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Sexual harassment. The Committee notes the Government’s statement that no information is available with respect to any court decisions applying section 503-1 of the Penal Code or section 40 of the Labour Code. The Committee also notes the Government’s statement that section 39 of the Labour Code concerning dismissal of an employee because of serious misconduct could include dismissal due to harassment. The Government further indicates that in the context of its collaboration with non-governmental organizations to combat sexual harassment, a draft law on combating violence against women is under preparation. The Committee, considering that the existing legislation may not provide full and adequate protection against all forms of sexual harassment in the workplace, hopes that the draft law on combating violence against women will take into account all the elements set out in its 2002 general observation on this issue (attached for ease of reference), and asks the Government to provide a copy of the law once adopted.

Domestic workers. The Committee recalls that the Labour Code excludes domestic workers from its application. The Committee notes that consultations are being held with relevant departments with a view to integrating their comments in the draft law concerning domestic workers. Please indicate the progress made in the adoption of the law on domestic workers, which the Committee hopes will take due account of the principle of equality of opportunity and treatment enshrined in the Convention.

Access to education and training. The Committee recalls its previous comments concerning the very high illiteracy rate among women (54.7 per cent in 2004), which has a general impact on their employment opportunities. The Committee notes the statistics provided by the Government on the participation of women and girls in vocational training courses which indicate a high number of women enrolled in the areas of health (84 per cent), textile (64 per cent), handicraft (65 per cent) and administrative management (57 per cent). However, women appear to be under-represented in courses such as, maritime fishing (3 per cent), metallurgy, mechanics, electricity, and electronics (IMME) (4 per cent), construction and public works (10 per cent) and agriculture and forestry (21 per cent). The Government further indicates that the number of female vocational training interns has been increasing over the past six years and that four emergency plans on vocational training have been launched covering the training of 60,000 young persons in agriculture and 60,000 young persons in handicraft. The Committee asks the Government to provide information on the percentage of women enrolled under these emergency plans and to indicate the measures taken to ensure that women do not systematically enrol in training courses leading to so-called “feminine jobs”. Recalling its observation, please also indicate the measures taken under the National Strategy 2006 and Strategic Plan 2008–12 to ensure that counselling on enrolment for courses is not based on stereotypes regarding the aspirations and capabilities of women with respect to certain jobs.

Practical application and statistics. Please continue to provide information on the activities by the Centre for Information, Documentation and Studies on Women to promote gender equality at work and to collect and analyse statistics relevant to examining the progress made in the application of the Convention.