CYPRUS: ENGAGEMENT ON WOMEN'S ISSUES

UNCLAS NICOSIA 000007

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR EUR/PGI (KUYKENDALL) AND EUR/SE

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: KWMN PHUM CY
SUBJECT: CYPRUS: ENGAGEMENT ON WOMEN'S ISSUES

REF: SECSTATE 124579


1. (U) Summary: Post's work on women's issues has focused
largely on programs to combat trafficking in persons (TIP),
particularly the trafficking of foreign women for commercial
sexual exploitation. Combating TIP is one of the Mission's
four MSP goals, and our anti-TIP efforts in the Political
Section are augmented by programs administered by the
Bicommunal Support Program (BSP) in the Public Affairs
Section. In December 2009, Ambassador Urbancic published an
op-ed entitled the "16 Days Against Gender-Based Violence
Campaign" that was carried by the major local newspapers.
There is ample room for additional cooperation between the
USG and Cyprus on other women's issues, such as supporting
greater leadership roles for women in politics and business,
combating domestic violence, and protecting the rights of
migrant women. End summary.


2. (U) Through the BSP, supported by Congressional Economic
Support Funds "aimed at reunification of the island and
designed to reduce tensions and promote peace and cooperation
between the two communities on Cyprus," Embassy Nicosia has
worked with civil society in both the Greek Cypriot and
Turkish Cypriot communities to combat TIP. Since 2005, BSP
has funded several bicommunal TIP conferences, conducted
capacity-building training for NGOs, funded research on best
practices related to anti-TIP legislation, and supported
public awareness-raising campaigns on TIP. Most recently,
the Embassy organized a three-day event in June 2009 entitled
"Combating Human Trafficking: Time to Act," which brought
together diplomatic missions, local and regional NGOs,
filmmakers and academics to discuss best practices in
legislation and services for trafficking victims.
Participants included representatives from the International
Organization for Migration, La Strada, the A21 campaign, the
British High Commission, and the Turkish Cypriot Human Rights
Foundation.


3. (U) Two other sections of the Embassy are also addressing
women's issues. Through USAID's Action for Cooperation and
Trust (ACT) Project, the Embassy is commissioning a study to
examine the role of women in the peacebuilding process in
Cyprus. The current negotiating team in UN-facilitated talks
to reunify the island, including the leaders of the two
communities and the large majority of their advisors, are all
men. The Embassy's Economic/Commercial Section is organizing
a conference on franchising opportunities to be held later
this year and plans to invite the International Franchise
Association's Women's Franchise Committee to participate in
the event.


4. (U) Women are underrepresented in government throughout
the island. There are seven women serving in the 56-member
Parliament of the Republic of Cyprus, representing 12.5% of
the legislature. In the Turkish Cypriot community, four out
of 50 (8%) members of "Parliament" are women. With the
exceptions of Nicosia Mayor Eleni Mavrou and Minister of
Labor and Social Insurance Sotiroulla Charalambous, there are
few women in positions of power in local or national
political office. This disparity was acknowledged in a 2006
National Report on "Strategies for Social Protection and
Social Inclusion" prepared by the Ministry of Justice, which
noted: "There is no doubt that the prevailing culture in all
social and political structures and processes is not
conducive to gender equality. The low percentage of women in
key decision-making positions makes things just more
difficult. The glass ceiling still remains an important
obstacle to women participating in decision-making posts."


5. (U) There is ample room for additional cooperation
between the USG and Cyprus on issues of common concern
related to women's rights. Cyprus-relevant themes to explore
include combating domestic violence and protecting the rights
of migrant women, two subjects that have recently emerged in
the Cypriot media as issues of social concern. In a press
report from September 2009, five local NGOs accused Cyprus of
deliberately minimizing the number of domestic violence
victims by failing to collect accurate data under EU
definitions. By the NGOs' estimate, 80,000 Greek Cypriot
women are directly subjected to domestic violence, as are
4,000 foreign housemaids who are alleged to suffer violence
at the hands of their employers. Another NGO, the
Mediterranean Institute of Gender Studies, highlighted the
unique needs and vulnerabilities of around 35,000 legal
migrant women who undertake "gendered work," which pays less
and is considered low-skill. As the Minister of Labor
herself recently remarked, women who migrate to Cyprus "face
a double discrimination based on gender and ethnicity."
COHEN