Poverty, violence women's rights concerns

Poverty for women, violence against women and female representation in public life are three immediate challenges for New Zealand, the Human Rights Commission says.

The three issues were identified in the first report on the status of women's rights released today for public consultation by the Commission.

The report comes on the eve of International Women's Day, which is celebrated tomorrow.

While New Zealand women were faring well in many areas, there remained persistent hurdles to overcome before women achieved equality, the report said.

Many more women than men lived in poverty and at the other end of the socio-economic spectrum few women occupied positions of governance and leadership in the business sector.

"Women are one and a half times more likely than men to live in a household with a total annual income of $30,000 or less.

"The median annual income for women of $19,100 falls more than a third (39 percent) behind the $31,500 for men and three quarters of people with an income over $75,000 are men," the report said.

The Commission said it wanted to hear from organisations and individuals with views on the human rights of women. Feedback on what people thought would make a difference to the lives of women in New Zealand and would help guide the Commission's work over the next five years, it said.

Equal Employment Opportunities Commissioner Judy McGregor said today International Women's Day was a time to celebrate the amazing achievements and progress women had made.

"We must also honestly identify where we need to do better," Dr McGregor said.

The Commission said consultation would help to inform reporting progress on women to the UN Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW).

New Zealand ratified the international convention in 1985 and the report was part of New Zealand's international obligations.

- NZPA