Search / Search Results Date Added to Site: 31st July 2005   Long Summary Title Shadow Report on the Status of Women in Serbia to the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) Author Brankovic, B. Publication Date March 2002 Publisher United Nations Development Fund for Women, Stop the Violence Website Long Summary Have Serbian women paid the highest price for the regime change in 2000? What has been the impact on women of the ensuing political, economic and social crisis of the last 10 years? The current Serbian government introduced new gender-sensitive policies, improved its collaboration with NGOs and upheld its binding commitment to the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). However, it is still struggling to overcome the devastating "legacy" of the former dictatorship. This “legacy”, characterized by a collapsed economy, increased poverty, as well as high crime and corruption rates, has negatively and disproportionately affected Serbian women. For example, female life expectancy declined while male life expectancy increased, contradicting normal life expectancy patterns. Unemployment among women also rose sharply where they now make up the majority of the unemployed (about 60%). In addition, their participation in decision-making bodies continues to be very low (perhaps indicating their refusal to engage with the former extreme nationalistic government). The CEDAW shadow report reviews compliance by the Serbian government to CEDAW Articles 5 (a) (violence against women); 5 (b) (equality in marriage and childbearing); 6 (trafficking in women); 7 (political participation); 11 (women and the labour market), and 12 (reproductive health and access to health care). An analysis of these selected articles shows that current Serbian legislation is not compliant with the CEDAW, nor with European gender-sensitive policies (with the exception of some laws on marriage, family relations, equal pay and parental leave). The report provides detailed recommendations for improving government compliance with CEDAW articles, and for reducing the negative impact of the recent crisis on Serbian women. General suggestions and recommendations include: - Strengthening anti-discriminatory provisions in the new Constitution of Serbia; - Improving the existing legislation to achieve compliance with international treaties and European standards; - Drafting a new law that would prohibit gender discrimination and guarantee the principle of equality; - Improving policies related to gender-balanced language in legislation; - Adopting affirmative action provisions (e.g. quotas, parity) into respective laws; - Establishing a team authorized to analyze existing and proposed laws from gender-equality perspective and suggest changes. Complete Document View MS Word Document