English - CEDAW Southeast Asia

A Gendered and Rights-Based Review of Vietnamese Legal Documents through the Lens of CEDAW
pregnancy. It also obligates States to review their protective legislations regularly and to make
revisions to enable women to enjoy their rights fully. (For information on what qualifies as
protective legislation, see Part III.2.1.)
As to the right to work, Article 11 guarantees equality in relation to the right to work,
which includes the right to equal employment opportunities, free choice of profession, the right
to the opportunity to gain a living by work freely chosen or accepted, and application of the
same criteria for selection in matters of employment. Concluding Comments on Viet Nam 2007
also require interventions for occupational segregation happening in Viet Nam. 448 Also, GR 19
strongly urges the State to address sexual harassment, which is a form of GBV and seriously
hinders women’s right to work. 449
Article 11 also guarantees these equal conditions of employment: (a) equality in
promotion; (b) equality in job security; (c) equality in benefits and conditions of service; (d)
equality in vocational training, retraining, including apprenticeships, technical and vocational
guidance, and placement services; (e) equal remuneration and equal treatment for work of
equal value; (f) equality of treatment in the evaluation of work; (g) equal right to social security,
especially in cases of retirement, unemployment, sickness, invalidity, old age, and incapacity
to work; (h) equal right to paid leave; (i) equal right to protection of health and safety in working
conditions; and (j) equal right to rest, leisure and reasonable limitation of working hours and
periodic holidays with pay.
GR 13: Equal Remuneration for Work of Equal Value (1989) (GR 13), GR 16: Unpaid
Women Workers in Rural and Urban Family Enterprises (1991) (GR 16) and GR 17:
Unremunerated Domestic Activities of Women (1991) (GR 17) urge that the State value the
unremunerated work of women 450 and conduct research and data collection on women who
work without payment and their conditions, including work in family enterprises 451 and those
who do unremunerated domestic work. 452 GR 16 also urged the State to take steps to
guarantee social security and other social benefits for these women in family enterprises. 453
Women in the informal sector is also a concern for CEDAW; for example, Concluding
Comments on Viet Nam 2007 in particular urge the State to develop guidelines and regulations
to provide women in the informal economy with access to social benefits and services,
including health-care services. 454
Article 4(2) of CEDAW clearly provides that measures to address maternity are not
discriminatory. Article 11 of CEDAW provides some of the basic rights for married and
pregnant women as well as mothers in relation to their employment including the right: (a) not
to be dismissed on account of marriage, pregnancy and maternity; (b) to receive maternity
leave with pay without loss of employment, seniority and social allowances; (d) to receive
support services to combine family and work; and (d) to be protected against work harmful to
them during their pregnancy. 455
213
448
Concluding Comments on Viet Nam 2007, Paragraph 23
449
GR 19, Paragraph 18
450
GR 13, Paragraph 2
451
GR 16, Paragraph (b)
452
GR 17, Paragraph (a)
453
GR 16, Paragraph (c)
454
Concluding Comments on Viet Nam 2007, Paragraphs 22 and 23
455
CEDAW, Article 11(2)
Employment (Article 11 of CEDAW)