The Gender Equality Law
The Gender Equality Law, 2011 seeks to provide for the elimination of sex and gender discrimination in employment, training and recruitment and to promote the payment of equal remuneration to male and female employees who perform work of equal value.
It also aims to protect against discrimination in other areas such as access to goods, services and facilities, as well as discrimination through job advertisements, application forms and interviews. Issues such as discrimination by professional partnerships, qualifying and vocational training bodies, and employment agencies as well as sexual harassment in the workplace are addressed within the legislation.
Background
The Gender Equality Bill was the final product of many years of consideration and work. After the acceptance of the Cayman Islands Policy on Gender Equity and Equality in the Legislative Assembly in 2004, the Government communicated to the FCO that it wished for The Convention of the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) to be extended to the Cayman Islands through the UK. The FCO responded that the Cayman Islands would need to prepare local enabling legislation before CEDAW would be extended.
Passage in the LA
In November 2006, the issue of having CEDAW extended to the Cayman Islands was raised in the Legislative Assembly by way of a Parliamentary Question, and legislative research and development began in 2007. The process of drafting legislation that would address gender discrimination issues and uphold the principles of CEDAW took place between September 2008 and November 2009. In 2009, Cabinet approved the release of a Discussion Draft of The Prevention of Gender Discrimination Bill, 2010 to be released for public consultation during the period of December 2009- January 2010.
The Gender Equality Bill, 2011 was supported and passed unanimously in the Legislative Assembly on September 14, 2011 and will take effect on January 31, 2012.
CEDAW
CEDAW is often described as an international Bill of Rights for women, and it is the only core international human rights treaty that they Cayman Islands has yet to sign onto through the UK.
It consists of a preamble and 30 articles. In plain language, it is simply a human rights instrument that provides the framework to identify what constitutes discrimination against women, and which sets up an agenda for national action to end such discrimination. “The cornerstone of CEDAW is the principle of equality between men and women and the prohibition of discrimination of the rights of men and women, being the corollary of equality.”
The Convention defines discrimination against women as "...any distinction, exclusion or restriction made on the basis of sex which has the effect or purpose of impairing or nullifying the recognition, enjoyment or exercise by women, irrespective of their marital status, on a basis of equality of men and women, of human rights and fundamental freedoms in the political, economic, social, cultural, civil or any other field."
