VViolenceiolence AgainstAgainst WWomenomen for the protection and promotion of the human rights of women 10 REPORTS / YEAR 2002 Carin Benninger-Budel Joanna Bourke-Martignoni Created in 1986, the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) is an international coalition of over 260 NGOs in 85 countries, the SOS-Torture network, fighting against torture, summary executions, forced disappearances, and all other forms of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment. Since 1996, OMCT has had a specific pro- gramme for the protection of women from gender-based violence around the world. This programme draws its strength and approach from other OMCT programmes which have proved consistently effective in the fight against torture. Particular emphasis is placed on drawing attention to and preventing serious human rights violations perpetrated against women through alternative reports on country sit- uations to the United Nations treaty monitoring bodies and urgent appeals on violence against women. Violence against Women: 10 Reports/Year 2002 for the protection and promotion of the human rights of women Authors: Carin Benninger-Budel, Programme Manager Joanna Bourke-Martignoni, Programme Officer Director of Publication: Eric Sottas, Director First Printing: 2003 © 2003 World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) ISBN 2-88477-045-3 Cover design: Thie Reklame, 7944 GV Meppel, The Netherlands www.thie.nl Printed by Abrax, 21300 Chenôve, France World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) P.O. Box 21 8, rue du Vieux-Billard 1211 Geneva 8 Switzerland Tel: 0041 (0)22 809 49 39 Fax: 0041 (0)22 809 49 29 E-mail: [email protected] http://www.omct.org VViolenceiolence AgainstAgainst WWomenomen for the protection and promotion of the human rights of women 10 REPORTS / YEAR 2002 Carin Benninger-Budel Joanna Bourke-Martignoni Violence Against Women: 10 Reports / Year 2002 Acknowledgements OMCT would like to thank consultant Yannick Inyeza Koffigan Bigah of ACAT-Togo for his work on the report on Togo. The authors would also like to acknowledge and thank the following human rights organisations and individuals for their valuable contributions to the ten reports compiled in this publication: Asociación Venezolana por una Educación Sexual Alternative (AVESA Venezuela), Red de Apoyo por la Justicia y la Paz (Venezuela), B.a.B.e. Women’s Human Rights Group Croatia, Women’s Group Brod Croatia, Centre for Women’s Studies Zagreb, Zenska Infoteka Croatia, Ms. Suad Ata Al Gedsi of the Women’s Forum for Research and Training (Yemen), Nozima Kamalova of the Legal Aid Society Uzbekistan, the Human Rights Society of Uzbekistan, and the Sudanese Organisation Against Torture. Thanks also to interns Kate Grzesiuk, Ana Libertad Laliena, Kate Henvey, Jana Hudecova, Harriet Nathali, Mônica Ribeiro, Carolin Seger and Jessie Tamayo who participated in the research and drafting of the reports. 4 Contents Introduction ........................................................................................................................................................................ 7 Violence against Women in Croatia ....................................................................................... 13 Violence against Women in Czech Republic ......................................................... 47 Violence against Girls in Moldova ......................................................................................... 79 Violence against Women in Poland ......................................................................................... 123 Violence against Women in Spain ................................................................................................ 163 Violence against Girls in Sudan ............................................................................................. 197 Violence against Women in Togo ................................................................................................. 249 Violence against Women in Uzbekistan ........................................................................... 293 Violence against Women in Venezuela .............................................................................. 327 Violence against Women in Yemen ............................................................................................ 359 5 . Introduction Introduction This book is the third annual compilation of alternative country reports submitted to the UN human rights treaty monitoring bodies by OMCT’s Violence Against Women Programme. These reports represent an integral part of OMCT’s effort to fully integrate a gender perspective into the work of the treaty bodies. In 2002, OMCT submitted ten reports on vio- lence against women to the five “mainstream” treaty monitoring bodies: reports on Togo and Yemen were submitted to the Human Rights Committee; reports on the Czech Republic and Poland were submitted to the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights; reports on Moldova and Sudan were submitted to the Committee on the Rights of the Child; a report on Croatia was submitted to the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination; and reports on Spain, Uzbekistan and Venezuela were submitted to the Committee against Torture. OMCT decided to report on these specific countries based on the agendas of the different Committees and the availability and accessibility of information on the status of women from member organizations of the OMCT-SOS Torture Network or other local organizations. Each report examines violence against women within three settings: in the home, in the community and at the hands of State officials. The reports also analyse legal, political, economic, social and cultural factors that contribute to the problem of violence against women. At the conclu- sion of each report, OMCT outlines recommended actions to be taken by the different governments. This list of recommendations provides a frame- work for change useful not only for the treaty monitoring bodies and gov- ernments, but also for non-governmental human rights organisations, women’s rights organisations, members and non-members of the OMCT- SOS Torture Network. In addition, the concluding observations by the treaty monitoring bodies concerning each country are included. The 1993 Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action1 recognised that the UN human rights treaty monitoring bodies lacked a gender perspective and declared the need for such perspective to be fully integrated into the work of the human rights bodies. The Platform of Action adopted at the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing in 19952 also emphasised the importance of integrating a gender perspective into the activities of the treaty monitoring bodies. These calls for change observed that despite the 7 Violence Against Women: 10 Reports / Year 2002 important function that the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women plays in the promotion and protection of women’s human rights, the “mainstream” human rights treaty bodies have often failed to address gender-specific human rights violations. In 1999, OMCT published a report on violence against women, which revealed the findings of an extensive research project concerning the treaty bodies’ progress between 1993 and 1998 in integrating a gender perspective and the human rights of women into their activities. The research demonstrated that although some progress had been achieved by the treaty bodies in this field, each treaty body had been proceeding at a different pace.3 In particular the Committee against Torture had not incor- porated issues related to the human rights of women into its work to the same degree as the Human Rights Committee, the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the Committee on the Rights of the Child. For this reason, OMCT has devoted particular attention in the past years to the integration of a gender perspective and the human rights of women into the work of the Committee against Torture; the Committee which analyses and identifies the progress achieved by States parties in comply- ing with their obligations under the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. OMCT has sub- mitted 15 alternative country reports on gender-based forms of violence against women to the Committee against Torture over the years 2000, 2001, and 2002. OMCT also submitted a paper in October 2001 entitled “A gender-inclusive and gender-sensitive interpretation of Article 1 of the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.”4 According to Article 1 of the Convention against Torture, torture includes acts, intentionally inflicted, that cause severe pain or suffering on a person for certain purposes or for any rea- sons based on discrimination, committed not only by a public official but also at the instigation of or with the consent or acquiescence of a public official or other person acting in the official capacity. While women are, like men, the victims of State sponsored violence, the ten country reports in this publication show that much violence against women occurs in their private lives. The reports also show that while there are some encouraging signs of progress in the development and imple- 8 Introduction mentation of new legislation and procedures with respect to violence against women, States are overwhelmingly failing to uphold their interna- tional and national obligations to exercise due diligence to prevent, inves- tigate, prosecute and punish gender-based