Overcoming gap between de jure and de facto gender equality is the main challenge for Azerbaijan

Representatives of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), who participated in the Gender Equality conference in Baku, appraised Azerbaijan's achievements in this area in the legislation level and called for further work to implement them in practice, since the country recorded a large gap between de jure and de facto gender equality.

"The PACE welcomes the fact that the conference approved an Action Plan for the Council of Europe member-states for the next four -five years," said José Mendes Bota, Chairperson of the PACE Committee on Equal Opportunities for Women and Men.

He said the action plan envisages holding of events that will help to build a bridge between the situation with gender equality in Azerbaijan on a legislative level and in practice. Azerbaijan, which entered the Council of Europe in 2001, became one of the first states in the East to legislate equality of men and women in 2006.

Baku hosted a conference on gender equality May 24-25, organized with the support of the government of Azerbaijan and the Council of Europe. The PACE 6-people delegation also took part in the event. They became familiar with the situation of women's rights in Azerbaijan, establishing contacts with NGOs working in this field, as well as the two major political parties.

Bota said the conference introduced a new mechanism - now the Council of Europe parliamentarians will have the opportunity to assemble in special session to address to the member-states' representatives with six major themes of particular interest and concern.

Holding of an international conference on gender equality in Baku, should be the first step towards the adoption of legislation, which in subsequent years would provide genuine equality of men and women, he added.

Bota said a draft law against domestic violence, which was adopted yesterday by 100 votes in favor and two against, may be example for this. It would be nice, if this new item in the legislation was approved before the summer, given the conduct of the parliamentary elections in Azerbaijan in November, Bota added.

Regarding the Convention on Combating Human Trafficking, which was ratified in Azerbaijan a few days ago, Bota expressed the hope that this document will be soon implemented in practice.

Along with the legal achievements of Azerbaijan in the sphere of women's rights and gender equality, representatives of the PACE mission stressed also serious violations of these rights in practice. Head of the PACE subcommittee on fighting human trafficking Lydie Err noted the high level of child death in Azerbaijan. According to her, this can be the result of not only lack of medical attention, but also the result of lack of family planning in Azerbaijan.

Err considers low level of women's participation in political life as the reason for the insufficient realization of their rights in practice. She said it is sad that in Azerbaijan level of abortion, related with child's sex is still high. Thus, the number of newborn boys mostly exceeds girls, and according to Err, this can lead to serious problems in 20 years, when men are faced with difficulties related to family formation.

One of the sharp problems of women in Azerbaijan Err called reproductive health. Contraceptive methods lead to abortion, which is unacceptable, Err believes. She also mentioned early marriages among the problems in the sphere of women's rights  in Azerbaijan.

Marriage occurs early when children are under 18. Eighteen is seen as an acceptable standard according to the Convention on the Rights of the Child of 1989. According to international standards, early marriages are considered a violation of human rights.

As such unions are illegal, they are carried out in secret, Err said. Therefore, woman is deprived of the status of spouse, and born children can not be officially registered. In the case of divorce, these women have no rights. According to Err, 10,000 children in Azerbaijan are not registered officially.

"It is an absolute depreciation of the status of women," she said.


/Trend/