Recently the Polish NGOs report was sent to the CEDAW Committee. One can find it on the Committee website for 59th CEDAW session (October 2014). Karat coordinated the work of 13 Polish organizations involved in writing chapters of the report.
Click to access INT_CEDAW_NGO_POL_18378_E.pdf
Since 2007 a neoliberal conservative party has been in power, now governing for the second term. Yet, gender equality has not constituted a priority for its two governments. The recent legal and institutional changes related to the gender discrimination resulted rather from the obligations linked to the membership in the European Union than from a political conviction or will of politicians. Consequently, the present government has not reacted to a strong intimidating “anti-gender” campaign, which was began by the Polish Roman Catholic Church and ultra conservative circles in November 2013.
Key Recommendatrons for the Government of Poland:
1. Introduce anti-discrimination legislation which includes the definition of discrimination (including intersectional discrimination), as specified in Art. 1 CEDAW, and which protects women from discrimination in all spheres of life;
2. Establish a permanent governmental body responsible for gender equality and women’s empowerment, located at the highest governmental level with a significant separate budget; as long as there is no such body, ensure a separate budget for the Plenipotentiary for Equal Treatment and financial means for implementing gender equality within the National Program for Equal Treatment.
3. Create, in cooperation with women’s organizations, a long-term National Action Plan for Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment;
4. Develop a strategy and action plan for applying gender mainstreaming at central and local governmental level;
5. Collect gender disaggregated data taking into account intersectional approach in case of groups particularly vulnerable to discrimination (such as migrants, LBT, rural women), concerning the respective forms of discrimination (e.g. direct and indirect discrimination, sexual harassment, forms of violence) and other factors (such as age, socioeconomic status).