Observation (CEACR) - adopted 1995, published 83rd ILC session (1996)

Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention, 1958 (No. 111) - Guatemala (Ratification: 1960)

1. Discrimination on the ground of sex. The Committee has been raising for several years the discriminatory nature of section 114 of the Civil Code which regulates the manner in which a husband may oppose his wife's employment provided he earns enough to maintain the household and which has not been repealed. The Government has replied, as it again does in its most recent report, that this norm has been functioning without generating any controversy, that it is in conformity with national practice and custom, and in accordance with "the idiosyncrasies of the Guatemalan people". According to the Government, however, the number of wives who work is increasing.

2. Recalling its previous requests for information on the repeal of such discriminatory legislative provisions announced in the Government's 1988 report as a conclusion arising from a National Seminar on Women held that year, the Committee urges the Government to take the necessary steps to bring the national legislation into conformity with Article 3(c) of the Convention which requires the Government to repeal any statutory provisions and modify any administrative instructions or practices which are inconsistent with the policy of equal opportunity.

3. The Committee is also addressing a direct request to the Government on other points.