Population of women: 717,700/1,330,500 Life expectancy of women (at birth): 77 yrs. School life expectancy for women: 17 yrs
Adult illiteracy for women: 0.2% Unemployment of women: 7% Adult economic activity rate: 52% Source: U.N. Statistics Division, Social Indicators, updated July 2008 (Some statistics provided may be from previous years and other sources as cited by the U.N. Statistics Division)
last updated September, 2008
Constitutional Provisions
The Constitution of Estonia provides that all constitutional rights and freedoms are to be equal for Estonian citizens, citizens of other states, and stateless persons in Estonia (Chapter 2.9). The Constitution guarantees equality for everyone before the law, and prohibits discrimination based on several protected grounds, including sex (Chapter 2.12). Article 152 of the Penal Code, "Violation of Equality," punishes the unlawful restriction of rights or granting of preferences to a person based on protected grounds by a fine or maximum sentence of one year imprisonment. Article 151, "Incitement to Social Hatred," punishes the public incitement to hatred or violence based on protected grounds, including sex, by a fine or up to three years' imprisonment. On 7 April 2004, the Estonian Parliament passed the Gender Equality Act. The goals of the new legislation include reducing gender-based discrimination in all areas of life, including the workplace. The Act explicitly prohibits direct and indirect discrimination and requires employers to promote gender equality. It also provides for the creation of a Gender Equality Commissioner.
Domestic Violence
In its 2002 concluding observations, the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women urged Estonia "to place high priority on comprehensive measures to address violence against women in the family and in society, and to recognize that such violence, including domestic violence, constitutes a violation of the human rights of women under the Convention." According to Women 2000 - An Investigation into the Status of Women's Rights in Central and South-Eastern Europe and the Newly Independent States, "the most common form of violence against women is domestic violence, which often goes unrecognized and is accepted as part of the order of things." The report explains further that the main reasons that women in Estonia are unable to escape domestic violence are economic dependency and a lack of available shelters. The Penal Code does not explicitly criminalize domestic violence. However, Articles 120-122 may be used to punish acts of violence, including threats (Article 120), physical abuse (Article 121) and torture (Article 122). They are punishable by a maximum sentence of one year, three years, and five years, respectively. According to the 2007 U.S. Department of State Country Reports on Human Rights Practices, one in four women have been victim to some form of domestic abuse: physical, sexual or emotional. In 2007 alone, there were 3,200 reports of physical abuse and 1,185 persons were convicted of this abuse. Victims of such abuse have access to the services of local counseling centers, legal assistance offices, social workers and NGOs for assistance after abuse.
Rape is punished by Articles 141 to 145 of the Penal Code. Article 141(1) punishes "[s]exual intercourse with a person against his or her will by using force or taking advantage of a situation in which the person is not capable of initiating resistance or comprehending the situation" by a prison sentence between one to five years. If specific aggravating factors are present, the sentence increases to a term between six to fifteen years' imprisonment (Article 141(2)). Article 143 also punishes "[s]exual intercourse with a person against his or her will by taking advantage of the dependency of the victim from the offender but without using force or outside a situation where the person was not capable of initiating resistance or comprehending the situation" by up to three years' imprisonment. In 2005, Estonia convicted 46 rapists. In 2006, police reported 73 rapes and 27 attempted rapes. 2006 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices. In 2007, 75 rapes and 17 attempted rapes were reported. Twenty-five convictions resulted from such reports. 2007 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices.
Trafficking
Human trafficking remains a problem in Estonia. Estonia is classified as a Tier 2 Watch country in the 2008 U.S. Department of State Trafficking Report. According to the U.S. Department of State report, Estonia is primarily a country of origin for trafficking to Western Europe and Nordic countries. While no reliable data is available, some NGOs estimate there to be 500 trafficking victims per year. Although trafficking is not defined as such in the Estonian legislation, several provisions were introduced into the Penal Code in 2002 which may be used to prosecute the crime. Articles 258 and 259 punish the crossing of and the unlawful transport of aliens across state borders and the temporary control line. Punishment may include a maximum sentence of twelve years' imprisonment. Article 133 punishes enslavement by one to five years' imprisonment; the punishment increases to a term of three to twelve years if committed against a minor or against two or more individuals. Abduction, child stealing and the sale or purchase of children is all punishable under Articles 134, 172 and 173. Article 136 punishes the unlawful deprivation of liberty by a fine or a prison sentence up to five years, depending on the circumstances. While prostitution and trafficking are not explicitly illegal, the Penal Code punishes various activities relating to prostitution, including inducing minors to engage in prostitution (Article 175), aiding prostitution that involves minors (Article 176) and pimping (Article 268). The Crime Victims Compensation Act of 2003 expanded the victim support system and raised the amount of compensation available to victims from the government. Cracking down on trafficking has become a governmental priority. According to the U.S. Department of State report, a national action plan was established in January 2006 that created a database to track the extent of the trafficking problem in Estonia. In 2005, the anti-enslavement statute was used to convict seven traffickers, 73 court cases concerning pimping were initiated, 40 people were convicted of pimping, and 15 were sentenced for the prostitution of minors. In July 2006, with the help of the Finnish government, five Estonians and two Finnish traffickers were convicted for trafficking 15 Estonian and Finnish women for prostitution. According to the 2008 U.S. Department of State Trafficking Report, in 2007 Estonia spent approximately $15,000 for law-enforcement training seminars on identifying and prosecuting traffickers. The government also supports an NGO trafficking hotline, which assisted 370 individuals in 2007. The hotline provides information about risks associated with trafficking to those interested in working abroad. There have also been regional efforts by the government. Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania established a joint agreement on witness protection, and the ten Baltic Sea States have agreed on a regional witness protection program. The Ministry of Social Affairs, along with the Nordic Council of Ministers, has launched a preventative program against trafficking to improve public awareness and international cooperation.
Compiled from:
Constitution of the Republic of Estonia: http://www.president.ee/en/estonia/constitution.php
Women 2000 - An Investigation into the Status of Women's Rights in Central and South-Eastern Europe and the Newly Independent States, International Helsinki Federation, 2000.
Annual Report on Equal Opportunities for Women and Men in the European Union 2002, Commission of the European Communities, 2003.
Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women, Concluding Observations: Estonia, Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women, 2002.
2007 Country Report on Human Rights Practices: Estonia, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, U.S. Department of State, 11 March 2008. (Link: http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2007/100557.htm ).
2006 Country Report on Human Rights Practices: Estonia, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, U.S. Department of State, 6 March 2007. (Link: http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2006/78810.htm)
2003 Country Report on Human Rights Practices: Estonia, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, U.S. Department of State, 25 February 2004. (Link: http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2003/27835.htm )
2004 Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act of 2000: 2004 Trafficking in Persons Report, Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons, U.S. Department of State, June 2004. (Link: http://www.state.gov/g/tip/rls/tiprpt/2004/ )
2008 Trafficking in Persons Report: Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons, U.S. Department of State, June 2008. (Link: http://www.state.gov/g/tip/rls/tiprpt/2008/ )