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Summary: This report extracts mentions of children's rights issues in the reports of all UN Treaty Bodies and their follow-up procedures. This does not include the Concluding Observations of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child which are available here: http://www.crin.org/resources/treaties/index.asp
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- UN Human Rights Committee
- UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
- UN Committee against Torture
- UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination
- UN Committee on Migrant Workers
- UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
- UN Committee on Enforced Disappearance
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CCPR/C/GRD/CO/1
Last Reported: 18 July 2007 Concluding Observations issued: 14 August 2009
Issues raised and recommendations given:
Corporal Punishment: The Committee is concerned that corporal punishment, including flogging and whipping, is still administered in Grenada in accordance with the Criminal Code, the Prisons Act, and the Education Act of 2002. Particularly worrisome is the whipping of boys as a criminal punishment, and the use of corporal punishment in schools. The Committee further expresses its concern that the law provides for the sentencing of women and girls to solitary confinement in lieu of corporal punishment. The State party should immediately eliminate corporal punishment from its law and prohibit its use in places of detention and in schools, as well as in any other institution. Judicial sentences of solitary confinement should not be resorted to. (arts. 7, 10 and 24)
Trafficking: The Committee is concerned about the lack of policy and legislation in the State party regarding trafficking in human beings. It notes in particular that, although the State party has acceded to the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime, it has not yet incorporated the crime of trafficking in persons into its Criminal Code. The State party should take concrete measures in order to assess the existence of trafficking of human beings on its territory, and adopt appropriate policy and legislation to tackle this issue. It should consider incorporating the crime of trafficking in persons into its Criminal Code. (art. 8)
Juvenile Justice: The Committee is concerned that the State Party’s domestic law exceptionally allows for the detention of juveniles together with adults, and that this is reported to have become a regular practice. The State party should ensure that juveniles are detained separately from adults, without exception. The Committee notes with concern that the minimum age of criminal responsibility is seven years. It notes the State party’s intention to enact comprehensive legislation on juvenile justice through a Juvenile Justice Bill. The State party should take immediate action to raise the minimum age of criminal responsibility to an acceptable level under international standards. The State party is encouraged to fulfil its promise to enact comprehensive juvenile justice legislation in accordance with the Covenant and other United Nations standards in this field, such as the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Administration of Juvenile Justice ("the Beijing Rules"), the United Nations Guidelines for the Prevention of Juvenile Delinquency (the Riyadh Guidelines) and the United Nations Rules for the Protection of Juveniles Deprived of their Liberty. (arts. 10 and 24)
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UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
Ratified in 1991, but not yet reported.
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Not yet signed or ratified.
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UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
CEDAW/C/GRD/1-5
Last reported: 15 February 2012
Concluding Observations: 21 February 2012
Issues raised and recommendations given:
Discrimination: The Committee is concerned that certain legal provisions and procedures in the State party discriminate against women or reflect negative gender-stereotypes, including in the forms for registration of birth and issuing of birth certificate; the application for citizenship by Commonwealth citizens; the registration of marriage; the priority of parental consent of marriage for persons under 18 years; and the procedure to apply for a passport for a child. The Committee is also concerned at the absence of relevant legislation and delay in enacting legislation against sexual harassment, legislation on trafficking in persons and in the amendment of the sexual offences provisions in the Criminal Code. (Para. 13)
The Committee calls on the State party to: a) Systematically review its laws and regulations in order to amend gender- based discriminatory provisions in its legislation and administrative regulations, including those mentioned in paragraph 13, with the aim of ensuring full compliance with the provisions of the Convention, in accordance with its article 2; and b) Enact, without delay, legislation on sexual harassment at work, trafficking in persons and amend the sexual offences provisions in the Criminal Code.
Trafficking and sexual exploitation: The Committee welcomes the ratification of the Palermo Protocol by the State party, but is concerned at the absence of specific policies and a comprehensive legislation on human trafficking, including criminalization of the offence. The Committee is also concerned at the reports of high levels of sexual abuse and exploitation, in particular of the girl child and young women, including through incest, child prostitution and transactional sex. The Committee is concerned about inadequate legislation and policy in this regard. The Committee regrets the limited data on trafficking and sexual exploitation as well as information on efforts to address the social and economic factors and measures to support victims of such violations. (Para. 25)
The Committee recommends that the State party: a) Adopt comprehensive legislation and policies to address trafficking in persons and sexual exploitation, in line with the Convention and the Palermo Protocol, to strengthen mechanisms for the prevention, prosecution and punishment of offenders and specific support programmes for victims; b) Gather and analyse sex-disaggregated data and information on trafficking and sexual exploitation, including prostitution; and c) Strengthen measures aimed at addressing the conditions e.g. poverty and high unemployment, which makes women and girls more vulnerable to trafficking and may also drive them into prostitution; enhance support services for the victims as well as for the reintegration into society of women and girls who wish to leave prostitution.
Education: The Committee appreciates that primary education is free and compulsory in the State party without any discrimination on grounds of gender. However, it is concerned at the persistence of structural and other barriers to quality education for girls and young women, including early pregnancy and teenage motherhood and societal attitudes resulting in a higher drop-out rate for girls in the secondary education. The Committee also notes with concern that women and girls are underrepresented in technical disciplines and traditionally male-dominated fields of study. (Para. 29)
The Committee recommends that the State party: a) Ensure de facto equal access of girls and young women to all levels of education, prevent dropouts of girls from schools and strengthen its efforts to encourage young women to return to school after pregnancy; and b) Intensify efforts aimed at diversifying academic and vocational choices for women and take further measures to encourage them to choose non-traditional fields of education and careers, including by providing public scholarships and stipends.
Health: The Committee welcomes the low maternal mortality rate in the State party.. However, it is concerned about the limited access to sexual and reproductive health and family planning services, resulting in reportedly high incidences of teenage and unwanted pregnancies. The Committee is further concerned at the high rate of unsafe abortion and subsequent complications which may be explained by the restrictive abortion law which leads women to seek unsafe and illegal abortions, and possibly to infanticides in certain cases. The Committee also notes a growing tendency of feminization of HIV with a disproportional high number of young women infected by HIV. (Para. 33)
In line with Article 12 of the Convention and general recommendation No. 24 (1999) on women and health, the Committee calls on the State party to: a) Improve sexual and reproductive health services for women and girls, including through ensuring free and adequate access to contraceptives; b) Promote education on sexual and reproductive health, in particular by undertaking large-scale awareness raising campaigns, especially for prevention of unwanted pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections and diseases including HIV/AIDS, and by integrating age-appropriate sex education at all school levels; c) Ensure provision of health facilities to women and girls suffering from complications due to unsafe abortions; and d) Consider reviewing the law relating to abortion for unwanted pregnancies with a view to removing punitive provisions imposed on women who undergo abortion, in line with the Committee's general recommendation 24 (1999) on women and health.
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UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination
Signed in 1981, but not yet ratified.
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UN Committee on Migrant Workers
Not yet signed or ratified.
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UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
Ratified in 2010, but not yet reported.
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UN Committee on Enforced Disappearance
Not yet signed or ratified.