STRUCTURAL ADJUSTMENT AND FORCED PROSTITUTION AFFECT WOMEN IN THE NETHERLANDS

Poverty in the Netherlands Antilles is increasingly a problem that affects women. Poverty can be linked to low level of skills, poor positioning on the labour market among females, and gender segmentation which keeps women at the low end of wages and with low skills in the labour market. Poverty is also the background for the pattern of high incidence of violence according to a report entitled Emancipation Policy in the Netherlands Antilles: Still an Illusion by CAFRA, Netherlands Antilles.

There are different factors underlying the rise of poverty within this country. Some of them include: inappropriate macro-economic policies; the economic shock caused by structural adjustment programs; low economic growth; deficiencies in the labour market; low wages and a lag of human resource development; including lack of education and health services. The fact that the Netherlands Antilles is hampered by an economic crisis is not an excuse for the government’s failure to actively pursue the implementation of the Convention. The limited resources and considerations of national priorities of the islands as stated in the Beijing Platform, are used as reasons for not abiding to the signed document of the Women’s Convention.

Between 1995 and 2001, different changes have been made within labor law and the sickness Insurance law that benefit women overall. An example is the Old Age Insurance act granting married women an independent right to the state retirement pensions. From January 1996 women’s pension rights were separated from those of their husband and they themselves are able to collect their pension. In the field of labor rights in 1998 the parliament of the Netherlands Antilles approved an amendment to the Labor Regulation Law, whereby a 40-hour workweek was established for all workers of the Netherlands Antilles.

In January of this year the Civil Code of the Netherlands Antilles was changed to be in accordance with the Dutch Civil Code. With this new Civil Code some of the issues of unequal rights in marriage and family law has been eliminated. For example their exists now equal rights in the decisions by both parents concerning the education of the children. Marital rape is also to be punished by law.

These changes, however, are not the result of a gender impact analysis to eliminate discrimination in the law.

An example can be found in The parliament of the Netherlands Antilles which decided that the discrimination in the law between “legitimate” and “illegitimate” children (to distinguish between children born within a legal marriage, those born of unmarried parents, legitimized by the father and those not legitimized by the father.), which exist in the Dutch Civil Code, will be kept as is. Children who are not legitimized by the father and who are named with the adjective “illegitimate” and “natural” in the law are twice discriminated. No child in the world is “illegitimate” or “natural” born, only because he/she is not born in wedlock. The Parliament of the Netherlands Antilles is of the opinion that a change of the law is at the moment not consistent with the “cultural norms”. The possibility of forced legitimization by the father is not possible.

The government of the Netherlands Antilles has no active policy to combat trafficking in women. CAFRA noted in its report that they have seen ‘explosive’ growth in clubs and bars where very young women are brought in under the guise of being ‘dancers’ and are put to work as striptease dancers and are forced to work as prostitute.

Some of these clubs organize recruitment procedures and even have ‘dancing schools in these countries, where young women are recruited. When they arrive here they have a large debt to repay to their ‘employer’ (tickets and board) or they have to repay a lender at home. Also it is common practice to take away the girls and women’s passports as further intimidation and threat.

Women are also recruited to come to work as either bartender/waitresses or domestics and are then forced to work as prostitutes. If any woman tries to makes a complaint about being misled about the work she’s supposed to do or that she is being forced into sex-work or that didn’t receive payment for the work she was forced to do, the answer in general from the competent authorities is to deport these women. Those persons who coerced or forced them (which is illegal in Netherlands Antilles) into prostitution so far are not prosecuted.

The Netherlands Antilles tolerates and even encourages prostitution. All of island has legal brothels (government controlled) and the governments issue permits for so-called dancers. Even so illegal brothels abound. Women who work in the government-sanctioned brothels have permits for up to three months allowing them to work in these brothels as sex-workers.

These women have to submit to regular medical checkups.

The brothels employ up to one hundred (the largest one in Curaçao or less women per three months. By far most of the prostitution that takes s place happens outside of these brothels. In many of the bars, clubs and brothels the working and living conditions of the women are deplorable. They get no regular medical check ups. The women are exposed to many sexually transmitted disease and AIDS. The island government of Curaçao in collaboration with AIDS prevention NGO, has a program, which tries to give information and condoms to women working illegally as prostitutes. Still this is not enough. Sex workers legal or illegal are not protected by any labor laws and are exposed the diseases, violence and intimidation by clients and employers alike.

UNAIDS is working with the Federal government on a Strategic plan on HIV/AIDS prevention and control for the next three years. The rate AIDS infection among young people and women is on the rise. This program if carried out would be of outmost importance in the fight against AIDS. We question the governments’ commitment to this matter and other areas dealing with health issues Most of the work done in AIDS education and prevention is done by NGOs.

Teenage pregnancy projects are mostly executed on island level. Here again projects are done on adhoc basis mostly because an NGO in wanting to carry out a program or project needs government financial support and the government agencies then get onboard. A youth summit on sexual and reproductive health rights was held in April 2000 for the Netherlands Antilles, but here has been no final report and follow-up so far. In Curaçao the maternity clinic is constantly being threatened with closing because of lack of funding and tactical differences.

Violence against women seems to be increasing as more and more women are reporting cases of violence or rape. Last year the number of violent rapes shocked the country and this year so far at least two women were killed by their partners and many others made the front pages of newspapers after being beaten by their partners.

The Netherlands Antilles does not know a specific Domestic Violence act. Domestic. Violence is still categorized under general violence and assault acts. NGOs have been lobbying along time to get a domestic violence bill passed without success.

The largest island of the Netherlands Antilles does not have a shelter for battered women although groundwork was laid by the women’s center. No money or resources were allocated for this. Maarten opened a shelter for battered women in and receives government support for this.

The Federal Government has supported a domestic violence project by CAFRA aimed at training police officers to intervene effectively. This project has also been put on hold because of organizational changes in the police organization and the priorities set forth by the government where its crime prevention policy is concerned. Marital rape is now considered rape by our civil code a little step in the right direction

As is happening in other parts of the Caribbean women here are also well represented in schools. Data from the statistical yearbook 1999 show for example that a higher number of women enter and graduate from the university. They are over represented in all sectors except the technical unit where they are underrepresented by a large margin. This and data on employment occupation by sex show a marked under representation of women in the technical sectors. A few years back there was talk of a technical/vocational school for women, but nothing has happened in this area.

Women are also underrepresented in legislative and managerial occupations.