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Redalyc.ORIGINS of the INTERNATIONAL DAY for THE Caribbean Studies ISSN: 0008-6533 [email protected] Instituto de Estudios del Caribe Puerto Rico Robinson, Nancy P. ORIGINS OF THE INTERNATIONAL DAY FOR THE ELIMINATION OF VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN: THE CARIBBEAN CONTRIBUTION Caribbean Studies, vol. 34, núm. 2, julio-diciembre, 2006, pp. 141-161 Instituto de Estudios del Caribe San Juan, Puerto Rico Available in: http://www.redalyc.org/articulo.oa?id=39211853004 How to cite Complete issue Scientific Information System More information about this article Network of Scientific Journals from Latin America, the Caribbean, Spain and Portugal Journal's homepage in redalyc.org Non-profit academic project, developed under the open access initiative ORIGINS OF THE INTERNATIONAL DAY... 141 ORIGINS OF THE INTERNATIONAL DAY FOR THE ELIMINATION OF VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN: THE CARIBBEAN CONTRIBUTION Nancy P. Robinson ABSTRACT The paper traces the development of the international human framework for women’s rights and explores the origins of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women in the Latin American context, through the life stories of the Mirabal sisters in the Dominican Republic. Keywords: women, Dominican Republic, Rafael Trujillo, Mira- bal sisters, June 14 Movement, political participation RESUMEN El trabajo traza el desarrollo de la normativa internacional de los derechos humanos de las mujeres en el marco de las Naciones Unidas y las raíces históricas del Día Internacional para la Eliminación de la Violencia contra la mujer en América Latina, a través de la historia de las hermanas Mirabal en la República Dominicana. Palabras clave: mujeres, República Dominicana, Rafael Trujillo, hermanas Mirabal, Movimiento 14 de junio, participación política RÉSUMÉ Cet article présente les démarches internationales par rapport aux droits des femmes, tout particulièrement en ce qui concerne l’Amerique latine, dans le cadre de la proclamation de la Jour- née internationale pour l’elimination de la Violence à l’égard des femmes, sous l’égide des Nations unies, le tout à travers l’historie des soeurs Mirabal à la République dominicaine. Vol. 34, No. 2 (July - December 2006), 141-161 Caribbean Studies 142 NANCY P. R OBINSON Mots-clés: femmes, République dominicaine, Rafael Trujillo, les soeurs Mirabal, Mouvement 14 Juin, participation politique Received: 21 August 2006. Revision received: 5 February 2007. Accepted: 6 February 2007. n December 17, 1999, the General Assembly of the United Nations adopted Resolution 54/134 desig- Onating November 25th as the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. The Resolution recognized that violence against women constituted an obstacle to the achievement of equality, development and peace and that its persistence infringed upon the human rights and fundamen- tal freedoms of women. The Resolution also defined “violence against women” as meaning “any act of gender-based violence that results in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual or psycho- logical harm or suffering to women, including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or in private life” (UN Resolution 54/134:2000). This was a symbolic landmark for women in the continuing struggle for human rights. “Violence against women is perhaps the most shameful human rights violation,” declared UN Secretary General Kofi Annan in 1999. “It knows no boundaries of geography, culture or wealth. As long as it continues, we cannot claim to be making real progress towards equality, development and peace” (UNIFEM:1999). The purpose of this paper is twofold: first, to examine the development of international law related to women’s rights and gender-based violence within the United Nations system; and sec- ondly, to trace the historical roots of the day in the Latin American continent through the life histories of three Dominican women. Despite the fact that November 25th is now widely commemorated throughout the world, the reason for designating this particular day as the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women remains largely unknown. Caribbean Studies Vol. 34, No. 2 (July - December 2006), 141-161 ORIGINS OF THE INTERNATIONAL DAY... 143 Women’s Rights within the United Nations: A Time Line Equality and non-discrimination are founding principles of the United Nations. The Preamble to the Charter of the United Nations, signed on June 26, 1945 in San Francisco, states that one of the organization’s central goals is the reaffirmation of “faith in fundamental human rights, the dignity and worth of the human person, in the equal rights of men and women” (UN Char- ter:1945). By 1948, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights had set out a comprehensive set of fundamental rights to which all persons were entitled, “without distinction of any kind based on race, sex, language, religion, color, political or other opinion, national or social origin, birth or other status.” The inclusion of the term sex in Article 2 was the product of months of hard work by the women delegates to the United Nations, including Minerva Bernardino of the Dominican Republic. She was among those who also insisted that the term “human rights” be substituted for “men” so that the proposed “Universal Declaration of the Rights of Man” became the “Universal Declaration of Human Rights,” and a gender-neutral language be used throughout.1 The Commission on the Status of Women continued work over the following decades in formalizing women’s rights. Two UN specialized agencies for women were also established, the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) in 1976 and the International Institute for Training and Research on Women (INSTRAW) in 1979, headquartered in the Dominican Republic since 1983. During the United Nations Decade for Women (1975-1985), the First International Tribunal for Crimes against Women was also organized by women’s organizations. Inspired by the Russell Vietnam War Tribunal, the First International Tribunal on Crimes against Women was held in March 1976 in Brussels with 2000 women representing 40 countries in attendance. Focusing on victims’ per- sonal testimony, the Tribunal brought international attention to crimes against women such as rapes, domestic abuse, forced steril- ization, feminicide, pornography and female genital mutilation.2 Vol. 34, No. 2 (July - December 2006), 141-161 Caribbean Studies 144 NANCY P. R OBINSON The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women: the Women’s Human Rights Treaty In 1979, UN General Assembly approved the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), also known as the international bill of rights for women. It became the primary instrument to address violations of women’s rights and discrimination against women (Mehrotra 1998; Fraser 2002) In 1992, the UN Committee on CEDAW adopted General Recommendation 19. This recommendation declared that vio- lence against women was “a form of discrimination that seriously inhibits women’s ability to enjoy rights and freedoms on a basis of equality with men” and requested States to take effective steps to eliminate all forms of gender-based violence in every sphere, whether by private or public actors, in the family, the workplace and the community (Dauer 2002; Merry 2002). The 1993 Vienna Conference on Human Rights In 1993, a historic international human rights conference took place in Vienna. Adopting the slogan of women’s activists, it affirmed that “women’s rights are human rights” and highlighted the need to address women’s rights systematically through all international human rights treaties. Women’s organizations gath- ered almost half a million signatures from 128 countries demand- ing that violence against women be recognized as a violation of women’s human rights and organized an international tribunal in which they presented direct testimony of different cases of vio- lence against women from all parts of the world (A/61/122/Add.1 2006: para 29). The 1993 World Conference on Human Rights stated that violence against girls and women constituted a severe violation of human rights, whether perpetrated in the private (within the home) or public sphere. Delegates recognized that: Caribbean Studies Vol. 34, No. 2 (July - December 2006), 141-161 ORIGINS OF THE INTERNATIONAL DAY... 145 The human rights of women and girls are an inalienable, inte- gral and indivisible part of universal human rights. The full and equal participation of women in political, civil, economic, social and cultural life, at the national, regional and international levels, and the eradication of all forms of discrimination on the grounds of sex are priority objectives of the international com- munity. (Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action 1993: Part I, para. 18) Governments declared that member states should work towards the elimination of violence against women; of all forms of sexual harassment, exploitation and trafficking of women; of gender bias in the administration of justice; and of any conflicts between women’s fundamental rights and harmful traditional practices or religious extremism. The document also declared that “violations of the human rights of women in situations of armed conflict are violations of the fundamental principles of international human rights and humanitarian law” and that all violations of this kind, including murder, systematic rape, sexual slavery and forced pregnancy, required a particularly effective response from governments. The core
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