A/HRC/41/33/Add.2 to 36 months’ unpaid parental leave, only one month of which must be used by both parents and is not transferable. Women who are pregnant or on maternity leave and men who are on paternity leave are protected by the Labour Code against dismissal, and their return to the same or an equivalent job is guaranteed. 33 62. The guarantee of an independent, paid paternity leave is important for the sharing of parenting roles between women and men and their ability to balance their social and professional lives. However, mothers are the predominant users of leave entitlements; less than 3 per cent of fathers take parental leave. 34 The individual entitlement to a greater portion of the parental leave, which cannot be transferred, could be a way of encouraging fathers to take more parental leave and assume more childcare functions. 63. The Working Group has learned that there is mounting pressure on women to prioritize the traditional roles of mother and caregiver, in a context where there is already an unequal division of care and household tasks in the family. This often results in women holding disadvantaged positions in other spheres of life, including the economic, public and political spheres. Women in Poland spend on average almost two and a half hours more per day on unpaid work than men do. More than half of parents have a traditional view of women’s role in paid and unpaid work, implying that women should be prepared to reduce their labour force participation for care commitments. 35 Indeed, the study by the Human Rights Commissioner points to the widely held stereotypes in Polish society concerning women’s and men’s professional and familial responsibilities. The respondents’ statements indicate that there is a deep-rooted belief that it is women’s duty to be fully engaged in the care of children, while it would be “unmasculine” for men to take a break from employment to assume parental duties. 64. The Working Group welcomes the efforts of the Government to increase the availability of childcare facilities, especially for children below 3 years of age. The adoption of the 2011 Act on Care for Children up to the Age of Three, which provides the legal framework concerning various forms of care for children aged 3 years and under, has raised the number of childcare facilities from 500 to 5,000 according to information received during the visit. However, despite the steady increase over the years of the percentage of children in formal childcare, from 5 per cent in 2013 to 11.6 per cent in 2017,36 the rate is still much lower than the European Union target of 33 per cent, with important regional disparities. Childcare facilities are particularly inaccessible in rural areas. The situation is classified as “critical” in the European Union Social Scoreboard.37 Furthermore, childcare is costly, representing more than 20 per cent of net family income for a couple with median earnings. The situation is even worse for low-income families.38 The increase in funding for the Baby Care Plus programme, which gives financial support to municipalities and individuals to set up childcare facilities, is a positive step. VIII. Gender-based violence against women 65. The Working Group recognizes that Poland has been taking measures to prevent and combat violence against women. The ratification by Poland in 2015 of the Istanbul Convention, the first European legally binding instrument providing a comprehensive prevention, protection, prosecution and support framework, signalled the country’s strong commitment to combating gender-based violence against women. However, political and public discourse during the process leading to the signing and ratification of the Convention exposed misunderstandings about the phenomenon of gender-based violence, including 33 34 35 36 37 38 14 European Gender Network, Gender Equality, 2018. OECD country report. Ibid. European Commission, Country Report Poland 2019, available at https://ec.europa.eu/info/sites/info/files/file_import/2019-european-semester-country-reportpoland_en.pdf. Ibid. European Commission, “European Semester Thematic Factsheet: Women in the Labour Market”.