Distr.
GENERAL
CEDAW/C/COL/4
28 August 1997

ENGLISH
ORIGINAL: SPANISH

COMMITTEE ON THE ELIMINATION OF
DISCRIMINATION AGAINST WOMEN
(CEDAW)

CONSIDERATION OF REPORTS SUBMITTED BY STATES PARTIES UNDER
ARTICLE 18 OF THE CONVENTION ON THE ELIMINATION OF ALL
FORMS OF DISCRIMINATION AGAINST WOMEN

Fourth periodic reports of States parties

COLOMBIA*

FOREWORD

As a contribution to the building of knowledge on the status of women in the world, Colombia has prepared its fourth general report to the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), thus becoming one of the few countries to have taken action to collect valuable information for the attainment of the Committee's objective, in the spirit of the United Nations.

The present report is a diagnostic tool which updates the information on the lives of women in our country since 1991, the year in which the new Constitution came into force. It thus offers an analysis of the advances and of the political, economic, social and cultural obstacles which Colombians have encountered over the last six years. It was prepared jointly by five consultants specializing in the various topics dealt with in the report, working under the leadership of the National Office for Equality for Women, and it was revised by the Ministries of Education, Agriculture, Employment and Foreign Affairs. It was finally approved by each of these Ministries and by the responsible minister of the National Office's Advisory Commission and was endorsed in its entirety by the Foreign Ministry's Office of Special Affairs.

In order to achieve greater clarity and internal consistency and to bring together in a single text knowledge about women which is generally fragmented and dispersed, the report was constructed on the basis of a comparison of the reality of social practices and the new constitutional framework, as it affects women, with each of the articles of the Convention. This approach, which is consistent with the methodology proposed by CEDAW, facilitates a more detailed assessment of the fulfilment of Colombia's commitment to the Convention and demonstrates its firm intention to compile additional information on the topic, which will provide the country's various agencies and institutions with a clearer understanding of the purposes of equality for women. In short, this report constitutes not only an effort by the Colombian Government to reaffirm its ratification of the Convention but also the most up-to-date study of the situation of women in our country.

Even though the third report described the constitutional framework, it was thought essential to include it in the fourth report as well, in order to provide a more detailed picture of the progress made in recent years. In fact, many of the principal legal developments have been consolidated only since 1994, which is why the statistics presented relate mainly to the period 1993-1995.

The report is not intended for CEDAW alone: it also seeks to establish a dialogue with every one of Colombia's institutions and citizens. It is thus written in such a way that any reader may consult it without needing to refer to the preceding reports and will find that the report can be used as a composite tool for learning about the situation of Colombian women.

In addition, in order to facilitate the work of consultation and research, the report has an introduction which summarizes the overall content and is subsequently amplified for each of the articles of the Convention. The sections on individual articles are drafted so as to constitute self-contained and complete units. The fact that they sometimes approach a single topic from different perspectives makes some repetition inevitable. But this seemed preferable to running the risk of presenting incomplete information on the various points discussed. The result is a truer picture of the legislative and programmatic aspects and of the social reality of Colombia's women.

The compilation of a coherent and unified body of knowledge about Colombian women is in fact the main contribution of this report, which of course constitutes a useful tool for changing this social reality, not only in Colombia but throughout the world, for the framework of the struggle for equality for women stretches far beyond frontiers drawn on maps.

INTRODUCTION

ADVANCES IN THE SITUATION OF WOMEN IN COLOMBIA

SUMMARY OF THE REPORT

In recent years the situation of Colombian women has undergone fundamental changes as a result of the adoption of the new National Constitution and an economic development model based on the internationalization of the economy, and as a result of the recent formulation of policies on equality for women and the creation of specialized State agencies to promote and apply these policies and ensure that they are followed up.

According to the 1993 national census Colombia has 35 million inhabitants, 51 per cent of them women; it has a modern urban structure, and 70 per cent of its population lives in towns and cities; it has modern nation-wide production and financial systems and extremely capable business leaders, and it has taken important steps to improve living conditions, in particular with respect to access to education, health, public services and low-cost housing.

As a result of its economic performance and low population growth Colombia has enjoyed a rapid increase in per capita income, to about $US 1,650 in 1995, even though this figure remains low in the Latin American context.

Life expectancy has increased and illiteracy has declined to very low levels; the workforce has become more skilled and major progress has been made in the scientific sphere and in the production and use of sophisticated technology; women have entered the labour force in very large numbers and in higher education they have numerical equality with men.

However, the improvements in the situation of women in Colombia have been due more to far-reaching policies for the country's democratization and modernization than to specific policies for the achievement of equality. Furthermore, although Governments have set targets in terms of both quality and cover, the progress has been quantitative rather than qualitative.

In fact, although the changes over the past five years have taken place against a background of a good economic performance, it cannot be denied that there are many paradoxes and contradictions connected with the exacerbation of violence of every kind. The country has an extremely unequal regional distribution of income, and half of the population has been left untouched by the benefits of modernization. The development plans have in fact given priority to quantitative growth on dubious assumptions of redistribution and have encouraged the concentration of income and the social inequality apparent in the high levels of poverty.

The crisis in the public administration, the corruption, impunity and widespread violence are rooted in a chain of causes and effects within the prevailing social system. This fact and the persistence of alarming levels of poverty, together with the widening of the incomes gap between urban and rural areas and the persistence of manifestations of violence point to the urgent need to promote alternative models of development to facilitate the participation of the whole population in the country's progress.

In recent years economic policy decisions have been designed to consolidate the internationalization of the economy and the reforms of the State required for that purpose. The social-policy measures have been basically designed to alleviate the burden of poverty borne by large groups of the population.

The Government which came to power in August 1994 proposed a sharp change of direction in the development model. Although it regards market liberalization and competitiveness as useful incentives in the economic process, it recognizes that, given the existing economic and social inequalities, these incentives do not in themselves operate as efficient and fair distributors of resources. The State has therefore made a firm commitment to equitable social development based on the new constitutional and legal mandates which address the development of the economic, social and cultural rights of the whole population.

Accordingly, the 1994-1998 National Development Plan: the Social Leap Forward contains strategies designed to foster economic growth with social equity and proposes major increases in public social expenditure, which is to rise from 10 per cent of GDP (1991-1994 average) to 13 per cent in 1998. The acceptance of the social aspect as an indispensable component of economic development and as a premise of human development marks an important conceptual step forward in the approach to public policies and the role of the State in the attainment of the targets.

But the attainment of the targets depends on macroeconomic decisions and the demonstration of the political will to counter the historical tendency to cut social budgets in response to changes in the economic and/or political climate. The initial results of the Plan illustrate the difficulties faced by the State in taking this approach in our country, given the confluence of internal and external factors with an enormous capacity to destabilize the economy and society.

Within the proposed approach the policy of equality for women is one of the seven social development strategies: the educational and cultural leap forward; comprehensive social security; housing, urban development and disaster prevention and relief; the policy for equality and participation of women (EPAM); policies for young people, indigenous peoples and Afro-Colombian and ethnic communities; small landowners; economic solidarity and justice, human rights and public safety. Basic importance is thus attached to women in the dialogue maintained by the State in this field. However, it must be admitted that the translation of the strategy of equality for women into programmes and social services is being affected by the current economic slowdown.

PROGRESS IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF LEGISLATION

Through actions by all three branches of public power Colombia is continuing to strengthen the trend in its constitutional and legal system towards equality between men and women and equality of opportunity for both sexes.

In this way, and always in accordance with our democratic Constitution, important social laws have been enacted on education, social security, dissolution of religious marriage, and protection of women heads of household, as well as the more recent laws designed to prevent and punish violence in the family. All of this legislation implies a direct or potential benefit for Colombia's women.

Actions of tutela are being increasingly used by women as a constitutional means of immediate protection of their basic rights; in addition, the Constitutional Court has developed important legal precedents on the protection of the rights of girls and women.

The following have been the main advances in legal equality:

* The incorporation of the legal equality of men and women in the 1991 Constitution, with special measures to help groups suffering discrimination or marginalization, pregnant women and women heads of household, and with a mandate to achieve the appropriate and effective participation of both sexes at the decision-making levels of the public administration.

* Where family relations are concerned, today men and women enjoy the same constitutional and legal rights and have equal obligations as couples and as parents. These rights are stated expressly in the laws on the dissolution of religious marriage, the distribution of property in de facto marriages, the recognition of the value of domestic work at the time of such distribution, and the equality of children born in and out of wedlock.

* Women have political rights on an equal footing with men; they possess the same legal capacity as men in civil matters; and they enjoy equality with respect to freedom of movement and choice of residence, as well as with respect to the acquisition, loss and restoration of nationality and the transmission of nationality to children.

* Both the Congress and the Executive have made progress with important social reforms, especially in education, health, employment and access to public housing and services. These reforms do not always have a specific intention of favouring women, but they do not contain any discriminatory measures and do benefit women in the sense that the National Office for Equality for Women and women's organizations press for the removal of the obstacles to women's access to the resources and services which the reforms are consolidating.

* The use of actions of tutela and the decisions of the courts have helped to correct situations which discriminated against women.

Despite the advances made in legislation with respect to equality and equity, various kinds of obstacle to the effective application of this legislation persist:

* The enormous gaps in the establishment and functioning of machinery to monitor and control the application of the laws.

* The existence of cultural factors which have a practical effect on the application of the regulations in all areas, for the patriarchal culture is a serious constraint on the introduction of changes which will diminish its predominance. The influence of this culture manifests itself in many different social practices: in most cases it is the man who determines where the family lives; there are moral prejudices against the new forms of family life; violence against women remains a means of wielding power; pregnant and breastfeeding mothers often encounter difficulties at work; women are at a disadvantage in separation and divorce proceedings; and in the exercise of political rights, despite their high level of participation in party organizations and as voters very few women - in comparison with men - are nominated and elected to public office, represented at the managerial levels of the parties or appointed to decision-making positions in the public sector.

* The persistence of an institutional culture which, taken as a whole, does not endorse any clear intention to eliminate the inequalities suffered by women.

* The lack of effective machinery for enforcement of court decisions, owing to the poor training of police and court personnel in the regulations and procedures applicable to family disputes and conciliation.

* The failure adequately to publicize the regulations and rights so that women can have recourse to them or claim them and so that the legal and other authorities can effectively apply the regulations and protect the rights.

* Colombia has a poorly developed legal and social culture of affirmative action, which is still viewed with suspicion, as if - ironically - it amounted to discrimination. The collective consciousness is dominated by the idea of a formal equality which denies the specific differences of women and their social disadvantages. Accordingly, the positive action stipulated by the Constitution concerning women's participation in the public administration has not been translated into legislation, despite the efforts of some members of the Congress and the women's social movement.

PROGRESS IN INSTITUTION-BUILDING

Colombia has made considerable progress in creating institutions to deal with women's and gender issues in application of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women and fulfilment of other international commitments.

The State now has several institutions for this purpose:

* The National Advisory Commission on Equality and Participation, a body which advises the President of the Republic; it is headed by a minister appointed by the President and its membership is drawn from high-level civil servants and representatives of women's organizations.

* The National Office for Equality for Women, which was created by Law 188 of July 1995 as a top-level Government agency responsible for coordinating activities to promote the equality and participation of women. It began functioning in January 1996 as an agency attached to the Office of the President but with an independent structure and its own budget.

* The National Network of Women's Agencies, made up of 32 offices or similar bodies at the departmental and municipal levels.

* The Parliamentary Network, made up of congresswomen of various political affiliations.

* The specialized women's offices or other bodies responsible for promoting the application of sectoral policies (Ministry of Agriculture, Rural Investment Cofinancing Fund (DRI), Ministry of Labour, Ministry of Health).

The following factors facilitate the work of these bodies:

* The existence of a basic body of knowledge about women and the obstacles to their advancement.

* The experience of women's organizations and NGOs.

* The strength which earlier circumstances invested in the progressive positions which Colombia has taken at world conferences, in particular the conferences on women, population and development, and human rights.

The following are some of the difficulties encountered by these bodies in carrying out policies to secure equality for women:

* The shortage of human and financial resources, which affects the capacity of the National Office and its advisory organs to provide technical assistance to the sectoral agencies and delays the mainstreaming of women's needs and interests in policies and programmes for women.

* The lack of personnel specializing in the issues of equality for women.

* The fact that the National Office is an advisory and not an executive agency means that it and its subsidiary organs can merely make proposals and that the implementation of proposed activities depends exclusively on the attitude of other ministries and State agencies.

* The institutional requirements of decentralization with respect to the character and dynamics of local processes and the human and financial resource needs.

POLICY FOR EQUALITY AND PARTICIPATION OF WOMEN (EPAM)

Since 1990 successive Governments have drawn up specific policies for women which have been approved by the National Economic and Social Policy Council (CONPES), the country's principal policy-making body. The Government which came to power in 1994 established the policy for equality and participation of women (EPAM), which was not only approved by CONPES but also incorporated in the National Development Plan and converted into a Law of the Republic (Law 188 of 1995), thus demonstrating the State's firm political intention to promote the equality of women and equal rights for women in the economic, political, social and cultural spheres.

The central and local strategies include research, education and training, information systems, development of legislation, support and technical assistance for central and local agencies responsible for planning and implementing programmes, and communications. They also cover linkage, dialogue, discussion and negotiation with women's organizations and NGOs and, of course, the management of international cooperation.

In practice, progress in policy formulation is impeded by many difficulties which stem from the State itself, threaten the effectiveness of its political intention and impair the implementation of the programmes:

* Macroeconomic decisions which limit public expenditure and affect primarily the social programmes.

* The lack of political will on the part of central and local agencies to accept and support the programmes. This attitude illustrates the gap between ideological discourse and practice.

* The embryonic nature of the culture of institutional support for equality and equity.

* The rigidity of the administrative systems and the systems for participation of civil society at all levels.

* The gap between discussion of the transversality of the dimension of equality for women in public policies and the instruments of social policy, given the persistent focalist and residual conception of activities designed to improve the situation of women.

With a view to overcoming these difficulties, the National Office has given priority to the sectoral work with the Ministries of Education, Health, Environment and Agriculture, the Colombian Family Welfare Institute, the National Planning Department, and the National Training Service (SENA). Each of these bodies has established a coordination unit and a joint working group and has initiated new activities or strengthened existing ones in the education and training of civil servants, research into specific situations by sector, and planning of institutional alternatives for mainstreaming the issues of equality for women, and the respective mandates of each body under the National Development Plan.

During the 1990s a major effort was made to give effect to the constitutional mandates for universal access to basic education, decentralization of education services, and participation of civil society in educational activities.

As part of this policy the Government promulgated Law 115 of 1993, whose principal mandates were set out in the National Development Plan 1994-1998, and drew up the Ten-Year Education Plan 1996-2005. This Plan gives special emphasis to the objective of eliminating all the situations of gender discrimination or isolation with respect to entering and remaining in the education system.

The 1990s have also seen achievements which are improving the situation of women. These achievements include:

* Maintenance of the tendency for more women to enrol in the various levels of education. In 1993: girls accounted for 52.5 per cent of the preschool enrolment, as against 50.7 per cent in 1991; girls provided about 50 per cent of pupils in basic primary education, without any great change from previous years; in secondary basic and secondary vocational education girls accounted for 52.9 per cent of enrolments, an increase of 3.7 per cent over 1990; and in higher education women made up some 52 per cent of the student population.

* The rates of female dropouts from the various levels of formal education and the numbers of female graduates continue the trend of earlier years of greater efficiency in the education of girls in relation to boys, as measured by retention in the system. However, the causes of dropouts remain closely linked to gender stereotypes which, as noted in the section of this report on article 10, have a negative impact on both sexes, but especially on boys.

* The trend towards employment of more women teachers in the initial levels of the system has continued, but the proportion of women declines through the levels up to higher education. However, in the present decade women have increased their representation in higher education by two percent.

* Gender stereotypes have a strong influence on vocational options but this influence is declining, as can be seen from the enrolment figures for the various special subjects of secondary and higher education.

* There has been a slight reduction in the rate of female illiteracy from 9 per cent in 1990 to 8.4 per cent in 1993.

* The Ministry of Education, the women's offices which have operated under the Office of the President under various organizational schemes, and the present National Office for Equality for Women have achieved progress in the institutional efforts to introduce the dimension of equality for women in the education system. A number of activities have been carried out to this end:

* Research and consultation to document the issues of equality between women and men in the education sector with respect to the State examinations in secondary education; review of the Sex Education Programme of the Ministry of Education; systematization of information relating to the training of teachers in the subject of gender discrimination in schools; and analysis of the National Development Plan to identify the strategic areas of education policies for gender equality.

* The Ministry has a unit dealing with this topic, but it has not been given adequate status or logistical support. Today, in order to strengthen this work, a programme on equality for women has been initiated with the cooperation of UNESCO, and an internal working group has been set up. The Ministry and the National Office are drawing up short- and medium-term action plans to form part of the policies and programmes.

* Where programmes are concerned, the Ministry has developed an interesting procedure for awareness-raising and training for civil servants in the central administration responsible for promoting the integration of the policy of equality within the Ministry, and for the personnel of the departmental education offices. It has also designed and published a teacher-training manual on the question of sexist content, compiled nationally and internationally produced teaching materials on gender and education, and introduced an experimental methodology for in-service teacher training, which it has tested with more than 500 teachers, head teachers and university professionals.

* The Ministry, the National office, the People's Network for Women's Education (REPEM) and UNICEF are developing a strategy of awareness-raising and incentives for publishers of school textbooks, with a view to securing changes to help to eradicate gender stereotypes from such books.

This sectoral work has encountered difficulties of very different kinds, but without doubt the most decisive ones are the resistance of civil servants and teachers to changes in favour of equality for women and the tendency of senior officials of the Ministry of Education to make commitments more in words than in deeds. However, there has recently been a greater political will to support progress in these areas.

During the 1990s this sector has made significant progress on the following fronts:

* In 1995 the life expectancy of women was 72.3 years, an increase of 10 years over the last three decades. The average life expectancy of men was a little lower at 66.4 years.

* In 1994 the maternal mortality rate fell to 78.2 deaths per 100,000 live births from the 1986 figure of 119.82. At present the Ministry of Health, with international assistance, is implementing an action plan to reduce maternal and perinatal mortality and a plan to promote the comprehensive health of women.

* The fertility rate calculated for the period 1990-1995 was 2.7, representing a decline of almost 23 per cent over the 15 preceding years.

* Infant mortality has declined by 48 per cent in the last 20 years from 54 to 28 deaths per 1,000 live births.

* Major improvements have been made in the regulations governing health and social security, including the promulgation of Law 100 of 1993 on comprehensive social security, which establishes a contributory system and a subsidized system designed to provide universal access to primary health care by 2000. Today the Executive is making progress with the enabling legislation for this Law, and institutional arrangements have been made for furnishing advice and support to the departments and municipalities in the certification procedures for the decentralized and independent handling of resource transfers.

* Another important step forward was taken with the promulgation of Law 63 of 1993 on decentralization, which provided, amongst other things, for the transfer of health and education resources from the State to the municipalities. In addition, CONPES has been taking important decisions on various aspects of social security, particularly with respect to subsidy funds, amounts and beneficiaries.

* The Ministry of Health and the National Office for Equality for Women have created a sectoral working group to draw up a plan of action to ensure that a culture of equality is introduced and institutionalized in all the Ministry's activities.

* Colombia is making considerable efforts to help women, especially working women, with the care of their children and is developing innovative strategies for this purpose. The following programmes have been drawn up for this purpose:

* Maternal and child care (Ministry of Health, Colombian Family Welfare Institute (ICBF), Social Support Network). This programme promotes the enrolment of pregnant and breastfeeding women and their children aged under 12 months in the subsidized system of basic health care and provides equipment for the first-level hospitals. At present a third of the women in the target group and the hospitals have been covered.

* Families, women and children (ICBF). This programme is aimed at pregnant and breastfeeding women in the poorest groups and their children aged under 12 months. In 1994 it reached 373,000 persons.

* Mother and child nutrition (ICBF). This programme covers indigenous women and children aged under seven years living in rural areas. In 1994 it reached about 290,000 persons.

* Community welfare centres (ICBF). There are about 60,000 of these centres catering for 900,000 children.

* Awareness-raising and training for civil servants. ICBF is carrying out this work with a group of civil servants from the Family Unit and the regional offices, with a view to initiating the mainstreaming of equality for women in this institution.

The health sector is encountering difficulties of various kinds:

* The process of decentralization has proved difficult in practice, both because of the stiff requirements imposed by the central administration for confirming the independence of a municipality or department and because of local technical deficiencies.

* The application of Law 100/93 is encountering great difficulties at the local level, especially with respect to the change of outlook and approach which a municipality must make in response to a mandate to provide universal cover of services and in response to the introduction of private services under various schemes. This resistance to decentralization does nothing to improve the health indicators.

* There are significant differences in the levels of development and managerial capacity of the institutions providing health services in the municipalities and big towns, as well as in the qualifications of their personnel and in the institutional response to the people's demands. This situation affects the specific care required by women and the cover provided by the less developed municipalities.

* The structure of the health system, based on a contributory scheme and a subsidized scheme, tends to discriminate against women: where the contributory scheme is concerned, the reality is that there are more women working in the sectors which do not have social security; in the case of the subsidized scheme, women are the most seriously affected by national and local fiscal problems and by the consequent cuts in social investment.

* The last 10 years have seen a gradual deterioration of the country's vital statistics, because the institutions are not provided with any clear definition as to responsibility for collecting such statistics and because there are problems both in the information systems and in the extent of their cover.

* Improvement of the poor quality of health service personnel and enhancement of a human approach, especially in areas relating specifically to women, remain an unattained target for the sector, despite the awareness-raising and training efforts which have been made.

Urban women: women have made some significant progress with respect to urban employment; they have joined the tertiary services sector, participate in the globalization of the economy, and have overcome many problems of inequality vis-à-vis men. However, the circumstances which channel women toward the jobs and branches of activity of lower socio-economic status, lowest incomes and least job security still persist.

Against this background, the following points summarize the situation of urban women:

* The processes of economic adjustment manifest themselves in a decline in the number of women workers in the economically active population and the employed population. Some of the employment gains of earlier years have thus been lost.

* Gender stereotypes persist in employment by branch of activity.

* Most women are employed in the services sector, with a representation of 57.5 percent.

* The proportion of women employed in low-status jobs such as unpaid worker or domestic servant is over 50 per cent and rising.

* There has been an increase in the number of women classified as own-account workers. This category is of course the main component of the informal sector. There is a corresponding decline in the proportion of women classified as independent worker/employee, positions of relative stability. In fact, although the informal urban sector underwent a decline in 1992, it is currently taking in very large numbers of women workers.

* More women than men are taking the new jobs, but there has been no improvement in the quality of the jobs obtained.

* Women constitute the lowest-paid group and the tendency for women to belong to this group is increasing.

* The proportion of women in the economically inactive population remains constant at about 70 per cent.

* Employed women are showing significant improvements in their standard of education, but these improvements are not matched by gains in terms of employment. For example, women with secondary and higher education obtain lower-paid jobs than men with the same qualifications.

* As a result of the employment situation there was an increase in poverty as measured by the real purchasing power of incomes, although poverty measured by unsatisfied basic needs declined.

* Colombia is making progress with legislation in favour of women workers, but an additional effort is required by the State to publicize the regulations among women and employers and to establish machinery to monitor and control the application of the regulations.

* The wide gap between the legislation and the social practice is illustrated by the difficulties encountered by pregnant workers, in the limited access of women to better-paid jobs and in the salary differentials which persist between women and men.

* The national employment policies do not allow any discrimination against women, but nor do they set targets for the integration of women or for facilitating their work by taking into account the requirements of their reproductive functions. Employment programmes for women focus basically on women heads of household and their cover is limited.

* Cultural factors rooted in the division of labour by sex continue to impose a double day's work on women workers.

Rural women: rural women are at a disadvantage vis-à-vis rural men and urban women; they are among the country's poorest people; they bear heavy work burdens and receive low pay; they work long days; they have poor qualifications; they suffer more problems of unemployment; and they are one of the most vulnerable social groups in the situation of agrarian crisis, violence and armed conflict in Colombia. In short, their quality of life is very poor.

The following factors must be mentioned with respect to their employment situation and incomes:

* There is an increasing trend towards waged employment, particularly in services and commerce.

* The 1994 figures show a higher level unemployment for women (11.37%) than for men (3.23%).

* The proportion of workers holding second jobs is much bigger for women (79.45%) than for men (20.6%).

* In rural areas virtually all domestic work is done by women.

* Women make a big contribution to the survival of the nuclear family, for in addition to their biological-reproduction and social functions they hold paid jobs.

Social policy for rural women has secured some fundamental advances in recent years:

* The theme of equality for women has begun to establish itself formally in the Ministry of Agriculture and the sector's other bodies. In fact, there exists today an institutional base which can be consolidated but which requires support if it is to play a decisive role in matters of equality.

* There is a broader political consensus that rural women are a group requiring special attention, and this consensus has led to the approval of specific policies and laws which mention women as direct beneficiaries. However, the cover is still very limited in terms of services and access to resources.

* There is a greater awareness in institutions of the need to devise instruments and machinery for incorporating women. Unfortunately, the development and use of such instruments and machinery are very slow owing to a bureaucratic culture which does not look kindly on the interests of women.

* Greater coordination with a view to strengthening the rural family has been established with bodies such as ICBF.

* The Rural Women's Office of the Ministry of Agriculture has drawn up a plan of action for rural women, as well as other specific programmes for women heads of household and women displaced by the violence and armed conflict.

The difficulties of the social programmes for women include:

* The fact that the programmes have a greater impact on raising awareness of women's problems and the organization of women than on their productive capacity and economic advancement.

* The instability of the lead institution in the agricultural sector and the unpredictability of the resources for the implementation of policies for the integration of women in the labour market.

* The still-limited cover of the services and programmes in relation to the numbers of poor and vulnerable people.

* The lack of information broken down by sex in the national data base and the sectoral information systems.

* The constraints associated with the prevailing social and cultural factors and the ignorance of women's rights, which influence not only rural society but also civil servants. As a result, women do not truly have information about their rights or about the sectoral plans and programmes.

* The limited cover and possibly the lack of suitable training methods mean that civil servants do not know how to incorporate equality for women in their daily work.

Training for work: the National Training Service (SENA) has made progress in the discussion and integration of this topic in various ways: documentation of the situation in the Service; a awareness-raising and training plan for civil servants, head teachers and students at the national and regional levels, a programme to promote the participation of women in non-traditional areas; and the production of materials.

The Ministry of the Environment created its project on equality and participation of women with a view to promoting a strategy for mainstreaming the topic in its activities.

To this end the Ministry made a diagnosis of the situation in terms of the awareness of its personnel about the participation of women in the management, use and benefits of environmental resources. On the basis of this diagnosis a proposal was agreed at the national and regional levels for the incorporation of the Policy for Equality and Participation of Women (EPAM) in the National Environmental System, including the design of a communication strategy to promote gender equality in environmental projects and in the production of the guideline materials used in these projects.

Since 1994 the National Planning Department (DNP) has had an adviser responsible for reviewing the theme of gender equality in the analysis, approval and monitoring of the development projects and policies presented by the Department, for which it acts as lead agency. Before the submission of the National Development Plan 1990-1994 to the Congress, DNP issued recommendations for the explicit integration of women's needs. These needs were in the end included, in a piecemeal manner.

In 1995 awareness-raising and training programmes were introduced for senior DNP staff with a view to incorporating the gender dimension in the planning procedures.

DNP does important work in documenting the national situation as part of its function of drafting public policies. Thanks to this work, the ample information about sectors such as health, small enterprises, education and employment gives a picture of the specific situation of women. However, DNP still does not have a policy for dealing systematically and independently with women's issues.

Colombia lives in an atmosphere of widespread conflict which makes it one of the most violent countries in the world. As a result, women are victims of various forms of violence and violation of their rights, and their situation is tending to deteriorate further, for women not only suffer sexual violence and violence in the family but are also denied justice, and women prisoners are subject to greater restrictions than men with regard to the access allowed to their cells and visits by their husbands.

Various institutions are working in a number of areas:

* The Government signed the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action adopted at the 1993 World Conference on Human Rights and the Plan of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development (Cairo, 1994), committing itself to respect and promote the sexual and reproductive rights of women.

* The National Office for Equality, the Ministry of Justice, the Ombudsman's Office (Defensoría del Pueblo) and the Presidential Council for Human Rights (CPDH) have played an active role in the Congress in the discussion and adoption of legislation punishing violence in the family (Law 294 of 1996) and of the Inter-American Convention for the Prevention, Punishment and Eradication of Violence Against Women (Law 248 of 1996).

* The Congress has enacted laws protecting the rights of ethnic minorities.

* The Ombudsman's Office, the Attorney General's Office (Procuraduría) and ICBF have carried out studies of the prostitution of women, particularly minors, and are promoting specific programmes for them.

* The Constitutional Court has established important precedents for the protection of the human rights of women, especially with respect to conjugal and other domestic violence.

* CPDH and the Ministry of Education have established a university chair of democracy and human rights. In collaboration with other institutions CPDH has held 600 local workshops to impart information about the Constitution and provide training in democracy and conflict resolution.

Respect for the human rights of women is becoming part of a broader human rights policy in Colombia, which is experiencing serious and enormous difficulties in attaining its targets in a country in which all possible fronts are open for violation of human rights by guerrilla fighters, paramilitaries, the army, drug traffickers, and common criminals. As if that was not enough, the family constitutes another theatre of violence against women, but this type of violation of women's human rights is not even recognized as such.

Stereotypes persist in Columbia; they have an impact on the poor participation of women in the management and control of the mass media and reinforce the sexist content of the messages. Since 1990 the Women's Unit in the Office of the President of the Republic has been analysing the media, promoting meetings and workshops for discussion and awareness-raising about the media's role in the creation and perpetuation of stereotypes, and publishing studies on this topic. Other bodies such as the Ministry of Communications and the Colombian Radio and Television Institute (INRAVISION) are making some timid efforts to secure changes in this direction.

In 1996 the National Office for Equality for Women, in collaboration with FEMPRESS, held a meeting to debate the topic "Let's talk about non-sexist communication", at which participants made a number of key contributions to exposing the lack of a culture of equality in the mass media.

There has been little change in the situation of women in this area during the 1990s. Against the background of the country's high abstention rate, many women do actually vote, but only a very small number of women are elected. In the last two presidential elections 30 of the candidates were women but only one of them obtained more than one per cent of the vote.

In 1994 the representation of women declined in the Senate and increased slightly in the Chamber. Their representation increased significantly in the regional bodies, although without exceeding 11 per cent of elective posts. In the civil service, three women ministers have been appointed to the Cabinet. In the civil service list, only 19 per cent of the administrative posts are held by women. Furthermore, there are virtually no women magistrates in the courts: no posts in the Supreme Court of Justice or the Constitutional Court and four of the 26 seats in the Council of State.

No local decision-making body, community action board, trade union or cooperative has more than 10 per cent women among its management staff. The national offices of the political parties have had one or two women (out of eight to 10 officials), and the statutes of one of the parties provides for one woman for every five senior officials in its regional and municipal offices. Neither the Government, nor the courts, nor the political parties have on their agenda affirmative action to increase the participation of women. An attempt to give effect to article 40 of the Constitution concerning adequate and equitable representation in the civil service was shelved in the Congress. Only the isolated voices of a few women members of the Congress and of women's organizations give the problem any airing.

THE ORGANIZATION OF WOMEN

Colombia has many women's groups, associations, networks of organizations and non-governmental organizations (NGOs). Many of them are working on a broad front and have played an important role in the changes which have taken place in the country with respect to regulations, institutions and programmes. Some of the organizations, of women or otherwise, are independent; others, promoted by the State, have acquired differing degrees of independence over time.

The diversity of their objectives means that they engage in very different types of work and achieve different results:

* The organizations and groups promoting research into and discussion of the situation and status of women are engaged in a far-reaching process of theoretical and practical documentation resulting in the publication of many books and papers; some groups have succeeded in consolidating their work by setting themselves up as research centres in the universities or establishing specialized postgraduate programmes. This is the case, for example, of the master's degree in gender and development of the National University of Columbia.

* NGOS such as Casa de la Mujer, PROMUJER and Cinemujer and many regional centres do important work in the promotion of women and/or provision of services which make good to some extent the deficiencies in the State's provision, even though they receive no, or only very intermittent, support from the State.

* There are many organizations and groups seeking to satisfy basic needs or generate incomes, but they have great difficulty in surviving owing to the restrictions on access to loans, technology and technical assistance.

* The organizations and groups concerned with meeting social needs have achieved important successes in projects on the care of children (community mothers), public housing and public services (FEDEVIVIENDA), and income generation (Foundation for Higher Education, Restrepo Barco Foundation, and Social Foundation).

* The organizations and groups promoting women's organizations as such have made progress in the rural sectors (ANMUCIC) and in the formation of federations of organizations, for example the National Women's Network and the National Network for Sexual and Reproductive Rights.

The participation of women's organizations in the determination and monitoring of policies and programmes is still scant and merely formal, even though by law women must be represented on the national, departmental and municipal planning councils, and by decree on the Advisory Commission on Equality and Participation of Women. The National Office for Equality is proposing as one of its policies to promote the organization of women and strengthen the existing groups and machinery for their participation in political and civic life.

INSTITUTIONS FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF WOMEN

The various bodies created for this purpose have been carrying out strategies connected with the determination of their own organic structure, orientation and operation and with the programmes of the National Office for Equality for Women.

Since 1994 in particular the national machinery for the advancement of women (initially the Women and Gender Department and then the National Office for Equality and its advisory bodies) have made progress on the following fronts:

* Start-up of the various agencies forming part of the national machinery for the advancement of women: the Advisory Commission, and the sectoral, local and parliamentary networks of thematic working groups.

* Establishment of working groups in conjunction with the agencies, which have given priority to the drafting of action plans.

* Technical and financial support for studies on the situation of women in various sectors: education, health, justice, human rights, civil safety, employment and working conditions, environment, integration of women in the country's competitiveness strategies, and participation of women in the national civil service.

* Publication of studies, documents and the results of experiments.

* Support for draft legislation produced by the Government and by the Congress, especially legislation on violence against women, political participation, informal associations, regulation of property, reproductive health, and protection of women workers.

* Preparations for Colombia's participation in the Fourth World Conference on Women: regional activities for the production of Colombia's national report, preparation of the official delegation to the Conference and participation as members thereof, organization of meetings and workshops, and publication and distribution of materials on Colombia's international commitments.

* Promotion of and participation in the publicizing of the rights of women, raising awareness of the topic of equality in the communication media, and production and transmission of audiovisual materials.

* Support for the local network of women's offices in the 22 departments and 10 main cities, by means of:

- Meetings and/or workshops for the analysis of the EPAM policy, the achievements and difficulties of its application, and problems and needs of these offices.

- Advice on the restructuring of the offices so that they will be able themselves to provide advice on the introduction of the EPAM policy in the departmental and municipal agencies responsible for the implementation of the sectoral programmes.

APPLICATION OF THE ARTICLES OF THE CONVENTION ON THE

ELIMINATION OF ALL FORMS OF DISCRIMINATION

AGAINST WOMEN

ACTION TAKEN BY THE STATE FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF WOMEN

(arts. 1, 2 and 3)

"For the purposes of the present Convention, the term `discrimination against women' shall mean 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."

"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 realization 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."

 

"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."

THE COLOMBIAN CONSTITUTION AND WOMEN

The 1991 Constitution is a broad and ambitious charter of the rights of the individual which recognizes the inalienable primacy of the individual, rejects any kind of discrimination, and affirms the rights of the family as the basic institution of society (art. 5).

Where fundamental rights are concerned, the concept of equality (art. 13) is perhaps one of the biggest advances in the new Constitution, for the Constitution does not merely embody the formal equality of all persons before the law and the prohibition of discrimination on the grounds of sex, race, national or family origin, language, religion, or political or philosophical opinions, but also establishes true equality, i.e. equality of treatment and protection by the authorities. In addition, the Constitution enjoins the State to promote the conditions for true and effective equality, to take action to help groups suffering marginalization or discrimination, and to provide special protection for persons in situations of obvious economic, physical or mental disadvantage.

Political rights, which are regarded as fundamental in the Constitution (art. 40), are posited as equal rights for all citizens, with a specific reference to the obligation of the authorities to guarantee adequate and effective participation of women at all decision-making levels in the civil service.

Furthermore, where social, economic and cultural rights are concerned, the Constitution pays particular attention to women: it stipulates the principle of equality of rights and opportunities between the sexes, expressly prohibits any kind of discrimination against women, deals specifically with the situation of pregnant women, including their right to receive special protection and assistance from the State and a maintenance grant when they are unemployed or unprotected and, lastly, enjoins the State to provide specific support for women heads of household (art. 43).

The Constitution establishes the rights of the family, including the freedom of men and women to establish natural families by means of de facto marriages or legal families by means of marriage, and it bases family relations on the equality of rights and duties of the couple and on the respect of family members for each other (art. 42).

Lastly, the Constitution enjoins the Legislature to issue labour regulations paying particular attention, as a minimum fundamental principle, to the special protection of women and motherhood (art. 53).

Accordingly, the Colombian Constitution constitutes the legal basis for application of the Convention, not only by embodying rights which prohibit discrimination against women and enhance their status in various areas of Colombian life but also by attaching importance to the international human rights treaties ratified by Columbia: such treaties take precedence in domestic legislation and constitute a criterion for the interpretation of the Bill of Rights (art. 93).

Thus, as an international treaty promoting women's right to equality the Convention, which was ratified by Law 51 of 1981, takes precedence in the juridical order. When a conflict of laws arises the Convention is given priority and it functions as the most important criterion for interpretation of the rights embodied in the Constitution.

According to the majority view of the present Constitutional Court, since the Convention is a treaty ratified before the entry into force of the new Constitution, the principles of international law require that the Convention should be observed and applied without any discussion as to its content. And according to the minority view, since the Convention is a multilateral human rights treaty, in that it promotes women's right to equality and prohibits discrimination against them, its rules take precedence in the domestic order.

Accordingly, both views of the Constitutional Court support the preeminence and precedence of the Convention.

CONSTITUTIONAL MACHINERY FOR PROTECTION OF HUMAN RIGHTS

One of the most important constitutional mechanisms for the protection and effective exercise of rights is the recourse of tutela (art. 86), by means of which any person can seek before the courts the immediate protection of his or her fundamental rights when they are harmed or threatened by an act or omission of the authorities.

Although it is a requirement for bringing such an action that the person affected has no other means of legal protection, its use is allowed as a temporary recourse to avoid irremediable harm. The judge must issue an order requiring the authority in question to act or refrain from acting.

The following are the practical advantages of tutela for the protection of fundamental rights:

* Proceedings may be brought by any person, including children, without a lawyer or other legal intermediary.

* The procedure is brief and is given priority, for the judge has a maximum period of 10 days in which to take a decision.

* The decision must be complied with within the following 48 hours, and the judge can sanction a failure to comply by arrest and fines on the ground of contempt of court, without prejudice to any criminal liability.

* Decisions can be appealed before the higher courts, and the Constitutional Court may review them.

In exceptional cases actions of tutela can be brought against individuals in the circumstances specified in Decree 2591 of 1991 on the recourse of tutela. In some such cases women, or any other persons, may defend their rights against private education institutions on the ground that education is a public service, or against enterprises or other individuals when the plaintiff is a subordinate or defenceless.

This means of recourse has become in practice the main instrument for the protection of fundamental rights; it has proved its effectiveness and people turn to it because of the flexibility of the procedure; it has helped to generate a social awareness of such rights. It is important to acknowledge the role which the Constitutional Court has come to play in the protection and promotion of rights and in the creation of a culture of respect for rights among judges, other authorities and society at large.

In concrete terms, with respect to the right to equality and in the battle against discrimination tutela is a fundamental legal recourse which women are learning to use to defend their rights, as will be seen in the discussion of the subsequent articles of the Convention.

The findings of a national study on the use of tutela in the period 1991-1993 provide eloquent testimony: during this period 22,658 actions were brought, 6,514 (28.8%) of them by women. The five rights most frequently cited as violated were the rights of petition, education and employment, and due process, and the rights to life and equality. Of all the actions brought, 5,299 were successful. Of this number, 1,894 were brought in protection of the fundamental rights of women.

The 1991 Constitution created the institution of Ombudsman (Defensor del Pueblo): his general function is to attend to the promotion, exercise and publicizing of human rights. His specific tasks include submission of draft legislation, appearing before the Constitutional Court in connection with human rights legislation, and bringing actions of common cause and tutela.

The Ombudsman's Office has a unit for the rights of children, women and the elderly, which advises the Ombudsman and his regional and sectoral offices, as well as working to raise awareness and improve motivation and support in institutions in which problems connected with the situation of these groups have been identified. It also coordinates research and formulates recommendations.

With respect to the rights of women and the fight against discrimination against women, the Ombudsman's Office plays an active role by appearing before the Constitutional Court to seek the review of decisions on actions of tutela with a view to the protection of women's rights and by publicizing such rights at seminars and in publications.

LEGISLATION GIVING EFFECT TO THE CONSTITUTION

The proclamation of the Constitution set in motion the enactment of legislation to give effect to its provisions. This legislation facilitates the application of the Convention in the following specific areas:

* Regulation of the termination by divorce of the civil effects of religious marriages (Law 25 of 1992).

* Regulation of the acquisition, renunciation, loss and recovery of Colombian nationality (Law 43 of 1993).

* Regulation of voluntary military service by women and compulsory service when exceptional circumstances affecting the country so require and the Government so decides (Law 48 of 1993).

* Support for women heads of household (Law 82 of 1993).

* Creation of the social security system by Law 100 of 1993, which stipulates the principle of the universality of health care and social security without any kind of discrimination and the principle of support for vulnerable groups.

* Establishment of the pension support fund for women running small businesses, community mothers and women workers in the urban and rural informal sector (Law 100 of 1993, art. 25).

There is another series of laws which carry a social impact and may potentially benefit women and promote their advancement, although these laws do not envisage any specific regulations or measures in favour of women:

* Establishment of the principle of respect for equality as a purpose of education (Law 115 of 1994).

* Restructuring of the National Training Service (SENA) in order to expand its objectives and functions and modify its internal structure so as to facilitate the decentralization of its services (Law 119 of 1994).

* Establishment of the principle of the democratization, without discrimination, of sports, recreation and leisure activities (Law 181 of 1995).

* Establishment of the protection of young people, children and the family and respect for the values of equality (Law 182 of 1995 on television services).

It must be pointed out that Colombian legislation is generally designed to secure respect for and promotion of equality between men and women.

NATIONAL AND LOCAL INSTITUTIONAL MACHINERY FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF WOMEN

Since 1990 Colombia has had a governmental office for women in the Office of the President of the Republic; this office has operated under various administrative arrangements and titles: Council for Youth, Women and the Family; Secretariat for Women's and Gender Affairs; and Department of Equality for Women.

The Government which entered office in 1994 decided to expand the institutional base for dealing with matters of equality for women, for which various national, local and sectoral agencies had been created. In 1994 it established the Advisory Commission on Equality and Participation of Women (Decree 2055 of 1994), the Secretariat for Women's and Gender Affairs in the Office of the President, and the Gender Affairs Unit of the responsible minister. The latter two bodies operated as technical units of the Advisory Commission. These arrangements lasted until the end of 1995, when the National Office for Equality for Women came into being.

As mentioned in the introduction, the present institutional arrangements include:

* The National Advisory Commission on Equality and Participation, headed by a minister or other official and including the Director of the National Office for Equality for Women and representatives of the National Planning Department, the Presidential Council for Social Policy, the Colombian Family Welfare Institute, and civil society, together with members appointed by the President of the Republic and experts on the topic, as well as two representatives of women's organizations with two deputies. The Commission advises the President and the National Office.

* The purpose of the National Office is to help to strengthen the State as guarantor of women's rights, promote the mainstreaming of policies for women in programme execution agencies, provide the technical advice required by this process, and encourage activities to facilitate a cultural change in institutions and in society, in order to render the practical application of equality increasingly more visible.

Law 188 of 1995 on the National Development Plan 1994-1998 created the National Office for Equality for Women as a special administrative unit in the Administrative Department of the Office of the President; it has administrative independence and its own resources and its purpose is to promote policies of equality for women and, in a broader framework, to develop tolerant attitudes in society at large and to contribute as part of its specific mandate to the strengthening of the State as guarantor of the political, civil, economic, social and cultural rights of women.

The establishment of the National Office marked a qualitative advance towards attainment of equality, since for the first time Colombia now has an institution created by law for the permanent planning, monitoring and coordination of the activities of the various agencies working for the equality and participation of women. Its objective is to carry out the policy determined by the National Economic and Social Policy Council (CONPES) with a view to promoting the equality of women in the various areas of social life and including this new cultural perspective in State policies.

In accordance with Decree 1440 of 1996, giving effect to the legislation creating the National Office, the Office's fundamental purpose is to promote and provide technical support and advice for the coordination and discussion, design, programming, monitoring and permanent development of the activities of the national and local agencies carrying out the equality policies.

To this end the National Office has focused its work on the formal incorporation of equality for women in the country's agenda for social economic, political and cultural development. This work is based on an approach to equality and equity which seeks to integrate the specific needs of women in macro-policies and secure recognition of the social, cultural and economic differences between men and women and acceptance of the sexual division of labour both from the practical and from the cultural and symbolic standpoints.

* The Office of the Attorney General (Procuraduría General de la Nación) has a minors' and family unit whose main function is to protect the rights of minors, the disabled and the family in general (Law 201 of 1995).

* The Ombudsman's Office has a unit on the rights of children, women and the elderly.

* Some ministries have shown a special interest in working on topics connected with the equality of women, albeit through women's offices, as in the case of the Ministry of Agriculture, or by appointing staff members to take a particular interest in this topic, as in the case of the Ministries of Employment, Economic Development and Education.

* Since 1990 institutions have been developing at the local level; this has entailed a commitment by governors and mayors to give special attention to women's and gender problems within their administrative structure. At present there are 32 women's agencies in departments and municipalities with differing levels of legal, technical and administrative development.

POLICIES FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF WOMEN

Since 1990, when the process of institutionalizing women's and gender issues began in Colombia, the treatment of these issues has depended on ad hoc social circumstances and the political will of Governments. The decisive factors which have helped to consolidate this process include the claims successfully pursued as a result of the work of women's organizations, the guidance and support provided by international technical cooperation, and the juridical, constitutional and legal developments in Colombia itself.

Colombia has made important progress in the integration of women in socio-economic life and public affairs as part of the modernization of policies and institutions and the effort to attain the national targets of social equality. There is no doubt that women have benefitted from these developments, while at the same time taking on new tasks and responsibilities which are not always matched by access to resources and services. The removal of the barriers to the full participation of women has been the objective of the institutions working for their advancement since 1990.

To this end, policies, programmes and mechanisms have been designed in the light of various theoretical and programmatic concepts and differing views about the ways in which macro-policies should operate and at the same time respond to the specific requirements of equality for women. Progress has been made in the formulation of public policies, which are slowly being translated into action for the attainment of equality.

Over a period of seven years there has been a transition from a demographic concept (women as a group subject to specific actions) to a concept of public policies which give priority to affirmative action for women; institutional arrangements which supported ad hoc initiatives have been abandoned in favour of a transversal approach which promotes and supports the integration of the topics of equality for women in sectoral policies and programmes.

The development of broader concepts of social policy which respond to the specific needs of women and men has created major difficulties and resistance in Colombia, for it implies recognizing that marginalization and discrimination are not problems affecting women alone but stem from the failure to secure equitable development, and that the set of social modernization instruments which is being promoted (decentralization, demand subsidies, social investment funds, and privatization of services) can have adverse results for women and must be revised from that standpoint.

During the period 1990-1997 successive Governments have made commendable efforts to place the issues of equality for women on the public policy agenda. In 1992 the National Economic and Social Policy Council (CONPES) approved the Integrated Policy for Colombian Women: it was the first time that this top-level body had concerned itself with a national policy for women.

Also in 1992 the Ministry of Health created the policy "Health for women, women for health", whose purpose was to help to reduce the existing inequalities between men and women in the area of health and improve women's quality of life by tackling their specific health problems. What was needed was an instrument to strengthen action for women in this specific system by means of the participation of women as subjects of the decisions which affect their lives, their bodies and their sexuality. The policy was divided into several subprogrammes: promotion of women's health and personal care; reproductive health and sexuality; prevention of abuse and care for the victims of violence; and promotion of mental health care and prevention of mental illness among women. At present this programme has ceased to deal specifically with women and is being carried out by the municipalities with the support of the Ministry as part of the decentralized health system.

In 1984 CONPES had approved a sectoral policy for rural women which was revised in 1994. In 1994 the new Government submitted to CONPES for approval the Policy for Equality and Participation of Women (EPAM), which is currently being carried out and directs the revision of policies for women from the standpoint of a model of equitable development.

* To secure an institutional commitment to the incorporation of the concept of equality for women in the planning and management of development programmes and projects carried out by public agencies.

* To improve women's quality of life by removing obstacles which place them at a disadvantage with respect to opportunities and the resources and benefits of economic and social development.

* To seek the equitable participation of women in State management and decision-making bodies and in social organizations.

* To promote a cultural change which will revalue the role of women in society and encourage the building of relationships of equality between men and women, both in the family and in the other areas of society.

* To institutionalize the topic and the new cultural outlook which it implies at the national and local levels by creating agencies responsible for managing the policies and by appointing sectoral agents.

* To establish the concept of equality for women at the sectoral level by integrating it in the planning and management of the corresponding programmes in order to provide an effective response to the needs of women and men.

* To establish the topic at the local level in order to promote the implementation of the policy in departments and municipalities.

* To support the development of legislation on equality between men and women and the advancement of women.

* To help to strengthen the organization of women in order to promote their participation and training and encourage affirmative action for women in the life of the country.

* To increase the awareness of society and the authorities by means of training and through the communication media.

* To research and document the situation of women in the strategic areas of their advancement.

Up to December 1995 the EPAM Advisory Commission concerned itself basically with the following matters:

* Definition of the priority governmental programmes with a view to the mainstreaming of equality for women.

* Study of the proposed regulations governing the National Office for Equality for Women and make recommendations concerning its legal status, functions and structure.

* Proposal of machinery for coordination and negotiation with sectoral bodies.

Since January 1996 the Commission has been operating as a top-level adviser to the National Office.

With respect to the fulfilment of international commitments, the Minister responsible for EPAM:

* Directed the preparations for the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing and Colombia's participation in the preparatory meetings; she acted as head of the official delegation and together with its members analyzed the draft Platform for Action and prepared the document which Colombia submitted to the Conference: "Colombia pays its social debt to its women: national report of the Government of Colombia". She later submitted to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs a report on Colombia's participation in the Conference.

The Sectoral Network met in 1995 in order to:

* Prepare an "institutional map" of women's issues, which included a break-down of the civil service list by grade and sex and subsequently served as the basis for the study on the participation of women in the national civil service, published in 1995.

* Report on the progress made in the establishment of EPAM and formulate proposals for streamlining the process.

The National Office has given priority in the sectoral incorporation of EPAM to the introduction of procedures to increase the awareness and improve the training of civil servants and to promote research in the Ministries of Education and the Environment and in the Colombian Family Welfare Institute, the National Planning Department, the Social Support Network and the National Training Service (SENA), which are making efforts to integrate the concept of equality for women in their activities and the work of their staff.

The Ministry of Education has carried out the following research work to document gender problems in education:

* Analysis of the results of the examinations in State secondary schools from the gender perspective.

* Gender factors in sex education.

* Sex content of textbooks.

* Plan for equality of opportunities for women in education.

At the same time training activities have been carried out at the national level for the Ministry's personnel in order to encourage the establishment of EPAM and secure greater attention for equality for women in the education sector, and advice was provided to the Deputy Minister for Youth about training workshops on integration of the gender variable in the National Sex Education Project.

At the departmental level a training strategy for teachers designed to stimulate discussion and thinking about the topic of education and gender was designed, implemented and evaluated.

The Ministry of the Environment created a project on equality and participation of women, developing a strategy of diagnosis and awareness-raising by means of regional workshops on the situation and participation of women in the management and control of and access to the benefits of the exploitation and use of natural resources and the environment. The resulting diagnoses constituted the starting point for the national and regional negotiation of a proposal for the incorporation of EPAM in the National Environmental System. This included the design of a communication strategy to promote equality for women in environmental projects.

In order to provide guidance for the process of establishing EPAM, the Ministry produced the following documents, amongst others:

"Proposed guidelines on equal participation of women in sustainable development";

"Networking, gender and equality, a means of creating culture";

"Project on the development of strategies for the establishment of EPAM in national environmental policy";

"Women: gender and equality: policy for participation and equality in sustainable human development".

The Colombian Family Welfare Institute (ICBF) also carried out awareness-raising and training activities with a group of staff members of its Family Unit, thus initiating the mainstreaming of the gender perspective in this agency. With a view to consolidating the gender perspective, a document on EPAM was published and distributed to the national and regional agencies. In addition, an awareness-raising strategy was formulated for the staff of the regional ICBF offices, and a handbook containing information to facilitate a revision of the materials produced by ICBF was issued, with the result that the non-sexist depiction of men and women is becoming increasingly common.

In the National Planning Department an adviser responsible for the topic of gender equality analyzes, approves and monitors the development projects and policies presented and led by the Department. In 1995 awareness and training activities were begun for its senior staff with a view to integrating the dimension of equality for women in its planning procedures. Through the Department, research has been carried out on the situation of women in health, small businesses, education and employment sectors.

Lastly, SENA produced a plan to increase awareness about the analysis of gender issues and equality for women for civil servants and trainees at the national and regional levels, together with a training plan for teachers and civil servants responsible for establishing EPAM in the SENA. Encouragement was also given to the participation of women in training programmes traditionally regarded as existing for men, and the following documents were prepared in order to provide guidance for the establishment of EPAM:

"Promotion of the participation of women in technical and vocational training";

"Towards gender equality: institutional diagnosis".

In 1995 the National Network of Women's Agencies met in order to:

* Learn about EPAM and lay the foundations for formulating a local strategy for its establishment.

* Analyze the achievements and the difficulties faced by staff responsible for establishing EPAM in the various agencies, so as to determine the various kinds of support which these agencies need from the National Office for Equality.

Where the establishment of EPAM in local agencies is concerned, in 1995 activities were carried out in 22 departments, nine departmental chief towns and the District of Santa Fe de Bogotá.

Progress has been made at two levels in the establishment of EPAM in the departments and municipalities:

More advanced regions. As of today there are seven departments and five municipalities in which the administrations have units responsible for EPAM and for action plans, including studies and projects on equality for women in the various public sectors; they have achieved some progress in the systematization of information broken down by sex;

Less advanced regions. In 23 departments and in the Capital District of Santa Fe de Bogotá discussion meetings have been held with the governors and mayors, and programmes are being carried out for groups of women with specific needs, but there are no nominated agencies or an action plan for the establishment of EPAM.

At present the National Office is restructuring its relationship with the local women's offices so that they will be able to carry out advisory, coordination and technical support functions for the departmental and municipal units responsible for carrying out EPAM, in order to make EPAM into a transversal policy permanently incorporated in all the institutions.

The Parliamentary Network has carried out a number of activities, including a parliamentary forum, which studied the commitments made by the Government at various international summits and conferences.

One of the National Office's priorities in 1996 was to establish the Network on a formal basis and prepare a programme of work to support the development of legislation and regulations on the equality of women.

PROGRAMMES FOR WOMEN

The National Office for Equality for Women has carried on the work done by earlier presidential units responsible for promoting women's and gender issues. In this context it provided the necessary support for the finalization of a number of pilot programmes and their permanent establishment in the agencies concerned; after evaluating the programmes it accepted the ones whose continuation or expansion was regarded as necessary. It has defined the focus of its activities and formulated a programme of work for the performance of its functions as the agency responsible for research and dissemination and for discussion and negotiation with other bodies and with civil society.

Between August 1994 and December 1995 the national agency at the time, the Secretariat for Women's and Gender Affairs, was active in the following areas:

* It analyzed the gender perspective in the National Development Plan: the Social Leap Forward in the sectors of education, health, justice, human rights, civil safety and employment, with a view to incorporating the topic transversally in each sector.

* It produced thematic documents to provide the bases of the equal opportunities plan for females in the following areas: environment and gender, employment and working conditions, competitiveness, education, legislation and justice, poverty, rural women, health for women, and violence against women.

* It made studies of the situation of women with respect to their participation in the national civil service and the communication media, and their situation as victims of violence.

* It promoted two fundamental pieces of legislation until they were approved: the law protecting women against domestic violence, and the law on Colombia's accession to the Inter-American Convention on the Prevention, Punishment and Eradication of Violence Against Women.

* It scrutinized draft legislation on its passage through the Congress on such issues as the political participation of women, reproductive health, regulation of de facto marriages, and re-employment of working women following pregnancy or periods of breastfeeding.

* It promoted until its approval the bill preventing the alienation of a family's home against the wishes of one of the spouses or permanent cohabitants.

* It held seminars and issued publications on the human rights of women.

* It attended the periodic meetings of the EPAM Advisory Commission.

* It promoted joint activities with the gender unit of the Minister responsible for EPAM.

* It participated in the preparatory meetings for the Fourth World Conference on Women and in the preparation of the relevant documents.

* It coordinated the production of the "institutional map" with the Sectoral Network.

* It supported activities of the Parliamentary Network such as the forum held in August 1995 and the discussion of the legislative agenda for women.

* It set up sectoral consultation groups.

When the National Office for Equality for Women was established in January 1996 as part of the institutional machinery for the advancement of women in Colombia, it took as its point of departure the analysis of the development model and Colombia's current political and cultural organization, and gave first priority to education, health, employment, justice, and rural development policies. In each of these areas it has promoted:

- Management of the policies, plans and programmes for the gradual incorporation of equality for women. To translate the will of the State into concrete commitments to equality for women is one of the most important activities of the National Office. To this end it concentrates on the public agencies, undertaking promotion, negotiation and coordination and providing assistance and technical support to enable these agencies to formulate, plan, execute and evaluate sectoral and local policies designed to consolidate equality as a basic assumption of democracy.

- Recognition of women's rights both in new legislation and in State plans and programmes. In this task, derived from the mandates of the 1991 Constitution, decisive importance is attached to publicizing women's absolute equality of rights, and to the adoption in conjunction with the relevant institutions of flexible machinery for protecting and promoting these rights as essential preconditions for women's full exercise of their citizenship.

- Management of policies and programmes to help to eliminate violence against women. The total about-face required in Colombia with regard to acts of violence means that the very concept of violence against women and the many forms which it takes must be redefined as a matter of urgency. In order to provide a more comprehensive and accurate picture of this phenomenon, the National Office is supporting the development of theoretical and methodological frameworks which reflect the realities faced every day by Colombian women in this respect and reveal the routine functioning of everyday life. In addition, the National Office is committed to expanding and adapting the services for the victims of violence and encouraging the machinery for putting an end to impunity. This work is being done in the conviction that it is not merely a part of the population which is affected but that the quality of life of all Colombian men and women is impaired when women suffer violence without society intervening to prevent it.

- Equitable representation of women in the taking of political and social decisions. This commitment of the National Office with regard to people who from time immemorial have been denied access to public affairs means that the Government has begun to strengthen the machinery by means of which women can not only vote but also be elected to representative office and participate in decision-making, the planning and execution of public policies, and the exercise of political power.

Access to resources, goods and services, and in general to better living conditions, as well as the training which strengthens independence, the empowerment of women by means of their active organization, and the exercise of their leadership in civil and other institutions are equally vital aspects of the quantitative and qualitative change in the participation of women in political and civic affairs.

These priorities were converted into the National Office's action policies. Significant progress was made in this area between January and September 1996:

The National Office:

* Held workshops in nine of the local agencies responsible for establishing EPAM and incorporating the gender perspective in planning.

* Drew up six action plans for the local establishment of EPAM in Boyacá, Sucre, Cesar, Guaviare, Tolima and Córdoba. The plans for Quindío, Bolívar and Cartagena are being finalized.

* Revised 20 local development plans: Antioquia, Córdoba, Quindío, Bolívar, Meta, Sucre, Cauca, Amazonas, Risaralda, Atlántico, Nariño, Santander, Guaviare, San Andrés, Magdalena, Vaupés, Tolima, Valle del Cauca, Caquetá and Santa Fe de Bogotá, in order to promote the gender perspective in these plans.

* Participated in the following events: preparatory workshops for the fourth CORPES forum on the Atlántico department coast; workshop seminar on "Training for community activists and leaders in the department of Caldas"; workshop seminar on "Public policies for women and national and international commitments"; workshop on "Ratification of the project on rural and indigenous women in the department of Casanare"; "First forum on the organization and participation of Atlántico coast women" at the meeting of Commission IV of the Chamber of Representatives of Quibdó; workshop on "Participation of women in manufacturing industry" and "Establishment of the inter-institutional committee for the women's office in Valledupar".

* It held four workshops to train trainers, at which a total of 61 professionals from four of the country's regions (17 departments) received training in policies of equality for women.

* Held a seminar workshop on awareness-raising for personnel of the justice system with the participation of international jurists and of magistrates and judges from 10 of the country's regions.

* Formulated, with the support of the United Nations Population Fund, an information and communication strategy designed to enhance the awareness of the national, regional and municipal authorities.

* Held two national meetings of women's offices.

* Furnished technical advice to the Rural Investment Cofinacing Fund with a view to the incorporation of the gender perspective in its planning, programming and management systems.

The National Office also contributed to or achieved progress with respect to the following agreements:

* Agreement between the National Office for Equality for Women and the Ministry of Economic Development.

* Draft agreement between the National Office for Equality for Women and the Ministry of the Interior (Women's Community Network).

* Draft agreement between the National Office for Equality for Women and the Ministry of the Interior, the Ministry of Agriculture and the Colombian Family Welfare Institute (programme for displaced women).

* Draft agreement between the National Office for Equality for Women and the Ministry of Agriculture.

* Draft agreement between the National Office for Equality for Women and the Ministry of the Environment.

* Draft agreement between the National Office for Equality for Women and the

Cundinamarca regional social security office.

* Draft agreement between the National Office for Equality for Women and the

Colombian Family Welfare Institute.

* Draft agreement between the National Office for Equality for Women and the

Ministry of Labour.

* Draft agreement between the National Office for Equality for Women and the Higher School of Public Administration (training of civil servants in the gender perspective).

* Draft agreement between the National Office for Equality for Women and the Ministry of Agriculture and the National Civil Registry.

* Draft agreement between the National Office for Equality for Women and the Ministry of Economic Development, the National Federation of Public Housing Organizations (FEDEVIVIENDA) and the Women and Habitat Network.

* Draft agreement between the National Office for Equality for Women, the Lara Bonilla School and the Ministry of Justice.

* Preparation of a draft agreement between the National Office for Equality for Women, the Ministry of Agriculture and the National Civil Registry designed to promote the registration of women.

The National Office has carried out the following activities:

* Implementation of the development programme for families headed by women (National Office, Restrepo Barco Foundation and Foundation for Higher Education (FES), which has reached 9,500 women heads of household throughout the country and granted loans totalling 4,769,500,000 pesos. The programme is currently operating in 23 departmental chief towns and in the town of Barrancabermeja.

* Five regional forums attended by 350 persons from bodies such as the National Urban Housing Institute (INURBE), ICBF, law firms, savings and loan associations, and women's offices. These forums emphasized the publicizing of Law 082 of 1993 on women heads of household and Law 258 of 1996 on allocation of family housing.

The National Office:

* Held the first national meeting of women's groups and organizations, which was attended by 70 of their representatives and representatives of NGOs.

* Organized the Andean Subregional Forum, which formulated the follow-up arrangements for the Beijing Platform for Action. The Forum was attended by 40 invited representatives of women's organizations and NGOs from Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela.

* Formulated a policy of support for parliamentary initiatives and women's groups, with a view to furnishing technical advice on the drafting of legislation on women. An advisory unit is currently being established to strengthen and improve the proposal for affirmative action to secure equitable political participation of women. In addition, Germany provided technical support for strengthening the institutional management of women's groups and organizations.

In this area the National Office has carried out the following activities:

* Distribution to women's groups of the text of Law 294 of July 1996.

* Creation of an inter-institutional committee to formulate strategies for the elimination of trafficking in women, with the participation of the National Office, ICBF, the Ministry of Justice, INTERPOL, the Administrative Department of Security (DAS), the Office of the Attorney General, the Ombudsman's Office, and the Advisory Commission on Human Rights.

* Commemoration of International Mental Health Day with a forum on violence against women organized in collaboration with the Ministry of Health and the Pan-American Health Organization.

The National Office has carried out a number of measures in the departments:

* In Nariño it strengthened the consultative group known as the Departmental Council of Women of Nariño (CODEMU) and established EPAM in the municipalities.

* In Guajira it created the Guajira Women's Centre and publicized the gender perspective by means of play activities at dance and theatre workshops.

* In Magdalena it trained rural women heads of household in the municipalities of Piñón, Plato and Banco.

* In Cesar it made a socio-economic study of women heads of household.

* Periodic visits to regional women's offices, organizations and groups to follow up departmental or municipal plans in Cali, Medellín, Villavicencio, Rionegro, Condoto-Istmina, Suan, Valledupar, Armenia, Fusagasugá, Montería, Ibagué, Cartagena, Sincelejo, and San José del Guaviare.

The sectoral activities for women are summarized in the corresponding section on each sector and in the part of the report on article 13 of the Convention.

PROGRESS AND DIFFICULTIES

Colombia has made significant progress with regard to the institutionalization of the issues of equality for women, in accordance with the Convention of the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women and other international commitments.

Obviously, the creation of the National Office for Equality for Women as a top-level State agency and the approval by the Government and the Congress of a policy for the advancement of women as part of the National Development Plan demonstrate the Government's determination to promote equality for women in all areas of the country's life.

Despite the progress which Colombia has made with respect to legislation on equality and equity, there remain cultural obstacles to the comprehensive development and effective application of the law, and large gaps persist in the establishment and operation of machinery for monitoring and controlling the application of the law. Furthermore, in practice there are operational difficulties in the State itself which impede the development of the procedures for the advancement of women. Although they have been mentioned earlier, it is worth reiterating such difficulties as the macroeconomic decisions which limit public expenditure, the still-embryonic incorporation of the notion of equality in the institutional culture, the merely advisory and non-executive status of the National Office, which means that it can only make proposals and is dependent on the will of ministries and other agencies, and the shortage of resources, which impedes the mainstreaming of women's interests in State policies and programmes.

MEASURES AIMED AT ACHIEVING 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."

SPECIAL TEMPORARY MEASURES

The Policy for Equality and Participation of Women (EPAM) is a governmental policy for the promotion of equality of opportunity which is supplemented by the activities of other public authorities (the Legislature and the Judiciary).

With the exception of different pensionable retirement ages, Colombia has no special rules such as affirmative action, preferential treatment or quota systems to promote equality between men and women, although there are programmes targeted specifically on women's sectors.

The 1991 Constitution envisages the possibility of action to affirm equality for women, for it enjoins the State to establish the conditions to make such equality real and effective and to adopt measures in favour of groups suffering discrimination or marginalization.

The Constitution specifically encourages the political participation of women when it enjoins the authorities to guarantee that such participation is adequate and effective at the decision-making levels of the public administration. However, the draft legislation which the Congress had been processing in order to give effect to this constitutional rule has been shelved; this demonstrates the lack of political will to grant women the participation stipulated in the Constitution.

Where the family is concerned, the Constitution likewise establishes the obligation to provide special support for female heads of household. The Congress enacted law 82 of 1993, which defines "head of household" as the person who, regardless of his or her civil status, has permanent charge of children or incapacitated persons, either by reason of the total absence or incapacity of the spouse or permanent cohabitant or owing to a substantial shortfall of assistance from the other members of the family.

Amongst other measures designed to support female heads of household, this Law envisages machinery to facilitate the education of their children, their access to the social security system, the acquisition of housing, access to loans, and the promotion of small businesses.

Although this Law has still not been put into effect by the Executive, the National Office for Equality for Women created and is coordinating a commission charged with formulating a proposal for the enabling legislation. Pending the application of this Law, programmes are being developed to support female heads of family, but they are not systematic and do not provide broad cover (see the section of this report on article 13).

Perhaps the only regulations which can be regarded as a kind of affirmative action in Colombia are the ones contained in the social security legislation, which provide for differential treatment of men and women in respect of the age of receipt of the old-age pension (arts. 33 and 36 of Law 100 of 1993). For men the minimum age is 60 years, while for women it is only 55 years; these ages will be raised in 2014 to 62 years for men and 57 for women. The Constitutional Court judged this differentiation in favour of women workers to be justified because it is intended to correct the de facto inequality of women and offset chronic situations of injustice and social disadvantage.

SPECIAL PROTECTION FOR PREGNANT WOMEN

The Constitution orders the State to provide special protection for women during pregnancy and the postpartum period and to grant them a maintenance grant if they are unemployed or unprotected. Although there is no legislation to give effect to this legal obligation, since 1993 the Constitutional Court has maintained that women have the right to claim such assistance from the competent authority, subject to proof of unemployment or lack of protection. If the assistance is not granted, a woman may bring an action of tutela to secure effective protection of this right.

Colombia has signed all the international instruments dealing with pregnant workers: the Convention, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, and the ILO Convention on maternity protection, which was approved by Law 129 of 1931.

Colombia's labour legislation protects pregnant women by means of: the granting of maternity leave, which was increased from eight to 12 weeks and now provides for the possibility of leave for the spouse or permanent companion to attend the birth; the approval of paid breaks of two periods of 30 minutes during the working day for breastfeeding mothers; the right of female workers who suffer a miscarriage or non-viable premature birth to paid leave of two to four weeks; and the prohibition of dismissal of pregnant women or any requirement for them to prove that they are not pregnant at the time of hiring, except in the case of high-risk activities.

The paid leave of 12 weeks granted to women for the childbirth period is also available to mothers who formally adopt a child aged under seven years. It is also available to a parent who adopts without a spouse or permanent companion. If an employer fails to fulfil the obligation to grant any of the periods of leave or rest described above, a female worker is entitled to compensation of double her remuneration for the periods not granted.

In addition, the labour legislation prohibits women from working at night in industrial enterprises, at any time in underground mines, with industrial paints, or in jobs which involve the use of white lead, lead sulphate or any product containing these substances, or in hazardous or unhealthy work in general, or in work requiring great physical effort. In specific terms, pregnant women are prohibited from doing work which requires them to lift weights, remain in a fixed position or in continuous movement, or demands good physical balance, as in the case of work on ladders, or the operation of heavy machines or machines with dangerous operating points.

However, there are no studies available in Colombia which evaluate compliance with the legislation or with the international instruments. Nor are there any commissions to monitor the domestic legislation, so that it is not possible to measure its true application.

Since 1990 there has been a prohibition on the dismissal of women workers without permission of the authorities by reason of pregnancy or breastfeeding, when the dismissal occurs during pregnancy or during the three months following childbirth. In such cases female workers are entitled to compensation equivalent to 60 days wages or salary and to payment for the 12 weeks of paid leave, if they have not taken it. This prohibition extends on the same terms to adoptive fathers and mothers.

In 1994 Bill No. 065 was submitted to the Congress; it ordered the immediate reinstatement of female workers dismissed during pregnancy or the breastfeeding period, but it was shelved, demonstrating the lack of political will to ensure compliance with the legal regulations. Recently, however, in a happy decision, the Constitutional Court amended its earlier ruling and ordered that all women dismissed during pregnancy should be reinstated in their jobs.

At present actions of tutela are the only means of measuring the effectiveness of the application of the international agreements and of the labour legislation. Up to 1996 the Court had not granted protection in cases of the dismissal of pregnant women, arguing that proceedings should be brought in the labour courts. It did not take into account that the immediate requirements of the situation could not be postponed until the ordinary courts reached a decision with their usual tardiness.

Tutela has helped to correct discrimination against pregnant women in education. According to the Constitutional Court, pregnant women or single mothers cannot be expelled from or forced to leave school by reason of this personal situation. The rights to education, equality and the free development of the personality have thus been protected.

In addition, legal protection has been provided for women who have to suspend their university studies owing to health problems connected with pregnancy. According to the Court, pregnant women are entitled to have their places kept for them even when the university regulations do not allow for such an arrangement.

With regard to the fulfilment of family obligations, following actions of tutela the Court has ordered fathers-to-be to comply with their obligation to contribute to the medical costs of the birth, thus protecting unemployed pregnant women.

Lastly, with regard to the rights of pregnant women who are arrested and the rights of their minor children, it has been found on occasion that the prison authorities have not complied with the regulations concerning detention in hospital and the establishment of nurseries in prisons. The recourse of tutela has been used to ensure application of the law and provision of the care which pregnant women require during and following childbirth, as well as compliance with the obligation to establish nurseries for children aged under three years so that they can remain with their mothers in prison.

PROGRESS AND DIFFICULTIES

The main advances in the application of this article of the Convention have been:

* The introduction in the 1991 Constitution of a concept of real equality and equity which provides for the establishment of special measures of care and protection specifically for groups suffering discrimination or marginalization and persons in circumstances of manifest weakness.

* The constitutional mandate guaranteeing women adequate and effective participation at the decision-making levels of the public administration.

* The constitutional mandate providing special protection for pregnant women and women heads of household.

* The constitutional developments embodied in the law protecting women heads of household and the law establishing preferential treatment for women workers in respect of the age of receipt of the old-age pension.

* The recourse of tutela, which has become an important constitutional mechanism for providing immediate protection of the fundamental rights of women, especially pregnant women.

The difficulties in the application of this article have to do with the poorly developed legal and social culture of affirmative action. Such action is still regarded as discriminatory, because the collective consciousness is dominated by the idea of a formal equality which denies the specific differences of women and their social disadvantages. In addition, no procedures have been established for publicizing these rights in a sufficiently widespread and continuous manner, as is required by affirmative action to achieve equality.

ELIMINATION OF SEXIST STEREOTYPES

"States Parties shall take all appropriate measures:

(a) To modify the social and cultural patterns 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."

SEXIST STEREOTYPES IN THE FAMILY, EDUCATION AND EMPLOYMENT

Sexist stereotypes persist in the family, manifesting themselves in the separation of roles and distribution of work. The father is the provider of the household's resources, and the mother, although she may make an economic contribution, remains solely responsible for domestic work and the daily tasks of raising children.

The stereotypes are more marked in rural families. Women are tied to the land and although they do most of the work they receive very little recognition. However, young women are exhibiting a generational change: they wish to delay childbearing and have different job expectations which prompt them to migrate to the towns. Generally speaking, domestic work is done by mothers with the help of their daughters, and in families where women do not perform paid work, the division of roles in the household is sharper. The meaning of a woman's life is still defined by the role of mother and wife.

In the case of urban family life, the entry of women into the world of employment provides an economic support but can also cause conflicts owing to the perception of husbands or companions of the work performed by their wives or companions, in which stereotypes about the relations between the sexes persist.

In 1995 a study was carried out to determine the true impact on society and the family of the legislation on divorce in the case of civil and religious marriages (Law 25 of 1992) on the basis of surveys of family court judges in the country's main towns. The views of the judges on the attitudes of each of the spouses to work performed by the other demonstrate the sexist conception of roles in family relations.

According to these judges, most of the men feel themselves emotionally abandoned or consider that their wives are neglecting their family obligations. This shows that they believe that women are responsible for the household and must attend to the needs of their husbands and children. It is also interesting to note the lack of trust in their wives displayed by the husbands since, again according to their judges, when their wives go out to work the husbands see this as an opportunity for unfaithfulness. Women, in contrast, regard their husband's work as an excuse for his not helping with daily household tasks.

OPINIONS OF SPOUSES ON THE OTHERS' WORK

The survey heading "others" refers, according to the judges, to the spouses' appreciation of the others' work. Women take a positive view of their husband's work, while men regard the fact that their wife works as negative.

Colombia has recently achieved a relative equality between males and females with respect to literacy and enroling and remaining in education. However, sexist stereotypes persist in the primary and secondary schools, manifesting themselves in differential treatment for boys and girls, in the content of curricula and in the educational texts and other materials.

Male and female teachers have different expectations with regard to the performance and behaviour of boys and girls, some activities are divided according to sex, and some subjects are regarded as more appropriate for one sex than the other:

* Expectations of intelligence and verbal expression are generally greater for boys.

* Technical workshops are usually reserved for boys.

* Aesthetic awareness, personal care, the concept of service to others and "morals" are cultivated more among girls.

Despite the fact that most teachers are women, the senior posts in many schools are held by men.

School textbooks contain many stereotyped images and representations of the sexes. A 1993 analytical study on gender relations in 15 school textbooks on various subjects for the tenth and eleventh grades produced by several publishing houses illustrates this situation:

* Make-up of characters and type of participation by gender. A quantitative analysis demonstrated that only 17.7 per cent of all the characters in the texts (10,713) were women. A qualitative analysis shows that in these representations the role of men is always positive, outstanding and worthy of imitation, whereas the few appearances by women create the idea that women and their role are invisible. The male body is the one generally used to explain the functioning of the various organs, while the female body is depicted only in connection with childbirth and breastfeeding.

* Participation by gender in the private sphere. Domestic work is depicted as the business of women. In 77.7 per cent of cases women are shown doing domestic work. In contrast, only 16.7 per cent of women are shown participating in household activities traditionally regarded as "masculine" (provision of resources, management, decision-making, investments). The situation is similar with respect to the raising of children: men are depicted engaging mostly in socializing activities such as the establishment of rules and values. A qualitative analysis shows that domestic work and the raising of children are the responsibility of women, being their "natural functions". The texts reaffirm the identification with and dependence on the act