East Asia Women's Forum - Subcommittee on "Women and the Law"

To the Subcommittee on "Women and the Law," Japan submits the following four reports.

First, "The Legal System and Gender" (by Mutsuko Asakura) outlines and points out problem areas in Japan's present legal system regarding women. The Japanese legal system should warrant more criticism not only for its inadequacy in guaranteeing the rights of women but also for its sanctioning of the Eugenic Protection Law which violates the very ideals inherent to human rights concepts.

The next report, "Current Conditions of Japanese Women in Law Professions" (by Yuriko Kaminaga), based on the author's survey, suggests that while women lawyers on the average maintain the "honorable male" status, there is also a visible tendency for women lawyers, who take on cases of women clients, to show a positive attitudes toward women's rights.

The third article, "Women and Legislation" (by Masako Owaki), based on the author's experiences in practicing legislation as a member of Parliament, emphasizes the importance, especially at this time in history, of concrete legislative action regarding women.

The final article, "Suggestion for Introducing 'the System of Communications submitted by Individuals' to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women" (by Yasuko Yamashita), with a view to strengthening the implementation of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, advocates the necessity of introducing the system whereby individuals may submit communications directly to international organizations.

I. The Legal System and Gender...............by Mutsuko Asakura

It certainly may be said that Japan, while economically one of the world's most prominent nations, has been markedly unprogressive insofar as realizing human rights and democracy. Probably no one would deny that Japan does fulfill the bare minimum standards required by modern nation states. Likewise, there are few persons in Japan who, either superficially or based on ideals, would deny that principles of democracy exist. Indeed, the Constitution of Japan guarantees the institutions of peace, democracy and human rights. In accord, Japan ratified the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women in 1985. Upon ratification, revisions were conducted on legislation considered to be overly discriminatory based on gender.

Nevertheless, it is certainly questionable as to what extent human rights - expressed in terms of freedom and equality - have actually taken root in all sectors of society where people actually reside. Much skepticism has been addressed to this issue. From the woman's point of view, the heretofore establishment of freedom and equality is inadequate and poses still many realities which must be ameliorated vis-a-vis the legal system.

Crimes of Rape:

First, let's examine the issue of infringements on human rights as "violence and assault" against women. According to Article 177 of the Penal Code of Japan, "A person who, by violence or threat, obtains carnal knowledge of a female person...shall be punished with penal servitude for a limited period of not less than two years." (Crime of Rape). However, an overwhelmingly large number of rape victims do not file official complaints against their assailants, and of the complaints actually filed only a mere 45% are indicted.

In order to determine whether or not acts of "violence or threat" were perpetrated, the degree to which the rape victim "resisted" is questioned. Also, during the trial, to verify the question of silent consent, whether or not the rape victim has had prior sexual experience is made into a matter of concern.

It is thus necessary to adopt a way of thinking which equates rape with "undesirable sexual intercourse (as determined by the woman)," and to revise current structural proviso concerning crimes of rape.

At present, (according to a judgement handed down in 1987) rape crimes between marital partners, stand accountable at times when marital relations experience "failure (or breakdown)." However, if we are to adopt this interpretation, crimes of rape may not be established in cases where the proviso for "marital failure (or breakdown)" is not satisfied.

Certainly, a female spouse should not have to be subject to "undesirable sexual intercourse" just because she is married. Perhaps then, the scope of penalties should be expanded so as to recognize that rape crimes are perpetrated even in marital relations.

Sexual Harassment:

In law, no provisions disallowing sexual harassment exist. A few judicial precedents, however, have been handed down concerning sexual harassment in the work place. Nonetheless, damage compensation awarded by the civil courts has inherently functioned as little more than a type of ex post facto relief.

Toward rectifying sexual harassment, it is necessary to establish clear prohibitory regulations, to create a relief system more capable of responding promptly and pliantly to such problems, and moreover, to formulate written guidelines and to carry out preventive measures.

Prostitution Issues:

A large portion of the prostitute population in Japan is occupied by migrant Asian women. The Anti-Prostitution Law enacted in 1956, in lieu of establishing provisions for penalties regarding simple prostitution, serves to penalize only 1)outward acts of prostitution involving methods by which a third party is inconvenienced i.e. "street hustling," and 2) acts which exploit and/or promote prostitution i.e. "managed prostitution." (Abolishment-ism of Prostitution)

Generally, penal provisions for the above-mentioned act of "street-hustling" are no longer being enforced on Japanese citizens. However, for aliens, these provisions warrant strict application. For those women who have been convicted, court sentences are severe. Such realities indicate the phenomenon of "prostitute classification" going on in Japan today.

Indeed, the recognition that prostitution is not a crime of women, but a crime against women, should be reinforced. In correlation, assistance should be provided for correctional and/or support organizations for prostitute women.

The "Comfort Women" Issue:

The Japanese government should formally apologize to "comfort women" who were forced to serve as sex slaves for Japanese soldiers during World War II. The Japanese government should also take responsibility for these crimes and give just compensation to each of these victims individually. Further, it is of utmost importance that education be conducted so that Japanese people may hold common historical perspectives with other Asian peoples concerning the war.

Issue of Brides from Rural Farming Villages:

Frequently, trouble occurs in international marriages in which the female spouse originated as an alien "mail order bride" or "rural farm village bride." In response to the predicaments in which these women are placed, it is necessary to 1)enrich counseling organizations coalesced with the women's stance, 2) eliminate discrimination and prejudice toward aliens, 3) provide assistance for women confronting such dilemmas, and moreover, 4) regulate businesses which mediate and arrange international marriages.

Crimes of Abortion and the Eugenic Protection Law:

While Japan is referred to as "Datai Tengoku" (="abortion heaven" or "a country where abortion is easily available to those who seek it"), the Japanese legal system certainly does not guarantee women the right to make personal choices regarding sex. The Penal Code of Japan (Articles 212 ~ 216) does establish provisions regarding "Crimes of Abortion." However, under the Eugenic Protect Law - which stipulates abortion as an "act of legitimate business" and therefore as simply non-punishable, penal code provisions are basically overridden. Moreover, the Eugenic Protection Law -by inundating the "Sterilization Law" enacted under Nazi rule and by failing to sever ties with "Eugenic thought" - concedes birth prevention of defective offspring. Thus, it is necessary eliminate "Crimes of Abortion" (as stipulated in penal code) and to provide for conditions whereby women may make subjective choices regarding their own sexuality and reproductivity.

Employment Discrimination:

Discrimination in employment continues as regulatory legislation remains inadequate. The Equal Employment Opportunity Act which has been in implementation since 1986, maintains extremely weak regulatory power. This is largely due to the fact that essential clauses of this law stipulate employment issues i.e. recruitment, hiring procedures, job assignments, and promotion, as "provisions to be endeavored."

In the context of this law, the Equal Opportunity Mediation Commission was established in 1985 to arbitrate between employee and employer parties in labour disputes. According to the law provisions, these disputes are to be referred to the Commission by the director of a prefectural Women's and Young Worker's Office. However, in order for theses directors to make referrals, they must first gain mutual consent to the mediation by both parties involved in the dispute. Accordingly, when only one of the disputing parties applies for mediation, a director (of a prefectural Women's and Young Worker's Office) must gain the other party's consent to the mediation. Accomplishing this, however, had been untenable (since the system for mediation had been established in 1985) until September 1994. At this time, the Osaka Women's and Young Workers' Office carried out its determination to refer arbitration to the Commission by gaining employer (corporate) consent in response to a complaint filed by seven (7) women employees of Sumitomo Metal Industries. This case is the first precedent of mediation in Japan.

In Japan, one major point in employment disputes is the large differential between salaries earned by men and women. On the whole, women's average monthly earnings are about 61.5 percent of those accumulated by men. When men and women salary earners of the same age, educational background and years of employment are compared, it is revealed that high school graduate women earn 68.3 percent and university graduate women earn 78 percent of salaries gained by their respective male counterparts. Further, it is disclosed that as employees' ages increased, the gap between male and female earned salaries expands conspicuously.

The ILO points out that such differentials in male and female earned wages exist in Japan because: 1) pay scales are based on seniority; 2) women are concentrated into low wage bracket occupations, and; 3)a comprehensive approach lacks with regard to equal opportunity and treatment in employment.

Over the past several years, employers have gained expertise in skirting discrimination issues. Also on the increase are select employment management programs which - by allowing employment moveability (as opposed to the life-time employment policy) - create discrepancies in job wages, job promotions, and work content. Japanese law does not prohibit indirect discrimination based on gender insofar as regulating these recent forms of employment policies.

Part-time employees are generally the first to be dismissed during times of economic recession. They are, in addition, forced to accept wages and work conditions far lower than those attributed to full-time employees. In response to these inequalities, the law concerning the "Improvement of Employment Management and other related matters for Part-time workers" was passed in 1993. However, insofar as realizing equal treatment of both full-time and part-time workers, this law is inconsequential.

Family Law:

Revisionary work concerning Japanese Family Law is currently in progress.

The current statute on "marriageable age" requires men to be "not less than eighteen (18) years of age" and women to be not less than sixteen (16) years of age (Civil Code, Article 731). This article should be amended so as to make age requirements uniform for both sexes.

With respect to provisions for remarriage, at present women are prohibited to remarry for a six month mandatory waiting period pursuant to legal divorce (Civil Code, Article 733). This article is construed to be for the purpose of avoiding "presumptions of duplicate fatherhood." However, if this law does exist precisely for such a reason, a mandatory waiting period of 100 days would certainly be sufficient. Rather, this article should be repealed. In lieu, a provision which presumes the husband of the subsequent marriage to be the natural father of the child, should be adopted.

The enforcement requiring married couples to assume an identical surname (Civil Code, Article 750) makes it compulsory for a woman or a man to change her/his last name in accompaniment to marriage and thus, acts as an infringement of personal rights. This enforcement should be altered to a policy whereby women and men are free to choose between common and separate surnames.

In Japan, the number of children born out of wedlock is remarkably low. This is, perhaps, due in part to the visible extent to which Japanese society has come to perceive family lifestyles not prescribed by official marriage law, as taboo. In order to eliminate discrimination against children born out of wedlock, the following legislative amendments are necessary. First, the provision limiting the illegitimate child's inheritance to one half of that appropriated to the legitimate child (Civil Code, Article 900, Clause 4), should be abolished. Second, in Japan, names of new family members and their relationships to a designated household owner must be recorded in columns provided on family registers and resident cards. This system discriminates legitimate and illegitimate children as follows. On both the family register and resident card, the legitimate child's relationship to the household owner must be recorded as "eldest daughter," "second daughter," "second son," etc. However, in the illegitimate child's case, the relationship must be recorded as "female" or "male" on the family register, and as "child" on the residency card. This system should be abolished. Third, the present system of Dependant Child Allowances provided for mother-child households, stipulates that allowances be terminated in cases where the father of a child born out of wedlock recognizes that the child is legitimate (Dependant Child Allowance Enforcement Ordinance, Article 1, Clause 2). This system should be reformed.

II. Current Conditions of Japanese Women in Law.................by Yuriko Kaminaga

In Japan, (three) women were admitted to the BAR Association for the first time in 1938. It was not until 1945 that women were constitutionally qualified to become judges or prosecutors. Today, after almost fifty years, women still remain a rarity in the legal system - totalling 7.2 percent of all judges and 3.3 percent of all prosecutors. Poor representation of women in these legal professions continues despite the fact a woman was selected as Supreme Court Justice in 1994. Today, there are 992 female lawyers registered with the Japan Federation of BAR Associations, equaling 6.5 percent of the total number of lawyers registered. Nevertheless, the rate of women passing the National BAR Examination increases every year.

This paper is based on a survey conducted in 1991. It attempts to show who these women who practice law are, and what their opinions are concerning the situation of Japanese law and society. Due to the low response rate whereby only 22% of those surveyed responded, the findings here can only be accounted as preliminary. However, in the findings, despite the low response rate, a particular profile of Japanese women lawyers can be envisioned.

The general profile exhibited by the respondents, resembles the American counterpart which feminist scholars of law have portrayed with grave concern i.e. "assimilated to male norms" or characteristic of "exceptional" women. In Japan, the small number of women lawyers places them in a token status characterized by all the aspects privy to "token-ism." Most women lawyers are young, unmarried, or if married, without children. Most of these women have low incomes in comparison to their male counterparts. Their practice is limited to areas of law such as inheritance, domestic relations and landlord-tenant cases. The majority of these women work as associates in large firms. The rest are either partners in two-lawyer firms or maintain solo practices. This profile of Japanese female lawyers matches the average profile of women lawyers world-wide.

However, women lawyers in Japan enjoy privileges of which non-lawyer women are generally deprived. Parallel to becoming lawyers, these women attain "the honorable male" status and the position of being "exceptional" to which such privileges are "inherently" bestowed. This "status" originates from three basic conditions: 1)the idiosyncratic arrangement of Japanese society i.e. the academic meritocracy which awards extraordinary advantages to graduates of the few elite universities (from where a majority of women lawyers do graduate); 2) the prestige accorded by passing the national BAR Examination which is notoriously competitive yielding only about 700 male and female successful candidates each year, and; 3) international pressure to end sex-based discrimination in professions formerly construed to be male oriented.

In my survey, women lawyers signified themselves to be of this "honorable male" status, insofar as they differentiated themselves from ordinary women and they identified themselves with male lawyers. The majority of women who responded to the survey, saw no disadvantages in practicing "everyday" law as women. More interestingly, these women indicated that they witnessed more discrimination in general working conditions of other female lawyers than they did in their own experiences.

These "super-women," whose work attitudes compel them to deny that they are "women," assumed a demeanor unsympathetic toward women in general. Further, in terms of how well Japanese laws were perceived to protect the rights of women, the majority of respondents indicated they saw no problems (40% indicating "no problems," and 14.3% answering "the laws provide adequate protection"). Moreover, the women rejected the need for affirmative action for women inclusive of the 35% who saw that such programs would simply permit companies and schools to indulge in further discrimination against women. However, 35% of the respondents did indicate that affirmative action was desirable for disabled persons, other than women.

On the other hand, these women lawyers did admit that the Equal Employment Opportunity Act of 1985 was not being fully implemented. These women also acknowledged that sexual harassment does exist in the work place and elsewhere.

However, 57% of these women responded negatively to the question, "Do you think women lawyers should work to help women?" Only 14% gave positive responses to this question.

My hypothesis is that the tendency of women lawyers to identify themselves with male lawyers is largely due to the work conditions in which they are placed. These women represent a comparatively small numbers of women clients. Rarely do they represent women's rights cases. Seldom do these women have experiences in working with other women lawyers, or in being member to group practices with other women lawyers.

In proving my hypothesis, by separating into two groups and analyzing the respondents, contrasts of significant interest were revealed. Accordingly, I distinguished the first group (Group #1) to consist of those respondents (twenty-one (21) women in total) who indicated that they represented a comparatively large number of female clients where more than 20% of their cases were suits filed by women. To the second group (Group #2), I assigned those respondents (twenty-two (22) women in total) who denoted their practices to be other than the former. Respectively, it was revealed that Group #1 showed twice as much dissatisfaction with current situation of women's rights under Japanese law as Group #2 did. Further, while fourteen (14) women from Group #1 indicated problems to exist in the ability of Japanese law to address and contain provisions for the protection of women's rights, only three (3) women did so in Group #2. Also, the lawyers of Group #1 were significantly more critical of the EEO Law. Two-thirds of these same women supported affirmative-action for women. Concerning sexual harassment, while both groups did exhibit similar views, Group#1 was altogether more critical of Japanese law and society. In addition, in response to the question of whether or not women lawyers should work for women, the majority of women who did respond positively were from Group #1.

While the differences revealed above may be due to the influence of' work conditions and/or clientele attributed to women lawyers, as the number of the respondents to my survey was limited, confirming this hypothesis based on statistics is untenable. Thus, conducting additional and separate qualitative research on the few women lawyers currently engaged in women's issues deems to be of utmost necessity. Finally, I submit that the small response rate itself suggests the problem of Japanese women lawyers is 1)their refusal to be associated with "women," and; 2) their reluctance to be involved with women's issues.

3. "Women and Legislation"........................................by Masako Owaki

The Policy-making system in Japan may be divided into two categories. The first constitutes resolutions proposed by government and other is formed by resolutions by members of Parliament. Government proposed resolutions are submitted to the Diet upon passing through concrete policy-making work coordinated by each governmental ministry and agency and then through Cabinet Legislation Bureau deliberations. In Japan, government proposed resolutions comprise 67.8% of all resolutions submitted to Parliament. 86.7% of these resolutions are passed into law. As a consequence, the chief directors of the governmental ministries and agencies are said to be promoted to new posts upon "taking care of" important resolutions.

In contrast, Parliamentarian proposed resolutions are either drafted directly by members of Parliament, debated by the Parliamentary Counsel of the Upper or Lower Houses, and then proposed to the Diet; or are composed and drafted vis-a-vis joint policy-making work by parliament member composed groups and then, upon gaining group approval, are proposed to the Diet. In the latter case, group member numbers are limited to 20 Lower House and 10 Upper House Parliamentarians when the proposed resolution does not coincide with the House budget, and limited to 30 and 20 members, respectively, when the budget is satisfied.

Out of all resolutions enacted into law, those proposed by Parliament comprise 32.2%. Lower House approved legislation equates to 36.4% while Upper House is 16.8%.

In Japan, due to the prolonged one-party rule of the Liberal Democratic Party, almost all resolutions submitted to Parliament came to be treated as government proposals. Of legislation pertinent to women's issues proposed by Opposition Party Parliamentarians, few - notwithstanding the law regarding maternity leave replacements for national and local government officials- were worth examining.

Up until August 1993, the situation in Parliament was such that almost all resolutions proposed by the Opposition Parties were spent in explanations of purpose and intention, never progressing to debate let alone adoption. In the process of parliamentary debates, the ruling Party feared that resolution deliberations would be prolonged due to the gravity the Opposition Parties placed on debating resolutions they proposed. In Diet logo, this slow process is expressed by the phrase "Make the resolution a pillow and sleep on it." Hence, it was quite common for the ruling Party to leave Opposition Parties proposed resolutions "hanging in the air" (=abandoning the resolutions without proper Parliamentary hearings).

To much surprise, this period of time "left hanging in the air" lasted for eight long years. During this period, times changed. Government adopted basic principles from Opposition Party proposed resolutions, advanced a new plan for government and submitted this plan to Parliamentary debate.

At this time, the Opposition Parties' plans were being debated simultaneously with exceptional withdrawals, retractions and vis-a-vis political "nemawashi" (=behind the scenes negotiations). By majority decision, extensive amendments replaced clauses of the government's plan and, the plan became law. Although Opposition Party resolutions -which took great initiative in addressing issues of the day -were submitted concurrently, these resolutions did little more than serve as pump priming for other resolutions proposed by the government and popular Opposition Parties.

In the midst of all this, the policy-making functions of Parliament members were greatly hampered. Consequently, laws enacted, which reflected the will of the people, suffered drastic reductions. For example, in June 1993, the Equal Employment Opportunity Act (hereafter EEO Act) was passed. Ironically however, the Social Democratic Party had already proposed similar legislation for Equal Employment of Men and Women on 6 May 1978. At that time, although the intent of the resolution was explained at the Sixth Parliamentary hearing, the resolution was abandoned at the close of debates. Seven years later, we saw the EEO Act passed.

The enactment of the EEO Act was an important, serviceable link for Japanese domestic law as it worked to supplement the Japan's ratification of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women."

EEO Act policy was debated in the context of reciprocal Employer-Employee relationships so as to determine to what extent clauses of the Labour Standards law affecting women (i.e.. restrictions on overtime work and prohibitions on midnight shift work) should be relaxed. To this end, resolutions and the gist of resolutions were presented by each of the political parties. In addition, tentative schemes for an Equal Employment Law - which many women, women's organizations of a variety of orientations, and the Japan Federation of BAR Associations thought should be enacted- were proposed.

However, pursuant to debates conducted by the Council on Labour Issues of Women and Young Persons, the 1985 enacted EEO Act -other than stipulating that recruitment, employment procedure, position assignment and job promotion to be relegated to the obligation of employers to make sincere efforts in these areas (concrete standards are provided as indicators)- merely cites prohibitory provisions absent of any type of accompanying penalties. In short, the overall effectiveness of this law is moot.

Rather, to ensure the effectiveness of this law, a system of arbitration was established. According to this system, in order for arbitration to commence both the judgement of the chief of the Women's and Young Worker's Bureau, and the consent of the other part (usually the employer) must be attained. Regardless of whether or not budgets were spent for arbitration in each administrative division (inclusive of all prefectures, and Hokkaido, Tokyo, Osaka and Kyoto), not one case was commenced in the eight years since the legislation was passed.

Clearly, the resolution did not incorporate the needs nor the voices of women. Rather, as consequences have shown, the legislation has only worked to frustrate the desires and expectations of women.

The economic recession of 1994 and the consequent restraint in hiring new employees exercised by corporations, gave rise to the social issue of difficulties incurred by young women students attempting to secure employment. Although the EEO Act has been set up as a law centering on administrative guidance, it has demonstrated exactly how powerless it is in response to this issue.

Likewise, on 15 May 1991, the legislation on Child Care Leave was passed. Curiously, a resolution to this effect had already been proposed by the Social Democratic Party on 12 May 1982. Nonetheless, in 1991, despite stacks of resolutions and the gist of resolutions introduced by the Opposition Parties, the government proposed resolution which failed to secure income guarantees and stipulated unpaid leaves, was eventually enacted into law. Only after the law's passage was employee insurance compelled to provide "sizeable" child-care compensation amounting to 25% of earned salary wages.

In June 1993, legislation concerning Part-time Labour Worker Employment Management was enacted into law. Prior to this adoption, a one-day Lower House parliamentary hearing on a "four Opposition Party" (Social Democratic, Japan Democratic Socialist, Komeito and the Rengo Upper House, Parties ) proposed resolution - concerning the procurement of equal treatment and appropriate work conditions for both full-time and part-time workers- was conducted in parallel with a resolution submitted by the government. As a result, an amendment was incorporated into the eighth clause of the government's resolution and that resolution was passed.

Understandably, this issue concerning protection for employees who work for short time intervals, commonly referred to as part-time workers, has been a social dilemma dating back to the 1960s. Since the Social Democratic Party first introduced a resolution concerning the issue on 7 October 1983, the resolution was submitted three time successively, but was abandoned each time without questioning or debate. In a similar way, other Opposition Parties have also proposed countless numbers of resolutions and the gist of resolutions.

Now that the Lower House Labour Affairs Council has appointed a small committee on part-time employee issues which will seek to draft a resolution designed to protect part-time employees, it appears that heretofore efforts are finally beginning to materialize.

However, because the existing law commissions employers with the obligation to make sincere efforts toward the amelioration of employment management, and places too much expectation on the counseling and enlightenment services provided by the Women's and Young Worker's Bureau administrative directors as well as the Part-time Workers Relief Center Labour Management Division: The law fails to 1) achieve equal treatment of part-time employees as a basic principle, and 2) to adequately provide for effective organs of implementation with a view to rectifying discrimination based on gender.

In June 1994, the ILO adopted a Convention and Recommendations concerning part-time employees. The Convention clearly states that basic salaries of both part-time and full-time employees should be based on the principle of proportional equality. The Convention also provides that equal treatment should be carried out with respect to social guarantees and protection for female parents. In looking to the three year follow-up review of the convention, it is now necessary to begin preparatory work in constructing revisions inclusive of principles laid down in this international Convention.

Currently underway in Parliament is the discussion on the necessity to activate Parliamentarian proposed legislation to make policies regarding such issues as "the right of married women to choose independent surnames," "countermeasures to sexual violence," ""work leaves to administer care to disabled, elderly, etc. family members," "prohibition of child prostitution," "sexual harassment," "family insurance," "affirmative action," et. al. This kind of legislation movement has just begun to be in our reach. In looking to the adoption of policies to address existing provisos on divorce and surname changes, the Japanese Ministry of Justice has already begun initiating great revisions. In order to formulate laws which do not result in inequality owing to legislative revisions, such as the pension stock-splitting law and the legislation concerning the collection of and standards for child support for divorced parents with children, the views and voices of women must be convened and tied in with law revisions. For the political parties and Parliamentarians who shoulder this work, there is indeed enormous responsibility which must be carried.

4."Suggestion that "the right individuals to submit communications to international organizations" be introduced to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women" .....by Yasuko Yamashita

The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women has been called the "Bible of Women." As of February 1994, there were 132 State Parties to the Convention.. At present, implementation of the Convention is being monitored vis-a-vis the consideration of State Parties' submitted reports by the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women.

However, in order to strengthen implementation of the Convention's commitment to guaranteeing equality and the human rights of women, it is essential that a system be established for individual persons -whose Convention stated rights have been infringed- to voice their complaints directly to international organizations.

The human rights Conventions adopted by the United Nations- namely the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination and the International Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment - provide systems for the individual to submit communications. As of December 1993, to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, seventy-four (74) State Parties ratified the Protocol calling for a system whereby communications may be submitted by individual persons. By 1992, 514 cases of communications submitted by individual persons had already been considered by the Human Rights Committee (which was set up by the Covenant). Assuredly, the system of communications submitted by individuals is an effective measure to ensure human rights are guaranteed.

In June 1993, the Vienna Declaration and Plan for Action, with a view to strengthening implementation of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, recommended that the Commission on the Status of Women and the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women should promptly examine the possibility of introducing the right to petition by individuals. Also, in February 1994, the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, suggested that the Commission on the Status of Women request the Secretary-General of the United Nations to convene a group meeting of experts with a view to prepare a draft optional protocol to the Convention providing for a complaints procedure. With great enthusiasm, I wish to advocate that this system of communications submitted by individuals, be introduced into the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, and that this be incorporated into the outline for action of the 1995 Beijing Conference.