A/HRC/22/24
33.
With regard to the right to health, the Committee has indicated that States parties
should pay particular attention in improving access to health care for women of African
descent and indigenous women.7 In relation to labour issues, while considering the
seventeenth and eighteenth periodic reports of the Netherlands, the Committee expressed
concern at the high rates of unemployment in ethnic minority groups, particularly women,
and recommended the State party to take effective measures to eliminate discrimination in
access to employment (CERD/C/NLD/CO/17-18, para. 12)..
IV. Activities of special procedures on women’s economic, social
and cultural rights
A.
Special Rapporteur on the human right to safe drinking water and
sanitation
34.
The Special Rapporteur on the human right to safe drinking water and sanitation has
explained in her recent report (A/HRC/21/42) on stigma and the realization of the human
rights to water and sanitation, how the intersection of different attributes can compound the
discrimination faced by certain groups or persons, such as being a woman and a sex worker,
a woman infected with HIV/AIDS or a woman belonging to a certain marginalized group,
such as the Dalits. The stigma these groups of women face greatly affects their access to
water supply and sanitation. Menstruating women suffer stigma and menstruation remains
taboo in many countries. Women often lack appropriate facilities and the necessary privacy
to change or wash during menstruation, and cultural perceptions that menstruating women
are “contaminated” or “impure” lead to reduced mobility or even seclusion, as well as
dietary restrictions and restricted access to water resources and food. The taboos and deeply
rooted practices also have a negative impact on girls’ right to education, since girls can be
absent from school during menstruation, either because there are no appropriate facilities at
school or because they are isolated by their family owing to prejudice.
35.
To combat silence and stigma, the Special Rapporteur recommends that States make
sure that there is sufficient access to information on menstruation and hygiene, including
comprehensive sexual education in schools on menstruation, targeting both girls and boys.
The provision of adequate hygiene facilities must also be ensured. She recommends
promoting better awareness amongst women and men to overcome the embarrassment,
cultural practices and taboos around menstruation that impact negatively on women’s and
girls’ lives, and reinforce gender inequities and exclusion.
36.
In her report to the General Assembly on how to integrate non-discrimination and
equality into the post-2015 development agenda for water, sanitation and hygiene
(A/67/270), she emphasized the importance of monitoring the specific situation of women.
She called upon States and all actors involved into the post-2015 development agenda to
integrate non-discrimination and equality and to also adopt a stand-alone goal on equality
as well as a specific goal, target and indicators on water, sanitation and hygiene. Cases
highlighted by the Special Rapporteur include:8
7
8
10
Concluding observations of the Committee on the tenth to fourteenth periodic reports of Colombia,
CERD/C/COL/CO/14, and on the twelfth and thirteenth periodic reports of Guatemala,
CERD/C/GTM/CO/12-13.
Catarina de Albuquerque, Special Rapporteur on the human right to safe drinking water and
sanitation, with Virginia Roaf, On the Right Track: Good practices in realising the rights to water
and sanitation (Lisbon, 2012). See also the report of the Special Rapporteur on good practices,
A/HRC/18/33/Add.1.
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