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Geneva Centre for the Democratic Control of Armed Forces (DCAF)

Executive Summary

Geneva, September 2005

Copyright © 2005 by the Geneva Centre for the Democratic Control of Armed Forces

Geneva Centre for the Democratic Control of Armed Forces The Geneva Centre for the Democratic Control of Armed Forces (DCAF) works with governments and civil society to foster and strengthen the democratic and civilian control of security sector organisations such as police, intelligence agencies, border security services, paramilitary forces, and armed forces. The Centre conducts research to identify the central challenges in democratic governance of the security sector, and to collect those practices best suited to meet these challenges. DCAF provides advisory programmes and practical work assistance to all interested parties, most commonly to parliaments, military authorities, and international organisations. Visit us at www.dcaf.ch Geneva Centre for the Democratic Control of Armed Forces (DCAF): rue de Chantepoulet 11, PO Box 1360, CH-1211 Geneva 1, Switzerland Tel: ++41 22 741 77 00; fax: ++41 22 741 77 05; e-mail: [email protected]; website: www.dcaf.ch

Table of Contents

Slaughtering Eve...... 1 The roots of against women ...... 4 is a violation of ...... 5 The scope of violence against women in daily life...... 6 Violence against women in armed conflict and in post-conflict situations ...... 14 The role of the state and the security sector...... 18 Women responding to violence, women building peace ...... 19 Action to stop violence against women: what next?...... 21 Key recommendations ...... 23

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Slaughtering Eve most violent period in human history so far.2 The Hidden A sustained demographic ‘deficit’ of 100- According to estimates by the United 200 million women implies that each year Nations, up to 200 million women and 1.5 to 3 million girls and women are killed girls are demographically ‘missing’.1 The through related violence. In euphemism hides one of the most shocking comparison: each year some 2.8 million against humanity. Given the people die of AIDS, 1.27 million of biological norm of 100 new-born girls to malaria.3 Or, put in the most horrible every 103 new-born boys, millions more terms: violence against women causes women should be living amongst us. If every 2 to 4 years a mountain of corpses they are not, if they are ‘missing’, then equal to the Jewish Holocaust. they have been killed, or have died through and mistreatment. Globally, women aged between fifteen and forty-four are more likely to be injured or Women live in a very insecure world die as a result of male violence than indeed. Many fall victim to gender through cancer, traffic accidents, malaria selective and (boys and combined.4 being preferred to girls). Others do not receive the same amount of food and For each girl and killed by medical attention as their brothers, fathers mankind, there are scores who are and . Others again fall prey to physically or psychologically wounded, if sexual offenders, to ‘honour killings’ and not maimed for life: to acid attacks (most often for refusing a suitor). An estimated 5,000 women are The World Health Organisation estimates burnt to death each year in ‘kitchen that globally one woman in five will be the accidents’ because their was seen as victim of or attempted rape in her being too modest. Scores succumb to the lifetime.5 Other data suggests that in special horrors and hardships that conflict, Canada, New Zealand, the United war and post-conflict situations reserve for Kingdom and the the girls and women. A shocking number of corresponding figure is one in six women.6 women are killed within their own walls In South a frightening 40 per cent of through . Rape and girls aged 17 or under are reported to have sexual exploitation remain, moreover, a been the victim of rape or attempted rape.7 reality for countless women; millions are Even in peaceful Geneva, in a study of trafficked; some sold like cattle. 1,200 randomly selected ninth-grade students, 20 per cent of girls revealed that The full magnitude of the issue sinks in they had experienced at least one incident only if we put the figures into perspective: of physical sexual .8 Translated into absolute figures: globally, the number of The number of the ‘missing’ women, killed victims is estimated at more than 700 for gender-related reasons, is of the same million girls and women; in the United order of magnitude as the estimated 191 States at some 25 million; in the United million human beings who have lost their Kingdom at over 4 million. It must be lives directly or indirectly as a result of all feared that these estimates are the conflicts and of the 20th century – conservative. which was, with two world wars and numerous other murderous conflicts, the According to The Children’s Fund (UNICEF), 100 to 130

1. million women around the world have publications, the issue has not sunk in and, been genitally mutilated.9 This would consequently, is not given remotely the translate to a figure as large as 2 million attention it deserves. It has become girls or more being genitally mutilated politically correct to analyse most issues each year. also from a gender perspective. This is obviously a step in the right direction, yet The number of women forced or sold into it is clearly not enough (and may actually is estimated at anywhere be counter-productive by transforming between 700,000 and 4 million per year. violence against women into an annex of Between 120,000 and 500,000 of them are other issues). Violence against women sold to pimps and brothels in Europe alone. must be recognised as a key issue in its Profits from the sex market are own right, as one of the significant causes estimated at US$7-12 billion per year.10 In of death on our planet – comparable in some countries (such as Moldova) sex importance only to war, hunger and trafficking has reached proportions that disease. threaten to destabilise the population equilibrium – with potentially devastating Women in an Insecure World has, long-term consequences. therefore, tried to bring together in one book – in probably the most Over 60 per cent of HIV positive youth comprehensive effort so far – the facts and between the ages of 15 and 24 around the figures. Often these figures are not more world are women.11 Women's inability to than best estimates – for violence against negotiate and to refuse unwanted women goes all too often unreported. The sex is closely linked to the high number of recognition that – in face of a problem of new HIV/AIDS infections amongst women such magnitude – we cannot even count and girls. The HIV/AIDS problem in on good statistics is in itself a shocking and many parts of the world, particularly in unacceptable fact. Africa, clearly cannot be solved if violence against women is not addressed as a major Why DCAF cause. This book is the result of work done at the Geneva Centre for the Democratic Control Even the economic costs of violence of Armed Forces (DCAF), an international against women are staggering. In the foundation with some 46 Member States United States, the cost of domestic promoting the reform and good governance violence alone is estimated to be up to of the security sector. DCAF works with US$67 billion each year; in Canada, 12 governments, parliaments, security sector US$1.6 billion each year. In Chile, in authorities, international organisations, 1997, victims of domestic violence academic institutions and non- lost US$1.56 billion in earnings - more governmental organisations to encourage than 2 per cent of the country’s 1996 13 and support democratic, civilian and GNP. In Switzerland, the annual cost of parliamentary control of armed and violence against women is over US$325 14 security forces. million. In our work we are confronted by the The list of horrors is endless. The picture reality that security and safety are not is all too clear. We are confronted by the enjoyed equally by men and women. The slaughter of Eve, a systematic gendercide victims of the collapse of the state of tragic proportions. While the facts are monopoly of legitimate force, of war and known and the figures easily available in conflict, and of an unreformed security United Nations and other dedicated sector are to a large extent civilians, very

2. often women and children. DCAF figures and the analysis brought together in therefore decided that it is critical for the this book will not only shock the reader, Centre to look at its subject matter also but shake the international community. from this perspective. We must recognise There cannot be any room for and understand these inequalities if we complacency in face of slaughter, want to come up with proposals for maiming, rape and degradation of women. change. We cannot live with it. We cannot close our eyes to it. We cannot hope that it will DCAF thus established, in early 2003, an simply go away. We must act. Now. international project ‘Women and Children in an Insecure World’. Women in an Theodor H. Winkler Insecure World is its first major product. It is a comprehensive study on violence Director against women – in daily life, during war Geneva Centre for the Democratic and conflict, and in post-conflict situations Control of Armed Forces – that maps the pervasiveness of violence against women, analyses strategies to prevent and punish that violence, and highlights the key role that women play in 1 A. Diamantopoulou, Speech at the conference initiatives to counter violence. We hope Violence against Women: Zero Tolerance, (Lisbon, 4 May 2000): that this book will be a useful tool for http://www.eurowrc.org/13.institutions/1.ec/ec- policy makers, activists, scholars and en/05.ec_en.htm. security sector actors in understanding and 2 WHO Global Campaign for Violence Prevention: responding to this crucial endeavour. http://www.who.int/violence_injury_prevention/pu blications/violence/explaining/en/index.html. 3 WHO, World Health Report 2004. Women in an Insecure World has been 4 A. Diamantopoulou, op.cit. written under the auspices of the Swiss 5 WHO, Violence Against Women Factsheet No. Foreign Minister, Micheline Calmy-Rey. 239, 2000. Financial support was granted by the Swiss 6 UNDP, Human Development Report 1995: Ministry of Defence and – for a TV Gender and Human Development, p. 7. 7 UN Habitat, State of the World’s Cities: Trends in documentary based on the book that is Sub-Saharan Africa: currently under preparation – by Amnesty http://www.unhabitat.org/mediacentre/documents/s International. DCAF plans as a next step owc/RegionalAfrica.pdf, p. 4. to develop a package of teaching materials 8 D. Halperin et al. ‘Prevalence of Child Sexual based on the book and the documentary. A Abuse Among Adolescents in Geneva: Results of a Cross-Sectional Survey’, 312 British Medical companion volume to this book, Children Journal 1996, p. 1326-9. in an Insecure World, is also in 9 UNICEF, Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting preparation. The Centre will, beyond that, Factsheet: http://www.unicef.org/protection/files/FGM.pdf. obviously also focus much work on those 10 aspects of violence against women that fall M. Trutmann, ‘Mit vereinten Kräften gegen die Sklaverei’, Der Bund (21 September 2002), p. 5. into its more traditional area of work – 11 UNIFEM, Facts and Figures on Violence against trying to provide security sector actors Women: with the knowledge, the mandate, the http://www.unifem.org/gender_issues/violence_aga inst_women/facts_figures_6.php capacity and the tools necessary to protect 12 women against violence. R. Hayward, ‘Linking an end to gender violence with gains for additional human rights concerns and development goals’: http://www.un- We need to act now instraw.org/en/images/stories/EMV/hayward_essay _seminar_3.pdf. The deeply rooted phenomenon of violence 13 Mujeres Chilenas: Estadisticas para el Nuevo against women is one of the great crimes Siglo/Servicio Nacional de la Mujer, 2001. of humanity. We hope that the facts, the 14 Swiss Federal Office for Public Health Factsheet.

3. The roots of violence against women Table 1: Gender violence throughout The international community recognises the life cycle ‘violence against women’ as any act of gender-based violence that results in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual or Prenatal phase psychological harm or suffering to women. Battering during (emotional and physical effects on the woman; effects on birth); coerced Gender-based violence is violence that is pregnancy; deprivation of food and liquids; sex- directed against a woman because she is a selective abortion woman or affects women disproportionately. Examples include rape, domestic violence, trafficking, forced Infancy prostitution, sexual exploitation, sexual ; emotional and ; , female genital mutilation and differential access to food and medical care for girl forced . infants

Violence against women includes Childhood of such acts, or arbitrary deprivation of liberty. Violence against ; genital mutilation; by women can occur in private (such as in the members and ; differential access to home) or in public settings (including food and medical care; places of work and educational institutions). Adolescence

The roots of gender-based violence in Rape and ; sexual ; forced the pervasive systems of inequality that prostitution; trafficking in women; violence; perpetrate the domination of men and the economically coerced sex; sexual abuse in the workplace subordination of women. As recognised in the United Nations (UN) General Assembly’s 1993 Declaration on the Reproductive age Elimination of Violence against Women, violence against women ‘is a manifestation Abuse of women by intimate partners; marital rape; dowry abuse and ; partner ; of historically unequal power relations ; sexual abuse in the workplace; between men and women, which have led ; rape; abuse of women with to domination over and ; legal discrimination against women by men and to the prevention of the full advancement of women, and … is one of the crucial social Old-age mechanisms by which women are forced Abuse and exploitation of into a subordinate position compared with men.’ Source: United Nations Development Programme, Women in an Insecure World explores the Regional Bureau for Latin America and the Caribbean, A Life Free of Violence: It’s our Right: United roots of gender-based violence in social Nations Inter-Agency Campaign on Women’s Human Rights conditioning and social institutions, in Latin America and the Caribbean (1998) helping to understand the steps necessary to reverse these patterns.

4. Violence against women is a whether it occurs in private or public, and violation of human rights whether committed by state or non-state actors. In the international sphere, women have been instrumental in lobbying for the The Platform for Action of the UN Fourth recognition of violence against women as a World Conference on Women in Beijing violation of human rights, and the in 1995 further elaborated the nature and development of a strong normative scope of gender-based violence, framework condemning violence against acknowledging that there can be no women. This underscores that the human development without equality, and that as rights obligations of states and non-state long as violence is tolerated, development actors include their obligation to combat becomes more elusive. The Beijing violence against women. Platform for Action identifies twelve critical areas of concern, including: Women in an Insecure World traces the o the increasing poverty of women; development of the legal framework o education and training of women; concerning violence against women, and o women and healthcare; examines its implementation. o violence against women; o the effects of conflict upon women; The adoption of the Convention on the o women and the economy; Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination o women in power and decision against Women in 1979 was a milestone. making; The most wide-ranging of international o mechanisms to promote the legal documents on women, the advancement of women; Convention calls for the eradication of o promotion and protection of the discrimination in political life, education, human rights of women; employment, access to financial credit, o women and the media; health, family, marriage and other aspects o women and the environment; and of economic and social life. It advocates o the girl-child. for changing cultural norms and that maintain women’s The Beijing Platform for Action serves as a inferiority. It includes measures to strategic guide for states in the suppress prostitution and trafficking of implementation of their policies around women. The Convention on the women and equality. Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women has, as of September 2005, In 2000, in the Millennium Declaration, 180 state parties. states explicitly pledged to combat all forms of violence against women, and to The Convention on the Elimination of All implement the Convention on the Forms of Discrimination against Women Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination does not explicitly address gender based against Women as part of their global violence. The subsequent UN Declaration vision for the new millennium. The on the Elimination of Violence against Millennium Declaration recognised gender Women goes some way to filling this gap. equality and women’s as It recognises inter alia that violence against key aspects to poverty eradication and to women is an obstacle to the achievement the true achievement of sustainable of equality, development and peace, and development. Whilst the third goal of the violates the rights and fundamental Millennium Development Goals freedoms of women. It declares gender- specifically targets equality and based violence unacceptable, regardless of empowerment of women, it has been

5. progressively accepted that incorporation The scope of violence against of gender perspectives into all of the women in daily life Millennium Development Goals is essential, since is a Gendercide against women prerequisite for their achievement. The epidemic nature of violence against The years 2000 and 2005 also presented an women has led analysts to identify a opportunity for assessment of ‘gendercide’ - a gender-selective mass implementation of the Beijing Platform for killing - targeting women. ‘Gendercidal Action. ‘Beijing +5’ and ‘Beijing +10’ institutions’, or enduring features of human events brought together governments and culture and society, lead to large-scale, women’s groups to evaluate progress in disproportionate mortality of women. achieving women’s equality and eradicating violence against women, and to Women in an Insecure World analyses identify obstacles to implementation of some of the key gendercidal institutions, women’s rights. such as female infanticide and , gender based violence and gendered Beijing +10 identified a number of key deficits of health care, education and obstacles to fulfilment of women’s rights. nutrition. These include low participation of women at decision-making levels, the persistence Selective abortion and female of stereotypical attitudes and infanticide discriminatory practices, and occupational Amartya Sen, the 1998 Nobel Laureate for segregation. Violence against women, Economics, estimates that more than 60 specifically domestic violence, remains million women are demographically prevalent in all countries, and women ‘missing’ from the world as a result of sex- continue to suffer from so-called selective and female infanticide traditional violence in many parts of the in , and North Africa. world. In Asia, Latin America and Africa, women are disproportionately affected by Infanticide has been practised throughout poverty and lack of access to healthcare, human history in societies where boy exemplified by high maternal mortality children are valued, economically and rates. Trafficking and a high prevalence of socially, above girls. Advances in HIV/AIDS amongst women are problems technology permit the modern horror of in countries in Africa, Latin America and selectively aborting female foetuses. Central and Eastern Europe. In many Medical testing for , although countries, discriminatory legislation still officially outlawed, has become a booming prevents women’s full enjoyment of business in China, and the Republic political, civil, economic and social rights. of Korea. Many states acknowledged a gap between legislation and the implementation of China’s census in the year 2000 revealed gender policies. that the ratio of new-born girls to boys was 100:119. The biological norm is 100:103. Women in an Insecure World examines these problems in detail, and the different The 2001 census in India recorded 927 approaches taken by civil society actors girls for every 1,000 boys under six years and governments to address them. old, a decline from 962 girls twenty years earlier. India’s census commissioner estimated that several million foetuses have been aborted in India in the last two

6. decades because they were female. In transformations in women’s health, 1996, India banned the use of ultrasound including maternal mortality. With machines for sex determination. aggressive policies to extend health infrastructure beyond the Female-specific abortion and 585,000 women die cities, by 1996 Cuba’s infanticide reflect the low annually from maternal mortality rate stood status accorded to women in complications arising at 2.4 per 10,000 births, most parts of the world. from pregnancy and barely higher than in North Women in an Insecure – a holocaust of America. Indonesia, Iran, World examines how state the order of the Rwandan Mexico and have also policy can play a key role in of 1994, taken important steps to modifying attitudes toward repeated every year. confront maternal mortality women and in seeking to and related health crises. prevent these practices. Strategies include the enhancement of state Globalising grassroots approaches to policy, better pension schemes for the maternal mortality would involve training elderly, ‘caring for girls’ campaigns, laws some 850,000 health workers, according to banning gynaecologists from telling UNICEF and World Health Organization pregnant women the sex of their child, and (WHO) reports, as well as the necessary tighter prohibition over sex-selective drugs and equipment. The total cost would abortions. Table 2: Maternal mortality estimates The ‘female deficit’ In poor communities, little girls are often Lifetime risk neglected and denied food, education and Region of maternal medical care. Data from developing death, 1 in: countries indicates that the mortality rate Central and Eastern Europe, among girls aged one to four is higher than Commonwealth of 770 that among boys in the same age group. Independent States This is just the beginning of a lifetime pattern of discrimination against women in East Asia and Pacific 360 differential access to health care, education Latin America and Caribbean 160 and leisure. This causes excess mortality among women and girls, and contributes to and North Africa 100 their lack of opportunities and powerlessness. South Asia 43

UNICEF refers to maternal mortality as ‘in Sub-Saharan Africa 16 scale and severity the most neglected of our times.’ Industrialized countries 4000

Addressing these problems requires strong Developing countries 61 international will. It also requires a significant allocation of resources to Least developed countries 17 women’s education, healthcare and reproductive services. WORLD 74

Cuba has demonstrated that even poor countries can effect massive Source: UNICEF, The State of the World’s Children

7. be US$200 million – about the price of leave a violent partner because she has no half a dozen jet fighters.15 other home or means of support, in abuse of female migrant workers, and in the The feminisation of poverty trafficking of women. Closely linked to the ‘female deficit’ is the increasing ‘feminisation’ of poverty. Through development assistance, the Women comprise more than two-thirds of international community can play a central the 2.5 billion people defined as ‘poor’: role in reversing the feminisation of that is, living on less than US$2 a day. poverty. Development programmes can be structured to enhance women’s Women’s economic vulnerability empowerment and reverse enduring contributes to their vulnerability to patterns of poverty and subordination. violence - manifest when a woman cannot After the , the international community targeted Some facts on women’s status development assistance to women, with In all manifestations of poverty, women tend support for women’s associations, capacity to fare worse than men: building projects, micro-finance • 66 per cent of the world’s illiterate people programmes and projects to improve are women. women’s political participation. Rwanda’s new constitution set aside 24 of 80 • Women provide 70 per cent of the unpaid parliamentary seats for women, and called time spent in caring for family members. This unpaid work provided by women is for a minimum of 30 per cent women in estimated at US$11 trillion per year – one- decision-making posts. In 2003, women third of the global GDP. won 48.8 per cent of the seats in the National Assembly, and half of Rwanda's • Women own one per cent of the land in High Court judges were women. the world. • Women’s participation in managerial and ‘Gender sensitive budgeting’ identifies the administrative posts is around 33 per cent different impacts of fiscal policies on in the developed world, l5 per cent in women and men. It can be used to Africa and 13 per cent in Asia and the reprioritise financial resources and Pacific. economic decisions in line with • There are only five women chief commitments to gender equality. Gender executives in the ‘Fortune 500’ budgets have been initiated in Australia, corporations, the most valuable publicly , the , owned companies in the United States. and Barbados to achieve a broader policy • Worldwide, only about fourteen per cent focus on gender. of members of parliament are women. Seven per cent of the world’s cabinet Violence against women in the ministers are women. family

• In the United Nations system, women Domestic violence hold only 9 per cent of the top management jobs and 21 per cent of For many women and girls, home is a senior management positions, but 48 per place of violence. Domestic violence (or cent of the junior professional civil service ‘intimate partner violence’) constitutes the slots. most common form of violence against women worldwide, without regional Sources: UNIFEM Statistics on Women and exception. Other forms of violence in the Development; UN Statistics Division family include sexual abuse of female

8. children and dowry-related violence. frequently in the context of an ongoing Physical and is commonly abusive relationship.16 accompanied by emotional abuse, , and control. The Russian Government estimates that 14,000 women were killed by their Between 16 and 41 per cent of women are partners or relatives in 1999, yet the physically assaulted by a male partner in country still has no law specifically an , according to addressing domestic violence.17 studies conducted between 1986-1997 in , India, Korea, Thailand, , Honour killings and dowry deaths Israel, Kenya, Canada, New Zealand, Domestic violence and may be Switzerland, the , the related to so-called traditional practices. In United States and Uganda. India and , thousands of women are victims of ‘dowry deaths’, killed 40 to 70 per cent of female murder victims because their bride-wealth is deemed are killed by their husbands or , insufficient by the groom’s family. The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) Table 3: Sexual violence against women by estimates that 5,000 women are killed country every year in ‘honour’ crimes. In a study of female deaths in Egypt, 47 per cent of Percentage of adult women reporting sexual the women were killed by a relative after (attempted or complete forced sex) by an intimate partner: 18 Selected population-based surveys conducted in 1989-2000 the woman had been raped. It is estimated that at least three Pakistani Country Sample size Attempted or women are murdered in ‘honour killings’ completed every day. Sometimes attacks with fire or forced sex acid leave the woman alive but disfigured (%) or blinded. Brazil 941 10.1 Sexual abuse of girls Canada 12,300 8.0 A review of 25 studies worldwide indicates 420 15.3 that 11 to 32 percent of women report having experienced childhood sexual Finland 7,051 5.9 abuse. Japan 1,287 6.2 Sexual abuse of girls, often by family Mexico 384 42.0 members, is widespread but shrouded in Nicaragua 360 21.7 taboo. In a treatment centre in Nigeria, 15 per cent of female patients requiring Peru 1,086 22.5 treatment for sexually transmitted diseases 251 7.5 were under the age of five, with a further six per cent between the ages of six and 15 Switzerland 1,500 11.6 years. In South Africa, one in four men Thailand 1,051 29.9 report having had sex with a woman against her by the time he was 18 United 8,000 7.7 States years of age. Zimbabwe 966 25.0 The law, the police and the courts

Source: Adapted from WHO, World Report on Unfortunately, violence committed against Violence and Health (Geneva: WHO, 2002), 152. women within the family is still largely treated as a private matter, rather than an

9. urgent political and public problem and a killing his or a female relative if she violation of human rights. was judged to have committed adultery. Whilst this provision has been amended, Whilst many countries have reformed their other legislation exempts murderers who laws to criminalise physical and sexual are ‘provoked’, allowing courts to grant abuse by an intimate partner, there must be lenient sentences. For an ‘honour killing’, a stronger commitment to implement these the usual sentence is from three months to laws. It is essential that the state ensure one year. hotlines, crisis-centres and shelters for women experiencing domestic violence How do we prevent domestic violence, and and their children. Specialist services must other forms of violence within the family? be in place to intervene and protect children who are at risk of violence within Women in an Insecure World brings the family. together creative initiatives that have sought to address the roles and behaviour ‘The men say the wife did not obey their of various actors that perpetrate violence. orders, or was having relations with There must be reinforced efforts to raise someone else. The police often say it is a public consciousness and change domestic matter and refuse to pursue the behaviour, reaching from the local to the case. Some judges even justify it and do global, emphasising that everyone must be not consider it murder.’ Pakistani lawyer involved in combating this worldwide and activist, Nahida Mahbooba Elahi scourge. Female Genital Mutilation

A state’s police forces and courts play a Genital mutilation causes lasting key role in protecting victims of family , extreme pain, violence. Like the general public, police chronic infections, bleeding, abscesses, officers are often of the view that domestic tumours, urinary tract infections and violence is a private issue, and may belittle infertility. Haemorrhage and infection can or patronise victims. Police, lawyers, cause death. In some cases, a woman judges and medical professionals require cannot give birth without being open. special training to respond appropriately and to support women. Some Latin Female genital mutilation is not exclusive American and Asian countries have to one religion or social class. It is established police stations entirely staffed by women. In some countries, rather than requiring the victim to press charges, police officers are compelled to prosecute domestic violence. Alternative legal measures include protection orders, that may remove a perpetrator from the home, and orders that perpetrators attend a treatment program.

In a number of countries, murder is not prosecuted or not punished when it is perceived as ‘honour killing’. Proper laws are essential, as is proper implementation and monitoring. Until recently, under This girl undergoes excision without anesthesia, as do 70 percent of women in Burkina Faso. © IRIN Jordanian law a could be excused for

10. Table 4: Female genital mutilation Violence against women in among women aged 15-40, 1998-2003 (%) custody Women Daugh- All around the world, women in custody Country ters are at risk of rape, and total urban rural total . Women are placed at particular Benin 17 13 20 6 risk of sexual and physical abuse when Burkina Faso 72 82 70 40 male staff are employed in inappropriate Central capacities in women’s prisons, or when African they are imprisoned with men. Invasive Republic 36 29 41 - strip searching traumatises women (who Chad 45 43 46 - are likely to already be survivors of sexual Côte d'Ivoire 45 39 48 24 assault). Women who are abused or Egypt 97 95 99 50 exploited by prison staff have little Eritrea 89 86 91 63 opportunity of escaping from their abuser. 80 80 80 48 Those who file a complaint or take legal 5 4 7 - action are at risk of retaliation. 99 98 99 54 Kenya 38 23 42 11 Custodial violence against women is a 92 90 93 73 particularly egregious violation of Mauritania 71 65 77 66 women’s rights. Where persons are Niger 5 2 5 4 deprived of their liberty by public Nigeria 19 28 14 10 authority, the state must protect the 90 92 88 58 individual from violence. Tanzania 18 10 20 7 23 26 22 20

Source: UNICEF, The State of World’s Children 2005 inflicted upon girls and women in at least twenty-eight countries. The practice is linked to restriction of female sexuality and rites of passage into womanhood and marriage. In some communities, girls who have not undergone genital mutilation are considered unable to marry.

Programmes to eradicate female genital Amanda is being detained at Bon Pastor women’s prison in Bogotá, , for her involvement in the mutilation need to be closely linked to the Colombia armed conflict. © ICRC, Nick Danziger, 2001 relevant communities, rather than imposed. A successful programme in Senegal Prostitution combines health education and human rights awareness, using song, dance and Women in prostitution suffer enormous theatre to reach women who have little physical and psychological health costs. formal schooling. The International Labour Organization has documented ‘the , beatings, Continued international advocacy is imprisonments, sexual abuse, servitude, required to counter arguments that so- illness, and the permanent destruction of 19 called traditional practices are not subject millions of women’s souls.’ Even in to universal human rights obligations. developed countries: in Norway, interviews showed that 73 per cent of

11. prostituted women suffered from physical Trafficking , rapes, captivity and death The volume of trafficking worldwide grew threats.20 Prostituted women have a high by almost 50 per cent from 1995 to 2000. probability of acquiring sexually The UNFPA estimates that 700,000 to two transmitted diseases, including HIV/AIDS. million women are trafficked across They commonly suffer unwanted international borders annually. , infertility and miscarriage.

Many experience serious post-traumatic The recent explosion of trafficking in stress disorder. Many slide into drug and women and girls is linked to the abuse. rates are high. prostitution industry, but a broader

problem. Prostitution is often also the means of rape of children. The UNFPA estimates that Women are trafficked for prostitution and each year 2 million girls aged between 5 other forms of sexual exploitation, for and 15 are introduced into the commercial forced labour, for slavery and for the sex market. removal of their organs.

Prostituted women are often maltreated by The Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and authorities. They are Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially prone to arbitrary arrest, physical assault Women and Children attempts to address and sexual harassment. In some cases, the trafficking by a three-pronged approach of police are part of the prostitution business, ‘prevention’ of the act of trafficking, receiving bribe money or a sum for every ‘protection’ of the victims of trafficking transaction. and the ‘prosecution’ of the perpetrators of trafficking.

Serious attention and resources and genuine political will are required to implement anti-trafficking measures. Mere ratification of anti-trafficking conventions by major source countries of trafficking in order to appease donors, without effective implementation, is a fruitless exercise. Source countries should be fully integrated in preventive efforts, both at governmental level and through civil society. In countries of destination, demand for trafficking needs serious attention.

Because trafficking disproportionately affects women, gender-mainstreaming policies should form the basis of anti- trafficking strategies. Long-term policies to combat trafficking need to address poverty and pervasive gender discrimination as root causes of , South Africa. © IRIN trafficking.

12. Women and HIV/AIDS HIV/AIDS prevention activities need to occur alongside efforts to address and The AIDS epidemic is affecting women reduce violence against women and girls. and girls in an increasing harsh way. In Such programmes must address the Sub-Saharan Africa, among people aged interconnection between gender and socio- 15-24, women are three times as likely to economic inequality and vulnerability to be HIV/AIDS infected as men. HIV/AIDS.

These discrepancies have been attributed to several factors, including that HIV/AIDS is more easily transmitted from men to 15 Women and Health, 2000: women, and that young women tend to http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/followup/sess have sex with older partners. There is also ion/presskit/fs3.htm a strong correlation between sexual and 16 WHO, World Report on Violence and Health other forms of abuse against women and 2002. 17 HIV/AIDS infection. A recent study in Fifth Periodic Report of the Russian Federation, UN Doc. CEDAW/C/USR/5, para. 6. South Africa found that women who are 18 WHO, World Report on Violence and Health beaten or dominated by their partners are 2002. nearly 50 per cent more likely to become 19 O. Wilson, ‘Globalized Female Slavery’, Said It: infected with HIV than women who live in Feminist News, Culture, Politics (April 2000): http://www.saidit.org non-violent households. In addition, 20 cultural practices like early and forced Farley et al., ‘Prostitution in Five Countries’. tend to deprive women of means to protect themselves from contracting HIV/AIDS.

Anti AIDS campaign in Bouake, the rebel-held main city in the centre of Cote d'Ivoire, 2004. © IRIN

13. and to ensure a level of powerlessness and Violence against women in that will remain entrenched. Such armed conflict and in post- elements may include: conflict situations – often as a spectacle, with non- voluntary (family, other victims, local The impact of armed conflict on population) and It is estimated women voluntary (military and militia) spectators; that 90 per cent During armed conflicts, women are Sexual torture − of rapes in war susceptible to marginalisation, poverty and including rituals, are gang rape. suffering, with existing inequalities and mutilation and filming patterns of discrimination tending to be for ; exacerbated. Whilst the impact of armed Psychological torture − such as being conflict on women differs considerably forced to sing songs or say prayers whilst between contexts and between individual being raped; women, it is possible to identify common An expressed motive for the rape. When characteristics: widespread sexual sexual violence is used to forcibly expel violence, the extreme burden which war populations, communities have been told, places on women to ensure their own for example, that if they did not leave the survival and the care of children and the soldiers would return the next day to rape elderly, and the challenges that war brings again. to women who decide to take up arms. Consequences of sexual violence Armed conflict may be accompanied by in armed conflict increased trafficking of women for use as combatants, for and for Sexual violence in armed conflict has slavery. Girls are vulnerable to grave social, cultural, domestic, physical recruitment as child soldiers and to being and psychological repercussions, which are abducted by armed groups to act as sexual only beginning to be understood. and domestic slaves. Girl soldiers and other female combatants tend to be Two of the most serious long-term risks of excluded from demobilisation rape are of pregnancy and sexually programmes, and to face greater stigma transmitted disease. Women who are within their communities after hostilities. impregnated by rape face the psychological trauma of carrying the child of their rapist, Sexual violence during armed as well as the physical risks of being conflict pregnant during an armed conflict, when safety is precarious Recent conflicts have highlighted the and resources are systematic and specific targeting of women scarce. In some According to for sexual violence. Rape, sexual assault, conflicts, there has Physicians for forced prostitution, , forced been a notable Human Rights, pregnancy and other forms of sexual increase in 50 per cent of all violence are used as a method of warfare. HIV/AIDS women in Sierra infection along the Leone were Sexual violence may be part of a calculated corridors of armed subjected to policy to attack the heart of a society, to conflict. Of women sexual violence, demoralise and dishonour the opponent. who survived rape including rape, The manner of the sexual violence is often during the torture and such as to maximise the humiliation of the Rwandan genocide, sexual slavery. victim and their family and community, an estimated 70 per

14. cent are infected with HIV/AIDS. apathy, loss of self-confidence, and, in more severe cases, psychosis. Self- A woman who has suffered sexual loathing and suicide are not uncommon violence is often ostracised by her family responses. or the wider community, due to the perception that the woman has brought For the survivor of sexual violence in a ‘dishonour’ upon them. Children born of post-conflict situation, there a pervading sexual violence may need particular misconception is that their situation is protection and assistance, as share the ‘post-traumatic’. In fact, many of the stigma of the rape. Those who work with traumatic circumstances that are survivors of sexual violence testify that experienced at the time of rape continue breaking down the taboos surrounding rape for months and often years after the and sexual assault takes a long time. assault. Post-conflict, chronic malfunction of state institutions and unremitting Survivors of sexual violence may hardship for and displacement of the experience severe, ongoing physical population often continues. Women injuries. The nature of physical injury remain the sole providers, family members after sexual torture (such as cutting off remain missing, and medical facilities are ) is an ever present, horrific little improved. Surrounded by such an reminder of the rape. Some of the most array of shattering experiences, it is frequent psychological symptoms are difficult to isolate the particular effects that , sleep disorders, , ‘belong’ to the rape experience. The consequences of rape are inextricably linked to the consequences of a number of war and post-war experiences.

Women in an Insecure World highlights initiatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross and other agencies working with survivors of sexual violence in armed conflict.

Fighting impunity Over the last decade, important progress has been made in ending impunity for violence against women during armed conflict. The International Criminal Tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda convicted persons of rape and other forms of sexual violence as war crimes, and acts of genocide.

This jurisprudence was codified and developed in the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. The Rome Statute acknowledges the seriousness of sexual violence, as capable of being an When one was finished the next would start. international for which a perpetrator Democratic Republic of the Congo. © IRIN and their military commanders or other

15. superiors may be held individually Women tend to face discrimination in accountable. The Rome Statute recognises refugee determination systems. Gender- rape and other forms of sexual violence by based is not in itself grounds combatants in the conduct of armed for the grant of protection under the conflict as war crimes. When rape and Refugee Convention. Refugee status sexual violence are committed as part of a determinations tend to emphasise public, widespread or systematic attack directed political activity, traditionally associated against any civilian population (whether with men. during armed conflict or not), they are considered crimes against humanity, and in States bear the legal responsibility for some cases may constitute an element of protecting refugee and displaced women. genocide. Many acts of sexual violence - In this, those states which including rape, abduction and sexual disproportionately host refugees rely upon slavery, forced the assistance of other states. The Office marriage, forced During the conflict of the United Nations High Commissioner pregnancy, and in Bosnia- for Refugees (UNHCR) and NGOs also sexual mutilation – Herzegovina, rely heavily upon donor and host states to also constitute between 20,000 support their efforts to protect and assist torture in and 50,000 women refugee and displaced women. international law. were raped. UNHCR has introduced a Policy on However, prosecution of perpetrators of and Guidelines on the sexual violence in armed conflict is Protection of Refugee Women, and challenging, not least for their victims. continues to improve gender (and age) Women in an Insecure World examines the mainstreaming in its assistance and experience of women who acted as protection activities. Of great importance witnesses in prosecutions by the is involving refugee women in all International Criminal Tribunal for the decisions that affect their lives: former Yugoslavia. participation promotes protection. Refugee and displaced women have a strong voice - Refugee and internally displaced the international community must learn to women listen. Whether in camp or urban settings, refugee and displaced women are particularly at risk of gender-based violence, abduction, exploitation, poverty and illness. The breakdown in social values that occurs as a result of displacement may increase violence within the family. Women are also vulnerable to violence from outside the family when traditional community protection is disrupted. A displaced Roma family from Kosovo living, like many others, under difficult conditions where food is scarce and rationed. Photo by ICRC, Boris Heger, 1999

16. Sexual exploitation of women by stage of the training of military and civilian peacekeepers and humanitarian peacekeeping personnel. workers Strategies to prevent and respond to sexual During armed conflict and displacement, exploitation in emergency situations must women and girls may face sexual violence include not only UN staff, but staff of and exploitation at the hands of, or with the NGOs. Employees from all levels, complicity of, their supposed protectors – working in all sectors of humanitarian aid, peacekeepers and aid workers. Cases of from NGO drivers, to child-care workers, sexual assault by peacekeepers have to distribution staff, have been implicated shocked the international community. in sexual exploitation of women. More insidiously, humanitarian workers fuel markets for trafficked women in Family violence in post-conflict brothels and as domestic labour. Women situations may enter into sexual relationships in exchange for food and shelter. In recent years there has been a growing awareness and concern about the increase The UN has attempted to respond to of family violence in post-conflict exploitation of women by peacekeepers communities. This may be related to through gender training, gender widespread trauma, disruption of mainstreaming and codes of conduct that community and family networks, and the apply to all categories of UN personnel disarray of pre-war security institutions. In (civilian, civilian police, military observers countries where women traditionally have and military members of national been confined to home-making roles, contingents). The Code of Personal sexual violence can be seen as the ultimate Conduct for Blue Helmets includes: expression of an attempt to return gender relations to the pre-war situation. ‘Do not indulge in immoral acts of sexual, physical or Post-conflict planning and assistance psychological abuse or should include a co-ordinated and exploitation of the local comprehensive approach to family population or United Nations violence. This requires attention to local staff, especially women and penal law; appropriate police training, children.’ staffing and resources; and proper medical facilities to provide examinations and However, allegations of sexual abuse of treatment. under-aged girls by peacekeepers in the Democratic Republic of Congo in January 2005 exposed persistent deficiencies in training and in the punishment of such crimes. UN staff benefit from immunities and privileges from legal processes, and in the case of a crime committed by a military peacekeeper, exclusive jurisdiction is granted to the contributing state. The onus is on states to prosecute peacekeeping troops who abuse women. Further, the training of military and civilian peacekeepers is primarily the prerogative of those states that provide them. Gender training must be mainstreamed in every

17. The role of the state and the role in making the world more secure. security sector This is part of a broader re- conceptualisation of ‘security’ and security Women in an Insecure World highlights providers. Current threats have prompted a the manner in which state systems and recognition that ‘security’ is not only the institutions may perpetuate women’s protection of states, but an indivisible need inequality and legitimise violence against and value that all people have the right to women. enjoy. The task of the security sector is thus to create conditions that enable all As examples: some states fail to people to satisfy their need for security and criminalise and/or to punish marital rape safety. and so-called honour killings. Laws that prevent a woman from owning property or This concept of security goes beyond state- travelling without a male guardian make centred military security and focuses on women vulnerable to control by abusive the ability or inability of state institutions spouses. Failure of police to protect a to ensure the protection of all citizens. It woman suffering violence in the home, and enables the identification of vulnerable failure of the state to provide safe groups that bear the brunt of poverty, alternative housing for women and their armed conflict, malfunctioning of the children, leave women trapped in security sector and inefficient legal dangerous situations. Economic systems protection. It recognises the contribution that perpetrate the increasing feminisation of civil society to security. of poverty contribute to the exploitation of women and girls through prostitution, Within this framework, violence against slavery and trafficking. Women are often women can be seen as a malfunctioning of victims of violence at the hands of the state the security sector: the failure to protect itself, when in detention, during armed women, the failure to empower women, conflict and during periods of social and the commission of violence against instability. At the same time, the state may women. be the most important enabler for eradicating gender-based violence. The security sector in post- conflict situations Security Council Resolution 1325 Violence against women is particularly (discussed below) recognised women’s prevalent in post-conflict situations when security sector institutions fail to operate In Iraq, the magnitude of sexual violence properly. Dissolution of, or disarray in, has increased sharply during the war and security institutions such as the police occupation. However, according to leaves them unable to protect the civilian , if a victim of sexual population. There are commonly gaps in violence reports the crime, there are penal law, inefficient procedures for filing serious barriers to obtaining justice. These and pursuing complaints, and a lack of include a lack of female police officers, a medical facilities to provide medical reluctance of police to investigate, and examinations and treatment. prevailing views that the victim may be Post-conflict governments often have little blamed for sexual violence. Without a interest in investigating and punishing referral from the police, a victim cannot perpetrators of violence against women. receive the forensic examinations that They may grant amnesties to groups that provide legal proof of sexual violence. have perpetrated violence, in an attempt to secure peace. The international

18. community tends to be reluctant to exert Women responding to pressure on national governments to violence, women building investigate and punish violence against women, either because such matters are peace seen as linked to peace processes, or not Women’s movements have been the acknowledged as of international concern. driving force behind global efforts to address gender-based violence. Women Reform of the security sector in post have challenged states to address conflict situations is essential to establish against women that occur in the private good governance, and to promote human sphere, such as domestic violence and rights, democracy and the rule of law. female genital mutilation. Grassroots Security sector reform processes must organisations contributed to the include development of mechanisms to sensitisation of the international prevent and respond to violence against community to violence against civilians women, to empower women, and to during armed conflicts and in their include women in security sector aftermath. institutions. This is examined more closely in Women in an Insecure World. The international community recognises the importance of the participation of women’s organisations in international fora, bringing critical views and standpoints to the table, and being able to shed light on numerous problems that otherwise might be unseen.

Female de-miners, mostly widows or amputees, hired by an NGO for mine action located in Battambang, Cambodia. Photo by ICRC, Philippe Dutoit, 1996

19. UN Security Council Resolution Women’s involvement in UN 1325 peace operations During and after armed conflict, women Security Council Resolution 1325 also demonstrate the capacity to overcome the urged the UN to expand the role and trauma of violent acts, to survive and help contribution of women in all its field the survival of others, and to contribute operations, in particular, emphasising actively to defending and building peace. peace operations. Within a framework, the UN has UN Security Council Resolution 1325 on achieved significant progress over the last Women, Peace and Security, adopted in five years in increasing women’s 2000, recognised the important role of involvement as peacekeepers, and women in the prevention and resolution of developing programming that better conflicts and in peace-building. The identifies and addresses the needs of Security Council stressed the importance women and girls. of women’s equal participation and full involvement in all efforts for the As of July 2004, women constituted 27.5 maintenance and promotion of peace and per cent of the professional personnel in security, and the need to increase peacekeeping operations. However, only women’s role in decision-making with some 1 per cent of the total military regard to conflict prevention and personnel deployed in international resolution. operations are women. Several states have launched initiatives to improve Although women have been included in representation of uniformed women (both recent peace processes in Iraq, in armed and police forces) in international , Sri Lanka and Sierra Leone, peace operations. all too often, women are still excluded from formal efforts to negotiate and Much more could be done. The mandates implement peace agreements. Barriers of all peace operations should include include a lack of institutional infrastructure protection of women, consultation with to consult women. women and involvement of women as decision makers. All missions should have gender advisers appointed at a senior level, with proper resources.

Women in Black is a network of women worldwide committed to peace and actively opposed to war and other forms of violence. Women in Black vigils were started in Israel in 1988 by women demanding peace between Israel and the Palestinians. Italian women supporters brought the idea back to Italy, and their contacts with Yugoslav women led to Women in Black vigils during the Yugoslav wars. Women in Black networks encourage and support other women around the world. They try to Women in Black demonstrators protest the Balkan wars educate, inform and influence public opinion in Novi Sad City Square, Serbia and Montenegro. so as to make war an unthinkable option. © Vesna Pavlovic, 1994

20. Action to stop violence for those working against against women: what next? gender-based violence at international, national and local levels, their implementation requires significant Profound and positive changes in the status resources and commitment. and roles of women have occurred in the last 50 years. Women have been major At a national level, programmes to stop actors in the rise of global civil society, violence and advance women’s equality promoting a gender sensitive approach to require allocation of proper budgets. The the resolution of all vital economic, division between public and private space political and social processes. There is a persists, with violence against women in relatively well-developed international the home treated in practice (and in some legal and normative framework, that has states, in law) as not a matter for the state, contributed to practical steps in bringing to or as less a crime than other crimes. A justice the perpetrators of violence against global survey of national progress on women. Within international bodies, gender equality and women’s violence against women has been empowerment by the UNFPA found that, recognised as one of the main obstacles to of the 172 countries surveyed, only two development and peace. There are thirds had put laws in place to counter worldwide campaigns to end violence violence against women, and only 16 per against women. 25th November has been cent of countries had taken legal measures declared the International Day for the to enforce the laws.21 Elimination of Violence against Women. Most major human rights NGOs monitor At an international level, the monitoring of and advocate on gender issues. Public states’ and other actors’ compliance with awareness of the issues of gender-based their human rights obligations requires violence has increased significantly during strong political will. The public/private the last two decades. dichotomy persists, with states insulating

Given the near-universal condemnation of violence against women, why does it persist? The disproportionate impact of A Global Coalition of Women HIV/AIDS on women, the growing Defending Peace feminisation of poverty and the rise of trafficking in women demonstrate that, Many groups of women within their local whilst there has been progress in communities, regionally and recognition of violence against women, internationally are working to build new forms of violence and inequality peace. continue to emerge. Further, increasing international disorder is accompanied by In November 2004, hundreds of peace- malfunctioning of state institutions that are workers came together in Geneva to form responsible for the protection of citizens, the Global Coalition of Women unwillingness to implement international Defending Peace. One of the key aims of law, and marginalisation of human rights. the Global Coalition is to increase the In this environment, it becomes more involvement of women in all stages of difficult to prevent and punish violence conflict prevention, peace making, peace against women. building and peace keeping, including decision making at all levels. DCAF is Whilst conventions and international an active partner to the Global Coalition treaties provide crucial normative of Women Defending Peace.

21. themselves from by claiming that violence against women is linked to so- called cultural, traditional or religious values.

The eradication of gender-based violence requires not just institutional change at international and national levels, but a change of mindset and attitudes among individuals and state actors.

The following part of this Executive Summary contains a synthesis of Women in an Insecure World’s key recommendations to end violence against women.

DCAF presents Women in an Insecure World as a substantial resource for those working on violence against women, and as a tool to increase awareness amongst those not yet engaged with the problem as to its terrible scope. DCAF hopes to broaden the number of governments, institutions and experts contributing to the effort to end violence against women. We invite all readers of Women in an Insecure World to become a part of this process.

21 UNFPA, 2004, Investing in People: National Progress in Implementing the ICPD Programme of Action, p. 27.

22. Key recommendations international levels, as appropriate. For example, trafficking - being a form of Women in an Insecure World is an violence with distinctly international extensive resource of good practices to dimensions - requires internationally prevent and respond to violence against coordinated anti-trafficking action. women, at local and international levels. It draws on the success of women’s groups, 1.2. Prevention through research and the progress made through the a) Effective collection of gender-disaggregated data framework of international human rights Reliable and consistent data on violence law. against women is imperative in order to formulate responses and strategies. The three key strategies in eradicating However, deficiencies exist in the violence against women are prevention, systematic collection of gender- protection and empowerment. Each disaggregated data by state and other approach must involve women and men, agencies. Medical, law enforcement, civil society and government, and has and humanitarian workers local, national and international should have specific procedures to identify dimensions. and document violence against women.

1. Prevention b) Furthering research on causes, consequences and solutions 1.1. Prevention through awareness- Research on the root causes and raising and training consequences of violence against women a) Changing attitudes that perpetrate violence helps us to develop effective solutions. against women Research should examine methods to Deeply entrenched social beliefs regarding rehabilitate perpetrators, prevention of the subordinate roles of women constitute violence in armed conflict, and the role of a strong barrier to preventing violence women in conflict resolution. against women. It is necessary to take Governments should lead and support this to change attitudes that type of research at local, national and perpetrate violence against women through international levels, and use it to formulate systematic and comprehensive education government policies. and awareness programmes, including educating women and girls about their c) Effective monitoring and assessment right to live free of violence. To facilitate effective monitoring of violence against women, there must be b) Effective training for all actors in society international agreement on indicators. Specific education and training should be Effective follow-up mechanisms should given to all public actors regarding the include reporting on progress toward the nature of violence against women, its attainment of women’s rights at the highest criminality, and how to prevent and levels. respond to violence against women. In particular, training should target the 2. Protection military, law enforcement personnel, the judiciary and other security sector actors, 2.1. Protection through law who are often the ‘front line’ protecting a) Universal ratification of international human women. rights and humanitarian law instruments International human rights and Training materials should be developed at humanitarian law provides important community, national, regional and protection for women from violence by

23. establishing common standards and norms. against Women) provide useful monitoring Accession to relevant human rights and of states’ actions in perpetrating or humanitarian law instruments marks the addressing violence against women. It is of commitment of states to improve the status utmost importance that international of women. Treaty reporting mechanisms human rights and humanitarian law (such as to the Committee on the instruments are ratified by all states, and Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination that they are implemented.

b) Reform of national law and women’s access to Table 5: Women’s political participation in justice March 2004: seats in national parliaments National legislation, including the held by women (percentage of total) constitution, must assure women’s rights. It is crucial to criminalise violence against Country per cent of women in all its forms, including domestic women in violence and so-called traditional practices parliament that are harmful to women. Women and Rwanda 48.8 girl victims should be provided with access to legal remedies, including compensation. Sweden 45.3 c) End impunity by ensuring adequate punishment Denmark 38.0 of violence against women Finland 37.5 Laws criminalising gender-based violence must be enforced, including when the Netherlands 36.7 violence is perpetrated in the home. In Norway 36.4 particular, members of the police, the military and public officials who commit Cuba 36.0 acts of violence against women must not escape punishment. Belgium 35.3

Costa Rica 35.1 The international community must continue to play a role in ensuring the Austria 30.6 prosecution of those who commit violence Germany 28.3 against women in armed conflict, or in other situations where national judicial Spain 28.3 mechanisms are not properly functioning.

Switzerland 25.0 2.2 Protection through institutions Uganda 24.7 a) Strengthening of state and civil society Canada 20.6 institutional mechanisms for protection Responding to gender-based violence United Kingdom 17.9 requires a multidisciplinary approach, engaging institutions from the political, United States 14.3 justice, health, labour, media, education, 12.2 social and security sectors, including civil society, at all levels. Dynamic strategies New Zealand 12.2 on gender issues, including mechanisms to Italy 11.5 prevent gender-based violence, must be incorporated in all sectors. This requires

Source: UNDP, Human Development Report 2004 not just training, but in many cases, change of institutional cultures.

24. 3. Empowerment It is particularly important that the security sector and judicial institutions are sensitive 3.1. Empowerment through education to the nature of and needs of victims of and labour gender-based violence. Women must be Increased access to education and labour involved in security sector institutions and systems are key for the empowerment of programmes, and their reform. Women women and girls, which reduces their should participate on an equal basis to men vulnerability to gender-based violence. It is as judges, prosecutors and investigators in crucial to identify and dismantle barriers to national and international judicial bodies, the education of girls and women, and to and in mechanisms for transitional justice. their access to labour systems. Further, education can play a key role in Co-operation between state institutions and transforming a society’s discriminatory NGOs and other civil society anti-violence attitudes and gender roles. networks should be strengthened, on local, national, regional and international levels. 3.2 Empowerment through participation in decision-making b) Allocation of proper budget To eradicate gender-based violence, For institutions to transform themselves to women must be empowered in all aspects incorporate gender perspectives and to of their lives. Essential is women’s establish proper mechanisms to respond to participation in decision-making, at family, violence against women, a long-term community, national and international allocation of sufficient funds is required. levels. International development assistance can play a crucial role in promoting women’s Increased women’s political participation rights and safety in this regard. can be facilitated through quota systems, by assisting and training potential female c) Establishment of shelters and support mechanisms candidates, and by active measures to Women and girls suffering from gender- remove barriers (including to ministries of based violence need to have safe places to defence and foreign ). Women go. Governments must ensure shelters and should be engaged in decision-making in assistance hotlines, and medical, sectors involved with peace and security at psychological, social and legal services for the national, regional and international women suffering from violence. levels. d) The importance of international institutions in Women should be involved in all aspects protecting women during and after armed conflict of preventive diplomacy, peace The extreme vulnerability of women to negotiations, peacekeeping operations, violence during armed conflict and in its peacebuilding and post-conflict aftermath requires that the international reconstruction. On one hand, for peace community – states and institutions - play a agreements to have a lasting and strong role to ensure women’s protection, sustainable effect, all sectors of society, and that assistance programmes and other including women’s associations, need to be interventions address the specific needs of involved. On the other, national and women. Women should be centrally international peace efforts can benefits engaged in peace negotiations and the from women’s grassroots experience in reconstruction process. The participation of conflict prevention, peacebuilding and women in peace support operations, in all reconstruction. phases and at all decision-making levels, should be increased.

25.

DRAFT 6 Geneva Centre for the Democratic Control of Armed Forces (DCAF)

Marie Vlachovà and Lea Biason (eds)

Women in an Insecure World Violence against Women Facts, Figures and Analysis

Women constitute the most numerous group of the world’s population exposed to systematic and persistent violence. The victims are claimed in conflict, but also next door. The causes are complex, but eventually point to the simple fact that for all too many, a woman’s life and dignity are worth less than a man’s. This situation is simply intolerable.

Developing the concept of democratic principles and standards of national security sectors, the Geneva Centre for the Democratic Control of Armed Forces (DCAF) had to face the fact that security and safety is not enjoyed equally by men and women. Further, violence against women impedes the creation of a well-functioning security sector − that is, institutions capable of providing an adequate level of security for all citizens. Violence against women occurs in varying contexts – at the domestic and community levels, in situations of armed conflict and under repressive governments. In many cases it is a conscious policy, and often deliberate acts by individuals that are punishable by law.

Women in an Insecure World takes stock of the scope and magnitude of violence experienced by women in daily life, during armed conflict and in post-conflict situations. It aims to increase awareness among governments, donors, policy makers, academics, experts and civil society about the pervasive forms of violence against women. It also highlights the active role of women in peacemaking and post- conflict reconstruction. For what makes women’s role in combating violence indispensable is not the omnipresence and magnitude of their victimisation, but the fact that women demonstrate the capacity to overcome the trauma of violent acts, to survive and help in the survival of others, and to contribute actively to defending and building peace. The book provides analytical data and statistics, legal documents and policy recommendations, complemented by feature stories and illustrations. Over 60 different authors, representing the major international organisations, governments, NGOs and Think Tanks dealing with gender issues, have contributed to this book.

Contents: Introduction. Roots and Scope of Gender-based Violence. Part I: Violence Against Women in Daily Life. Part II: Women and War in Armed Conflicts. Part III: Women in Post-conflict Situations. Part IV: Strategies and Solutions. Conclusions and Recommendations.

2005, 335 pages ISBN 92-9222-028-4

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