VZCZCXYZ0000
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHNC #0007 0081153
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 081153Z JAN 10
FM AMEMBASSY NICOSIA
TO SECSTATE WASHDC 0397

UNCLAS NICOSIA 000007 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR EUR/PGI (KUYKENDALL) AND EUR/SE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KWMN PHUM CY
SUBJECT: CYPRUS: ENGAGEMENT ON WOMEN'S ISSUES 
 
REF: SECSTATE 124579 
 
¶1. (U) Summary: Post's work on women's issues has focused 
largely on programs to combat trafficking in persons (TIP), 
particularly the trafficking of foreign women for commercial 
sexual exploitation.  Combating TIP is one of the Mission's 
four MSP goals, and our anti-TIP efforts in the Political 
Section are augmented by programs administered by the 
Bicommunal Support Program (BSP) in the Public Affairs 
Section.  In December 2009, Ambassador Urbancic published an 
op-ed entitled the "16 Days Against Gender-Based Violence 
Campaign" that was carried by the major local newspapers. 
There is ample room for additional cooperation between the 
USG and Cyprus on other women's issues, such as supporting 
greater leadership roles for women in politics and business, 
combating domestic violence, and protecting the rights of 
migrant women.  End summary. 
 
¶2. (U) Through the BSP, supported by Congressional Economic 
Support Funds "aimed at reunification of the island and 
designed to reduce tensions and promote peace and cooperation 
between the two communities on Cyprus," Embassy Nicosia has 
worked with civil society in both the Greek Cypriot and 
Turkish Cypriot communities to combat TIP.  Since 2005, BSP 
has funded several bicommunal TIP conferences, conducted 
capacity-building training for NGOs, funded research on best 
practices related to anti-TIP legislation, and supported 
public awareness-raising campaigns on TIP.  Most recently, 
the Embassy organized a three-day event in June 2009 entitled 
"Combating Human Trafficking: Time to Act," which brought 
together diplomatic missions, local and regional NGOs, 
filmmakers and academics to discuss best practices in 
legislation and services for trafficking victims. 
Participants included representatives from the International 
Organization for Migration, La Strada, the A21 campaign, the 
British High Commission, and the Turkish Cypriot Human Rights 
Foundation. 
 
¶3.  (U) Two other sections of the Embassy are also addressing 
women's issues.  Through USAID's Action for Cooperation and 
Trust (ACT) Project, the Embassy is commissioning a study to 
examine the role of women in the peacebuilding process in 
Cyprus.  The current negotiating team in UN-facilitated talks 
to reunify the island, including the leaders of the two 
communities and the large majority of their advisors, are all 
men.  The Embassy's Economic/Commercial Section is organizing 
a conference on franchising opportunities to be held later 
this year and plans to invite the International Franchise 
Association's Women's Franchise Committee to participate in 
the event. 
 
¶4. (U) Women are underrepresented in government throughout 
the island.  There are seven women serving in the 56-member 
Parliament of the Republic of Cyprus, representing 12.5% of 
the legislature.  In the Turkish Cypriot community, four out 
of 50 (8%) members of "Parliament" are women.  With the 
exceptions of Nicosia Mayor Eleni Mavrou and Minister of 
Labor and Social Insurance Sotiroulla Charalambous, there are 
few women in positions of power in local or national 
political office.  This disparity was acknowledged in a 2006 
National Report on "Strategies for Social Protection and 
Social Inclusion" prepared by the Ministry of Justice, which 
noted: "There is no doubt that the prevailing culture in all 
social and political structures and processes is not 
conducive to gender equality.  The low percentage of women in 
key decision-making positions makes things just more 
difficult.  The glass ceiling still remains an important 
obstacle to women participating in decision-making posts." 
 
¶5.  (U) There is ample room for additional cooperation 
between the USG and Cyprus on issues of common concern 
related to women's rights.  Cyprus-relevant themes to explore 
include combating domestic violence and protecting the rights 
of migrant women, two subjects that have recently emerged in 
the Cypriot media as issues of social concern.  In a press 
report from September 2009, five local NGOs accused Cyprus of 
deliberately minimizing the number of domestic violence 
victims by failing to collect accurate data under EU 
definitions. By the NGOs' estimate, 80,000 Greek Cypriot 
women are directly subjected to domestic violence, as are 
4,000 foreign housemaids who are alleged to suffer violence 
at the hands of their employers.  Another NGO, the 
Mediterranean Institute of Gender Studies, highlighted the 
unique needs and vulnerabilities of around 35,000 legal 
migrant women who undertake "gendered work," which pays less 
and is considered low-skill.  As the Minister of Labor 
herself recently remarked, women who migrate to Cyprus "face 
a double discrimination based on gender and ethnicity." 
COHEN