Civil society organisations submit a joint alternative report to the CEDAW about women’s rights in Chile

GI-ESCR, along with 12 Chilean and international organisations such as Corporación Humanas, Casa La Morada, Corporación Miles, Centro de Estudios de la Mujer, Observatorio Contra el Acoso, and Tax Justice Network, submitted a joint alternative report to the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). The report highlights several situations that violate women’s political and ESC rights in Chile and question the State’s actions to address these problems.

The paper tackles a range of situations in which women’s rights are violated or at risk. Some of these issues linked to economic, social and cultural rights refer to care systems, violence, equality and non-discrimination, the impact of renewable energy projects, and fiscal inequalities.

CARE SYSTEMS

• The COVID-19 pandemic has caused a decline in the participation of women in the Chilean labour market, according to the report. This was caused by not only increased unemployment, but also by a rise in unpaid care work at home as a result of school and care centre closures — most of which is taken on by women.

• In the report, the collaborating organisations ask the CEDAW to consult the Chilean government on the measures taken to advance the development of a national care system in partnership between men and women, the State and the private sector.

RENEWABLE ENERGY

• The report warns of how renewable energy projects in Chile aimed at reducing climate change are affecting the human rights of local communities, with a focus on the rights of women and girls.

• The document directly references the construction of hydroelectric dams and the exploitation of lithium in the Atacama Desert. Both instances imply violations of human rights in local indigenous communities.

• The report also exposes how women are disproportionately affected by energy poverty while also remaining underrepresented in decision-making spaces in the area.

FISCAL INEQUALITIES

• The document highlights how insufficient tax revenue impacts the funding of public policies for social rights, as well as comprehensive protection against gender violence for women.

• Women and other marginalised groups carry most of the burden created by regressive fiscal policy and the underfunding of authorities and mechanisms intended to prevent tax evasion.

• A consequence of this is the low quality of public services — which are used primarily by women — and the outsourcing of public services to private corporations which generates further gender discrimination.

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