UPR Sexual Rights Database

National Report:
Para 64) Significant progress has been made towards achieving gender equality through the adoption of laws criminalizing femicide and laws on trafficking in persons and female sterilization, and through the adoption of the State Policy on Equal Opportunities for Women following consultations with civil society. The action plan for 2015-2019 implementing this policy will be rolled out during the first quarter of 2015.

Para 66) In terms of the economy and work, women's participation in the labour market has increased, although the biggest increase has been in the informal sector. Despite greater participation, women still do not enjoy equal pay or the opportunity to occupy leadership or decision-making positions on an equal footing with men.

Para 67) In education there has been a significant increase in female participation. More women tend to remain in education and graduate than men, especially at the secondary and tertiary levels. The Institute for Women of the University of Panama satisfies the requirements of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) at the tertiary level by incorporating the gender perspective through its Master's programme in gender issues.

Para 70) The judiciary and the Public Prosecution Service, through the Judicial Training College and the Clara González de Behringer School, provide training in gender equality and non-discrimination against women to judicial officials and other bodies that work with the judiciary.

Para 124) Between 2004 and 2014, women's participation in the labour market increased from 46.6 per cent to 49.4 per cent, although this proportion is low given that women tend to have a higher standard of education than men. The female unemployment rate which in 2004 was 16.3 per cent, fell to 5.3 per cent in 2013. The male unemployment rate fell from 9 per cent in 2013 to 3.3 per cent in 2014.

Para 127) In Panama, 6.5 per cent of employees are domestic workers, less than in 2004, when the figure was 9.2 per cent. Eighty-five per cent of this work is performed by women, whose minimum wage averages 212 balboas per month. Although their working conditions have improved in recent years, the majority of female domestic workers still have no access to social security and their working hours are longer than those of other employees.

Para 128) The minimum wage is reviewed every two years to reduce inequality in remuneration for work performed. The last minimum wage was set by Executive Decree No. 182 of 2013 on the basis of economic activities, company size, geographical region and occupation. It is important to note that it applies only to private companies.

UN Compilation:
Para 12) UNCT states that Panama is ranked 107th out of 149 countries in the 2013 Gender Inequality Index.

Para 43) UNCT points out that Panama is one of the countries in the region with the lowest percentage of women members of Parliament (12 per cent in the Assembly elected in 2014). Moreover, there are no women members of the Supreme Court.

Para 46) UNCT states that a study carried out in 2012 by the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) showed that there was an 11 per cent wage gap between men and women.

Stakeholder Summary:
Para 32) The International Human Rights Clinic of the University Of Oklahoma College Of Law (IHRC-OU) noted that, since 2011, Panama had made some progress to guarantee more women's participation in government. However, as of 2012, Panama ranked 105 out of 129 countries globally and lowest in the region in women's representation at high decision-making levels of government.

Para 33) JS4 said that, although Panama had accepted recommendations on labour matters during its first universal periodic review, there did not appear to have been any major changes in the situations that had given rise to those recommendations. For example, nothing had been done to reduce the pay gap between men and women or to eliminate the illegal practice of making women take pregnancy tests in order to gain access to employment ...

UN Compilation:
Para 1) UNCT states that the State has ratified several international instruments since 2010, although the recommendations from the first cycle of the universal periodic review regarding ratification of certain instruments [including] ... OP-ICESCR ... are still awaiting implementation.

Stakeholder Summary:
Para 1) Recalling recommendations 70.1 to 70.8 that Panama had accepted during its first universal periodic review, JS2 noted that Panama had still not ratified ... OP-ICESCR ...

National Report:
Para 74) According to the latest estimates made by the National Statistics and Census Institute and the Civil Status Registry, under-registration of births in Panama stands at approximately 1.9 per cent. Under-registration of births is considered to refer to children who are registered after their first birthday.
Para 75) In Panama, 90 per cent of births take place in hospitals, and all such births are registered within the first six months of a child’s life by virtue of a special rule in the Civil Status Registry Act which requires each hospital to automatically register children who were born there but whose parents fail to register them within six months. This means that the difficulties with timely birth registration refer to the 10 per cent of children that are born not in hospitals but at home, in remote, hard-to-reach or border areas. To address this situation, the authorities have promoted and implemented assistance programmes in which they undertake visits to the most isolated communities, including those in hard-to-reach areas and indigenous regions, to register births and thus guarantee vulnerable persons’ right to an identity.

UN Compilation:
Para 55) Welcoming targeted action undertaken to end the underregistration of births among indigenous peoples and in remote areas, and taking note of target 16.9 of the Sustainable Development Goals on providing legal identity for all, including birth registration, …

National Report:
Para 33) The Government promotes training and community outreach for the entire population, including the indigenous and Afrodescendent communities, on topics such as respect for the rights of women, adolescents and girls and the early detection of all manifestations of violence against women. More than 40 awareness days were held in 2018 and 75 in 2019 on three specific topics: gender and the prevention of violence against girls, adolescents and women; the promotion of human rights; and the promotion of healthy lifestyles.
Para 50) Legislation and national policies include Act No. 7 of 2018 concerning measures to prevent, prohibit and punish discriminatory acts, among other provisions; Executive Decree No. 100 of 2017, which regulates Act No. 82 of 2013; and Act No. 73 of 2015 amending Act No. 38 of 2001 on domestic violence. Other public policy instruments include … the national protocol for the comprehensive care of women victims of intimate partner violence;
Para 51) Through inter-institutional coordination efforts, the National Institute for Women (INAMU) has established a presence in 10 provinces and indigenous regions, thus increasing its geographical coverage and expanding prevention and protection activities for women at its 14 centres and 2 national shelters for women at high risk of domestic violence.
Para 52) The Institute’s centres provide legal and psychological support and assistance from social workers to guide and support women during the legal process, to direct them to shelters when required and to offer them new opportunities. The services provided are confidential and free of charge. The Institute has the 182 free helpline, which offers counselling for women whose rights have been violated, while the National Police has a specialized service for dealing with gender violence, composed of approximately 190 police officers in 19 police zones.
Para 53) The Institute has set up the “DATA INAMU” information system, which is the first register of its kind to enable the profile of an attacker to be established and information on female victims of violence to be automatically categorized. It has carried out the women’s rights campaigns “Count Me In” (Yo me sumo), “It’s In Your Hands” (Está en tus manos) and “It’s Up To All Of Us” (A todos y todas nos toca). Communication and information tools have been adapted so as to be accessible in indigenous languages.
Para 55) In the context of the programmes and plans that the State has put in place as part of the decentralization process, and in compliance with Act No. 16 of June 2016 establishing community justice, the National Institute for Women and the National Secretariat for Decentralization organize training workshops for justices of the peace on the prevention of violence against women. Similarly, the multidisciplinary team of the judiciary’s Prevention and Family Guidance Centre is being trained to address violence against women, including the risk factors linked to intimate partner violence, in a holistic manner.
Para 66) The judiciary’s Department of Legal Aid for Crime Victims offers free legal assistance to women victims of violence, regardless of their socioeconomic status. In 2015, it had 10 defence lawyers; by January 2020, that number had risen to 72, covering all provinces. Free legal assistance is provided not only during the initial stages of proceedings, but up to the sentence enforcement phase. The assistance provided to victims may take the form of guidance, support during hearings or formal representation in criminal proceedings.

UN Compilation:
Para 48) The Committee against Torture noted with concern that the number of reported cases of domestic violence had increased sharply in recent years and that few court convictions were secured for femicide, sexual violence and other forms of violence against women.
Para 49) The CRPD was concerned about the invisibility of discrimination and violence, including domestic and sexual violence, against women with disabilities and noted that women with disabilities in rural areas and indigenous regions were particularly vulnerable.

Stakeholder Summary:
Para 11) The Ombudsman’s Office stated that, even though the Government had adopted a number of important legal instruments for combatting violence against women, including Decree No. 100 of 2017, which contained preventive measures and introduced the specific offence of femicide to the Criminal Code, indicators of violence against women remained at high levels. The Office noted that no specialized prosecutors’ offices or courts had been created to deal with cases of gender-based violence and that the Special Reparations Fund for women victims of violence was not operational.
Para 64) IACHR drew attention to the … reduction in the number of cases of femicide; and the development of a scholarship programme for victims of gender-based violence and their children.