English - CEDAW Southeast Asia

CEDAW and the Law:
Paragraph 24(o)
States parties should ensure that services for victims of violence are accessible to rural
women and that where necessary special services are provided to isolated communities.
Paragraph 24(q)
States parties should report on the risk to rural women, the extent and nature of violence and
abuse to which they are subject, their need and access to support and other services and the
effectiveness f measures to overcome violence.
V.11.1.3 Concluding Comments
The relevant paragraphs on Article 14 of CEDAW in Concluding Comments on Viet Nam 2007 are:
Paragraph 28
The Committee expresses its concern about the situation of women in rural and remote
areas, as well as the situation of ethnic minority women, who lack sufficient access to
adequate health services, education opportunities, and employment and credit facilities.
Paragraph 29
The Committee calls upon the State party to pay special attention to the needs of
women living in rural and remote areas and women belonging to ethnic minorities by
ensuring that they have equal access to health care, education, social security, incomegeneration
opportunities and participation in decision-making processes at all levels. It
also encourages the State party to use innovative methods to improve information on
and awareness of the provisions of the Convention and of relevant laws, including the
Law on Gender Equality, among women and girls in rural and remote areas and women
belonging to ethnic minorities. The Committee requests the State party to ensure that
the draft law on ethnic minorities integrates the objectives of the Law on Gender
Equality and that the draft law on ethnic minorities be passed as soon as possible. The
Committee requests that comprehensive information be included in the next periodic
report, including sex-disaggregated data and trends over time, on the de facto holistic
position of rural and ethnic minority women and on the impact of measures taken and
results achieved in the implementation of policies and programmes for these groups of
women and girls.
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V.11.2 SELECTED INDICATORS
Article 14 of CEDAW ensures that rural women are not discriminated against in the exercise
and enjoyment of rights in all fields, especially in the area of development, health, education,
employment and economic benefits, including access to credit, protection from violence and
living conditions. The term ‘rural women’ is actually a broad term that covers not only women
living the rural areas. The CEDAW Committee uses the term to look also into situations of
ethnic minority women, female farmers or women in agriculture, and women in remote and
mountainous regions. 652
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See, for example, Concluding Comments on Viet Nam 2007, Paragraph 29
Review of key legal documents and compliance with CEDAW