Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Intersex (LGBTI) pride march. Photo: OHCHR/Joseph Smida
1 July 2016 – The top human rights body at the United Nations has voted to appoint an independent expert on protection from violence and discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) people.
The Geneva-based UN Human Rights Council debated the issue for nearly four hours on Thursday before adopting a resolution to create the new post. Twenty-three Council members voted for the new position, 18 members against, and six abstained.
Speaking today to reporters in New York, the UN spokesperson said that Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon welcomed the move.
“I can tell you that the Secretary-General believes that the Human Rights Council marked another important step forward when it decided to appoint a UN Independent Expert to monitor and report on levels of violence and discrimination against LGBT people globally,” said Spokesman Stéphane Dujarric.
Last week, when the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a Texas law that would have closed half the state’s abortion clinics, the reasoning behind the ruling was solid.
After all, forcing women to journey great distances for abortion services disproportionately harms young women, low-income women, women with disabilities, and women with precarious immigration status.
But there’s another repercussion of making women travel for abortions that’s harder to quantify.
Learn about how this practice of temporarily banishing women from society amounts to a form of social exclusion.
Photo: Alexander Raths/Photolia
Women aged 65+ have consistently higher AROPE (at risk of poverty) rates (and other poverty indicators) then men across the Member States, though the gap has narrowed somewhat. Women's 65+ AROPE rates reflect their: lower pay and shorter and more interrupted working lives leading to lower pensions (38% lower on average in the European Union according to the Commission's 2015 Pension Adequacy Report); longer lives (and retirements); and increased likelihood of being in a single-person household.
Direct Link to Full 8-Page 2016 Briefing:
https://www.ifad.org/documents/10180/0d80885e-afc3-4b63-92af-f217d9bfbf9a
© Herald PostThey care for our children, elderly, disabled, and homes – but are we doing enough to take care of them?
C189 – ILO Domestic Workers Convention
Convention Concerning Decent Work for Domestic Workers (Entry into Force: 05 Sep 2013)
http://www.ilo.org/global/about-the-ilo/newsroom/news/WCMS_490924/lang--en/index.htm
At least 80 per cent of all domestic workers are women, which means that women are disproportionately affected by these decent work deficits.
26 Junr 2016 - We estimate that domestic workers typically earn less than half of average wages – and sometimes no more than about 20 per cent. Their hours are among the longest and most unpredictable, and 90 per cent do not enjoy access to social protections, such as pensions and unemployment benefits.
01 July 2016 - UN Women recognizes the unique and intersecting challenges that women with disabilities face. This makes it all the more critical that women with disabilities are fully represented on panels, committees, human rights treaty bodies and across all areas of leadership so that their voices are heard.
It is therefore regrettable that the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) will have just one female representative. The recent election process for nine positions resulted in all-male appointments for 2017, despite the candidature of three women for the positions and despite the terms of Article 34.4 of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities that “The members of the Committee shall be elected by States Parties, consideration being given to … balanced gender representation.”
