UN panel reviews women’s situation in India

UNITED NATIONS - A UN committee on the elimination of discrimination against women has begun a review of the situation of women in India and seven other countries.

During its 19-day session here, India will be reviewed on an exceptional basis, with the committee considering the country’s follow-up report on the impact of the 2002 Gujarat massacres on women, the world body said.

The committee will also review the status of women in Argentina, Fiji, Russia, Australia, Papua New Guinea, and Albania.

Violence against women, political participation, discriminatory family law, eliminating gender stereotypes and preventing trafficking will be some of the areas explored by the committee of experts charged with ensuring that governments eliminate discrimination against women.

Following the eight reviews, the experts will make recommendations to each government about what more it should do to eliminate discrimination against women.

The committee regularly reviews each country once it becomes a party to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. Currently, 186 countries have accepted the Convention that was adopted in 1979.

Government representatives of each country will be questioned by the experts about how they are ensuring that women are able to fully exercise their rights under each of the 16 substantive articles of the 30-article Convention.

All the sessions are public meetings, but the committee will also meet in private to consider complaints from individuals or groups of individuals claiming to be victims of a violation of their rights.