Category Archives: WOMEN’S EQUALITY

Colombia Includes Gender Focus for a Stable, Lasting Peace

. . WOMEN’S EQUALITY . .

An article by Patricia Grogg for Inter Press Service News Agency (IPS)

The novel inclusion of a gender perspective in the peace talks that led to a historic ceasefire between the Colombian government and left-wing guerrillas is a landmark and an inspiration for efforts to solve other armed conflicts in the world, according to the director of U.N.-Women in Colombia, Belén Sanz.

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In statements to IPS, Sanz described as “innovative and pioneering” the incorporation of a gender subcommittee in the negotiations between the administration of President Juan Manuel Santos and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), which began in November 2012 in the Cuban capital and ended in late June with a definitive ceasefire.

She said the large proportion of women who spoke with the negotiating teams, in regional and national forums, and during visits by victims and gender experts to Havana showed the growing openness on both sides to the inclusion of gender proposals in the final accord and the mechanisms for its implementation.

The results of the work by the subcommittee, made up of representatives of both sides, were presented in Havana during a special ceremony on Jul. 23, exactly one month after the ceasefire was signed, putting an end to over a half century of armed conflict.

Taking part in the ceremony were U.N.-Women Executive Director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka; the U.N. Secretary General’s Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict, Zainab Hawa Bangura; and Sanz, whose office has worked closely with the subcommittee.

Other participants were María Paulina Riveros, the Colombian government’s delegate to the subcommittee, and Victoria Sandino, the FARC’s representative, along with the rest of the members of the subcommittee, the delegates to the peace talks, and representatives of the countries that served as guarantors to the peace process.

The results of the subcommittee´s work, presented on that occasion, include the incorporation of a gender perspective and the human rights of women in each section of the agreement, starting with guarantees for land access and tenure for women in rural areas.

Other points agreed on were women’s participation in decision-making to help ensure the implementation of a lasting, stable peace; prevention and protection measures for a life free of violence; guarantees of access to truth and justice and measures against impunity; and recognition of the specific and different ways the conflict affected women, often in a disproportionate manner.

“These are some examples that can be illustrative and inspiring for other peace processes around the world,” Sanz said from Bogotá, after her return to the Colombian capital.

In her view, “these strides forward represent milestones in the promotion of women’s rights and the transformation of gender inequality during the construction of and transition to peace, which could be exported to other places in the world and adapted to their particular conditions and contexts.”

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Question for this article

Do women have a special role to play in the peace movement?

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The introduction of a gender focus also includes the search for ensuring conditions for people of different sexual orientations to have equal access to the benefits of living in a country free of armed conflict.

“For women and people with different sexual identities to be able to enjoy a country at peace is not only a basic human rights question: without their participation in the construction of peace and, as a result, without their enjoying the benefits of peace, peace and stability themselves are threatened,” said Sanz.

She cited a study commissioned in 2015 by U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, 15 years after the approval of Security Council Resolution 1325, designed to promote the participation of women in peace processes.

The report showed that women’s participation increases by 20 percent the probability that a peace agreement will last at least 20 years, and by 35 percent the chance that it will last 15 years.

“So if women don’t participate in peace-building processes, not only as ‘beneficiaries’ but as drivers of change and political actors, it’s hard to talk about a stable, lasting peace,” said Sanz.

The U.N. study also shows the risks faced by women in the post-peace deal stages.

According to the report, women in areas affected by the conflict have fewer economic opportunities and suffer the emotional and physical scars of the conflict, without support or recognition – besides often facing routine violence in their homes and communities and shouldering the burden of unpaid care for children and the elderly and household tasks.

In a broader sense, “the structures of inequality remain in place and measures are needed to dismantle them, as well as a commitment by society as a whole,” said Sanz, who described a transition process like the one that Colombia is facing as “a key opportunity” to transform women’s status in society.

She said the continued work of the gender subcommittee is “crucial”, as well as that of women’s organisations, with the support of international aid, in order to incorporate provisions in the agreements to enable these situations of inequality to gradually be transformed, with a view to the period following the signing and implementation of the accords.

The inclusion of gender provisions in peace agreements “opens a window of opportunity for the transformation of existing structures of inequality and can also be an opportunity for other peace processes, during the signing of the agreements and the stage of implementation,” said the head of U.N.-Women.

According to estimates, women account for over 40 percent of the members of the FARC, whose exact numbers are not publicly known.

Overall, women represent slightly over half of the general population of 48 million. However, Colombia is one of the countries in Latin America with the lowest levels of female representation in politics.

In 2015, women represented only 14 percent of town councilors, 17 percent of the members of the lower house of Congress, 10 percent of mayors and nine percent of governors. These figures are still far below the parity that would do justice to the proportion of women in society, states a U.N.-Women report.

Latin America, WOMEN'S EQUALITY

The Elders welcome new moves in Africa to end child marriage

. . WOMEN’S EQUALITY . .

Press release from The Elders

The Elders today welcomed recent moves by leaders in The Gambia, Tanzania and Uganda to end or curb child marriage, as part of the African Union’s continent-wide campaign to eradicate the harmful practice.

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In The Gambia, where almost a third of underage girls are married, President Yayha Jammeh has announced that anyone marrying a girl below 18 would be jailed for up to 20 years, with legislation due to by drawn up in the coming months. In Tanzania, meanwhile, parliament has declared that current child marriage laws are unconstitutional.

The Ugandan health ministry has also recently announced that it will provide more advice to girls and adolescents, and educate them on their sexual and reproductive health and rights, joining 10 other countries which have already adopted national strategies and action plans to end child marriage.

Kofi Annan, Chair of The Elders, said:

“It is encouraging to see more African leaders and legislators taking action to end the damaging and abusive practice of child marriage. This is an issue of rights, health, justice and protection that affects individual girls and women, their families and their wider community. Governments across the continent must now work hard to educate the wider population and eradicate this practice once and for all.”

The Elders have campaigned against child marriage since 2011, when they formed the global civil society alliance Girls Not Brides, now an independent organisation in its own right.

Mary Robinson added:

“As Elders, we are committed to promoting equality for women and girls and ending all forms of discrimination. Child marriage is cruel and harmful. It denies girls the chance of an education and economic independence. Their talents cannot then be tapped by communities which could benefit from their knowledge and resilience. These latest steps are welcome but much more still needs to be done to protect girls’ rights.”

(Thank you to Janet Hudgins, the CPNN reporter for this article)

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Africa, WOMEN'S EQUALITY

Tunisia moves closer to achieving gender equality in politics

. WOMEN’S EQUALITY .

An article from UN Women

Tunisia’s Parliament has approved an amendment ensuring that women have greater representation in local politics. This amendment, which applies to both municipal and regional elections, includes a proposal for “horizontal and vertical” gender parity in Article 49 of the electoral law.

Tunisia
Plenary session in the Assembly of Representatives of the People (ARP), with UN Women. Photo: ARP
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Horizontal parity requires that municipal election lists across Tunisia have equal number of both men and women, while vertical parity requires that men and women alternate within each list. Both were adopted by the Assembly of Representatives of the People (ARP), the Tunisian parliament, on 15 June 2016. Out of 134 representatives, 127 agreed to the new measure.

“The adoption of the new electoral law on parity aligns with the democratic path that the country has chosen to take,” said Bochra Belhaj Hamida, a parliamentarian and member of the Commission of Women, Family, Children, Youth and Seniors. “For the first time, 73 women parliamentarians, from different parties, backgrounds and political ideologies, voted unanimously and conducted their own lobbying in favour of the horizontal and vertical parity.”

UN Women joined forces with the advocacy efforts led by civil society for horizontal parity in local elections. On the eve of the plenary session in Parliament for this draft law, a specific session was held in partnership with the International Development Centre for Local Innovative Governance. Women parliamentarians presented arguments and evidence in favour of the adoption of horizontal and vertical parity.

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Question for this article

Prospects for progress in women’s equality, what are the short and long term prospects?

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According to the Gender Gap Report 2015, Tunisia is ranked 69th in terms of political empowerment out of 145 countries. Enshrining horizontal and vertical parity in the electoral law increases women’s chances of being elected in the upcoming local elections planned in March 2017, and will allow for better representation in municipal and regional councils. It constitutes significant progress towards inclusive government, equal opportunities and gender equality.

“Besides being a first in our region, the adoption of horizontal and vertical parity in electoral law is a timely achievement because it will guarantee effective participation of women in the upcoming decentralization process in Tunisia,” said Leila Rhiwi, UN Women Maghreb Representative.

In line with its efforts to support women’s leadership and political participation, in March 2016 UN Women initiated a project with parliamentarians in Tunisia that involved advocacy sessions around the legislative agenda, capacity building, networking and support for the implementation of the women’s caucus. This initiative, conducted with Members of Parliament, aims to improve the representation of women in both local and national politics. To date, four sessions have been held.

These efforts are in line with UN Women’s “Step It Up” initiative. At the Global Leaders’ Meeting on 27 September 2015, Tunisian Prime Minister Habib Essid pledged to expand women’s ability to participate in politics and public affairs, saying: “Our experience in democratic transition recently is witness to the fact that women should be represented in all legislative bodies. Hence, we enhance women’s ability to participate in politics and in public affairs. This is a commitment.”

Mideast, WOMEN'S EQUALITY

Peace in Colombia Is Impossible Without Us, Women Declare

. . WOMEN’S EQUALITY . .

An article from Telesur TV

Colombian women, under the banner of “One Million Women for Peace,” are demanding a greater role in the peace talks between FARC insurgents and the government as negotiations wrap up.

Colombia women
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The group has been growing its ranks in an effort to promote the signing of the peace deal and prepare for post-conflict stability, sociologist and human rights activist Gloria Florez told Prensa Latina on Wednesday.

According to the activist, the newly-formed bloc aimes to create a community movement to provide popular backing for the talks, which began in 2012, and promote implementation of the deal.

The movement brings together farmers, artists, journalists, youth and political representatives of indigenous and Afro-Colombian communities. On Tuesday, women at the U.N. Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues insisted they be included in peace processes around the world because “women are pushing the culture of peace and not the culture of war.”

The decades-long conflict in Colombia has killed about 300,000 people, while six million remain displaced from their homes and another 45,000 remain missing. The “One Million Women for Peace” campaign argues that women are essential in building alternatives once the militarization is negotiated, said a former cabinet member of the Bogota municipality.

Question for this article

Do women have a special role to play in the peace movement?

The 40 articles in CPNN linked to this question make it clear that women indeed have a special role to play in the peace movement. See the following for an historical explanation of why this is true.

Latin America, WOMEN'S EQUALITY

No Means No Kenya

. . WOMEN’S EQUALITY . .

An article from Ujamaa

NO MEANS NO KENYA works to provide simple, high impact Self- Defense training to as many women and children as possible worldwide. We believe prevention is key in the global rape epidemic. For far too long the overwhelming focus has been on aftercare strategies – this needs to change. It is believed that Self Defense training can raise a woman or child’s chance of prevailing in a sexual assault by up to 85%.

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It is our vision to mainstream self defense and end the fallacies and myths surrounding a woman or child’s ability to stop an assault. Our rape prevention efforts have appeared in over 40 media outlets including CNN, Huffington Post, MSNBC, Current TV, Daily Kos and Fox Sports.

No Means No Worldwide is a comprehensive rape prevention organization for girls and boys. We are a school based program that uses the IMpower system of violence prevention training. We teach classes in 6 week cycles, three times per school year, with the number of students ranging from 7000-9000 per cycle.

We believe the best response to the epidemic of sexual assault is to provide our male and female students with an awareness of the causes and effects of sexual gender based violence and the skills to intervene or prevent it.

Our research shows that in high schools where girls have taken our classes the incidence of rape drops from 20% annually to under 10%. Over half the girls in the intervention groups report having used the IMpower skills to avert sexual assault in the year after the training. Rates of disclosure increased in the intervention groups, but not in controls.

Preliminary research on our new IMpower boys curriculum shows that male students gender-negative attitudes towards women and girls were transformed to a more positive and supportive set of beliefs and behaviors. At 6-month follow-up, 334 of 676 respondents (49.4%) had witnessed a girl or woman being verbally harassed and 259 of 334 (77.5% had successfully intervened to stop the harassment. Similarly, 313 of 676 (46.3%) had witnessed a male physically threatening a girl or woman and 228 of 676 (33.7%) had witnessed a sexual assault. In these situations, 228 of 313 boys (72.8%) and 167 of 228 (73.2%) who witnessed these events, had successfully intervened to protect the victim.

(Thank you to Janet Hudgins, the CPNN reporter for this article)

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Africa, WOMEN'S EQUALITY

Bahrain Women Association conducted a workshop on peace for Sitra Alahleya Society – Women club

. WOMEN’S EQUALITY .

Bahrain Women Association

As part of the activities of ‘Women embracing peace’ project to promote culture of peace in the community, BWA organized a training workshop on the culture of peace entitled ‘Sustainable peace .. from inside out’ at ‘Sitra Alahleya Society’ – Women Club on Wednesday, September 17th. The workshop aimed to introduce the concept of culture of peace and inner peace, and to discuss how to practice peace and finally to present ways and mechanisms to promote peace.

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The workshop explained the concept of peace in family and ways and means of applying it, and peace in community which explained that the relations between human beings are based on ground of peace and that the difference between people should lead to integration and development not to conflict and disharmony. The workshop emphasized on the importance of inner peace to achieve any other peace on the external level, be it the family or community.

At the end of the workshop, participants expressed their desire to participate in more events organized by BWA in the field of peace and tolerance, to enhance their role and their ability in promoting positive change in their communities.

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Mideast, WOMEN'S EQUALITY

USA: University of Wisconsin receives UN chair for global work on gender, well-being and peace

. . WOMEN’S EQUALITY . .

An article by Ann Grauvogl, University of Wisconsin – Madison News

The University of Wisconsin—Madison has been awarded a UNESCO Chair on Gender, Well-being and a Culture of Peace, a first in the state of Wisconsin and a first for the university in any area. It creates a global platform for the Department of Gender and Women’s Studies and for the campuswide 4W (Women and Well-being in Wisconsin and the World) Initiative.

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Araceli Alonso in Kenya, 2009. PHOTO COURTESY OF COLLEGE OF LETTERS & SCIENCE

“This recognition by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) affirms UW–Madison’s strength in addressing global issues,” says Chancellor Rebecca Blank. “The interdisciplinary ethic of our faculty, staff and students allows us to engage on complex issues from a host of perspectives. That’s a valuable asset to the UNESCO network around the world.”

UNESCO has designated more than 670 chairs worldwide to promote international cooperation and networking among universities. UW–Madison joins a network of 12 other chairs on gender around the world, connecting efforts of women in Europe, Latin America, Africa and the United States.

“The establishment of this chair is a testimony to the role that UW–Madison has played, locally and globally, to advance women in a broad array of fields, including human ecology, gender and women’s studies, nursing and education,” says Lori DiPrete Brown, director of the 4W Initiative and an associate director of the Global Health Institute (GHI). “The robust range of activities of 4W leaders from throughout campus was an important factor in determining the award.”

The Chair Selection Committee recognized UW–Madison’s plans to encourage innovation through technological databases, online portals, North-South collaboration and information sharing.

“The chair will be the first in North America to interrelate gender, well-being and culture of peace through researchers, practitioners and advocates for knowledge exchange and collaboration,” according to a statement from the committee.

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Question related to this article:

Does the UN advance equality for women?

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The chair will be housed in the Department of Gender and Women’s Studies and is created in partnership with the Foundation for a Culture of Peace in Madrid, Spain. The activities of the chair will be integrated with the 4W Initiative and will include an annual summit, a broad range of field activities, and publications related to gender, well-being and a culture of peace.
Araceli Alonso, a senior lecturer in gender and women’s studies and 4W director for Gender, Clinical Practice and the Health Sciences, and Teresa Langle de Paz, co-director of Women’s Knowledge International at the Foundation for a Culture of Peace, will jointly hold the chair.

Alonso also founded the Health by Motorbike Project in Kenya and co-leads 4W’s project to end sex trafficking and exploitation. She has collaborated with other UNESCO chairs on gender and development and welcomes the chance for further collaboration locally, regionally, nationally and globally.

Langle de Paz is also an honorary fellow for the Women’s Research Center at the Gender and Women’s Studies Department.

“The UNESCO chair can take our work at UW–Madison a step further into a global arena fostering transnational cooperation between feminist scholars, gender issues professionals, institutions, networks, policy makers and organizations,” Alonso says. “We expect to create a global learning community and a platform of leaders committed to gender equality and equity, human flourishing and well-being, and a culture of peace that respects all human rights and promotes sustainable development, thinking not only on present generations but also in future ones.”

Karl Scholz, dean of the College of Letters & Science, is thrilled to house the chair in Gender and Women’s Studies.
“This will enhance our efforts to improve the health, education and well-being of women all over the world,” Scholz says. “With this recognition, we will be able to engage more students and scholars from across campus, which truly epitomizes the Wisconsin Idea.”

The designation gives UW–Madison a voice on these issues at an international level, says Soyeon Shim, dean of the School of Human Ecology (SoHE) and 4W lead dean.

“The UNESCO Chair gives the university the credibility and prestige on gender, well-being and a culture of peace, a topic that’s also important to the United Nations,” Shim says.

The chair provides both the opportunity and responsibility for UW–Madison faculty, staff and students to continue their work on issues of gender and well-being. Through research, service, leadership and collaboration with partners from around the world, they are improving access to health care in Kenya and Ethiopia, empowering women farmers in Ghana, collaborating with artisans in Mexico and Ecuador, and working to stop sex trafficking both locally and globally.

“We’re not just dreaming this thing, we’re doing it already,” Shim says.

North America, WOMEN'S EQUALITY

Education International and other Global Union Federation delegations begin their work at the 60th Session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women

. WOMEN’S EQUALITY .

An article from Education International

The full labour delegation present in New York, USA, is made up of an unprecedented 150 women union leaders from 34 countries. The Education International (EI) delegation to the 60th session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW60) has joined the other Global Union Federations (GUFs) delegations for the first week of the Commission’s deliberations (March 14th-18th).

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The EI delegation got to work already on Sunday 13th, in conversation with Nora Fyles, Head of Secretariat of the UN Girl’s Education Initiative (UNGEI). Fyles gave a short presentation on ‘Policy Advocacy: UNGEI Speaking Out for Girls’ Education’, which was followed by a conversation with the EI delegates about their respective unions’ advocacy around girls’ education, and other gender and education issues.

Later in the day, EI delegates joined the full labour delegation for a briefing session, in which seasoned and new delegates alike were given information about the first week of CSW60, and the events planned by the GUFs, the ILO and key allies among the thousands of women’s rights organisations that are currently in New York for CSW60.

The CSW60 priority theme is Women’s Empowerment and its Link to Sustainable Development; and the review theme is The Elimination and Prevention of all Forms of Violence against Women and Girls (the Agreed Conclusions from CSW57). The priority theme is auspicious because CSW60 is the first major UN event to take place since the 2030 agenda for sustainable development was agreed, and the new sustainable development goals (SDGs) were adopted in September 2015. CSW60, therefore, presents a unique opportunity to bring the gender and education community for dialogue around the interlinkages between SDG 4 on education, and SDG 5 on gender equality.

On Wednesday March 16th, together with the Mission of Norway to the UN and UNGEI, EI will jointly host a side event entitled ‘Financing for Education: A Key to Empowering Women and Girls’. The EI President, Susan Hopgood, will speak on the panel, as will Ms Tone Skogen, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Norway, Ms Geeta Rao Gupta, Deputy Executive Director, UNICEF, Ms Meighan Stone, President, Malala Fund and Mr Justin van Fleet, Director, International Commission on Financing Global Education Opportunity. The event will be moderated by Mr Yannick Glemarec, Deputy Executive Director Policy & Programmes, UN Women, and introductory remarks will be offered by Ms Alice Albright, CEO, Global Partnership for Education.

Read the joint official GUF CSW60 statement, and keep up to date with what the labour delegates are up to here.

Follow the GUF delegation at the UNCSW on Twitter: https://twitter.com/unioncsw

(Thank you to Janet Hudgins, the CPNN reporter for this article)

(Click here for a French version of this article)

Question for this article

Does the UN advance equality for women?

The following article by Lyndal Rowlands in the Inter Press Service, suggests that the UN is not making much progress on its commitments for women’s equality:

2015 marks anniversaries for two significant commitments made to increasing women’s participation at peace tables.

Yet despite the Beijing Platform for Action and the Security Council Resolution 1325 both committing to increasing women’s participation in peace building 20 and 15 years ago, respectively, there has been very little progress to report.

The latest available statistics show that women made up only 9 per cent of negotiators at peace tables between 1992 and 2011. That the most recent data is from 2011 shows that more work is needed even in basic areas such as data collection and reporting of women’s participation in peace building.

IPS summarises here four reasons we should value women’s participation at the peace table more, based on discussions at the 59th Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) over the past week.

Beijing Platform for Action Section E

Women and Armed Conflict Diagnosis

Strategic objective E.1. Increase the participation of women in conflict resolution at decision-making levels and protect women living in situations of armed and other conflicts or under foreign occupation. Actions to be taken.

Strategic objective E.2. Reduce excessive military expenditures and control the availability of armaments. Actions to be taken.

Strategic objective E.3. Promote non-violent forms of conflict resolution and reduce the incidence of human rights abuse in conflict situations. Actions to be taken.

Strategic objective E.4. Promote women’s contribution to fostering a culture of peace. Actions to be taken

Strategic objective E.5. Provide protection, assistance and training to refugee women, other displaced women in need of international protection and internally displaced women. Actions to be taken.

Strategic objective E.6. Provide assistance to the women of the colonies and non-self-governing territories. Actions to be taken.
Women Bring Commitment and Experience to the Peace Table
Often the first people invited to participate in formal peace negotiations are the people holding the guns and the last are women who have expertise in building lasting peace.

Zainab Bangura, Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict, told a CSW side event on Tuesday last week, “In the Central African Republic, the only community where they were not killing each other was a community where the Christian women said, ‘These Muslim women are our sisters.’

“Why? Because the women in the community said, ‘We have lived together for the last 100 years’,” Bangura said.

In the Phillipines, Irene Santiago was a member of the government panel that negotiated peace with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front. Santiago came to the table with years of experience working with Christian, Muslim and Indigenous women leaders for peace.

Speaking at a CSW side event at the International Peace Institute (IPI) on Thursday, Santiago said that she knew that her years of experience working with civil society for peace stood her in good stead to make a significant contribution to formal peace negotiations, which she did.

Speaking with IPS, Santiago said women’s voices not only have to be heard, but that they also have to be acted on.

“For women. It’s almost never always about themselves, it’s always about our children, our husbands but also about our communities,” Santiago told IPS.

In Africa, women have fought to be included in peacemaking, even when their contributions have not been recognised.

Bineta Diop, Special Envoy on Women Peace and Security to the African Union, says that mediators need to be held accountable when they only invite the people who hold guns to the peace table and ignore women’s contributions.

“I have been involved in many crises where women were knocking at the door and saying we want to be at the table,” Diop said.

Ambassador Anwarul Chowdhury, known as the father of Security Council Resolution 1325, said that the determination of African women to be involved in peace negotiations should be seen as an inspiration by other countries.

Despite serious difficulties, war and conflict, African women have shown continued determination to hold their countries accountable, Chowdhury said.

Gender Equality in Peace Time Prevents Conflict
Also speaking at the IPI, Valerie Hudson, co-author of ‘Sex and World Peace’, said that her research has shown that the way women are treated within a country is one of the most accurate indicators of the quality of relations that country will have with other countries.

Diop agreed with Hudson, saying that countries that are likely to fall into conflict have higher levels of discrimination and inequality.

“Discrimination against women, especially the non-participation and non-inclusion of women in democracy is … one of the root causes of the conflict,” Diop said.

Ambassador Choudhury agreed with these sentiments, telling IPS, “I believe that no country can claim that their country is not in conflict if women’s rights are denied, if women’s equality is not ensured, if women’s participation at all participation levels is not there.

“I think that if we women are violated, if women’s equality of participation is not there we cannot say that we are at peace, we are in conflict with ourselves. This is a conflict which is happening within ourselves and within the countries. We don’t have to go into the traditional description of conflict, civil conflict or fighting with another country,” Chowdhury added.

Dr. Youssef Mahmoud, Senior Adviser at the International Peace Institute also speaking at the IPI event said, “A world where 51 per cent are ignored is a dangerous world for everyone. I can’t imagine why any men would be indifferent to this.”

Women Are Active In Civil Society
Several discussions at the CSW questioned why militaries were the primary actors in peace building, while non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and civil society’s expertise was not called on.

Related IPS Articles

U.S. Honours 10 “Extraordinary Women” for Courage and Leadership
Meet the 10 Women Who Will Stop at Nothing
Women Walk for Peace in the Korean Peninsula
Santiago told IPS that civil society, especially women, have a lot to contribute to humanise, to concretise, and to make peace negotiations relevant to people’s lives.

Winnie Kodi from the Nuba mountains in Sudan told reporters on Monday that civil society was vital to helping indigenous communities like her own that have been affected by conflict. She said that the main way her people were able to have their voices heard was by working together with NGOs and civil society.

Chowdhury told IPS he is advocating for the U.N. and governments to hold more consultations with civil society, saying that the involvement of women and of civil society is very important.

Santiago also called for renewed focus on the important role of NGOs in the area of women, peace and security,

“Again I see that why are we focusing on the UN as the locus of change,” she said. “To me it is not, it is the means, it is an important audience, but it is not the locus of social change.

“Let us form the global civic networks that we need to bring about the local global and civil change that we need” Santiago said.

Women Challenge The Causes of Conflict
Challenging militarism and militarisation was another theme discussed during the first week of the CSW, particularly by civil society groups at the parallel NGO forum.

Choudhury told IPS that increased militarism and militarisation is slowing down efforts for equality. “Increasing militarism and militarisation has really been effecting women in a very negative way. This is something that women should stand up against, we should all stand up against,” Chowdhury said.

Militarisation is also affecting indigenous women and men. Maribeth Biano, from the Asian Indigenous Women’s Network, told reporters on Monday that Indigenous women are hugely affected by militarisation in Indigenous territories.

global, WOMEN'S EQUALITY

Amnesty International: 10 ways we’ve defended women’s rights in the past year

. . WOMEN’S EQUALITY . .

An article from Amnesty International

March 8th is International Women’s Day and we’re taking a moment to reflect on how your support has changed women’s lives around the world in the past year. From policy breakthroughs to freedom for courageous women human rights defenders, here are just a few of the ways you’ve defended women’s human rights and helped break down barriers for women and girls:

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1. The Canadian government announced an inquiry into missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls

For well over a decade, Amnesty International has stood alongside Indigenous women, families who have lost loved ones to violence, and so many others to call for an end to the disturbingly and unacceptably high rates of violence experienced by Indigenous women and girls. We have published reports, written letters, gathered petition signatures, joined vigils, and spoken out in the media, in Parliament and at the United Nations. And throughout it all we have stood with Indigenous women and families and let them know they are not alone in the struggle to end the violence.

Together, with your help, we are making strides. The tireless work of Amnesty supporters has helped generate a groundswell of public support for concrete action to end the violence.

In December, we welcomed the federal government’s announcement of a public inquiry into missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls. The announcement was a major breakthrough after years of government inaction.

So much lies ahead. We need your help to make sure that government commitments truly lead to an end to the violence. And your solidarity is crucial to making sure Indigenous women and families know they are not alone in their struggle to end the violence.

TAKE ACTION: Sign the pledge to stand with Indigenous women and families to end the violence

Learn more: No More Stolen Sisters

2. Burkina Faso has made commitments to end early and forced marriage

In December 2015, Burkina Faso adopted a national strategy and a three-year action plan to prevent and eliminate child marriage in the country. The strategy and plan came after the government committed to address the obstacles that women and girls face when trying to access sexual and reproductive health services and information. And in February, Burkina Faso’s Ministry of Justice, Human Rights and Civic Promotion committed to raise the legal age of marriage for girls to 18 years and to ensure that forced marriage is clearly defined in Burkina Faso’s criminal code. The government also committed to introducing free healthcare for pregnant women in an effort to reduce the number of maternal deaths.

Prior to these announcements, on December 10th, Amnesty International supporters Canada and around the world sent thousands of letters, emails and tweets to the government of Burkina Faso as part of our global Write for Rights letter-writing marathon. The government acknowledged in their February announcement that they have been receiving messages from around the world urging them to take immediate action to end this practice.

While these promises are a step in the right direction, we need your help to ensure these plans turn into real action.

TAKE ACTION: Sign our action calling on Burkina Faso to turn their plans to end early and forced marriage into real action

Learn more: Ending early and forced marriage in Burkina Faso

3. Miscarriage is not a crime: Justice for Guadalupe in El Salvador

In 2007, at just 18 years old, Carmen Guadalupe Vasquez was sentenced to 30 years in prison after suffering a miscarriage. She was wrongly accused of having an abortion, which is outlawed in all circumstances in El Salvador. She was one of 17 women in jail with lengthy sentences for being accused of having an abortion.

In January 2015, thanks to years of hard work by dedicated activists in El Salvador, El Salvador’s Legislative Assembly took a vote on whether to pardon Guadalupe. Amnesty International condemned the outcome of the vote and international pressure led to a re-vote being scheduled. In the days leading up to the re-vote, Amnesty supporters took to the internet to send a wave of messages to Assembly members urging them to release Guadalupe and the other jailed women. Guadalupe was finally pardoned and walked free from prison in February 2015.

Her exoneration is a victory in the long fight for women’s rights, but her story is tragically not unique. El Salvador continues to condemn thousands of women to death or decades behind bars by criminalizing pregnancy-related complications and prohibiting abortion even when a woman’s life depends on it. As part of our My Body My Rights campaign, Amnesty International has been campaigning to end El Salvador’s total ban on abortion.

TAKE ACTION: Sign our action calling for Teodora del Carmen Vásquez, another woman jailed in El Salvador for pregnancy-related complications, to be released now.

Learn more: Read our report on violations of sexual and reproductive rights in Latin America and the Caribbean

4. Five women’s rights defenders released on bail in China

Five Chinese activists decided to mark International Women’s Day in 2015 by launching a campaign against sexual harassment. They had made stickers to distribute, printed with slogans like “Go police, go arrest those who committed sexual harassment!”

Just before March 8th, authorities arrested them on suspicion of “picking quarrels and provoking troubles.” Amnesty International swung into action, mobilizing our letter-writing Urgent Action Network to join the voices of activists from around the world.

The outcry secured the release of the five on April 13, 2015. However, the charges have yet to be removed and they still face a possible five year sentence. In fact, the Chinese government continues to harass and silence women’s rights defenders by threatening and arresting activists, even shutting down women’s rights organizations.

Women’s rights defenders can pay a high price for their dedication to advancing women’s human rights and empowerment. One such defender is Bahareh Hedayat, an Iranian student activist in prison for 10 years on charges including “insulting the president.” Bahareh is with a group known as the One Million Signatures campaign (also known as the Campaign for Equality), a grass-roots initiative to end legal discrimination against women in Iran.

TAKE ACTION: Sign our action calling on Iranian authorities to immediately and unconditionally release Bahareh Hedayat

5. You stood with sisters threatened with sexual punishment in India

In May 2015, 23-year-old Meenakshi Kumari and her 15-year-old sister fled their village in Baghpat, Utter Pradesh, to Delhi, fearing a backlash after their brother, Ravi, eloped with a married woman from a higher caste.

Sadly, their fears were confirmed when just days later their house was ransacked. Two months on, the village’s male-only unelected council (khap panchayat) ruled that Meenakshi and her teenage sister should be raped and paraded naked with their faces blackened as punishment for their brother’s actions.

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Question related to this article:

Protecting women and girls against violence, Is progress being made?

Abortion: is it a human right?

(Article continued from left column)

Meenakshi, a Dalit woman, courageously reported the human rights violations. When Amnesty International India learned about their case, they rallied more than 500,000 Amnesty supporters worldwide to call for their protection.

The authorities took the concerns seriously. On September 16, India’s Supreme Court ordered Delhi police to provide protection for the two sisters and their family. Amnesty International continues to call for justice and reparation for Meenakski and her family. If they are unable to return to their village, they must also receive support to rebuild their lives in another community.

Learn more: Read their story and learn more about Amnesty International India’s work to end gender discrimination in India

6. A Sudanese court overturned the conviction of a teenager sentenced for “indecent dress”

On August 16, 2015 Ferdous Al Toum was found guilty of “indecent or immoral dress” and sentenced to 20 lashes and a fine of 500 Sudanese pounds.

She was arrested as part of a group of 11 young women on June 25th who were leaving a church ceremony at the Evangelical Baptist Church in Khartoum North. The women were all wearing skirts or trousers, yet were accused of “indecent or immoral dress.” Incredibly, Ferdous was charged again for the clothes she wore in the courtroom at her trial. She was sentenced to a large fine for her appearance in court (paid on her behalf by activists and supporters), as well as the lashes.

In light of this news, more than 16,000 Canadians joined Amnesty International supporters from around the world to condemn the sentence. Following an appeal by Ferdous’ lawyers, her conviction was finally quashed by the Court of Appeal on October 14, 2015. She was the second last woman to be released, and eventually all 11 women were freed.

Sudan’s “indecent dress” law applies to women and men on paper, but it is used exclusively against women. Women and girls around the world face discrimination in law and practice simply because of their gender. Women and girls can face harsher punishments for the same “offences,” such as the case of Atena Farghadani. In 2015, Atena, a young painter and activist, drew a cartoon critical of proposed laws that would make it difficult for women to obtain contraception or seek a divorce in Iran. She was arrested for her peaceful activism and sentenced to 12 years and nine months in prison.

TAKE ACTION: Call on Iranian authorities to release Atena Farghadania now!

7. Justice for a Courageous Torture Survivor

In 2012, marines broke into the home of Claudia Medina Tamariz. They took her away to a local naval base. There, Claudia suffered terrible torture, including electric shocks and sexual assault.

The torture was aimed at forcing Claudia to incriminate herself in drug-related crimes. To make the torture stop, Claudia signed a piece of paper put before her. She later discovered it was a “confession” to crimes she had not committed.

More than 300,000 people, including thousands of Canadians, sent letters to the Mexican Attorney General. Claudia is now free. In reviewing her case, a judge confirmed that after her arrest Claudia was tortured and sexually assaulted by marines in order to force her to incriminate herself and others in drug-related crimes. On February 6, 2015, that judge informed her that the last remaining charge was dropped.

Despite everything she’s gone through, Claudia is filled with determination to help others: “After this long process I had to go through I felt the need to become a human rights activist, to show that I’m not a criminal, as authorities portrayed me. I will not allow even one more woman to be tortured in Mexico.”

Torture, including sexual assault, is the preferred crime investigation technique for some Mexican police and military officers. They torture people into signing false statements and use them as evidence to prosecute. Claudia and Amnesty International continue to speak out for other torture survivors in Mexico, like Yecenia Armenta. Police hung Yecenia upside down, asphyxiated and brutally raped her until she signed a “confession,” while still blindfolded, to her husband’s murder. She’s been in prison ever since.

TAKE ACTION: Call on the Mexican authorities to drop the charges against Yecenia, release her immediately and bring her torturers to justice.

Learn more: Amnesty’s Stop Torture campaign

8. Amnesty activists rallied for a domestic violence victim sentenced to death

Li Yan in China made repeated calls to the police about her abusive husband, Tan Yong, who frequently beat her. He stubbed out cigarettes on her face. He locked her, near-naked, on the balcony of their apartment for hours at a time during the freezing Sichuan winter. On one occasion, he cut off her finger.

After repeated ignored requests for help, in late 2010, isolated, afraid and denied protection by the authorities, Li Yan resorted to violence and beat her husband to death with a gun.

She was sentenced to death. But thanks to international support, her sentence has since been commuted to the death sentence with a two-year reprieve. Under the Chinese law, death sentences with a two-year reprieve should be commuted to life imprisonment upon the expiration of the two-year period, as long as the prisoner does not commit another crime during the period of suspension.

This tragic outcome could have been avoided. “The reprieve for Li Yan could prove a landmark verdict for future cases where domestic violence is a mitigating factor. With her case, the highest court in China has sent a clear message that judges must not ignore domestic violence,” said William Nee, China Researcher at Amnesty International.

This may not feel like a landslide victory for Li Yan, but it remains an important moment of shedding light upon the issue of domestic violence in China.

Activists still face serious risks for speaking out about violence against women and other women’s rights issues in China. One such women’s rights activist is Su Changlan, a former teacher in prison since October 2014 for her peaceful activism. She is being held in deplorable conditions and faces life imprisonment simply for calling on the government to respect human rights.

TAKE ACTION: Write a letter to Chinese authorities to immediately and unconditionally release Su Changlan

9. You helped put women’s rights on the Canadian federal election agenda

Amnesty International Canada was a proud member of the Up for Debate campaign to promote women’s rights and gender equality in the lead up to Canada’s federal election in 2015. Our goal was to make sure that all federal political party leaders explained how they would build a more equal Canada for us all, and make meaningful commitments to change the lives of women and girls for the better at home and around the world. And we succeeded!

Learn more: The Up for Debate campaign helped bring meaningful change

10. You helped break the silence around sex, relationships and reproduction in many countries

In 2013, Amnesty International launched its My Body My Rights campaign, founded on the principle that people of all genders have the right to make decisions about our health, body, sexuality and reproductive lives without fear or force.

Thanks to educational materials and training materials produced through the campaign, 100,000 young people have challenged discriminatory attitudes and gender-based violence through workshops, video, theatre, debates, poetry, song and dance. In rural Zimbabwe, activists opened empowerment centres in schools as a safe space for young girls to talk about sex, relationships and pregnancy.

Learn more: Visit our My Body My Rights campaign webpage

(Thank you to Janet Hudgins, the CPNN reporter for this article.)

global, WOMEN'S EQUALITY

PORTRAIT: Dr. Denis Mukwege, the man who repairs women in eastern DRC

. . WOMEN’S EQUALITY . .

An article from the United Nations News Centre

In 1999, when a woman appeared at his hospital with genital destroyed by gun shots, the Congolese gynecologist Denis Mukwege first believed it was an isolated case. “But after about six months, I realized that the story was repeated in other patients that were almost identical: ‘I was raped, and then they pierced me with a bayonet! I was raped, and then they burned rubber on my genitals!'” Dr. Mukwege recalled in a recent interview with the UN Radio and the UN News Centre .

Mukwege
Dr. Denis Mukwege, director and founder of the Panzi Hospital in Bukavu, Democratic Republic of Congo, and winner of the United Nations Prize in the Field of Human Rights. UN Photo / Eskinder Debebe

The practice he had just discovered, born of the bloody conflict between the government at that time and the armed groups in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), would profoundly mark the rest of his career: the use of the destruction of the female genitalia as a weapon of war.

“This situation simply fell on us,” said Dr. Mukwege to explain the decision he took then to dedicate his professional life to reconstructive surgery for women victims of sexual violence – a decision that would put his life and that of his family in danger.

Sixteen years later, the commitment of Dr. Mukwege has allowed him to treat more than 40,000 victims in the hospital that he himself founded in the district of Panzi in Bukavu, his hometown in the South region Kivu, eastern DRC.

The man that the press has dubbed ‘the man who repairs women’ has also gained international recognition for his work, which has earned him numerous awards, including the United Nations Prize in the Field of Human Rights in 2008 and the Sakharov prize in 2014. Now 59 years old, he has been approached several times for the Nobel peace prize.

This exceptional career, Dr. Mukwege says, is primarily the result of the injustices he faced, starting with his early decision to become a doctor.

Denis Mukwege was born in 1955 in Bukavu in a Pentecostal family of nine children. As a teenager, he used to accompany his father, a pastor, in his daily rounds. One day his father was called to the bedside of a sick child.

“After praying, his father began to pack up and prepare to leave,” reminisced Dr. Mukwege. “But I told him, ‘No Daddy! When I am sick, you pray, but you also give me medicine. ‘ ”

In response, his father remarked that he was not a doctor.

“At that time, there was like a click in my head and I told myself: I want to be a doctor to do what my father could not.”

The child, meanwhile, finally succumbed to his illness.

Years later, after completing medical school in Burundi, Dr Mukwege returned to South Kivu to start his career in Lemera Hospital, a hundred kilometers from Bukavu, as a pediatrician.

During this experience, he was shocked by the discovery of the pain of women who, in the absence of proper care, regularly suffered serious genital lesions after giving birth. He decided to leave to study gynecology and obstetrics in France before returning to Lemera in the late 1980s.

The outbreak of war in the Congo DRC (then Zaire) in 1996 would again confront Dr. Mukwege with injustice. South Kivu found himself in the front line of fighting.

One day, arriving at the hospital, Dr. Mukwege found all its patients had been murdered, a drama from which he took a long time to recover.

“It took me two years before I felt I could be useful again. People do not imagine how one feels responsible for the sick. And then someone comes and kills them in their bed!”

At the same time, Dr. Mukwege himself ws nearly killed in an attack. While transporting a patient to evacuate to Sweden, his car was riddled with bullet shots. Fortunately, he and other passengers were not affected.

Feeling unable to continue working in Lemera, Dr. Mukwege returned to Bukavu, where he founded the Panzi hospital in 1999, shortly before the discovery of the extent of sexual violence in eastern DRC.

A report published in June 2002 by the NGO Human Rights Watch echoed the observations made on the ground by Dr. Mukwege.

Entitled ‘The War Within the War: Sexual violence against women and girls in eastern Congo’, this study is based on research conducted in the provinces of North and South Kivu, then controlled since 1998 by Rwandan Hutu armed groups and Burundian rebels fighting against the government of President Laurent-Désiré Kabila (1997 – 2001), the Rwandan army and the Congolese Rally for Democracy (RCD, a Congolese rebel group). According to the report, sexual violence was used frequently and sometimes systematically as a weapon of war by most forces involved in the conflict from the late 1990s.

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(click here for the article in French.)

Question related to this article:

Protecting women and girls against violence, Is progress being made?

What role should men play to stop violence against women?

(Article continued from left column)

In the one town of Shabunda, “the governor of South Kivu estimated 2,500 to 3,000 women and girls were raped between late 1999 and mid-2001,” according to the report, which did not report other data on a regional basis.

Another Human Rights Watch report, dated June 2014, indicated that tens of thousands have been raped or subjected to other forms of sexual violence in eastern DRC over the past two decades. Entitled ‘Democratic Republic of Congo: End impunity for sexual violence’, although the study could not determine theexact number of victims.

According to Dr. Mukwege, one of the difficulties in obtaining detailed data is the fact that sexual violence was and is still a taboo subject for the victims, who are often rejected by their own community.

“The women we care for represent only the tip of the iceberg because many of them are afraid to say they have been raped for fear of being repudiated by their husbands,” he said, adding that although the fighting has now abated in eastern DRC, the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war by armed groups is still relevant.

This taboo is so deeply rooted in Congolese society that the perpetrators, some of whom live near their victims, often enjoy relative impunity. “The woman sees the perpetrtor who lives across the street every morning, but unfortunately he is never made to answer for his actions,” lamented Dr. Mukwege.

Over the years, he has developed an original approach, which he calls “holistic”, to treat victims, taking into account the dimensions of both surgical and psychological, but also the issues of rehabilitation and justice.

“At first we gave only medical care, but we quickly realized that after being treated, the women refused to eat, drink, live and therefore, would also die of some form of suicide,” he said.

The hospital is staffed by a team of psychologists and social workers who work with patients before the reconstructive surgeries.

Once treated, the patients are able to reintegrate into their community while Dr. Mukwege and his team work in collaboration with NGOs that help victims to go to the hospital and provides economic support at their return.

“We found that when they are doing well both physically and psychologically they feel strong enough to be autonomous. At that point the women begin to seek justice” said Dr. Mukwege, who created for this purpose a legal clinic to help women regain their rights and prosecute in court.

His willingness to break the silence surrounding sexual violence against women in eastern DRC, however, brought pressures and threats. He was the target of several failed assassination attempts, one in the office where he made private consultations to patients in Bukavu, which was riddled with bullets. Fortunately, Dr. Mukwege was not present during the attack.

“What am I doing to escape? Not much. Today I have the protection of MONUSCO [Mission to the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo], which we appreciate in the hospital, because some members of my staff have also also been kidnapped, tortured and raped, “he said.

Although he feels reassured by the presence of MONUSCO, Dr. Mukwege has admitted that his daily work in Bukavu is performed in difficult conditions and that the silence on sexual violence in DRC is still a reality.

Last September, the Congolese authorities in particular prohibits the dissemination in the country of a documentary film about his background and activities of the Panzi Hospital.

“This is a film that shows the strength of Congolese women, their resilience. […] Women have a much more powerful inner strength than those who would destroy them, “said Dr. Mukwege, expressing his incomprehension at the censorship of the film.

Directed by Thierry Michel and Colette Braeckman, ‘The man who repairs the women – the wrath of Hippocrates’ was screened October 22, 2015 at UN headquarters in New York, in the presence of Dr. Mukwege. A few days earlier, according to press reports, the Congolese government announced the lifting of the decision banning the film in the DRC.

“We can not make progress unless we recognize first that there is a problem. Remaining in the culture of denial is extremely dangerous because it leaves the women to suffer”, he said.

According to Dr. Mukwege, significant progress has been made over the last 15 years. “We have more and more women who not only speak, but who also take a stand and become activists for women’s rights,” he praised.

In July 2014, the President of the DRC, Joseph Kabila, has appointed a Special Adviser in the fight against sexual violence and child recruitment, Jeannine Mabunda Lioko Mudiayi, a sign that attitudes are changing in the country.

The man who repairs women maintains, however, that much remains to be done before we can claim victory. To achieve this, the international community must redouble its efforts to fight against sexual violence related to conflict. Dr. Mukwege calls upon the whole society to consider this matter and not to leave it under the sole prism of women and feminism.

“What is the value of our humanity if people can afford to sell other people to make sexual use, sex slaves,” he said. “Our society must say no and set a red line: if certain acts are committed, it is the entire society that must oppose it.”

(Thank you to Janet Hudgins, the CPNN reporter for this article.)

Africa, WOMEN'S EQUALITY