If Not Now, WhenX Addressing Gender-based Violence in Refugee, Internally Displaced, and Post-conflict Settings Jeanne Ward The Reproductive Health for A Global Overview Refugees Consortium Copyright © 2002 The Reproductive Health for Refugees Consortium No permission is needed to reprint. ISBN 1-58030-017-0 If Not Now, WhenX Addressing Gender-based Violence in Refugee, Internally Displaced, and Post-conflict Settings A Global Overview Jeanne Ward April, 2002 The Reproductive Health for Refugees Consortium c/o The Women’s Commission for Refugee Women and Children and the International Rescue Committee 122 East 42nd Street New York, NY 10168-1289 212.551.3000 www.rhrc.org Table of Contents 1 List of Acronyms 3 Foreword 5 Acknowledgements 7 Executive Summary Country Profiles from Africa 21 Republic of Congo 27 Rwanda 35 Sierra Leone Country Profiles from Asia 45 Afghanistan/Pakistan 53 Burma/Thailand 61 East Timor Country Profiles from Eastern Europe 71 Azerbaijan 79 Bosnia and Herzegovina 91 Kosovo Country Profiles from Latin America 105 Colombia 111 Guatemala 117 Nicaragua 123 Annex:Travel Schedule List of Frequently Used Acronyms CEDAW United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women GBV gender-based violence IDP internally displaced person IOM International Organization for Migration IRC International Rescue Committee IFRC International Federation of the Red Cross MSF Médecins Sans Frontières NGO non-governmental organization PHR Physicians for Human Rights RHRC Reproductive Health for Refugees Consortium UNDP United Nations Development Program UNFPA United Nations Population Fund UNICEF United Nations Children’s Fund UNIFEM United Nations Development Fund for Women UNHCR United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees WHO World Health Organization If Not Now, WhenX 1 Foreword This report is one of several outcomes of a two-year where reviews of GBV-related programming had global Gender-based Violence Initiative spearheaded already been widely published. For practical purpos- by the Reproductive Health for Refugees Consortium es, countries in Africa, Asia, and Europe with RHRC (RHRC) and aimed at improving international and member field offices available to facilitate site visits local capacity to address gender-based violence (GBV) were given priority. in refugee, internally displaced, and post-conflict settings. The Initiative was made possible with Nine profiles—the Republic of Congo, Rwanda, generous funding by the U.S. Department of State’s Sierra Leone, Afghanistan/Pakistan, Burma/Thailand, Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration East Timor, Azerbaijan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and (PRM). The Women’s Commission for Refugee Kosovo—are the outcome of one- to two-week field Women and Children (Women’s Commission) investigations that included interviews with survivors, and the International Rescue Committee (IRC) local GBV-related organizations, international have jointly supervised all aspects of implementing humanitarian aid and human rights organizations, the Initiative. local and national government representatives, and United Nations personnel. Given the logistical chal- The overall objective of this report is to provide a lenges imposed by the brevity of the visits, the baseline narrative account of some of the major findings within each profile are not meant to be issues, programming efforts, and gaps in program- exhaustive but, rather, to provide an impression upon ming related to the prevention of and response to which to base further research and programming GBV among conflict-affected populations worldwide. activities. Moreover, the profiles represent circum- Other outcomes of the Initiative, including an stances only as they existed during the period of the extensive web-based bibliography of GBV resources site visits, the dates of which are identified at the (accessible at www.rhrc.org/resources/gbv/bib) and an beginning of each profile and in the annex that RHRC field manual for GBV assessment, program follows this report. The one exception to this rule is design, and evaluation, are meant to supplement the the profile of Afghanistan/Pakistan, in which consid- findings of this report with practical and field-friendly eration was given in the recommendations to the tools, as well as educational and training materials. exceptional events that have recently altered the landscape of possibility for instituting GBV-related The report is composed of twelve country profiles: programming. three each for Africa, Asia, Europe, and Latin America. Selection of the countries was based on The profiles are broadly divided into sections, global representation as well as the extent to which including background information, GBV issues, GBV- they variously represent stages of conflict and types related programming, and recommendations. The of GBV. Efforts were made not to investigate settings background sections exist to provide a general If Not Now, WhenX 3 context in which GBV incidents and programming About the Reproductive Health occur, and subsequent sections attempt to be as for Refugees Consortium specific as possible in illustrating the nature and prevalence of GBV, the activities underway, and the The Reproductive Health for Refugees Consortium gaps in those activities that contribute to the perpetu- was established in 1995 to promote the institutional- ation of GBV. The recommendations section is ization of reproductive health services in refugee without exception based on commentary provided settings worldwide. Consortium members represent a during site visit interviews. However, information in unique mix of advocacy, development, humanitarian the profiles that originated from personal interviews relief, research, and training organizations. Four is generally not cited in order to preserve the members—the American Refugee Committee, CARE, confidentiality of those offering their experiences and the International Rescue Committee, and Marie insights. Information taken from secondary reports Stopes International—focus on working with interna- is cited in the notes, and these reports have become tional and local NGOs, U.N. agencies, refugees, and a part of the RHRC library of GBV information. host country governments to provide direct repro- ductive health services to refugees. JSI Research and The profiles for Colombia, Guatemala, and Nicaragua Training Institute and Columbia University Mailman are the result of New York-based desk studies under- School of Public Health at the Heilbrunn Department taken during the fall of 2001 by Melinda Leonard, of Population and Family Health are primarily graduate student of the Columbia University School involved in project research, staff training, and for International and Public Affairs. Resources for the technical assistance. The Women’s Commission for desk studies were primarily published reports and Refugee Women and Children, as an expert resource telephone interviews with international and local and advocacy organization, serves as coordinator of experts. Since the profiles of Latin America were not the Consortium. Each member of the Consortium has informed by site visits (because of changes in project capacity and experience in gender-based violence funding), their findings focus on descriptive accounts research, training, and programming. of available information about GBV issues and pro- gramming. While organizations and initiatives have undoubtedly been overlooked in the Latin America profiles given the general difficulty in gaining access to program materials, the profiles nevertheless pro- vide useful overviews for considering GBV prevention and response in the countries under review. They follow the general format of the Africa, Asia, and Europe profiles, with the exception that the specific recommendations generated during site visits are absent from the Latin America profiles. Although GBV encompasses violence against boys and girls and men and women, the findings of this report focus almost exclusively on violence experi- enced by women and girls. The reasons for this orientation are two-fold: first, GBV programming tar- geting men and boy survivors is virtually non-existent among conflict-affected populations; and second, women and girls are the primary targets of GBV worldwide. This report has been produced with the sincere hope that its information will not only stimulate GBV-related programming addressing the particular vulnerabilities of women and girls but also motivate further examination of methods for preven- tion of and response to GBV that engages boys, girls, men, and women. 4 Foreword Acknowledgements The first order of thanks for the information con- privileged recipient of their expert knowledge and, in tained in this report goes to all the survivors of GBV many cases, their considerable hospitality. around the world who have provided, through their courageous testimony and advocacy, a glimpse of the Suzanne Petroni, formerly of PRM, participated in atrocities that women and girls face not only in peri- the trip to Azerbaijan and not only offered her ods of conflict but also in flight from conflict, while wisdom—the result of her long-standing commit- living in refugee and internally displaced camps, and ment to confronting and reducing violence against during post-conflict reconstruction. Their experiences women—but also provided helpful feedback on the illustrate all too clearly that the perpetration of sexual Azerbaijan profile. Cari Clark, a doctoral student at violence in war—as well as the lack of protective and the Harvard School of