CEDAW/C/BRB/CO/5-8
(b) Ensure that the Convention and the Committee’s general
recommendations are well known and applied by all branches of the
Government, including the judiciary, as a framework for laws, court decisions
and policies on gender equality and the advancement of women;
(c) Ratify the Optional Protocol and train the judiciary, legal
professionals and law enforcement officers on the Committee’s jurisprudence
under the Optional Protocol.
Constitutional and legislative protection of women from discrimination
11. The Committee remains concerned about the absence in the State party’s
legislation of a definition of discrimination against women in line with the
Convention. It is further concerned about the lack of understanding by the State
party of the concept of substantive equality and that there is no law on gender
equality or comprehensive anti-discriminatory legislation that would incorporate the
principle of equality of women and men and define and prohibit all forms of
discrimination on the grounds of sex or gender, including direct and indirect
discrimination in the public and private spheres, in line with article 1 of the
Convention. The Committee is particularly concerned that article 23, subsection
1 (b), of the Constitution does not prohibit discrimination on the grounds of sex and
that article 23, subsection 3 (b), does not protect women against discrimination with
respect to adoption, marriage, divorce, burial, devolution of property upon death
and other matters of personal law.
12. The Committee recommends that the State party, in line with articles 1
and 2 of the Convention and its general recommendation No. 28 (2010) on the
core obligations of States parties under article 2 of the Convention:
(a) Expand the constitutional protection against discrimination to
include at least the grounds of sex and gender;
(b) Adopt, without delay, a comprehensive definition of discrimination
against women in national legislation, covering all prohibited grounds of
discrimination and encompassing direct and indirect discrimination in both the
public and private spheres and intersecting forms of discrimination against
women;
(c) Provide capacity-building to all relevant State officials and
policymakers and ensure a thorough understanding of the concept of
substantive equality, in line with the Convention and the Committee’s
jurisprudence;
(d) Ensure the effective prohibition of discrimination on the basis of sex
or gender through appropriate enforcement mechanisms and sanctions.
Access to justice
13. The Committee notes with appreciation the involvement of the State party
with other countries of the region in a project to improve access to justice, in
particular for women. It also notes that the State party is planning to establish a
family court that will have island-wide jurisdiction to hear matters related to family
arrangements at the magisterial and High Court levels. Ho wever, the Committee
notes the following with concern:
(a) The insufficient resources allocated by the State party to its justice
system, the overly burdensome procedural rules, considerable backlogs and lengthy
delays in processing cases, the limited capacity of the police and courts to address
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