A Submission to the Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs
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A submission to the Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade regarding the human rights issues confronting women and girls in the Indian Ocean - Asia Pacific region. Amnesty International Group, University of Western Australia May 21, 2014 1 Contents Executive summary iii 1 Maternal health-care in the Philippines1 by Georgia Frew 1.1 What's the problem?........................ 1 1.2 How to fix it?............................ 2 1.3 Australia's role........................... 3 2 Girls' access to education in India5 by Alvin Djajadikerta 2.1 Gender discrimination in access to education .......... 5 2.2 Conclusions............................. 6 3 Women's rights in Indonesia7 by Jasmine Ruscoe 3.1 Women's rights under sharia law................. 7 3.2 The continued practice of female genital mutilation....... 8 3.3 Conclusions............................. 8 4 Domestic violence, rape and the criminal code in India9 by Fiona McRobie 4.1 Domestic violence as a violation of human rights........ 9 4.2 Domestic violence and marital rape in India........... 10 4.3 Australia's response ........................ 11 5 Female Child Labour 13 by Theadosia Kurniawan 5.1 Child Labour in the Asia Pacific Region............. 13 5.2 Demand of Girls as Workers.................... 14 5.3 Case Study: Cambodia 2010, Pharady.............. 14 5.4 Conclusion ............................. 15 6 Women and the Ready Made Garment Industry 17 by Elsbeth Wood 6.1 The Ready Made Garment industry and gender equality- A case study of Bangladesh ........................ 17 7 Sex tourism 19 by Catherine Graville 7.1 Defining sex tourism........................ 19 7.2 Sex trafficking and 'voluntary' workers.............. 19 i ii CONTENTS 7.3 Why Asia? ............................. 20 7.4 What can be done?......................... 20 8 Human rights of women in Australias offshore detention fa- cilities 23 by Somayya Ismailjee 8.1 Women in Australia's Pacific island detention centres . 23 8.2 The systematic denial of basic rights and adequate health care to women detained on Nauru and Manus Island, particularly pregnant women .......................... 23 8.3 Recommendations ......................... 25 Executive summary The following document is a submission to the Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade regarding the human rights issues con- fronting women and girls in the Indian Ocean - Asia Pacific region in response to the call for submissions dated 28th February 2014 from the Amnesty Inter- national group at the University of Western Australia. This submission was compiled by students, most of whom are not experts in human rights law, on topics of great concern to them. We hope that the range of topics, country- specific issues, and case studies presented here gives some insight to the breadth of human rights issues facing women and girls in the region. Australia has the opportunity to play a critical role in supporting nations who are seeking to improve access for women to essential healthcare and education. In chapter1, Georgia Frew discusses the progress made by the Philippines in seeking to provide equitable access to maternal healthcare. She documents how the National Safe Motherhood Programme has proven beneficial thus far, but there is scope for more improvement, including improving infrastructure, training health workers and educating women about the services available to them. Chapter2 provides a brief introduction to girl's access to education in India. Alvin Djajadikerta describes how although the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act was introduced in 2010, a number of cultural factors still impede access to education for many girls. This impacts across society, with studies drawing close links between educating girls and reducing infant mortality. Australia, too, must speak up regarding human rights abuses which remain embedded within legal structures and cultural frameworks, even when these nations are our friends. Three short essays on womens rights in Indonesia, the marital rape exemption in India, and female child workers in Cambodia are presented in this context. Jasmine Ruscoe (chapter3) discusses female genital mutilation, the lack of sexual health education, and the impact of sharia law on women in Aceh. In chapter4, Fiona McRobie details the decision in 2013 to retain the marital rape exemption in the Indian Penal Code, and how this has recently played out in the courts. Chapter5 provides a case study from Cambodia of a girl, Pharady, who was required to work in a factory aged 11 in order to assist her mother pay back debts. Theodosia Kurniawan describes how nearly 50% of children in Cambodia aged 7-14 are working, often in hazardous sectors. iii iv EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The Australian government can also enact change through trade. The ready made garment industry employs around 4 million workers in Bangladesh, of whom around 70% are women. Elsbeth Wood (chapter6) details how garment workers rights are a womens rights issue, and explains how Australia might put pressure on the Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety to ensure the im- plementation of health and safety measures. Similarly, as Catherine Graville explains in chapter7, Australian citizens themselves can play a role in push- ing for womens' rights in the region. Sex tourism is widespread in Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines, and, as such, Westerners are playing a role in supporting sex trafficking. The Australian government should seek to combat this issue from home through education campaigns which seek to inform and change attitudes towards women in the sex industry. Finally, we cannot speak up for human rights abroad when we have not dealt with issues at home. In our final chapter, Somayya Ismailjee details the issues facing women in Australia's offshore detention facilities. Pregnant women, in particular, face very difficult circumstances, being both denied adequate ob- stetric care, while also living in cramped, overcrowded tents during extreme heat. The indefinite detention of asylum seekers stands in opposition to inter- national human rights treaties, and this policy poses extreme risks to pregnant women. Isabella Houston President Amnesty International Group of the University of Western Australia May 2014 1. Maternal health-care in the Philippines by Georgia Frew Figure 1.1: \After the typhoon, I was worried about where I would give birth," she says. \I never thought someone would come and help. I thought it would be just me and my husband".1 1.1 What's the problem? In the Philippines, the gross differences in geography and income distribution mean many of its poorest inhabitants are isolated in hard-to-reach mountainous or coastal areas. There is a huge disparity between the maternal care received by women across the spectrum, with 94% of women in the wealthiest fifth 1Photo and quote from: Time Magazine. 2014. A Roadside Birth: Lynsey Ad- darios Remarkable Philippine Photos Lightbox. http://lightbox.time.com/2014/ 02/20/a-roadside-birth-in-the-philippines-lynsey-addarios-remarkable-photos/ #ixzz31DSvne8P. 1 2 CHAPTER 1. MATERNAL HEALTH-CARE IN THE PHILIPPINES delivering with a skilled birth attendant, and only 25% in the poorest; 84% of women in the richest fifth had a facility-based birth, compared with 13% in the poorest2. Compounding this, fertility rates in 2008 sat at 1.9 in the richest fifth, and 5.2 in the poorest. It is estimated that seven women die every 24 hours from pregnancy-related causes in the Philippines (2010 numbers). 1.2 How to fix it? There are studies assessing previous programs to improve maternal care in the Philippines that show a positive outcome, such as the National Safe Moth- erhood Programme2,3,4 proving that interventional change to improve maternal health outcomes is possible! A recent Australian study5 gave recommendations that would help govern- ment departments in the Philippines make plans for improving maternal and neonatal health. Using local evidence, it concluded the core aims include: 1. Expanding the memberships and activities of community health teams (like recruiting midwives) 2. Health worker training. 3. Improving the provision of essential supplies. 4. Promoting giving birth at a health care facility. 5. Improving infrastructure. 6. Educating the people about services offered. 2Dale Huntington, Eduardo Banzon & Zenaida Dy Recidoro. A systems approach to improving maternal health in the Philippines. Reproductive Health and Research Depart- ment, World Health Organization, The World Bank, Manila, Philippines, National Center for Disease Prevention and Control, Department of Health, Manila, Philippines. November 2011. 3Transforming the Philippines health sector: challenges and future directions. Pasig City & Washington: The World Bank; 2011. Available from: http://www-wds.worldbank.org/ external/default/WDSContentServer/WDSP/IB/2011/08/05/000386194_20110805013231/ Rendered/PDF/635630WP0Box361516B0P11906800PUBLIC00ACS.pdf 4Lavado RF, Lagrada LP, Ulep VGT, Tan LM. Who provides good quality prenatal care in the Philippines? (Discussion Paper Series No. 2010-18). Makati City: Philippine Institute for Development Studies; 2010. 5Bernardino Aldaba, Sophie La Vincente, Aleli D. Kraft, Eliana Jimenez-Soto, Zoe Det- trick, and Sonja Firth. Maternal and Child Health in the Philippines: Scaling up Priority Health Care Services. Investment Case. Australian Government AusAID, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. http://www.uq.edu.au/investmentcase/Scale%20up%20report/phil% 20scale%20up%20brief.pdf