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City and County of San FranciscoDepartment on the Status of Women

Meeting Information



CEDAW

2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002 2001 2000 1999 

CEDAW TASK FORCE

City and County of San Francisco Task Force for the Local Implementation of the

United Nations Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination AGAINST Women

 

Minutes OCTOBER 3, 2000

  1. CALL TO ORDER/ROLL CALL

Chair Emily Moto Murase called the meeting to order and introductions were made.

Task Force Members COSW Staff Public

Ken Theisen Ann Lehman Holly Friel, Aide to Supervisor Kaufman

Dorothy Yee Latika Malkani

Emily Moto Murase Amy Ackerman (Deputy City Attorney)

Krishanti Dharmaraj

Youmna Chlala

 

  1. ADOPTION OF AGENDA & ADOPTION OF MINUTES:

    2. A quorum was not present to adopt the agenda or minutes. The Task Force proceeded with an informational meeting.

  2. NEW BUSINESS
  • ACTION & DISCUSSION ITEM: Revision of the CEDAW Ordinance.

(Ken Theisen recused himself from any action on the matter and was present for informational purposes only.) Participants discussed possible changes and made the following recommendations. Staff (from the offices of Supervisor Kaufman, City Attorney, and Department on the Status of Women, DOSW) will finalize details, subject to approval by Supervisor Kaufman and the COSW. Participants asked Holly Friel, aide to Supervisor Kaufman and a public participant of the Task Force, to attend the next COSW Commission meeting to report on both Supervisor Kaufman’s legislation and Task Force recommendations.

Placement of CEDAW Ordinance in SF Administrative Code: Participants discussed three options:
        1. Leave the CEDAW Ordinance as is in Chapter 12, which primarily contains City contracting regulations and Human Rights Commission provisions;
        2. Move the Ordinance to Chapter 33, which governs the COSW/DOSW, or;
        3. Move to Ordinance to Chapter 16, which contains the citywide sexual harassment and equal opportunity policies.

A fear was expressed that putting CEDAW in Chapter 33 would characterize CEDAW implementation as a DOSW responsibility rather than a citywide policy. There was a general consensus that CEDAW belongs in Chapter 16.

Update Ordinance: Participants recommended eliminating outdated provisions and timelines.

Findings and Local Principles: Participants recommended adding language to link CEDAW principles to the Convention on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD). This promises to better articulate the intersectional principle of CEDAW and the interconnectedness of gender and race/ethnicity. DOSW staff Latika Malkani and Task Force member Krishanti Dharmaraj from the Women’s Institute for Leadership Development for Human Rights (WILD) will draft suggested language as soon as possible.

Implementation Section: Participants recommended broadening implementation beyond the departmental gender analyses, to allow a focus on specific issues, programs, or policies, and to introduce CEDAW to the private sector, to the extent permissible by law. DOSW staff will define gender analysis, gender integration and human rights integration. Participants also recommended adding a joint (COSW/DOSW and the Task Force) five year strategic plan/action plan for citywide implementation of CEDAW to be presented to the Mayor and the Board of Supervisors by June 30, 2002, provided there are sufficient additional resources to assist in the preparation of the plan.

Task Force Powers and Duties: Participants recommended that the COSW and the Task Force be jointly responsible to monitor the action plans of Departments and the implementation of CEDAW principles, with COSW facilitating the monitoring process. Task Force protocols for joint decisions and responsibilities will continue to follow the procedures adopted earlier at a Task Force retreat (see handouts on Joint Responsibility, CEDAW Task Force Responsibilities and COSW Responsibilities).

Membership: Given that quorum has not been achieved regularly, participants recommended not to increase Task Force membership. Participants also recommended changing the requirements of the labor position to match that of a community membership position. However, Task Force members will reach out to youth and the private sector to increase public participation with the Task Force. Task Force also discussed the possibility of a rotating chairperson, but decided to set this issue aside until the need to discuss it arose.

Sunset Date: At this time, participants recommended not to change this date. As currently drafted, the Task Force will end on December 31, 2002 and the COSW will then assume all Task Force powers and duties. Participants discussed and recommended retaining the Task Force as an advisory community group with some monitoring responsibilities.

Appointments: Participants recommended adding the use of alternate members and a firm attendance policy. Terms will remain as drafted and current community members will all be reappointed.
  1. OLD BUSINESS
  • DISCUSSION ITEM: Staff update on departments’ progress on gender analyses.

Environment Commission: The Department on the Environment (DOE) has initiated its gender analysis with a new liaison and has already completed its data collection. This month, DOSW staff will train all DOE staff in human rights. Because this is a small department, DOSW envisions a survey will be more useful than a focus group to obtain employment data. At this stage, the Department appears to have significant interaction with community groups. DOSW staff asked community representative Task Force members to assist with the membership, planning, questioning, and facilitation of a community group roundtable to obtain additional data about community concerns. Task Force member Krishanti Dharmaraj from the Women’s Institute for Leadership Development (WILD) for Human Rights and Task Force member Youmna Chlala from Amnesty International/Girlsource volunteered to assist. Task Force member Ken Theisen of Bay Area Legal Aid may also be able to assist.

Adult Probation: The Department is almost finished with its data collection. The department has worked with DOSW consultant and/or staff to complete a number of employee and client focus groups and interviews. Top management and supervisors have been trained on human rights and gender analysis. At the most recent training in September, DOSW staff were particularly impressed that the Director took the lead on explaining gender analysis and has been conducting his own interviews with staff to best meet the needs of the department and employees. Community provider focus groups will be held in the next six weeks and DOSW staff is again requesting assistance. Task Force member Krishanti Dharmaraj from the Women’s Institute for Leadership Development (WILD) for Human Rights and Task Force member Youmna Chlala from Amnesty International/Girlsource again volunteered to assist. Task Force member Ken Theisen of Bay Area Legal Aid also agreed to help develop the list of community groups.

Art Commission: The Art Commission has completed its data collection and focus groups and is beginning its analysis phase. An issue on data collection arose, regarding confidentiality, particularly in a small department and the collection of disaggregated data. This issue is being examined by the City Attorney’s office but the Task Force recommended not attempting (for this year) to spend a great deal of time working out the complicated legal issues but rather to focus on collecting available data and completing the analysis. All staff at the Department have been trained in human rights with a gender perspective.

Rent Board: The Rent Board has completed its data collection, focus groups and employee interviews. Two top management staff have been trained in human rights and gender analysis. Due to the current housing crisis in San Francisco, and the potential layoffs of staff at the same time (ironically the Rent Board’s budget is based on fees that are collected when property exchanges hands, in a crisis less people move, decreasing the funds when they are most needed) the gender analysis has been delayed. DOSW staff will be meeting with the Rent Board liaison in early November to review their progress on the analysis (meaning step two).

Due to time limitations, there was no report on the other two departments.

 

  • DISCUSSION ITEM: Staff update on Public Awareness Campaign

There was not time for discussion of this item.

.
  1. PUBLIC COMMENT

    2. Included in discussions above.

  2. ANNOUNCEMENTS

None.