Political Participation of women: the SGP case
To the surprise of many, the Netherlands still has a political party that excludes women. Women are allowed to join the SGP, the othodox protestant party, but cannot run for elected positions or fulfil executive roles within the party. The CEDAW committee has strongly criticised the Dutch government for allowing this situation to continue. Article 7 of CEDAW, the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women, states that the state is responsible for eliminating discrimination against women in political and public life. Nevertheless, the Dutch government refuses to take action on this issue, and continues to subsidise the SGP. Consequently, various Dutch organisations, Aim for human rights among them, together brought two cases against the government and the SGP through the strategic litigation fund of the Clara Wichmann Institute.
The Judgement
The core of the case against the SGP is to determine whether or not the Dutch government is violating CEDAW. Earlier in 2005, the court in The Hague ruled that the state was acting in violation of CEDAW by tolerating the SGP’s position on women and continuing to subsidise the party. The judge ruled that the government had to stop subsidizing the SGP. The government did so, but at the same time the government as well as the SGP appealed this judgment. During the appeal it was confirmed that the state is in breach of CEDAW, but that the SGP was entitled to subsidy from the state.
The case has recently been heard by the Dutch Supreme Court, and a final judgment was made on the 9th of April 2010. The Dutch Supreme Court judged that the SGP may not exclude women in their party to be candidates for the elections. The Netherlands must now take effective measures to make sure the SGP stops this exclusion of women. The judgement confirms that CEDAW obliges the state to make sure that women can participate in political parties on all levels.
Click here to read the full judgement of the Supreme Court (in Dutch).
More information
For more information on this case, please see the (Dutch) website Clara Wichmann Proefprocessenfonds.
