Women’s convention ‘not binding’

Press, 28 August 1984, Page 2

Women’s convention ‘not binding’

By

MICHAEL HANNAH

in Wellington

Any reservations included in the Government’s planned ratification of the United Nations Convention on the elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women would not bind the Government td legislate in those areas, said the Minister of Women’s Affairs, Mrs Hercus. In a recent interview, Mrs Hercus confirmed that the Government would ratify the convention, but possibly with reservations. The two most common examples of reservations involved paid maternity leave and front-line defence duties for women. Mrs Hercus said a ratification of the convention by New Zealand would have to include a reservation that there was not paid maternity leave in New Zealand and that women were not allowed to take up front-line duties in the defence forces. “Some people don’t understand what a reservation is,” Mrs Hercus said. “It’s a technical note that says, ‘We do not have this’.’’ A reservation did not affect New Zealand’s right to determine its own laws as a sovereign country. “Signing the convention, I wish this could become clearer in the community, does not in any way interefere with our rights as a sovereign nation to determine our own laws,” she said. Several other reservations have been suggested previously by the Advisory Com : mittee on Women’s Affairs although Mrs Hercus made it clear that she did not accept all of those.

The committee’s reservations included a statement that more needed to be done to ensure equality of opportunity for women in employment and promotion in the public and private sector. The committee also noted that New Zealand did not yet have a “proper syllabus for parenting nor have we yet educated students to avoid sex stereotyping.” It pointed to a disadvantage women had in “ratepayer only” polls, the Government’s failure to give women the opportunity to participate equally in delegations to international forums, the relatively poor performance of girls in the education system, particularly Maori and Polynesian girls, and the lack of a “proper network of child care facilities.” Two other reservations suggested by the committee would if adopted require the Government to make a commitment to quantify the unpaid work of women, especially of rural women,

before ratification; and to clearify the legality of rape within marriage. Mrs Hercus said she was disturbed by some of the responses she still received from people about the convention. “I am getting letters, which despite the best efforts of the previous Government and ourselves to ensure that accurate information was available in the form of backgrounders about the United Nation convention, saying; ‘This will destroy religious freedom’; ‘This will mean the destruction of New Zealand families’; ‘This will mean all children will go compulsorily into child care centres from birth’. “It is very sad' and very difficult in fact to cope with arguments that are clearly based on appalling misinformation,” Mrs Hercus said. It would be over to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to look carefully at which reservations would be necessary, she said.