Inter-American Commission of Women

1. ACWC Institutional Strengthening WorkshopSession 1 “Views and Practices from Other Regional System to Promote and Protect the Rights of Women”The Inter-American Commission of Women: A hemispheric policy forum for women’s rights and gender equality

2. Inter-American Commission of Women • Created in 1928 with a mandate to analyze the status of women in the Americas and present the results to the Conferences of American States • First inter-governmental body created to promote women’s rights • Joined the Organization of American States in 1948 as an “autonomous, decentralized body” • Governing bodies: • Assembly of Delegates - one from each Member State of the OAS (34), is usually the Minister of Women or equivalent, meets once every three years • Executive Committee – smaller, more functional body, nine Member States of the OAS, meets twice a year (current members: Costa Rica, Haiti, Panama, Barbados, Guatemala, Mexico, Peru and the United States Assembly of Delegates (34 Member States) Executive Committee (9 Member States) Executive Secretariat

3. Inter-American Commission of Women • CIM began with issues such as women’s suffrage (right to vote) and civil and political rights, gradually expanded to include economic, social and cultural rights as they appeared on the international agenda: • Initially, CIM authorities were directly appointed by the heads of State and Government of the region from among prominent women social and civil society leaders of the time • Gradually, as “national machieneries for the advancement of women” (ministries of women or their equivalent) were established in each of the OAS Member States, the heads of these machineries naturally became the CIM Delegates

4. Inter-American Commission of Women Mission Support Member States in their compliance with their respective international and inter-American commitments on women’s human rights and gender equality, including the implementation of international and inter-American human rights instruments Support the efforts of Member States to promote full and equal access, participation, representation, leadership and influence of women in the civil, political, economic, social, and cultural spheres Promote the participation and leadership of women in the planning and implementation of public policies and programs Advise the OAS in all matters related to women's rights and gender equality Contribute to the development of international and inter-American jurisprudence on women’s human rights and gender equity and equality Foster the formulation and adoption of inter-American instruments for the recognition of women as rights holders and agents of democracy Promote the adoption or adaptation of the necessary legal measures to eliminate all forms of discrimination against women

5. CIM Operational Framework Rights-based approach Formulation and adoption of international instruments for the recognition of women as rights holders and agents of democracy Inter-American Coventions on Women’s Civil and Political Rights International Convenant on Civil and Political Rights American Convention on Human Rights International Convenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights CEDAW Belém do Pará Convention Etc… IAP Inter-American Program on the Promotion of Women’s Human Rights and Gender Equity and Equality CIM Strategic Plan

6. Mandates of the CIM • Support OAS Member States in their implementation of international agreements on women’s rights and gender equality • Institutionalize a gender equality and women’s rights approach in the work of the OAS –policies, programs, projects, meetings and other activities – with a focus on four strategic pillars: Promoting democracy Women’s political citizenship for democracy Defending human rights Women’s human rights and gender-based violence Ensuring a multi-dimensional approach to security Citizen security from a gender perspective Fostering integral development and prosperity Women’s economic citizenship and security

7. How do we work? • Analyze the status of women in the Americas • Series of indicators on the exercise of women’s political, economic, social and cultural rights • Indicators guide the development of national reports Member States present reports on their implementation of inter-American human rights instruments (Belém do Pará Convention, IAP) Reports are analyzed and turned into hemispheric reports and other information materials by the Secretariat Identification of good practices, lessons learned, persistent gaps and challenges to the full exercise of women’s rights Basis for hemispheric policy dialogue on how to advance women’s rights and gender equality in the Americas

8. Situation analysis Progress: • Strong international and inter-American legal framework for women’s rights and gender equality: • Ratified by every country in the region except the United States (CEDAW/Belém do Pará) and Canada (Belém do Pará) • Replicated – to varying degrees – in the majority of countries through constitutional amendments, laws, public policies, mechanisms Challenges: • Persistent gaps in the recognition of rights: Sexual and reproductive rights; Rights of workers in the informal economy; Rights of LGBTQI persons • Intersection of gender with other aspects of identity – socio-economic status, ethnicity, rural/urban residence, migratory status, age, physical capacity, sexual orientation, etc. • Persistent gaps in the application of this legal framework: access to justice, gender-budgeting, transparency and accountability 33 of 34 countries constitutionally guarantee gender equality 33 of 34 countries have national plans on gender equality 9 countries have adopted integrated laws on violence against women National budgets for VAW range from .01% to .1% of national budgets

9. Women’s political citizenship for democracy The situation • Persistent obstacles: • Gaps in the application of quota laws or gender parity • Limited training and capacity-development opportunities • Conciliation of political careers with family life • Norms and culture of political parties • Less access to campaign financing and media coverage • Discriminatory media coverage • CIM’s work includes: Women in cabinets: 29% Women in legislatures: 22.6% Women members of political parties: 46.5% (leaders: 19%) Women in high- level justice sector positions: 19% Working with executive, legislative and judicial branches to foster adoption and implementation of quota laws, parity and other measures to ensure the full exercise of women’s political rights Women local councillors: 21% Working with parliamentarians to set a legislative agenda for women’s rights and gender equality Women mayors: 10.5% Women’s leadership in public policy formulation from a gender and rights perspective

10. Human rights and gender-based violence The situation • Persistent obstacles: • We don’t have good data on VAW (incidence, nature, etc.) • VAW still considered a private/family issue • Significant numbers still believe that VAW is justified • Reporting confined to government activities – we don’t know whether there is less violence or whether women have access to justice (outputs vs. impact) • CIM’s work includes: Women who suffer violence: 1/3 Women who suffer sexual violence: 1/4 Domestic violence cases reported to the police: 2/5 Follow-up Mechanism to the Belém do Pará Convention (MESECVI) Women & girls trafficked every year: 1,000,000 Indicators to monitor exercise of women’s right to a life free of violence VAW one of the major causes of death for women 15-49 National capacities to monitor the exercise of women’s rights Women’s rights in national and inter-American jurisprudence (gender justice)

11. Women’s economic citizenship and security The situation • Persistent obstacles: • Women’s work produces less income, security, benefits and opportunities for advancement • Women entrepreneurs have less access to financial services, credit and other services to grow their businesses • Social reproduction is not assumed as a responsibility of the State • Women’s unpaid work – domestic and care-giving – is not recognized as a contribution to the economy • CIM’s work includes: Women in global labour force: 40% Women earn $0.77 for every dollar earned by men Women in part- time, temporary and unpaid work : 66% Women’s unpaid work is 30-50% of GDP Gender mainstreaming with Ministries of Labour (gender responsive labour policies) Women among the working poor: 60% Policies on micro, small and medium enterprises (MiSMEs) that are sensitive to gender and foster female entrepreneurship Policies for support and social protection of women in the informal economy Women’s un- employment in LAC: 10.1% (male: 6.7%) Gender equality in the OAS Forums on Competitiveness and the Private Sector

12. Citizen security from a gender perspective The situation • Persistent obstacles: • Lack of dialogue between security and human rights • Security equated with reduction of violent criminality • Invisibility of VAW as a public security issue (VAW in public spaces) • Lack of women among security personnel at all levels • Lack of coordination between security personnel and women’s groups • CIM’s work includes: In most countries, women are < 10% of police Women are <1% of police chiefs Women in high- level justice sector positions: 19% Hemispheric security agenda with a rights-based and gender equality perspective Women’s participation in the drug industry in the Americas In Can & US, women are <20% of armed forces Women’s participation at all levels of the security sector Capacity of women’s groups to dialogue with and monitor the security sector from a perspective of women’s rights and gender equality

13. Rights and gender equality in the work of the OAS The situation • Persistent obstacles: • Despite efforts of the CIM, progress on gender mainstreaming has been uneven and remains largely dependent on the will of individual staff members • Lack of attention to issues such as accountability, reporting and consistent monitoring and evaluation • Confusion over the purpose of “gender mainstreaming,” how it is to be done and who is responsible for it • CIM’s work includes: 41.5% of OAS departments and entities have gender mandates 48.8% have projects that promote gender 56.1% have technical capacity to address gender Institutional gender equality policy The majority wish to keep receiving technical support from the CIM Institutional follow-up, monitoring and support mechanism for the implementation of the gender equality policy Gender and women’s rights integrated into main OAS forums Build capacity of OAS staff to effectively integrate gender and women’s rights issues into their work