially established by the respective provincial legislation.
(1) Secretariat for Women's Affairs and Social Solidarity of the
Municipality of Buenos Aires
Programmes and activities: programme for integrated women's centres;
programme for prevention and assistance in cases of family violence; programme
of assistance to young pregnant women; training programme for women as legal
guides and qualified guardians; production projects - production cooperatives
and enterprises, and promotion, training and counselling programmes, etc.
(2) Provincial Council for Women's Affairs for the Province of Buenos Aires
This Council carries out the following programmes and activities:
opening of municipal councils as centres of local power; programme for the
publicizing of women's rights; programme for preventing violence; job-creation
programme; housing programme; training programme; education programme; social
infrastructure programme; research programmes.
(3) Under-secretariat for Women and the Family for the Province of El Chaco
Programme and activities: campaign to reduce the price of products in
the family shopping basket and the formation of a family supply network;
awareness campaign on women's rights and ways to exercise them; intensive
advertising through the mass media and community activities (women and the
law, sex education, domestic workers, sexism in the education system, work and
health), etc.
(4) Under-secretariat for Women's Affairs for the Province of Entre Rios
Programmes and activities: organization and development of production
micro-enterprises; women and family violence; pensions for housewives;
gynaecological cancer prevention; women and public office, etc.
(5) Counselling Centre for Women's Affairs for the Province of Mendoza
Programmes and activities: women as producers: development of production
models with the effective involvement of women in entrepreneurial production
and organization; advice to working women; prevention of violence against
women; health care for women; prenatal care of pregnant women; legal advice on
family law; interdisciplinary care of adolescents; research programmes, etc.
(6) Under-secretariat for Women's Affairs for the Province of Misiones
Programmes and activities: plan for the promotion of women; centre for
women; programme for training and promotion for women in the area of
nutrition; projects for production units.
(7) Under-secretariat for Minors, Women and the Family for the Province of
Neuquen
Programmes and activities: "Being a Woman" - technical and material
support for small production units; women and communication; preventive
measures for and assistance to ill-treated women; temporary protection for
women victims of ill-treatment - assistance in the payment of rents to victims
of ill-treatment in risk situations; women as mothers - temporary subsidy for
pregnant women in risk situations.
(8) Under-secretariat for Women's Affairs for the Province of San Juan
Programmes and activities: profile of women in San Juan - analysis of
the status of women throughout the province; family action centres;
kindergartens; production micro-enterprises for women; legal counselling;
information and guidance centre; training; modules for women's participation;
women's health action; prevention of family violence.
(9) Secretariat for Women's Affairs for the Province of San Luis
Programmes and activities: kindergartens; centres for the prevention of
family violence; regionalization of women's problems in the interior of the
province - creation, support and monitoring of liaison committees made up of
women in the towns of the province to coordinate and implement programmes and
activities.
(10) Provincial Directorate for Minors, Women and the Family for the Province
of Santa Fe
Programmes and activities: programme for the promotion and the
protection of women; programme of assistance to women and the family group;
programme for promoting awareness, developing preventive measures and
providing assistance to ill-treated women.
(11) Secretariat of State for Women's Affairs for the Province of Santiago de
Estero
Programmes and activities: centre for women; social action; training;
production enterprises with women's participation; programme for welfare of
women in the interior; social assistance programme.
(12) Directorate General for Women and the Family for the Province of La
Rioja
Programmes and activities: legal advice service on family law;
prevention of violence against women; women as producers; counselling for
women workers.
(13) Under-secretariat for Women's Affairs for the Province of Formosa
Programmes and activities: programme for promotion and training of
women; programme for prevention and treatment of violence; projects to provide
incentives for family orchards, small-scale fruit and vegetable growing and
housing construction.
There are no reliable data for the remaining province, where the
previously functioning women's organizations are in the process of being
restructured.
Progress January 1992/August 1993
Programme for the Institutional Consolidation of Women's Affairs in Provincial
Areas:
Its aim is to decentralize the implementation of public policies for
women throughout the country.
The programme provides for action on two levels:
a) the analysis and assessment of the degree of current and potential
institutional development in the areas, and of the policies implemented
there.
b) the creation of a technical assistance and training system: aimed at
technical teams involved in women's affairs and other provincial and
municipal institutions and non-governmental organizations. Various
administrators from the national and provincial governments will be
called upon, specialists from universities, from the academic world and
from organizations, as well as internationally-known experts in the
field of public policy. A dual level of action is planned: vertical =
nation to nation, horizontal = province to province.
The creation of provincial and/or regional subsystems will be
considered.
Need for new legislation:
Recognition in national or provincial legislation, as appropriate, of the
Coordinating Council for Public Policies on Women and provincial departments
or councils for women's affairs, in those states where relevant legislation
has not yet been passed.
3. MANDATORY FORCE OF THE CONVENTION IN DOMESTIC LEGISLATION
Article 31 of the National Constitution provides that international
treaties are the supreme law of the nation, having equal authority with
national laws.
Accordingly, rights provided under the Convention may be invoked in
national courts.
However, in addition to legal ratification to bring them fully into
force, it is also necessary to adapt all legislation to the principles
contained therein in order to avoid questions of contradictory interpretations
arising out of their self-implementing nature.
The regulatory nature of the Convention in general is programmatic and
does not establish sanctions or penalties for non-compliance. This means that
its provisions have to be incorporated into laws which specifically address
each of the rights thus protected as well as the obligation to comply
therewith and the penalties for violation. It is also necessary to clearly
define the judicial and administrative authorities competent to demand such
compliance in the national or provincial jurisdiction.
Law 23.592 of 1988 establishes in article 1 that: "any person who
arbitrarily impedes, obstructs, restricts or in any way diminishes the full
exercise, on a basis of equality of the fundamental rights and guarantees
recognized in the National Constitution, will be compelled, on petition by the
injured party, to render null and void the discriminatory act or to cease
committing such act and to redress the moral or material damage so caused. For
the purpose of the present article, acts particularly contemplated are
discriminatory acts of omissions perpetrated for reasons such as race,
religion, nationality, ideology, political or trade union opinions, sex,
economic standing, social status or physical attributes".
Its provisions open up a new channel for legal claims in respect of
discriminatory acts against women and also in relation to omissions which have
the same effects. The victim of such acts would, thus, be able to require a
discriminatory act to be rendered ineffective or ceased. At the same time, a
woman may claim in respect of the moral and/or material damages occasioned by
the discrimination practised against her.
There is no known example of the provisions of this law being invoked in
any legal claim based on discriminatory acts against women.
Progress January 1992/August 1993
- Establishment of an Equal Justice Programme for the purpose of examining
current legislation and proposing amendments where needed
- On behalf of the National Women's Council and the Cabinet of Women
Advisers to the President, the preparation of a draft bill permitting
speedy and effective action to resolve discrimination issues so as to
render the discriminatory act ineffective or ceased, and/or its effects
redressed.
Making it possible for public or private organizations competent in the
defense of civil rights violations to take legal action.
PART TWO
SPECIFIC MEASURES
(Articles 1 to 3)
[Advancement of women]
Article 1
For the purposes of the present Convention, the term "discrimination
against women" shall mean any distinction, exclusion or restriction made on
the basis of sex which has the effect or purpose of impairing or nullifying
the recognition, enjoyment or exercise by women, irrespective of their marital
status, on a basis of equality of men and women, of human rights and
fundamental freedoms in the political, economic, social, cultural, civil or
any other field.
Article 2
States Parties condemn discrimination against women in all its forms,
agree to pursue by all appropriate means and without delay a policy of
eliminating discrimination against women and, to this end, undertake:
(a) To embody the principle of the equality of men and women in their
national constitutions or other appropriate legislation if not yet
incorporated therein and to ensure, through law and other appropriate means,
the practical realisation of this principle;
b) To adopt appropriate legislative and other measures, including sanctions
where appropriate, prohibiting all discrimination against women;
c) To establish legal protection of the rights of women on an equal basis
with men and to ensure through competent national tribunals and other public
institutions the effective protection of women against any act of
discrimination;
d) To refrain from engaging in any act or practice of discrimination
against women and to ensure that public authorities and institutions shall act
in conformity with this obligation;
e) To take all appropriate measures to eliminate discrimination against
women by any person, organization or enterprise;
f) To take all appropriate measures, including legislation, to modify or
abolish existing laws, regulations, customs and practices which constitute
discrimination against women;
g) To repeal all national penal provisions which constitute discrimination
against women.
Article 3
States Parties shall take in all fields, in particular in the political,
social, economic and cultural fields, all appropriate measures, including
legislation, to ensure the full development and advancement of women, for the
purpose of guaranteeing them the exercise and enjoyment of human rights and
fundamental freedoms on a basis of equality with men.
Argentine Law
Argentine legislation does not contain any provision expressly referring
to discrimination against women in the exercise and enjoyment of human rights
and fundamental freedoms, but it does show a clear trend towards the
progressive elimination of all forms of discrimination against women.
The National Constitution of the Republic was adopted in 1853. It
recognizes the equality before the law of all its inhabitants. It does not
admit personal privileges, titles of nobility or prerogatives of blood or
birth.
This constitutional principle is the basis of equality between men and
women, and the recognition of that equality in the legal, political, economic,
social, civil and cultural spheres.
In general, the legislation in force embodies the principle of equality
between the sexes in political, civil, penal matters and labour legislation
and in the right to education and health care. (In the analysis of the
articles of the Convention which refer specifically to each of these spheres,
there is detailed coverage of the progress and impediments currently being
experienced in achieving strict compliance with the Convention.) Since 1985
there has been major progress in family rights through Law 23.264 which
reforms the regime of parental authority and filiation and Law 23.515 on civil
marriage which reforms the family regime.
Various international conventions related to women's rights have been
ratified by the enactment of legislation. In 1957, the Inter-American
Convention of Bogota, signed in 1948, which enshrines the principle of legal
equality of men and women, was ratified; the American Convention on Human
Rights (Law 23.054); the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of
Discrimination against Women (Law 23.179) and the International Agreement on
Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the International Agreement on Civil
and Political Rights and its Optional Protocol (Law 23.303).
a) In a forthcoming constitutional reform it will be necessary to
include expressly the principle of equality between men and women.
b) The legislation of the country as a whole does not provide measures
which expressly prohibit discrimination against women nor any type of
sanctions for such a situation. The law on Employment Contracts "prohibits
discrimination on grounds of sex", but in practice it is very difficult to
prove. Neither does it expressly establish the corresponding sanctions against
the employer who commits an act of discrimination, except the right to obtain
compensation in the case of dismissal on the grounds of pregnancy or maternity
or because of marriage. But it also establishes a series of requirements which
limit its power of protection.
c) Although the international treaties ratified by the country have the
status of national law, the regulatory nature of the Convention is of a
general type. For this reason, there is need to adapt all internal legislation
to suit its provisions, as well as the corresponding penalties for
non-compliance, and the judicial and administrative authorities competent to
deal with complaints.
d) The National Institute for Public Administration approved in 1991 the
creation of the Women and the State Programme, whose aim is the integration of
women, on a basis of equality, at all levels, and equality of opportunity for
both sexes with regard to access to promotion to decision-making levels.
Decree 993/91 established the National Public Administration System. In
article 5, it states: "Representatives of the civil service shall guarantee
non-discrimination against women".
e) No appropriate controls exist to prevent such practices. Competent
administrative bodies must be created under the authority of the Ministry of
Labour where all complaints against discriminatory acts on the part of
employers may be directed, and which would either be empowered to impose
administrative sanctions or would function as a preliminary instance opening
the way for appropriate legal action.
f) Article 118 on the suppression of adultery provides for differences
between men and women. The man will only be guilty of such an offence when "he
has a mistress inside or outside the conjugal home", i.e., a continuous
relationship over time. In the case of a woman, a single act suffices. These
criteria are taken into consideration by the courts in cases of divorce when
such grounds are invoked. It is considered that what constitutes adultery in
the case of a woman is merely infidelity in the case of a man. There are other
quasi-concealed instances of discrimination contained in the concept of
"decency" in the Title "Offences against Decency" when these refer to offences
against sexual freedom and morality. In the case of the offence of rape it is
necessary to consider that the legal good protected is sexual freedom, hence
the male spouse or concubine should also be included as an active subject.
Point 3: In this connection, the Directorate-General for Women's Affairs
was set up as part of the Under-secretariat for Human Rights in the
International Sphere of the Ministry of Foreign Relations and Ecclesiastical
Affairs.
Decree 378/91 established the Coordinating Council for Public Policy on
Women, the "fundamental task of which is to implement in practice the
commitments entered into under the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms
of Discrimination against Women".
In October 1991, by a resolution of the Senate and the Chamber of
Deputies of the Nation, a bicameral commission was set up to give effect to
Law 23.179, which approves the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of
Discrimination against Women. This Commission is competent (a) to study and
analyse legislation in force in order to propose appropriate amendments to or,
as appropriate, repeal of provisions which constitute or could give rise to
discriminatory conduct against women, and (b) to propose the approval of
provisions aimed at preventing and suppressing discrimination against women.
Progress January 1992/August 1993
A Penal Code Revision Committee composed of the National Women's Council
and the Cabinet of Women Advisers to the President, with the participation of
the Ministry of Justice, will be established.
The Cabinet of Women Advisers to the President has worked out a proposal
expressly aimed at incorporating the recognition of women's rights into the
revision of the National Constitution.
Article 4
[Temporary measures aimed at accelerating the achievement
of equality between men and women]
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.
The notion of positive discrimination has inspired the adoption of
"catching-up" measures.
It is not a common practice in this country to introduce measures of a
temporary nature deemed necessary to achieve equality between men and women in
different areas of society. Except for a few isolated provisions of the law
governing contracts of employment relating to night work or arduous or
dangerous work, etc., such measures cannot be found in our legislation.
Various governmental and non-governmental women's organizations are
demanding such measures. The crisis which the country is currently
experiencing has led many working-class women to become the real breadwinners
in household economies. In the labour market, their participation has
increased in the informal sector of the economy, with unstable jobs, low
wages, unsatisfactory working conditions and no social security, thereby
placing women and their families in a seriously exposed position. In this
context, together with the decline in public services, there arises the need
to formulate policies and programmes for women as a distinct group and a
preferential target Population.
The incorporation of the GENDER perspective into government policies
must be accompanied by corresponding training and technical assistance.
Law 24.012 provides that lists presented by political parties for
registration of candidates must include a minimum of 30 per cent women for
elected office and in such a way that they have a chance of being elected.
Lists which do not satisfy these requirements are not registered (6 November
1991).
Principal special measures to be adopted
- The compulsory inclusion of an appropriate percentage of women in
technical, organizational and trade-union training courses.
- Fixing grant quotas for women in technical careers or in the
specializations required by the new plans to reorganize production.
- Incentives for private enterprises to employ women.
- Priority allocations to women heads of households in public housing
plans.
- Programmes for micro- and small enterprises for women with a given level
of management ability.
Progress January 1992/August 1993
Law 24.012 and its regulatory Decree establishing a 30 per cent quota
for the participation of women in elections to offices for which women are
eligible.
Campaign of the National Women's Council and the Cabinet of Women
Advisers to the President to ensure compliance with the law throughout the
country during the elections of October 1993.
Advice and political support to encourage the adoption at the provincial
level of laws in accordance with Law 24.012.
Article 5
[Elimination of stereotypes]
State Parties shall take all appropriate measures:
(a) To modify the social and cultural pattern of conduct of men and
women, with a view to achieving the elimination of prejudices and
customary and all other practices which are based on the idea of the
inferiority or the superiority of either of the sexes or on stereotyped
roles for men and women;
(b) To ensure that family education includes a proper understanding of
maternity as a social function and the recognition of the common
responsibility of men and women in the upbringing and development of
their children, it being understood that the interest of the children is
the primordial consideration in all cases.
a) The return to democracy in Argentina allowed collective protest
against authoritarian practices and restrictions on freedoms. Large numbers of
non-governmental women's organizations raised as their banner the principles
of equality of women and non-discrimination in society. They were joined by
militants from political parties and finally there was recognition by the
Government - based on a growing recognition by society - that was reflected in
the creation of governmental structures responsible for protecting women's
rights at both national and provincial level, for which changing the
sociocultural behaviour patterns and models of men and women has been a
fundamental and constant concern.
But it is a long and difficult task. In addition to the necessary
legislation, it requires an effort of understanding and changing mental
attitudes by people of both sexes in their public and private relations.
Education at all levels in the country continues to reproduce the roles
of men and women considered to be "traditional". This is true both in formal
and informal education.
In the communications media, audio-visual media and advertising, except
in very rare cases, women are represented in the context of their family
function or as sex objects without any connection to the product or service
which is intended to be advertised, i.e. limiting their role in society or
directly or indirectly diminishing them as women.
Some remedial measures adopted to eliminate discrimination
In June 1991, as an important step aimed at changing the teaching of
such stereotypes, an agreement was signed between the Ministry for National
Education and Culture. the Coordinating Council for Public Policies on Women
and the National Public Administration Institute for Inter-institutional
CooPeration, in order to implement in the educational field the commitments
entered into by Argentina as a signatory to the Convention on the Elimination
of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. Its main objectives are:
- Information and training programmes aimed at teachers, student leaders
and other members of the educational community designed to change
discriminatory attitudes and practices in scholastic organizations.
- To design and implement special programmes at all levels and various
methods to improve educational opportunities for women.
- To undertake vocational, educational and professional guidance which
extends and enhances the participation and activity of women in
political, professional and social life.
- To include progressively in texts and programmes the theme of women in
more than just their family role.
- To include in teacher training programmes the specific topic of equal
participation of men and women in society.
- To carry out research projects on the status of women in education.
- To prepare and distribute background material on the subjects proposed.
A coordinating unit is being established, consisting of all subscribing
organizations and a representative of Buenos Aires University.
In order to get it going effectively, we need to draw up a National
Programme containing a series of projects for different areas. To this end,
Coordinating Council for Women's Affairs has invited non-governmental
organizations and vocational institutes for women's affairs to participate in
and publicize the programme.
Violence against women
In the provinces, many Women's Councils now have programmes to prevent
violence against women and to help mentally and physically mistreated women:
these include the Federal Capital, Buenos Aires Province, Mendoza, Chaco,
Catamarca, Entre Rios, Neuquen, San Juan, San Luis and Santa Fe.
In Buenos Aires Province, there is partial support by the Legislature
for a law authorizing the expulsion of the offender from the conjugal home.
In La Pampa Province, Law 1081 of 1988 promotes the creation of a
special service for the elimination of family violence that is part of the
Ministry of Social Welfare. Its approach is pre-eminently preventive.
The programmes of Buenos Aires Province and the Federal Capital are
subjected to a special analysis below on account of their features and the
number of people they affect (more than 50 per cent of the total population of
the country).
* The Provincial Women's Council of the Province of Buenos Aires is
carrying out its Programme for the Prevention of Violence Against Women.
It is undertaking the following activities:
- Making society more aware of the problem of battered women and
mistreated families in order to change violent cultural patterns.
- Creation of violence prevention centres run by interdisciplinary teams
and commissariats for women's affairs operating in various towns in
order to provide people affected with the means to solve their problems.
There are currently eight commissariats for women's affairs in operation
in various districts of the province, run by staff specially trained in
these functions.
* In the Federal Capital, since the end of 1989, the Under-secretariat for
Women's Affairs and Social Solidarity of Buenos Aires City has been
operating its Programme for Prevention and Assistance in cases of
family violence, in the context of which the following measures have
been implemented:
- Installation of a permanent 24-hour telephone service every day of the
week with specialist staff working in rotation, as one of the ways of
responding to the problem through a specialist listening service which
provides guidance. The service has a file of institutional and community
resources to which it can refer each case in the light of its specific
needs (medical, psychological and legal assistance) and the place where
the caller lives.
In the little more than a year that the telephone system has been in
operation, more than 10,000 calls have been received. It operates in
conjunction with the Federal Police when acting in urgent and serious
instances of violence.
In addition, specialist research courses on women's affairs have been
set up. The postgraduate courses of the Psychology Faculty of Buenos Aires
University include an "Interdisciplinary course specializing in women's
studies". In the Faculty of Law and Social Sciences of the National University
of Comahue there is a postgraduate course on the same subject. At the
University of Cuyo, a postgraduate course is being organized in Mendoza
Province on "Women in Society".
b) Changes in parental authority
As a result of changes to the Civil Code introduced by Law 23.264
governing parental authority, a woman can now, jointly with her husband,
exercise family authority over the person and property of her minor children
who are not emancipated. This right applies in the case of married, separated
or divorced parents as well as in the case of natural children.
In special situations, its exercise will be decided by the judicial
authority, which must take into account the legal equality of the spouses.
Need for new legislative provisions
Violence against women basically arises from the discrimination suffered
by women in all the areas in which they are involved. The patriarchal culture
with its stereotypes of men and women, and the conduct accepted as specific to
each sex, help to create a situation where no questions are asked and a blind
eye is turned to a practice which contradicts the notion of respect and
freedom for all human beings.
There is a need for the adoption of legislation which covers the entire
range of problems of violence against women by developing techniques for
prevention and inducing society to respond actively to cases of maltreatment
(domestic violence and sexual harassment in the workplace and in all areas
where women are involved).
Another point to consider in changing current stereotypes is the present
division of labour on grounds of sex and the need to re-evaluate the
importance of domestic chores. Housewives must be registered as part of the
economically active population and production at home must be included among
national production indicators.
A fair distribution of domestic chores between men and women.
Progress January 1992/August 1993
- Law 11.243 of 23 April 1992 of the Province of Buenos Aires.
Incorporates precautionary measures into the Code of Criminal Procedure
(Law 3.589).
In cases of violence against women the law provides for the expulsion
from or prohibition from entering the home for common-law spouses or older or
younger relatives living under the same roof.
- A bill submitted to the Chamber of Deputies on 4 March 1993 on domestic
violence.
Article 6
[Prostitution]
States Parties shall take all appropriate measures, including
legislation, to suppress all forms of traffic in women and exploitation of
prostitution of women.
The Argentine State has ratified the International Convention for the
Suppression of the Traffic in Persons and of the Exploitation of the
Prostitution of Others (1949).
In accordance with this international instrument, article 125 of the
Penal Code provides that:
A person who, for profit or to satisfy his own or others' desires,
procures or facilitates the prostitution or corruption of minors, regardless
of sex, even with the consent of the victim, shall be punished with:
1. Detention or a prison sentence from four to 15 years if the victim was
under 12 years of age.
2. Detention or a prison sentence from three to 10 years if the victim was
over 12 years but less than 18 years of age.
3. Detention or a prison sentence from two to six years if the victim was
over 18 years and under 22 years of age.
Whatever the age of the victim, the penalty will be detention or a
prison term from 10 to 15 years when the offence involves deception, violence
or threats, abuse of authority or any other means of intimidation or coercion,
and where the perpetrator was an older relative, husband, brother, guardian or
person responsible for the victim's education or care or married to the
victim.
Article 126: A person who, for profit or to satisfy others' desires
procures or facilitates the corruption or prostitution of adults, by
deception, violence, threats, abuse of authority or any other means of
coercion, shall be punished by detention or a prison term from four to 10
years.
Argentine criminal law actively suppresses procuring but there is
practically no type of regulation of prostitution in existence.
The prostitution situation is outside the authority of the police who
can at most prevent it from being too obvious. A police order of 1949,
concerning indecency, stipulates in its article 2, paragraph N, that: "persons
of either sex who publicly incite to or offer sexual intercourse will be
punished by fines or detention of 5 to 21 days. The ambiguity of the edict
lies in the fact that under the current sexual morality it is the prostitute
who is punished, never the client (the role played in the transaction is
sanctioned, not the transaction itself).
Despite the abolitionist approach in the 1949 Convention, an enormous
proportion of prostitutes in the country are subject to some form of procuring
or coercion.
There is a serious lack of rules and regulations of any kind to combat
procuring. In practice, there is no evidence of the will to effectively do
away with procuring using the appropriate means of action.
There is also the need to establish prison sentences and fines to deter
pimping.
Article 127 bis of the Penal Code expressly sanctions traffic in women:
"A person who procures or facilitates the entry into or exit from the country
of a woman or minor for the purposes of prostitution shall be punished by
detention or a prison term from three to six years".
A draft ordinance intended to review the expediency of regulating
prostitution has just been submitted to the Buenos Aires City Council. The
proposal has led to a great public debate. In the end, a commission was set up
to undertake a comprehensive study of the subject.
Article 7
[Political and public life]
States Parties shall take all appropriate measures to eliminate
discrimination against women in the political and public life of the country
and, in particular, shall ensure to women, on equal terms with men, the right:
(a) To vote in all elections and public referenda and to be eligible for
election to all publicly elected bodies;
(b) To participate in the formulation of government policy and the
implementation thereof and to hold public office and perform all public
functions at all levels of government;
(c) To participate in non-governmental organisations and associations
concerned with the public and political life of the country. n
a) Argentine women have the right to vote on a basis of equality with
men and without any discrimination. The same applies to the right to be
elected to all bodies whose members are elected by public suffrage.
Under Law 13.010 of 1947, women were granted full capacity in their
enjoyment of political rights.
Despite this equality of rights, women form a minority in bodies whose
members are elected by the public.
The average number of women voters in the last election was around 50
per cent. However, up to August 1991, there were only 16 women among the 254
deputies to the National Congress (6.29 per cent). In the Senate, only four
out of the 46 members are women (8.69 per cent).
The Provincial Legislatures and Municipal Councils of the whole country
show similar percentages of involvement.
The National Congress has recently passed Law 24.012 of 6 November 1991,
which establishes that lists of political parties must show at least 30 per
cent of candidates for the offices to be elected, in proportions such as to
allow the possibility of being elected, in order to be officially registered.
No list which fails to meet these requirements will be registered.
b) Executive agencies of State policy
The participation of women in the executive agencies of State policy is
very low, although there is no explicit discrimination. Not one woman
discharges functions at the level of Minister-Secretary of State.
At the present time, women in the foreign service occupy the highest
levels of diplomatic representation, with six women ambassadors: three career
diplomats and three political officials appointed by the Executive.
In other senior posts, secretariats, under-secretariats, directorates,
etc., the few examples of women are something of a rarity. The general rule is
that high office in the civil service is held by men.
Alongside this very low level of participation in senior and managerial
posts in the civil service, there is a large number of women in the central
government administration, averaging over 50 per cent.
A study undertaken in the public sector shows in striking fashion, in
relation to middle-level and senior posts in the organizational pyramid, that
"women must always satisfy one additional requirement - either better
education or greater experience in service". For example, professional women
need more than 16 years of seniority to have equal chances with recent
entrants who are men.
The National Administrative Profession System (Decree 993/91) in its
article 5 establishes the obligation of representatives of the civil service
to ensure non-discrimination against women in public office.
The following statistics show the situation in the Judiciary:
* Federal Justice of the Federal Capital:
- First instance: 2 out of 20 judges are women (10 per cent)
- Second instance: 2 out of 25 judges are women (8 per cent)
* Federal Justice of the Interior:
- First instance: 3 out of 53 judges are women (5.6 per cent)
- Second instance: 5 out of 50 judges are women (10 per cent)
* Magistrates' courts of Buenos Aires Province:
- One-person magistrate courts: 98 out of 348 judges are women (28 per
cent)
- Collegiate courts:54 out of 274 judges are women (19.7 per cent)
c) Union participation
Women have the same rights as men to join and work in trade unions.
However, rarely do they occupy important administrative posts, even when a
high proportion of the workers in them are women. An exception to this is the
Teachers' Association (CTERA), whose Secretary-General is a woman.
Participation in political parties
Although in most political parties women's membership is comparable to
that of men, the proportion of women in administrative posts in party
management is low in comparison.
Women's non-governmental organizations
In recent years, a large number of such bodies have been established in
various areas of the political, social, economic and cultural life of the
country.
Six National Meetings have been held in various parts of the country.
The last was held in August 1991 at Mar del Plata, with the attendance of more
than six thousand women.
Argentina was the venue for the Fifth Latin American and Caribbean
Meeting of Women at San Bernardo in November 1990. Some 2,500 women from Latin
America and the Caribbean attended, as well as women from North America,
Europe and Asia.
Seventh National Women's Meeting (October 1992)
Eighth National Women's Meeting (June 1993)
Progress January 1992/August 1993
- Creation of National Women's Council (Decree 1.426/92).
- Creation of Cabinet of Women Advisers to the President (Decree 84/93).
- Promotion by the foregoing organizations of regulations implementing the
Law of quotas (Decree 379/93).
* Follow-up to ensure the implementation of the Law of Quotas and its
application nationally by monitoring the lists of candidates for the office of
national deputy presented for official registration. Filing of appeals for
amparo against any provincial government found to have failed to comply with
the Law.
* Follow-up and analysis to ensure that laws enacted at the provincial
level establish quotas for the participation of women candidates to be elected
for office, like those established at the national level. According to the
number of national deputy posts coming up for reelection in October of the
current year, in compliance with the Law on Quotas the number of women to be
elected to the Chamber of Deputies of the National Congress will be between 28
and 38.
* Promotion of a Forum of Women Legislators from all political parties for
the purpose of coordinating legislation to benefit women at all levels of
society.
- Tasks related to information and awareness of women's issues at the
community level
* Preparation and distribution of 40,000 information kits covering the Law
of Quotas.
* Creation of provincial multiparty frameworks for women's affairs.
Awareness campaign to foster a positive image of women's social and political
involvement.
- Training Programme for Women Leaders (National Institute for Public
Administration and National Women's Council).
* First Workshop Seminar: Social Policy and Communication (August-
September 1992).
* Training Workshop for Women Leaders: "Policy Communication and Marketing
during Campaigns", addressed to women candidates for the offices of national
and provincial deputy and council member (July 1993).
* Women and Negotiation Seminar: "New Approaches to Negotiation for the
Positive Resolution of Conflicts" (March 1993)^
* Training Seminar for Women Political Leaders. Organized by Professor
Anita Perez de Ferguson, Democratic Party of the United States (March 1993).
Article 8
[International representation]
States Parties shall take all appropriate measures to ensure to women,
on equal terms with men and without any discrimination, the opportunity to
represent their Governments at the international level and to participate in
the work of international organizations.
There is no legal provision preventing women from representing their
Government internationally or taking part in the work of international
organizations. Their participation, however, is very limited.
The Foreign Service had six women ambassadors in 1991, three career
diplomats and three officials appointed by the Government.
This question is related to the wider problem of women's involvement in
political and public life.
Article 9
[Nationality]
1. States Parties shall grant women equal rights with men to acquire,
change or retain their nationality. They shall ensure in particular that
neither marriage to an alien nor change of nationality by the husband during
marriage shall automatically change the nationality of the wife, render her
stateless or force upon her the nationality of the husband.
2. States Parties shall grant women equal rights with men with respect to
the nationality of their children.
Argentine legislation does not establish any distinction on grounds of
sex in relation to nationality.
Marriage to a foreigner and change of nationality of the husband change
the nationality of the spouse.
In Argentina, nationality is defined on the principle of Jus soli. It is
acquired through birth within the national territory regardless of the
nationality of the parents.
Article 10
[Education]
States Parties shall take all appropriate measures to eliminate
discrimination against women in order to ensure to them equal rights with men
in the field of education and in particular to ensure, on a basis of equality
of men and women:
(a) The same conditions for career and vocational guidance, for access
to studies and for the achievement of diplomas in educational establishments
of all categories in rural as well as in urban areas; this equality shall be
ensured in pre-school, general, technical, professional and higher technical
education, as well as in all types of vocational training;
(b) Access to the same curricula, the same examinations, teaching
staff with qualifications of the same standard and school premises and
equipment of the same quality;
(c) The elimination of any stereotyped concept of the roles of men and
women at all levels and in all forms of education by encouraging coeducation
and other types of education which will help to achieve this aim and, in
particular, by the revision of textbooks and school programmes and the
adaptation of teaching methods;
(d) The same opportunities to benefit from scholarships and other
study grants;
(e) The same opportunities for access to programmes of continuing
education, including adult and functional literacy programmes, particularly
those aimed at reducing, at the earliest possible time, any gap in education
existing between men and women;
(f) The reduction of female student drop-out rates and the
organization of programmes for girls and women who have left school
prematurely;
(g) The same opportunities to participate actively in sports and
physical education;
(h) Access to specific educational information to help to ensure the
health and well-being of families, including information and advice on family
planning.
(a) and (b) Since as early as the last century, Argentina has stood out
in Latin America in respect of equality of women with men in access to
education, especially primary schooling.
Since the 1970s, women have begun to enter secondary education on a mass
scale and have also, since that time, begun to study at university.
It can be stated that the access of women to all levels of education is
now not only unrestricted but slightly higher than for men. However, there is
a marked differentiation between social sectors.
Pre-primary and primary level
Law 1420 of 1884 establishes compulsory, free and lay education for men
and women. A study on "The educational status of women in Argentina", which
analysed the various levels of education by age-group, sex and location, gave
the following data: 95 per cent of the population of six years of age and over
attend primary school. At secondary level, the attendance is 33 per cent of
the population aged 12 and over. At tertiary level, attendance is only 8 per
cent of the population aged 17 and over.
In rural areas, figures for illiteracy in 1980 were 14.2 per cent for
men and 15.1 per cent for women, while in urban areas, the levels were 3.6 per
cent and 4.5 per cent, respectively.
Moreover, only 10 per cent of the rural population reaches the stage of
secondary education and 1.5 per cent higher education.
Between 1970 and 1986, the proportions of girls and boys varied around
Secondary or intermediate level
This level of education is not compulsory in the country. Structural
changes in female participation have occurred in secondary education. At the
end of the period 1940-1955, there was a significant increase in the number of
female pupils, which reached 51.6 per cent.
These percentages persisted, with slight variations, until 1986.
With regard to subject preferences, the Basic Baccalaureate, which
includes teacher training, is the one showing the greatest number of women.
The figure was 58.9 per cent for 1970, falling to 50.8 per cent after 1983.
In the business courses, the participation of women rose from 35.2 per
cent in 1970 to 37.2 per cent in 1986.
In the technical course, there is a greater increase: from 1 per cent in
The farming, industrial, fine arts and other options show insignificant
percentages.
Higher level
Women now enter higher education in the same proportions as men. In the
1940s, their share was 13 per cent. By 1986 it had reached 46 per cent.
As far as subject choice is concerned, most of the students opt for
traditionally feminine careers. Some 80 per cent are registered in educational
science, humanities and philosophy and letters. The percentage of women in
architecture, law and medicine is around 50 per cent.
In the so-called masculine subjects such as engineering and agricultural
science, women account for 9 per cent and 21.17 per cent (?), respectively.
In non-university tertiary education, women entrants for 1986 were 78
per cent of the total. Their studies are directed towards teaching
specialities preferred by women.
(c) Elimination of male and female role stereotypes in education. School
texts continue to make reference to traditional roles of men and women.
(d) A significant advance is the Agreement signed between the Ministry
of Education, the Coordinating Council for Public Policy on Women and the
Civil Service Institute for Inter-institutional Cooperation to implement in
education the commitments entered into by Argentina as a signatory to the
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women.
(e) and (f) Women have the same access as men to adult further
educational or functional literacy programmes. They thus have the change to
complete the studies which they had to abandon for a variety of reasons.
(g) Women's participation in sport and physical education is ensured on
a basis of equality with men through activities common to both sexes. This
equality only applies in education.
(h) In education, there is no subject concerned with matters of family
planning. The need arises for some pupils over the age of 13 to study subjects
dealing with sex education which develop their sense of responsibility as
future citizens and parents and for the discussion of criteria for prevention,
the nature of abortion, and ways of avoiding disease, particularly prevention
of AIDS.
Need to consider a change in the thrust of women's training
In women's vocational training, it must be borne in mind that education
is the gateway to the employment market. The goal will be to achieve "equality
of opportunity" in access to jobs.
Creation of vocational guidance agencies for young people from the last
year of primary school.
Training must include new features related to new technologies.
Need to undertake activities concerned with changing mental attitudes
and providing information for women on the new outlook in the employment
market and the possibility of access to all professions and special careers.
Implementation of action programmes on diversifying work options for
women, with the participation of the Ministry of Education and women's
organizations. It must address all levels of education.
Influencing the mental attitudes of those involved in the education
process, as well as young people and families, in order to change current
patterns.
Award of grants to women for scientific and technical training, with
participation and monitoring by organizations responsible for protecting
women's rights.
The University of Buenos Aires created in 1987 a multidisciplinary
postgraduate course for graduates from all university departments, entitled
"Course of Specialized Studies dealing with Women" based in the Faculty of
Psychology of that University. This was a response in the academic field to
the growing social need to describe, explain and transform the status of women
through research, training programmes and social action.
Progress January 1992/August 1993
The National Program for the Promotion of Equal Opportunities for Women
in the Educational Area (PRIOM) has been in effect within the framework of the
National Ministry of Culture and Education since 1991.
PRIOM constitutes our country's first official response to the
commitment it assumed to the United Nations in ratifying the Convention on the
Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women. It is also sponsored
by UNICEF Argentina.
Its main goal is to contribute to initiating a thorough educational
reform which will:
- Ensure that the programmes of study and teacher training transmit a real
and complete picture of the contributions of women in all areas of society in
the past as well as the present;
- Offer women and men the same possibilities and opportunities to develop
their interests, capacities and aspirations;
- Encourage the learning of relationships of justice, solidarity and
mutual respect between the sexes.
The activities carried out by PRIOM in 1992/93 were:
- The signing of agreements with 18 provinces to carry out this programme;
- The incorporation of the principle of equality of opportunity for both
sexes in the General Education Law approved in 1993;
- The organization of three international events:
Federal Educational Forum: "Strategies for Equality of Opportunity for
Women", in April 1992. This was attended by representatives of the Ministries
of Education of the entire country and by 13 Latin American and European
experts.
A seminar: "The Image and Participation of Women in the Media", with the
support of the United Nations, in July 1992.
An international seminar: "Equality of Opportunity for Women: a
Challenge to Latin American Education", in June 1993.
Representatives of the Ministries of Education and Women's Offices of the
Latin American countries and specialists from the Nordic countries and the
United States took part.
New study programmes with non-discriminatory content were worked out and
are being implemented in:
Social science studies at the primary level;
The training of vocational instructors and counsellors;
The production of educational and information material on equality of
opportunity for women;
The establishment of a Permanent Advisory Commission on Women and
Communications Media made up of well-known figures in publicity, the
media, film, journalism, consumer and women's organizations and
advertising;
The first nationwide National Awareness Campaign for the Educational
Community: "If we grow in equality all roads are open to us", in October
1992;
Survey of programmes of informal education, especially those directed
towards women, carried out by non-governmental organizations (in
cooperation with the National Women's Council).
Article 11
[Labour laws]
1. States Parties shall take all appropriate measures to eliminate
discrimination against women in the field of employment in order to ensure, on
a basis of equality of men and women, the same rights, in particular:
(a) The right to work as an inalienable right of all human beings;
(b) The right to the same employment opportunities, including the
application of the same criteria for selection in matters of employment;
(c) The right to free choice of profession and employment, the right to
promotion, job security and all benefits and conditions of service and the
right to receive vocational training and retraining, including
apprenticeships, advanced vocational training and recurrent training;
(d) The right to equal remuneration, including benefits, and to equal
treatment in respect of work of equal value, as well as equality of treatment
in the evaluation of the quality of work;
(e) The right to social security, particularly in cases of retirement,
unemployment, sickness, invalidity and old age and other incapacity to work,
as well as the right to paid leave;
(f) The right to protection of health and to safety in working
conditions, including the safeguarding of the function of reproduction.
2. In order to prevent discrimination against women on the grounds of
marriage or maternity and to ensure their effective right to work, States
Parties shall take appropriate measures:
(a) To prohibit, subject to the imposition of sanctions, dismissal on
the grounds of pregnancy or of maternity leave and discrimination in
dismissals on the basis of marital status;
(b) To introduce maternity leave with pay or with comparable social
benefits without loss of former employment, seniority or social allowances;
(c) To encourage the provision of the necessary supporting social
services to enable parents to combine family obligations with work
responsibilities and participation in public life, in particular through
promoting the establishment and development of a network of child-care
facilities;
(d) To provide special protection to women during pregnancy in types of
work proved to be harmful to them.
3. Protective legislation relating to matters covered in this article shall be
reviewed periodically in the light of scientific and technological knowledge
and shall be revised, repealed or extended as necessary.
The Argentine Republic has ratified the following Conventions of the
International Labour Organization (ILO): 3; 4; 41; 45; 100; 111; 156.
The provisions of these conventions have been incorporated virtually in
their entirety into our labour legislation.
1. Constitutional guidelines
(a) Argentine law recognizes rights and obligations for all workers in
employment, regardless of sex, based on the principle of the equality of all
inhabitants, as laid down in the Constitution.
- All inhabitants of the country enjoy the following rights under the laws
governing application of the Constitution, namely: "... to work and to
pursue any licit trade" (article 14).
- Work in all its forms shall enjoy the protection of the law, which shall
include the right of workers to equal remuneration for equal work
(article 14 bis).
- The principles, rights and guarantees recognized in the foregoing
articles shall not be amended by laws governing their implementation
(article 28).
(b), (c) and (d): Private sector: Labour Contract Law (1974), as amended
by Law 21.297 of 1976
The various provisions in the articles of this Law reflect legislation
designed to consolidate the equality between men and women workers in the
country as well as lines of anti-discriminatory action, in particular, in
articles 17 and 18 of Title VII, which includes a set of specific standards
relating to women's work.
It establishes the rights and obligations of workers, except for
employees in branches of the national, provincial and municipal civil service,
workers in domestic service and rural labourers, who are governed by their own
statutes.
The contract of employment is primarily regulated by the provisions of
this law. In the order of precedence established in article 1, it is regulated
by occupational laws and statutes and collective agreements or awards with the
force of such, the will of the parties, and usage and customs.
Any form of discrimination between workers on grounds of sex, race,
nationality, religion, politics, union membership or age is prohibited
(article 17).
Women have full capacity to conclude any type of contract. Married women
may do so without the need for the husband's authorization.
It provides that "no distinction shall be made between the remuneration
of men and women for work of equal value. Any provision to the contrary shall
be null and void" (article 172).
Collective agreements cannot depart from the constitutional and legal
regulations governing labour rights and obligations, but they can make
specific improvements, providing that such does not compromise public
interest.
"The employer shall treat all workers equally in the same circumstances.
Unequal treatment shall be considered to exist when arbitrary
discrimination occurs on the grounds of sex, religion or race, but not
when the different treatment reflects principles of the common good,
such as might occur in cases of greater efficiency, dedication or
application on the part of the worker" (article 81).
(e) Women workers in the private and public sectors are entitled to
pensions for old age, disability or other incapacity to work. They are
entitled to annual paid holidays based on length of service. These provisions
are verified in the formal employment sector, but there are other forms of
women's work which do not enjoy such entitlements.
(f) Title VII of the Law limits the contractual autonomy of working
women, in order to protect them. The following aspects are covered:
- Maximum working day, eight hours per day or 48 hours per week.
- Prohibition of night work (between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. the following day)
with two exceptions. work of a non-industrial nature which should
preferably be done by women and services provided in places of public
entertainment at night.
- A two-hour break at midday in the case of a non-continuous schedule
(morning and afternoon).
- Prohibition on giving women work to be done at home when employed in the
main building or other premises of the enterprise in order to avoid
violating restrictions on the working day.
- Prohibition on employing women for work of an arduous, dangerous or
unhealthy nature.
2. (a) No form of discrimination in employment is acceptable on the basis
of sex or marital status, even when the latter changes during the period of
employment.
Dismissal on the grounds of marriage is prohibited and if a legal
presumption is established there must be severance pay.
Women workers enjoy security of tenure during pregnancy; this becomes an
acquired right from the moment when the woman gives official notice in the
form of a medical certificate that she is pregnant.
There is a presumption that the reason for dismissal is maternity or
pregnancy when it occurs within a period of seven and a half months before or
after the date of delivery, provided that the woman worker has met the
obligation to notify and officially register the fact of pregnancy, and, where
appropriate, the birth.
The compensation provided for in article 182 of the Law governing
Contracts of Employment will come into effect if the dismissal is by reason of
maternity or pregnancy.
(b) Women are entitled to leave during the pre- and postnatal period,
45 days in each case, with reservation of their employment.
During both periods, she receives a sum equal to what she would have
received if she had worked. This payment is the responsibility of the social
security schemes.
Women have the possibility of remaining absent from work after the
elapse of the period established for postnatal leave, if this is due to
illness caused by pregnancy and/or delivery - subject to medical certificate -
that prevents the woman from resuming her normal duties.
There are two breaks of half-an-hour each during the day to feed the
child. This entitlement lasts for a period of one year from the date of birth,
except when there are medical reasons justifying a longer period.
Special leave: the Law defines as special leave the case of a working
woman who voluntarily takes such leave to deal with two singularly important
family situations: the birth of a child or the illness of a minor dependent
child.
For women to make use of the entitlement to special leave, two
requirements have to be satisfied: a current contract of employment and
residence in the country. It can be claimed subsequently if the situation
giving rise to the entitlement so requires, i.e. one year's service in
employment.
The choice of the length of special leave is left to the woman worker,
within a minimum of six months and a maximum of one year. The amount of the
allowance will be 25 per cent of the normal and usual remuneration of the
woman employee. It shall not be greater than the minimum living wage for each
year of service or fraction greater than three months.
(c) The employer must provide maternity rest rooms and kindergartens.
This provision will be the subject of regulations drawn up by the Government.
There is a major lack of appropriate regulation in this area.
Need for new legislation
In practice, factual equality of working women has not been achieved.
Complete equality between men and women at work calls for new
legislative and administrative measures which establish such equality beyond
any doubt and which stipulate the corresponding sanctions. Amendment of the
Labour Contract Law in line with the provisions of the Convention on the
Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women.
Creation of agencies in the Ministry of Labour specifically concerned
with guaranteeing non-discrimination against women in the employment sector
and with receiving complaints on this matter and having powers to apply
sanctions of an administrative nature or as a court of first instance.
Article 81 requires the identity of situations. The courts have
interpreted this in a restrictive sense. Because of this, payment of
additional wages to men over and above the established minima would not
constitute a breach of the principle of equality.
A step forward is the case of the National Supreme Court of Justice in
1988 (Fernandez v. Sanatorio Guemes re remuneration), where it was held that
"it was unacceptable to maintain today, in terms of the evaluation of tasks
and performance, that such was a matter entirely reserved for the authority of
the employer without the employer being able to question its reasonableness'".
Women continue to receive, on average, lower wages than men for equal
tasks. Various studies have brought it to light that both in Greater Buenos
Aires and in the interior of the country women workers are paid 30 to 50 per
cent less than men.
The question of non-discrimination in access to employment should be
expressly addressed:
- Need for regulations prohibiting discrimination in offers of employment:
both in job descriptions and in the conditions for competitions or
entrance examinations.
- Fix rules for positive discrimination by various incentives to employers
to promote the hiring of women. Such positive discrimination will cease
when the objectives of equal opportunities and treatment have been
achieved.
The concept of sexual harassment should be introduced, with penalties
for all forms of coercion, blackmail or abuse of women workers.
Change the current legal concept of protection of maternity which is
based on the idea that family obligations are exclusively the province of
women, by incorporating into the legal provisions governing employment the
criteria established under ILO Convention 156 and ratified by Law 23.451
governing "Equality of opportunity and treatment for workers with family
responsibilities". This law makes both parents equally responsible for family
protection. New assignment of roles and responsibilities within the family, at
the same time equalizing the costs of work of men and women (these criteria
postdate the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination). This implies
reforms affecting all workers in connection with:
- Leave for childbirth and illness of the children as a matter of choice
between the two parents.
- Regulation of the system of nurseries, kindergartens and maternity
rooms, with equal right of use by all workers.
- Legislation on a comprehensive system for protection when the first
child is born.
A comparative study of legislation shows that most countries give
greater protection to women who are mothers. Changes in the law are needed to
ensure the absolute security of women who are mothers, making dismissal on
grounds of pregnancy null and void up to at least seven months following
delivery, whether or not the child was born alive. A grant in respect of all
wages due up to the date of the woman's return to work should be paid.
The requirement for official notification and registration of pregnancy
in order to have a right to security should be deleted; the pregnancy could in
effect be notified and registered within a reasonable time after dismissal in
special cases where so justified.
In cases of dismissal, wages should be paid up to a year following
childbirth, without prejudice to the compensation established for unfair
dismissal.
Delete the tacit assumption in article 186 that a woman who does not
return to work after the end of the mandatory period of leave has resigned.
Public sector
Women employees in the public sector are covered by the provisions of
the "Basic Civil Service Regulations". These encompass all the legal rights
and forms of protection relating to their status as women employees without
distinction from men. Neither category participates in the collective
agreements for establishing salaries or conditions of employment.
Decree 993/91, which establishes the national administrative profession
system for staff in government service, proposes a new grading structure based
on merit, training and objective systems for selection and productivity as a
basis for the salary and promotion of civil servants.
In recognition of the lack of factual equality between men and women in
the civil service, it establishes certain positive principles in relation to
women. In article 5 it expressly states that "representatives of the civil
service shall guarantee non-discrimination against women".
Annex I, Title III, Chapter IV, article 35 stipulates that within the
sphere of the Civil Service Secretariat, the Selection Committee for executive
grades shall include at least one woman among the five members to be
appointed.
The President of the Council on Public Policy for Women in Public
Administration, or her alternate, may act as watchdog.
Administrative arrangements
There is a Department of Women's Affairs in the National Directorate for
Employment of the Ministry of Labour and Social Security. It receives
technical assistance from ILO and has set up sections for employment and
professional training; research and statistics; labour relations; environment
and work; and institutional relations.
In the trade unions, in both confederations and single unions, there are
sections concerned with women's affairs: committees, departments or statutory
secretariats, as required.
Other forms of women's work
These occur in the so-called informal sector of the economy. Its
definition includes the term "vulnerability", since workers in that sector do
not enjoy the same employment rights and are in general outside the legal
protection which applies in the formal sector.
Domestic service
The persistence and increase in the high percentage of women working in
this area is due to the employment crisis in the country which has itself
resulted from the long period of economic stagnation. It therefore requires
special consideration.
The Department of Women's Affairs in the Directorate for Employment
(Ministry of Labour) is carrying out a survey of the sector and drawing up a
proposal containing a new legislative and regulatory framework for the
activities and social security regime of these workers. They have produced the
following figures:
The 1989 population census registered 595,000 people in the sector (6.4
per cent of the economically active population (EAP)). Domestic service is
mainly performed by women (95 per cent), representing 22 per cent of the total
employment of women. According to estimates for 1990, the sector could employ
765,000 people by then, an increase of 28.6 per cent as compared with 1980.
Decree 326 of 1956 regulates this activity. The regulations exclude any
person who works on an irregular basis: less than four hours per day or less
than four days per week.
The forms of work have undergone major changes in the course of time. In
1947, 62 per cent of women had constant employment; in 1970 29.3 per cent and
in 1980 20.9 per cent. This is a significant figure since the proportion of
women working in domestic service on an hourly basis is increasing. Thus many
contracts remain outside the scope of the law, a situation which is growing
worse since, in addition, there is a low rate of compliance with its
provisions in the sectors subject to such labour relations.
The Domestic Service Tribunal has been part of the National Directorate
for Employment since 1990.
During 1990, two draft laws regulating domestic service in the family
home were submitted to the National Congress (one already has partial approval
from the Senate), which if passed would repeal the Decree in force since 1956.
Illegal employment ("black labour")
Many women work in small enterprises where they receive very low wages.
They do not qualify as staff of such enterprises, so they have no pension
contributions or any other social benefit. This category usually includes work
at home, which is generally piecework and is not counted in employment
figures.
Informal work units
There are an increasing number of family groups and associations of
women organized to produce, mainly, food or articles of prime necessity,
clothes, toys, etc., who are obliged to work long days, earning barely enough
for the most basic subsistence.
Many of these informal work units are to be found among groups or small
family enterprises where the chief is generally the male head of the household
and where the woman provides basic labour without the right to paid
remuneration, pension contributions, holidays or any kind of social benefit.
These units arise as family strategies to earn additional income for the
household economy. Generally they are maintained on the basis of self-
exploitation by women. There are no precise statistics on the extent of these
units, but they proliferate in all the poorest and most needy sectors.
Production micro-enterprises
Such enterprises are seen as a way of generating employment and family
stability, especially for women displaced from the formal economy.
It is a concern of the Coordinating Council for Public Policy and all
provincial departments dealing with women's affairs as well as the
Directorate-General for Human and Women's Rights of the Ministry of Foreign
Relations.
One of the main objectives of those who are encouraging these forms of
production is to develop projects leading to job creation instead of those
which envisage policies of subsidizing needy sectors. The aim is to raise low
incomes, transfer economic power and change sexual roles a-ll at the same
time.
For this, what is needed is: (a) investment in production by
governmental and non-governmental international organizations, (b) allocation
of soft credits repayable on reasonable terms and in appropriate amounts,
after survey of market needs and marketing outlets, (c) training, technical
and production consultancy on costs, administration, management, staff
distribution, level of production, marketing criteria, etc., and (d)
appropriate management structures and internal procedures.
Currently, through the Directorate-General for Human and Women's Rights,
a priority task being addressed is the linkage between the demands of working
class women and international organizations providing credits for the
financing of production. It promotes the programme for compensating for the
external debt using production projects for women. The nominal value of the
programme is five million dollars. This is the joint responsibility of UNIFEM,
the Ministry of the Interior and the Ministry of Foreign Relations and
Ecclesiastical Affairs.
Next November there will be a national meeting on "The social and
economic viability of production units managed by women", sponsored by ILO,
UNDP and UNIFEM.
Prososals to be discussed for this sector
In the search for dignity and equality, the organized trade unions must
take into consideration the situation in the informal sector. Their duty is to
guarantee legal protection to all workers, men and women, whether or not union
members.
To study proposals for organization and legalization of workers in the
informal sector. In these demands women can play an important mobilizing role.
Some strategies to legalize women workers in the informal sector:
1. To ensure visibility:
(a) Organization into cooperative units and other associative forms in
accordance with local practice and customs;
(b) Publicizing their existence.
2. Make claims for better working conditions and wages.
3. In the case of women domestic workers, recognition of their trade
unions, their incorporation as paid workers, with corresponding rights to
benefits and assistance.
4. Involve women in development activities by training them in the
following areas: accounting, management, distribution, marketing, etc.
5. Organization of production enterprises with legal recognition, credit,
training, gearing of production to market demand, etc.
The so-called "economically inactive" sector in census data
To this category belong in the main housewives responsible for domestic
chores, an activity which continues to be the main source of women's work.
The culture of our societies based on a division of labour by sex means
that domestic activity is almost the exclusive task of women.
Daily, in Argentina, more than 8 million women over the age of 14 years
work long days in their own homes: washing, cleaning, ironing, cooking,
shopping, seeking the lowest prices, looking after the children and husband,
helping them with their schoolwork or job, seeing that they meet their own
obligations, looking after the sick and the elderly in the family, and so on.
Every day of the week, including Saturdays and Sundays. These chores amount
to some 10 hours a day on average. Nevertheless, they constitute free labour,
to which no value is assigned. These are not included in the gross domestic
Product (GDP).
This theme suggests at least two questions:
Can the domestic chores of women be replaced?
What monetary value would they represent for society as a whole?
In research work carried out in 1983, in collaboration with the
Government and ILO, it was concluded that the economic contribution of
domestic work is highly significant and essential and vital to the functioning
of society.
The value of domestic activity amounts to between 28 per cent and 49 per
cent of GDP. The estimate depends on the sources and the method utilized.
These figures make it possible to establish the relationship between
domestic productions and market production. In each case, it is necessary to
establish differences as a function of demographic variables, standards of
living and social class.
When the woman is part of the EAP through paid work, housework becomes
secondary (although it has to be done). In reality there are women who work
both inside and outside the home, i.e. they have a double working day.
A study made by ILO in Greater Buenos Aires analyses this double working
day in relation to women workers. Based on the calculation that their work
outside the home amounts to between 35 and 45 hours per week while the
domestic chores take some 50 hours per week, the working day of any woman
worker amounts to 13 hours without a break. Compared with a total of 90 hours
a week for women, men work only 40.3 hours over the same period.
The foregoing permits the conclusion, without preconceptions, that if we
add domestic chores to the work classified as active for women, plus the
increasing amount of work done each day by women in the informal sector, the
production activity of women in society, taken all round, is greater than that
of men.
There is also unequal treatment of the female sex with regard to
retirement: it is impossible for elderly women to retire when they are not
registered in the formal sector.
In Argentina it is only certain provinces (Catamarca, Jujuy, Santiago
del Estero, Misiones, Entre Rios, San Luis) which have provided for retirement
pensions for housewives in local legislation.
A Housewives' Union has been organized with more than 80,000 members in
30 branches throughout the country that provides medical services to its
members. It is seeking legal recognition and has submitted a bill which
envisages a wage for housewives, pension rights and their own social security.
Rights housewives should claim
Domestic production must be included among the indicators of national
production.
Accounting for domestic activity is an economic and social necessity.
Housewives must be included in the economically active population.
Social security contributions must be fixed and old-age pensions secured
for people working outside the home.
As a temporary solution and in the context of what might be considered
positive discrimination, women must begin to enjoy the same pension rights as
any other worker of the same age.
Study must be made of emergency funds as a first step towards the
operation of their own pension fund.
In the longer term, another demand is the equitable distribution of
domestic chores between men and women.
Progress January 1992/August 1993
- Employment Law 24.013. By article 26 it abrogates article 173 of the
Labour Contract Law which prohibited work by women between 8 p.m. and 6
a.m. and terminates agreements 4 and 41 of ORIT.
- An agreement was signed in May 1993 between the National Women's Council
and the national Ministry of Labour and Social Security for the joint
development of the Programme of Equality of Opportunity for Women in
Employment, the goal of which is to implement, within the framework of
national employment policies, the commitments assumed by the Argentine
State in ratifying the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of
Discrimination Against Women (National Law No. 23.179).
The purpose of the agreement is to eliminate all forms of discrimination
on the basis of sex in the field of employment, to promote the integration of
women into the labour market in decent and equalitarian conditions and to
encourage equality of opportunity and treatment.
To achieve this goal a series of actions is being taken to establish
conditions of equity and equality of opportunity for women in all aspects of
employment.
The specific goal of these actions is:
To prepare new rules intended not only to establish the formal equality
of men and women in labour legislation but to achieve real equality by
positive measures;
The preparation of training and information materials for workers and
employers intended to eliminate discriminatory attitudes and practices
with respect to working women;
Consciousness-raising and training of governmental and non-governmental
actors on equality of opportunity in employment for both sexes;
The preparation of vocational training courses designed to diversify
female employment and to raise the vocational level of work done by
women;
The implementation, in coordination with other bodies, of specific
programmes and actions intended to assess the effect of the MERCOSUR
integration on the employment of women and the preparation of analyses
and specific policies;
The preparation of a specific policy for domestic workers. The special
vulnerability of this sector calls for the preparation of a proposal for
a new social security system for these workers;
The implementation of measures to promote the employment of women
through the establishment of quotas in temporary work programmes and any
other policy intended to create new jobs;
The preparation of statistical and other quantitative and qualitative
analyses to clarify the situation of women in the labour market;
As part of the promotion of female employment, it has been agreed with
the Ministry of Labour and Social Security that a minimum of 20 per cent
of the jobs in the Intensive Work Programmes (P.I.T.) will be assigned
to women.
The P.I.T. are temporary jobs financed by the National Employment Fund
and agreed on with the municipalities, which provide the infrastructure and
equipment needed for them.
Under this agreement a procedure is being worked out to strengthen
coordination between the women's and provincial labour areas and to train
governmental officials to administer these programmes.
In view of the innovative character of the women's projects as compared
with traditional public employment, a set of projects is being developed for
use in generating new ideas and proposals.
An agreement has been made with the Secretariat of Social Action and
Interinstitutional Cooperation to incorporate the theme of women into the
programme of action of the Federal Solidarity Programme; Production Zones;
Integrated Community Development; Market Gardens, Farms and Small Holdings;
Productive Micro-enterprises and Institutional Strengthening. An
Implementation Unit was established within the National Women's Council to
carry out activities within its area of competence.
Implementation of the cooperative activities in this area was begun
through the receipt and evaluation of requests for funding received from
women's groups. The granting of credits is expected to begin in September of
the current year.
Within the same framework of interinstitutional cooperation, the
development of a specific line of credit for the establishment or reactivation
of early infancy care services (community micro-enterprises) has been begun.
An honorary Standing Advisory Commission of Business and Professional
Women was established to assist and advise the National Women's Council on
subjects relating to work, production and economic development.
This Commission has prepared a pilot training programme for business
women to be carried out during the current year.
An agreement was made between the National Women's Council and the
National Cooperative Institute for interinstitutional cooperation to promote
the organization of cooperatives by women through operational projects and/or
programmes throughout the country. A Coordination Unit was established to
implement it, made up of representatives of both organizations.
Article 12
[Health]
1. States Parties shall take all appropriate measures to eliminate
discrimination against women in the field of health care in order to ensure,
on a basis of equality of men and women, access to health-care services,
including those related to family planning.
2. Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph 1 of this article, States
Parties shall ensure to women appropriate services in connection with
pregnancy, confinement and the postnatal period, granting free services where
necessary, as well as adequate nutrition during pregnancy and lactation.
According to the 1980 and 1981 censuses, the female population of the
country is slightly higher than the male. It is some 50.49 per cent.
The percentages of women, by age group, compared with men, show the
increasing predominance of women with age.
It can therefore be seen that women throughout the country have a
greater life expectancy: over the period 1980-1985 it was 73 years - seven
years more than men. These figures might be due to women having greater
ability to benefit from advances in health care and the fact that their
behaviour is more geared to prevention than that of men.
These figures are not the same throughout the country. To point out
extremes and highlight the differences possible in respect of women in
different classes, it can be stated that in 1980 the greatest life expectancy
at birth was in the Federal Capital, with 75.8 years for women and 65.5 years
for men, while in Jujuy province, the figure was 66.5 and 61.5, respectively.
The significant regional difference shown by these figures between life
expectancy for men and women in different social environments should be noted.
For women, the impact of a generally unfavourable quality of life results in a
reduction of 9.3 years, while for men it is seven years. This means that the
socio-economic decline affects the sexes in different ways, and that women are
harder hit by the increased burden of poverty.
These regional differences are indicators of distinct environmental,
social and economic conditions which have a decisive impact on the health of
the inhabitants. But if this is particularly significant in the case of the
female sex, it is because women are "culturally conditioned by the
prescriptions which society imposes on each sex and, in the last analysis,
determined by an adverse structural situations" (INAP, March 1991).
As far as health is concerned, women represent a specific situation in
terms of their reproductive function, evident in information concerning the
age of fecundity. Moreover, both the sexual division of roles in society and
the socio-cultural, labour and legal circumstances in which they act impact on
their health and affect their access to the health system.
The link between health and reproductive state is shown by the fact that
the so-called "complications in pregnancy, delivery and post-delivery" are the
main cause of disease among women and are among the first five causes of death
in women between the ages of 15 and 49 years of age (INDEC).
Maternal mortality rates have been falling in Argentina in recent
decades (6.8 per 10,000 live births over the period 1980-1985), but are
relatively higher among those under 15 years and over 30, which means greater
risk for pregnant adolescents and older adults. The figures for dysfunctions
occurring during pregnancy or within 42 days following delivery are, however,
higher than normal in a country with a low fertility rate.
The most frequent causes of maternal mortality are abortions,
haemorrhages (frequently connected with the latter) and toxaemias. The high
incidence of abortion (27.1 per 100,000 live births over the period
1980-1985), complications of adolescent pregnancy, deficiencies in care during
pregnancy and delivery are key issues here. It is calculated that in 25 to 30
per cent of attended deliveries there had been no previous consultation. A
study of the marginal urban areas of Greater Buenos Aires in 1985 showed
little value attached by women in poor circumstances to prenatal checks.
Analysis of the trends in relation to the above topics on the basis of
information from WHO also indicates different patterns of behaviour according
to age group and class. There can be seen in the period 1970-1987 an increase
in the rate of early maternity among women under the age of 20, giving figures
of 12.3 per cent and 13.8 per cent, respectively.
Conversely, a decline in maternity among women over the age of 45 has
been observed/ from 1.2 per cent in 1970 to 0.3 per cent in 1987. With regard
to adolescent maternity the average of 13.8 per cent for the country as a
whole is exceeded in the majority of the provinces. Only in two districts is
it significantly lower (Federal Capital with 5.7 per cent and Tierra del Fuego
with 8.6 per cent). Another two districts are close to the average, and the
remainder are far above, e.g. Chaco 18.5 per cent, Chubut 18.9 per cent,
Misiones 18.13 per cent, Neuquen 18.9 per cent and Rio Negro 18.3 per cent.
These figures trigger an alarm signal: early maternity socially and
economically backward regions with deficient cultural conditions and usually
occurs among deprived adolescents. It is usually the type of maternity which
creates the greatest problems for the health of mothers and children. It is
generally the result of old taboos regarding sexuality, lack of sex education
in schools, lack of policies on birth control measures and ignorance of the
high physical and mental risk to adolescent mothers, regardless of social
background, although it affects the poorest sectors to a greater extent. In
this respect, as the United Nations points out, early maternity means the
beginning of a vicious circle of dependence and difficulty which ensnares the
young woman for the rest of her life.
The rate of infant mortality fell from 44 per cent in 1976 to 32.8 per
cent in 1980 and 24.5 per cent in 1988.
- During the first year of life, the main causes of death (disease or
infections in the perinatal period, congenital anomalies, respiratory
infections, intestinal diseases and septicaemias) affect boys and girls
equally.
- From one to four years, the risks (accidents and acute pulmonary or
intestinal pathologies) are associated with deficiencies in nutrition,
which are a significant causes of disease and deaths. Thus official
limited surveys in 1982 and 1983 show a considerable incidence of
undernourished individuals, mainly of the first degree. But it should be
noted that in this group there is a slightly higher mortality rate among
girls, in the 1981 statistics, due to nutritional deficiencies. This may
be due to the persistence, in many parts of the country, of the ways of
food distribution which, being based on cultural traditions, are
in favour of men and are a disadvantage to women.
- From the age of five to 14, there are no differences in incidence of
disease and mortality between the two sexes, but from adolescence
onwards, with the onset of sexuality and the beginning of mortality,
health problems begin to stand out, as indicated earlier.
Then, the longer life of women, which leads to a higher proportion of
them among the elderly, makes it possible to highlight the problem of chronic
diseases, arterial hypertension, rheumatism and sensory loss.
Without age-differentiated data, the 1980 surveys show that most female
illness takes the form of mental disturbances, especially syndromes such as
"anxiety" and "tension".
Suggested remedial measures
An agreement has been signed between the Coordinating Council for Public
Policies on Women and the Ministry of Health, relating to participation in the
plan for protection of childhood and maternity being put into effect by that
Ministry.
It is necessary to encourage family planning centres throughout the
country, including: family education (marital problems, involuntary sterility,
maternity, delivery, etc.); information on birth control; consultations on
sexually transmitted diseases and AIDS.
* Need for participation by women's organizations in Government
departments involved in policy decisions for the planning and
implementation of sex and reproduction health campaigns. especially
AIDS.
In this connection, the Coordinating Council for Public Policies on
Women has designed two projects aimed at obtaining technical and financial
assistance and basic equipment from international organizations.
1. "Child Woman - Child Mother" project
Objectives: to develop a national plan for the prevention and protection
of early maternity. Study of alternative proposals for the protection of
homeless adolescent mothers.
It envisages the following activities:
- Coordination with agencies which have been authorized to implement
public policy on this problem.
- Programme of information and publicity on health and specific
reproduction rights for this age group, using both formal and informal
methods.
- Information campaigns whose main objective is to change society's
negative perception of the problem and eliminate social prejudices.
- Meetings of national and provincial, public and private agencies
competent in this field.
- Promote the creation of specific areas of information and care for
adolescents in health-care institutions.
- Creation of a data bank on all material produced on the subject and the
plans developed both at national and international level.
- Creation of specialized committees to study proposals for protection of
homeless mothers below adult age (refuges, substitute homes or families,
small homes, centres for material and moral support, etc.).
- Programmes of work training and income generation for such mothers.
2. "Mothers and AIDS" project
The complexity of this disease in relation to women in general, and
particularly the reproductive aspects (perinatal transmission) makes it
advisable to begin with preparatory stages by specialist teams and then
elaborate proposals and materials for various types of public campaigns to
inform the population as a whole.
To this end, it is proposed to create a Permanent Commission on Women
and AIDS under the Coordinating Council.
Objectives: Women's organizations should study, publicize and intervene
actively in the design of public policies aimed at preventing AIDS, with
stress on the way this disease specifically affects women and the complex
factors which go to forming their ideas, attitudes and behaviour in relation
to sexuality, with a view to getting the messages across effectively.
Action required:
Creation of an advisory centre consisting of inter- and
multidisciplinary teams to carry out the following activities:
- Training of personnel as "multipliers" to pass on educational and
training activities.
- Advice to those with the disease, relations or people in charge of
groups suffering from the disease. Installation of confidential and
anonymous telephone consultation services.
- Training of social communicators to form and mobilize public opinion.
Especially groups of young and adolescent women who create opinions
among their own generation.
- Participate in health campaigns dealing with sex and reproduction,
especially on AIDS, contributing material prepared by them.
- Preparation of agreements with educational authorities whereby the
subject can be included in the teaching of children and adolescents.
- Setting up of networks throughout the country with the women's affairs
departments and organizations concerned.
- Creation of a data bank to collect data and material in order to have
constantly updated information on the subject.
Progress January 1992/August 1993
In 1992, a mother and child health programme was set up within the
Ministry of Health and Social Action, with the support of UNICEF and the World
Bank. The National Women's Council will cooperate with it on questions
relating to maternal mortality, responsible parenthood, prevention of
premature pregnancy and infant care. Technical assistance will be provided and
the Council will participate in the pilot programmes to be carried out in
various provinces.
The National Women's Council promotes and develops information and
research studies to follow up and evaluate health policies for women. Its goal
is to publicize and disseminate the material published on various subjects.
Within this framework, the following activities were carried out in 1992:
A study on "Women's attitudes in AIDS prevention" intended for
dissemination in a leaflet on the subject;
Publicizing and dissemination of a pamphlet on cholera prevention:
"Cholera: A Shared Battle"|;
Holding of the first "Adolescent Pregnancy and Maternity" day, with the
participation of governmental and non-governmental organizations. Their
results were published and disseminated in a pamphlet: "Adolescent
Pregnancy and Maternity";
Publication of a pamphlet: "women's health: A right delayed";
Publication of a pamphlet on: "Women, development and the environment".
Article 13
[Allowances, social and economic matters]
States Parties shall take all appropriate measures to eliminate
discriminations against women in other areas of economic and social life in
order to ensure, on a basis of equality of men and women, the same rights, in
particular:
(a) The right to family benefits;
b) The right to bank loans, mortgages and other forms of financial
credits;
(c) The right to participate in recreational activities, sports and all
aspects of cultural life.
(a) Family allowances are intended to supplement the income of the head
of the family when his responsibilities increase as a result of new or
additional family burdens. The main allowances are intended for the children
and the spouse.
In Argentina, the normal beneficiary is the man. The woman only receives
the husband's allowance when he is an invalid. Children's allowances are
generally paid to the husband, except when the wife expressly requests
otherwise in the event of divorce.
(b) Women may obtain all forms of financial credit on the same terms as
men, although generally speaking the titular head of family businesses is the
man. Recently the country has been promoting credits for setting up production
enterprises or small businesses organized by women through various associative
mechanisms, including protection cooperatives.
(c) There is no discrimination against women in respect of recreation,
culture or sport. However, women generally have less free time than men due to
the amount of work for which women are responsible, aggravated in the case of
women who have jobs outside the home.
Article 14
[Rural women]
1. States Parties shall take into account the particular problems faced by
rural women and the significant roles which rural women play in the economic
survival of their families, including their work in the non-monetized sectors
of the economy, and shall take all appropriate measures to ensure the
application of the provisions of the present Convention to women in rural
areas.
2. States Parties shall take all appropriate measures to eliminate
discrimination against women in rural areas in order to ensure, on a basis of
equality of men and women, that they participate in and benefit from rural
development and, in particular, shall ensure to such women the right:
(a) To participate in the elaboration and implementation of development
planning at all levels;
(b) To have access to adequate health care facilities, including
information, counselling and services in family planning;
(c) To benefit directly from social security programmes;
(d) To obtain all types of training and education, formal and
non-formal, including that relating to functional literacy, as well as, inter
alia, the benefit of all community and extension services, in order to
increase their technical proficiency;
(c) To benefit directly from social security programmes;
(e) To organize self-help groups and cooperatives in order to obtain
equal access to economic opportunities through employment or self-employment;
(f) To participate in all community activities;
(g) To have access to agricultural credit and loans, marketing
facilities, appropriate technology and equal treatment in land and agrarian
reform as well as in land resettlement schemes;
(h) To enjoy adequate living conditions, particularly in relation to
housing, sanitation, electricity and water supply, transport and
communications.
Fourteen per cent of the total population lives in rural areas. This
represents a little over four and a half million people, of whom about half
are women.
In the last 10 years, despite the general crisis, farming (agriculture
and stockbreeding) has been one of the most dynamic sectors in the economy.
However, its development shows a great disparity between the Pampas region and
the other so-called "regional economies" which are generally in a precarious
state due to the low prices fetched by their products. In the north-west and
north-east, more than half of the farming activity is in the hands of poor
peasant families. It is precisely in these zones that the greatest number of
people are concentrated. The percentage of rural homes where basic needs are
not satisfied has been averaging 60.4 per cent inn the north-west and 57.9 per
cent in the north-east.
In this context, the role of women in the farming sector stands out.
There are very few reliable data and a lack of systematic studies on the
participation of rural women. However, it is still possible to describe the
status of women within the context of rural development programmes.
The incorporation of women into the farming process occurs in
smallholdings or on small ranches. Women are not widely employed on a
wage-earning basis, either temporarily or permanently, in agro-industrial
complexes, as happens in other Latin American countries.
In the smallholding, as a unit of production and consumption, women play
a leading role and their responsibilities range from domestic work and care of
the vegetable garden and farmhouse to work in the fields alongside their
husbands or to seasonal work on a paid basis. Women often supplement the
family income by handicrafts, small-scale trading, and so on. In recent years,
however, as the men have migrated temporarily or permanently in search of
work, the women have had to take on responsibility for maintaining the
operation of the farm.
This "feminization" of agricultural labour has meant a doubling and
tripling of the working day for women, with adverse effects on productivity
and a deterioration in the state of health, nutrition and upbringing of small
children and the family in general, on account of the poor quality of life and
the exhaustion of natural resources.
Despite the central role of women in the survival strategies of peasant
families, the economic part they play is not recognized. Nor do they receive
the corresponding social benefits and their work has not been recorded up to
now in the statistics and censuses.
The main problems of women are: a high level of socio-cultural and
economic marginalization; tendency to migrate to urban centres in search of
work; jobs that are not paid and not valued by society and only limited
participation in community groups and organizations. Illiteracy rates for
women in rural areas were as high as 15 per cent. The lack of health, family
planning and sex education centres means that a much higher number of rural
women are mothers, as compared with urban areas (45 per cent against 19 per
cent). The same trend appears in relation to adolescent and single mothers
among young women.
Until recently, rural women were not specifically considered in
policies, plans and programmes for the promotion of rural development.
New measures for integrating rural women into production
The National Under-secretariat for Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries,
through its Department for Rural Development, began in 1987 to implement an
alternative development strategy for rural women in the north of the country,
conjunction with governmental organizations (Secretariat for Provincial
Agriculture, National Institute for Farming Technology, universities), and
non-governmental organizations and small producers. It was financed by the
United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM).
A section specializing in rural women has now been included in the Rural
Development Team. As far as possible in the economic circumstances, it
participates in the design of policies in conjunction with other Government
departments (Ministry of Health and Social Security and Ministry of Foreign
Relations and Ecclesiastical Affairs).
The methodology for work with rural women has three lines of action:
- Promotion of participation by women in all services and benefits
provided by the programmes (credit, access to land, technology, marketing,
etc.).
- Promotion of the organization of women around those specific activities
which contribute to reassessing their production role, with due consideration
of their domestic responsibilities. Actions linked to women as rural producers
as well as activities reflecting women's needs (health, education, housing
etc.).
- Training of groups of women themselves, and the technical and
institutional personnel concerned with the problems of this sector, based on
participation, with a dual focus: as women and as peasant farmers.
The following programmes are in progress:
- Inter-institutional network for the support of women farmers in North
Argentina.
- Project for the promotion of participation by women farmers in Cachi,
Salta Province (pilot project).
- Project to incorporate women farmers into the programme of credit and
technical support for small-scale farm products in north-east Argentina.
The National Institute for Agriculture and Stockbreeding Technology
(INTA) has in recent years developed a unit for plans and projects for
research and further training for small-scale farmers, in support of peasant
families. Twenty-three specific projects have been implemented throughout the
country, many of them in cooperatives. In some of them, such as those in
Santiago del Estero, San Juan and Mendoza, specific activities for women
farmers are in progress.
In September 1991, there was signed an Agreement between the
Directorate-General for Human and Women's Rights of the Ministry of Foreign
Relations and Ecclesiastical Affairs and the Directorate-General for
Development of Frontier Surveillance of the Ministry of Defence, under which
these departments would be charged with developing operational plans and
coordinating their implementation in order to cooperate along the following
lines:
- To encourage the establishment of a stable network of governmental and
non-governmental institutions to support the development of specific
activities for the benefit of women in frontier zones.
- To promote the identification and search for alternative solutions to
the problem of women in frontier zones.
- To coordinate and support the search for resources from internal and
international sources for the execution of production projects with women in
frontier zones. It should be pointed out that it was agreed that the projects
evaluated would envisage the improvement of housing and food; the spread of
the cooperative system; integration of women's activity into MERCOSUR and the
introduction of new technologies.
Progress made January 1992/August 1993
The National Directorate of Agricultural Planning and Development of the
Secretariat of Agriculture is carrying out projects relating to rural women:
1. A "Northwest" project in cooperation with UNIFEM;
2. A "Northwest" project in cooperation with UNIFEM/FIDA/IDB.
The general orientation of the effort is towards the participatory
training of women in order to integrate them into the decision-making levels
of rural organizations.
The "Northwest" project published a book-length report on the work
carried out with the women of the region. The initial financing has run out
but the project is continuing. FAO is providing financing for the design of
rural development policies and strategies of general applicability for the
region. An agreement has been reached with the University of Catamarca for a
postgraduate course training rural teachers as social agents.
The rural extension departments of the Faculties of Agriculture of La
Rioja and Salta have included a women's component in their courses, as has
also been done in the rural health department of the Faculty of Medicine of
Santiago del Estero. A new proposal has been submitted to UNIFEM to continue
the project in all the provinces of the region.
Support has been received from the National Arts Foundation to carry out
information and dissemination activities.
The "Northwest" project includes a programme of credit and technical
support for small producers (IFAD/IDB financing). UNIFEM is providing
financing for the incorporation of a women's component within that programme.
Training of field workers (population) and technicians for the programme.
Groups of rural women and of men and women are set up to carry out productive
projects (traditional crops and a search for new alternatives for women) and
helped to obtain credit and technical assistance. Jointly guaranteed group
consortiums are set up. The provincial Ministries of Agricultural Affairs,
which are responsible for the execution of the programme, are participating.
The women's programme is administered directly by the Secretariat, but
coordinates with the other participants. IFAD has also allocated funds for the
programme. Thirty groups of women have been set up.
The intention is to generalize the experience acquired. Information is
circulated through information media (there are a total of 20 groups in this
province).
A national network of rural women has been integrated into the two
projects. The provincial groups are headed by a technician.
The national Government's Social Plan for the agricultural sector will
include 3 components: (a) emergencies, (b) productive projects, and (c)
political training of the Secretariat.
An agreement has been concluded between the National women's Council and
the Interamerican Institute for Agricultural Cooperation (IICA).
Article 15
[Equality before the law]
1. States Parties shall accord to women equality with men before the law.
2. States Parties shall accord to women, in civil matters, a legal capacity
identical to that of men and the same opportunities to exercise that capacity.
In particular, they shall given women equal rights to conclude contracts and
to administer property and shall treat them equally in all stages of procedure
in courts and tribunals.
3. States Parties agree that all contracts and all other private
instruments of any kind with a legal effect which is directed at restricting
the legal capacity of women shall be deemed null and void.
4. States Parties shall accord to men and women the same rights with regard
to the law relating to the movement of person and freedom to choose their
residence and domicile.
1. The National Constitution adopted in 1853 establishes the equality of
all inhabitants of the country.
2. Laws 11.353 of 1926 and 17.711 of 1968 legislated on the civil rights
and the full legal capacity of women.
The Bogota Inter-American Convention, signed in 1948, was ratified in
1957, enshrining the principle of legal equality between men and women.
Law 23.264 of 1985, governing the regime of parental authority,
supersedes the restrictions on the exercise of parental authority by women,
and provides that women have equal standing with their husbands in taking
decisions of importance for the lives of under-age children, in the
administration of property, negotiation of contracts, etc.
Law 23.515 of 1987 abolishes the restrictions on women which previously
existed with regard to the joint choice of the conjugal home. The use of the
husband's name by the wife becomes optional.
There is equal treatment in all administrative and judicial proceedings
both at national and provincial level.
3. As equality of rights is a provision of public law, no private
instrument or contract may restrict or revoke it.
4. Women have equal rights with men in all areas: freedom of movement,
choice of domicile, choice of vocation, administration of property, conclusion
of contracts, etc.
Remarks
Need for express recognition by a statute in the National Constitution
of equality of rights of men and women.
Recognition through appropriate legislation of the principle of conjugal
partnership in the management of the home with equality of rights, duties and
opportunities for both spouses.
Modification of the regime for the administration of property whose
provenance is uncertain in the conjugal partnership (which is at present
granted to the husband) making it a joint capacity of both spouses.
Article 16
[Matrimonial and family rights]
1. States Parties shall take all appropriate measures to eliminate
discrimination against women in all matters relating to marriage and family
relations and in particular shall ensure, on a basis of equality of men and
women:
(a) The same right to enter into marriage;
(b) The same right freely to choose a spouse and to enter into marriage
only with their free and full consent;
(c) The same rights and responsibilities during marriage and at its
dissolution;
(d) The same rights and responsibilities as parents, irrespective of
their marital status, in matters relating to their children; in all cases the
interests of the children shall be paramount;
(e) The same rights to decide freely and responsibly on the number and
spacing of their children and to have access to the information, education and
means to enable them to exercise these rights;
(f) The same rights and responsibilities with regard to guardianship,
wardship, trusteeship and adoption of children, or similar institutions where
these concepts exist in national legislation; in all cases the interests of
the children shall be paramount;
(g) The same personal rights as husband and wife, including the right to
choose a family name, a profession and an occupation;
(h) The same rights for both spouses in respect of the ownership,
acquisition, management, administration, enjoyment and disposition of
property, whether free of charge or for a valuable consideration.
2. The betrothal and the marriage of a child shall have no legal effect,
and all necessary action, including legislation, shall be taken to specify a
minimum age for marriage and to make the registration of marriages in an
official registry compulsory.
Since 1985, the year in which the Convention was approved, various forms
of legislation have been passed in Argentina, marking a fundamental milestone
in family law: Law 23.264 of 1985, which reforms the regime of parental
authority and filiation, and Law 23.515 of 1987 on Civil Marriage, which
reforms the family regime and introduces divorce absolute.
l. (a) Since the first Law on Civil Marriage, No. 2393, equality between
men and women with respect to the right to contract marriage has been
recognized. It is based on the principle of legal equality enshrined in the
National Constitution which establishes equality for all inhabitants of the
country.
(b) Law 23.515 provides in article 172 that "Full and free consent
expressed in person by the man and woman before the competent authority is
essential to the celebration of marriage"|.
(c) The new law recognizes the equality of rights of both spouses during
the marriage and after its dissolution.
It changes the capacity that the husband previously enjoyed to determine
the conjugal domicile. In article 200 it is stipulated that: "The spouses
shall, by common consent, determine the place of residence of the family".
The addition of the husband's family name to that of the spouse becomes
optional instead of obligatory.
The acceptance of divorce absolute reflected a long-standing demand in
society for a solution to the widespread irregularities in family law,
resulting from the impossibility of obtaining a divorce.
The discussion and submission of bills goes back to the last century.
Only once, for a very short period, was this right recognized, in article 31
of Law 14.394/54, but it was suspended by the Government of the day in 1956.
The new law maintains the system known as "divorce sanction", based on
the judgement of certain specified forms of conduct, as well as personal
separation without dissolution of the marriage bond. But it also includes
divorce by consent, which is closer to more modern legislation on the
principle of "divorce as a remedy".
Following the dissolution of the marriage, the man and the woman retain
the same rights and responsibilities with regard to maintenance, inheritance
and parental authority.
The concept of guilt is banished in the granting of custody. In the case
of under-age children, the mother is favoured, except in serious cases. The
custody of children over this age, in the absence of agreement, will be
decided by the judge on the basis of the suitability of the parents and the
interest of the child in determining custody.
The family home will be granted to the spouse who keeps the children.
Right to alimony
There is an important advance over previous legislation. Although the
concept of guilt is not completely eliminated, the difference between one case
and another is much decreased.
The right of the spouse declared to be innocent to be maintained by the
guilty party at the standard of living existing prior to the divorce is
recognized.
When considering the resources of both spouses for determining alimony,
the judge shall take account of:
- The age and state of health of the spouses;
- The devotion to the care and education of the children of the custodial
parent;
- The capacity to work and probability of employment of the maintained
spouse, the patrimony and needs of each of the spouses after the dissolution
of the marriage.
In all cases, whether or not there is a declaration of guilt, if one of
the spouses does not have enough resources of his or her own, or reasonable
expectations of obtaining them, that spouse will have the right to be provided
with the means of subsistence by the other spouse, if the other spouse has
means. In order to determine the amount and the need, the same procedure as in
the preceding case will be followed.
This legal provision is of major significance, since it makes it
possible to redress unjust situations which often occur in divorces by mutual
consent. This type of divorce is the most common in Argentina and does not
entail the effects of guilt. That is why the reform allows an extension of the
regime of the right to alimony when the procedures required by the law are
duly followed. In practice, it benefits many women who otherwise would remain
in a state of genuine need.
Need for new legislation and regulations
There is a need to include regulations which expressly enshrine the
principle of conjugal sharing by which both parties have equal rights, duties
and opportunities during the marriage. The incorporation of this principle int
the Civil Code will permit more effective control over the direct and indirect
forms of discrimination against women.
There is a need for a new law governing the right to alimony which also
guarantees compliance with it. This is a right emerging from family relations.
However, in many cases there are difficulties in guaranteeing it. In 90 per
cent of divorces, the woman retains care of the children. The lack of alimony
can become a real penalty and hardship for the separated mother.
In addition to a new basic law on this subject, on the specific matter
indicated, the provincial codes of procedure should be amended so that claims
for failure to pay alimony could be resolved quickly and effectively.
The National Congress has partly approved a preliminary bill proposing
an amendment to article 179 of the Criminal Code and making the penalty for
failure to pay alimony three to six years in prison, as one of the principal
measures aimed at preventing fraudulent evasion of payment of this benefit
through concealment or removal of assets.
* It is essential for explicit laws to be passed to eliminate family
violence against women.
There are various preliminary bills intended to provide appropriate
solutions to this problem. One of them proposes the creation of a Federal
Institute for the Treatment and Prevention of Domestic Violence. This is a
decentralized agency with headquarters in the Federal Capital, whose main
functions are prevention, planning and treatment in respect of domestic
violence. It is proposed to create centres for care and prevention of domestic
violence in towns with more than 10,000 inhabitants.
Another preliminary bill concerns the promotion of prevention and
assistance programmes in cases of family violence. A third bill proposes the
creation of temporary refuges and assistance, protection, defence and
promotion for women.
In the provinces at present, many Councils for Women's Affairs have as
one of their main activities programmes aimed at preventing and responding to
physically and mentally maltreated women.
(d) Law 23.264 of 1985 reforms the regime of parental authority and
filiation established in the Civil Code. It responds to widespread demands by
women excluded from the exercise of parental authority in respect of their
under-age children.
Prior to the reform, while both parents were entitled to parental
authority over their under-age children, the exercise of that right fell to
the father, except where such exercise was lost through judicial sentence,
death or incapacity of the father, when it fell to the mother.
The main objective of the new legislation, as established by the
Convention, is the interests of the children.
The most significant of the amendments introduced are the following:
The exercise of parental authority in the case of children within
marriage belongs jointly to the father and the mother, provided they
are not separated or divorced or their marriage has not been annulled.
It resolves the unequal status of women excluded from decision-making on
important acts in the life of her children, and the possibility of
participating in the administration of property, concluding contracts,
etc.
The principle is established of collaboration between the spouses in
relation to those acts of great importance for the life of their
children, through an exchange of opinion and agreement between them.
Express consent by both parents is required in the following cases:
(a) When consenting to the marriage of a child.
(2) In educating the child.
(3) When permitting the child to enter religious communities, armed
forces or security services.
(4) When permitting the child to leave the country.
(5) When releasing him from parental authority.
(6) When disposing of the immovable property, rights and registrable
movables of the children over whom they exercise control, with judicial
authorization.
(7) When exercising acts of administration of property of the children,
except when one parent delegates the administration to the other.
For acts in daily life and those relating to the education and health of
the children, the law provides that the act realized by one of the parents is
presumed to have the consent of the other.
If the acts of one of the parents are harmful to the child or if there
is no agreement on one of the acts deemed to be important, the Court must
intervene to decide what is most appropriate for the interests of the child,
during a short proceeding where the minor may be heard.
In the case of de facto separation or divorce or nullity of marriage,
exercise of parental authority falls to the father or mother having legal
custody, without prejudice to the right of the other to have adequate access
to the child and supervise its education.
The express consent of both parents is also required in relation to the
above seven cases.
The law stipulates equality between children born within wedlock and
those outside it. It recognizes a social reality determined by the large
number of de facto unions, the result, mainly, of the lack of divorce absolute
in Argentine law.
All the principles established for the exercise of parental authority
apply strictly, in each case and as appropriate, to children born outside
wedlock.
The guidelines on filiation also recognize the principle of responsible
fatherhood and the principle of biological fact.
These guidelines particularly benefit unmarried mothers in deprived
sectors. When a minor is registered as of unknown father, the Civil Register
must inform the Office for the Protection of Minors (Ministerio Publico de
Menores). This must locate the father in order to try to obtain recognition of
the child. Failing that, it may instigate the corresponding legal proceedings
with regard to filiation, when such is the express wish of the mother.
Cohabitation by unmarried couples during the period of conception will
be considered as substantial evidence in determining paternity.
Biological tests are also used which allow certainty of more than
90 per cent. Their success was proved when they were used to determine the
filiation of children born in captivity or prison during the former military
dictatorship.
(e) The same rights exist for men and women, although the lack of a
comprehensive family planning system means that sectors with a low cultural
level do not have sufficient guidance and advice to enable them to choose
freely the number of children and the interval between births. Obstacles:
voluntary termination of pregnancy is punished under the law.
(f) Women have the same rights as men in regard to guardianship, care,
custody and adoption of children.
(g) Spouses have the same personal rights as husband and wife with
regard to occupation and profession.
(h) Law 17.177 determines special requirements for the disposal of
family property.
The legal regime adopted for the administration and disposal of property
making up the marital partnership is one of separation with sharing of the
jointly owned marital property, thus reconciling the equality and independence
of the spouses, with each of the spouses having a share, in the event of
dissolution, of the property of the other acquired since marriage and
resulting from their work.
The marital partnership consists of original property which is acquired
before marriage or subsequently by inheritance, gift or legacy and acquired
property which is the property that each or both of the spouses acquire during
the marriage under any title other than inheritance, gift or legacy.
The marital partnership comes into action from the moment of the
marriage and cannot be stipulated to begin earlier or later.
The administration of property lies with each of the spouses,
independently of the other, as far as original property and acquired property
are concerned.
The same principle applies in the disposal or realization of such
property. The title to the property becomes of fundamental importance and must
be made clear on the occasion of its acquisition.
This principle recognizes one exception in favour of the nuclear family,
when it requires the consent of both spouses to dispose of or encumber
property acquired through marriage. This is the case of immovables, rights or
movable property that must be registered, transfer of title to or use of such
property by companies and the transformation and merger of companies.
This protection is even extended to the immovable property of one of the
spouses if it is the conjugal home and there are minor or disabled children.
Remarks
Article 1276 means inequality in respect of women's rights in that the
man is granted the administration of property of uncertain origin. This should
be reformed and the right given to both spouses.
2. Argentine legislation does not recognize future marriage. There can be
no legal action to enforce a promise of marriage.
The law fixes the minimum age for contracting marriage: 16 years for
women and 18 years for men. Dispensation may be granted only if the interests
of the under-age persons require it, and if there has been a hearing in the
presence of the judge, the intending spouses and the parents or legal
representatives of the under-age person (articles 166 and 167 of law 23.515).
Marriage shall be celebrated before the Civil Registrar in the domicile
of either of the spouses. It shall be inscribed in the Marriage Register.
The marriage is proven by the marriage certificate, signature of
witnesses, copy or family booklet, issued by the Civil Registrar.