Status of Women Canada

This document is a report prepared as an update on measures taken by the Canadian government to implement the Beijing Platform for Action. It describes steps taken by provincial and federal governments since the adoption of the Platform in 1995 and an analysis of the status of gender equality in Canada according to employment trends and sociological data available.

This document provides a basic overview of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) and of the Convention's Optional Protocol. The Optional Protocol permits individuals or groups to petition the Convention's monitoring committee with respect to alleged treaty violations and also permits the committee to make inquiries with respect to serious violations by States Parties.

Canada is a party to the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (OP-CEDAW). This short pamphlet, produced by Status of Women Canada, discusses the CEDAW treaty and its Optional Protocol in general terms, along with the communication and inquiry procedures under OP-CEDAW. Finally, the pamphlet outlines the Canadian domestic human rights instruments that serve to protect gender equality and women's human rights more generally.

This short article first outlines the process that lead to the entry into force of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC) on July 1, 2002. The document then discusses the range of crimes, the issue of victim and witness protection, the staffing on the Court and the selection of judges, along with the importance for Canada of fashioning a permanent ICC Statute that reflects the full range of gender issues relevant to modern conflict and human rights abuses. [Descriptors: Armed Conflict, Canada]

This fact sheet notes that the Beijing Platform for Action identified the effects of armed or other kinds of conflict on women, including those living under foreign occupation, as one of the twelve areas of critical concern. It then sets out the issue of women's involvement in the peace building process and the various effects of conflict on women along with some vital statistics from the Canadian immigration and refugee board.

This paper examines the context of the exemption of Aboriginal nations from the Canadian Human Rights Act under section 67 of the Indian Act. The author begins by outlining some of the positive developments achieved through litigation and legislation in providing for Aboriginal womens equality, but then recognizes that there are still significant gaps in achieving the full range of rights, especially under the Indian Act. She proceeds to review the Canada Human Rights Act and the negotiations which led to the exemption under the Indian Act.

This report focuses primarily on policy alternatives for ensuring that Aboriginal women are able to equally participate in governance. It contains a review of the legal status of Aboriginal peoples in Canada and notes that none of the treaties or self-government agreements between First Nations and Canada has gender equality provisions. One of the authors' main suggestions is that gender equality provisions should be inserted into treaties and documents relating to First Nations governance.

As part of the review and appraisal of the implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action (PFA), United Nations (UN) Member States were asked to respond to a questionnaire to help identify and assess regional and international trends and to identify "best practices" in implementing the Beijing Platform for Action. This report is the response of the federal goverment of Canada. It provides an overview of trends, reviews financial and institutional measures, and summarizes implementation efforts in the PFA twelve areas of concern.