2003_Violence_women

STOP VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN

2003

World Alliance of YMCAs 1

Contents

Introduction

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“We are called to eliminate violence against women.”

Bart Shaha, Secretary General Elect

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World Alliance of YMCAs 12 Clos Belmont 1208 Geneva Switzerland Tel: (+41-22) 849 51 00 Fax (+41-22) 849 51 10 E-mail: office@ymca.int Website: www.ymca.int

Southern Africa: Threats and Physical Abuse Against Women

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Asia and Pacific: Trafficking of Women and Other Forms of Violence

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Europe: Patriarchy is the Root of Violence

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April 2003 Cover photo: © Raymond Rohrbasser

Latin America: “The most dangerous place for a woman may be her home.”

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The World Alliance of YMCAs would like to thank ICCO (Interchurch Organisation for Development Co-operation), for its contribution towards this publication.

Palestine: Women Facing Violence under Occupation

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15th World Council Resolution on Violence Against Women 113

The YMCA (Young Men’s Christian Association) is a world-wide Christian, ecumenical, voluntary movement for women and men with special emphasis on and the genuine involvement of young people, which seeks to share the Christian ideal of building a human community of justice with love, peace and reconciliation for the fullness of life for all creation. The YMCA is present in 120 countries and its members form the World Alliance of YMCAs, an international organisation which has consultative status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations.

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List of Participants

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Appendix: Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW)

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INTRODUCTION Questions about women’s participation and gender justice are not unfamiliar terrain in the YMCA. In the last three decades these issues have achieved a prominence and profile that has compelled corrective and proactive legislation and action at all levels of the YMCA. Programmes and human resource development processes have also developed alongside within the YMCA and have been geared to promoting ideas about equality for women.

The first clear cut enunciation of YMCA policy and thinking on the presence and role of women in the YMCA came about at the first ever World Conference in Mysore, India in 1937. This was historical primarily because the conference took place outside Europe - the first time ever that a YMCA international event took place outside the western world. Just that fact shaped ways of thinking and debating quite unusual to then-accepted paradigms. If patriarchy had been the way in which society was governed - and patriarchy was very rooted in the feudal societies of Europe - then the YMCA, which took root in Europe, also used patriarchal frameworks and boundaries for its self-governance.

History suggests that it took wartime for the YMCA to wake up to the fact that women had to count if social advancement was to really happen. It is, perhaps, important to recognise the fact that the YMCA grew more sensitive to its social environment due to the effects of World War I. Working with people who were displaced and otherwise affected forced the YMCA to consider how it could be comprehensive in its services to nations and people. It is this stage in history that marks the first arrival of women into the precincts of the YMCA. Between the time of World War I and World War II, the YMCA also had to reckon with a time of reconstruction. The 1930s coincided with the Great Depression. It marked the downturn in the economic fortunes of hundreds and

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thousands of people in the so-called affluent and industrialised world. The YMCA saw in that situation a need for preparing people for the future. This was done in two ways: (1) through direct services to the affected people, and (2) through leadership-oriented activities for young people. The former required volunteers and the YMCA found its most willing volunteers coming from among the women in society. In the second case, the YMCA discovered that it was more prudent to be co-educational in scope. In fact it can safely be argued that the YMCA was one of the first places where young girls and boys came together to carry out extra curricular activities together. Most centres of education - schools and universities - tended to segregate boys and girls.

- even provocative - when it came to the status of women in the YMCA. This sparked a study on the status of women in the YMCA, and the conclusions were startling. It was clear that there existed a pattern of discrimination in the YMCA which allowed men to dominate and consign women to secondary status. This was no different from the traditional ways of society. How could the YMCA be seen as the harbinger of ideas, it was argued, if it could not point to new ways of thinking and being within itself? How could the YMCA hope to even bring about equality - a demand of the Nottingham Council - if it refused to acknowledge its own failures in the sphere of women’s equality?

The decade of the sixties profoundly changed the world. It changed the YMCA too. At the end of the decade, the World Movement met for a significant Council in 1969 in Nottingham. The youth who were gathered there challenged the YMCA on various fronts.

For the very first time, the references to status quo-ism were direct

The resistance to change was subtle but strong. Despite repeated requests and strong demands for a place in decision-making, the men stayed put in their places of power, never willing to concede to women their rightful place in the organisation. This, however, began to change in the mid-eighties when the World Alliance promoted a series of studies and actions on the question of women-insociety. These studies were sustained and lasted for a six-year period. Women in each region of the world were assembled together to engage in exclusive studies with a focus on particular issues affecting them in their region. These were then brought together in 1988 and again in 1991 at the World Councils. The choice of having met in exclusive forums at this stage was deliberate. It was felt necessary by women to have a space and time to engage not in debate but in self-discovery of their potential and challenges, as well as to identify what were the elements of restraint in their social progress. By identifying impediments, they not only developed an agenda for action, but also a strategy for uniting the entire Movement in the common and collective search for its own liberation. After all, the women argued, the YMCA was but a mirror of how society functioned. If it is to change society, they suggested, then the YMCA must first put corrective measures into place within itself before being the advocate of change in society. In other words, the slogan needed to be “Model not Mirror”. Furthermore, it was clear from

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This birds eye view of how women’s participation came about is provided here to confirm that matters concerning gender have been in the active consciousness of the YMCA for many years. We refer to the World Conference in 1937 for many reasons. For one thing it brought up a subject that was relatively taboo for debate at public level. Secondly, it marked the beginnings of consistent discussion that led to declarations, resolutions and studies on women in society. These debates always provided divergent and converging points of view. While the YMCA seemed an ideal precinct where enlightened women and men could share common concerns and act on them together, it was also a place that lent itself to male domination and control. Although the numbers of women at membership and volunteer level grew, there was not commensurate reflection of this in the leadership. In some countries YMCAs even rejected women in their membership. In most, however, women were present, but rarely led.

the studies that the liberation of women could not take place in a vacuum and within a sectoral struggle. Women as a sector would be hampered in effecting changes for as long as the structures of society - and the YMCA for that matter - were male-controlled. The requisite changes were clearly massive and demanded fundamental rethinking at societal level. After all, most women understand repression and inequality simply because it is a day-to-day fact in their lives. Equally, and more importantly, is the fact that men do not see this is a problem. Culture and tradition are replete with assumptions suggestive of this fact that men are the owners of industry, decisions-makers, societal builders and the like, while women are, at best home makers, or, when they are outstanding, social workers. The handful of professionals in the spheres of medicine or science were there by sheer dint of hard work and must be viewed as the exception, not the rule.

The evidence is clear by now that women are not prepared to accept the status quo. They want change and want it now, not that ‘one distant day’ when men will, from compulsion or through circumstances, have to accept it. Already, women have proved without a doubt that they can rule and govern entire nations, lead social movements, build and sustain industry, contribute to discoveries in spheres of science and technology, and overall lead society, community, families etc. To deny them this right and privilege is to deny society itself the prospects of a higher quality of life, simply because men are unable to accept the legitimacy of women in leadership.

Gender based violence Such discrimination is a form of violence as is any other more overt form of violence. The YMCA has studied a broad range of issues and taken positions on them. These include the questions of sextourism, child prostitution, the girl child, media and women, domestic violence, discrimination in education and work, female infanticide, feminisation of poverty, and culture and religion. To

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assume that violence happens only when it has physical dimensions and repercussions is to overlook the subtleties of the phenomenon of violence. Violence is that which hurts, be it physical or emotional. In the case of gender violence it is defined as: “Any act of gender-based violence that results in, or is likely to result in physical, sexual, or psychological harm or suffering to women, including threats of such acts, cohesion or arbitrary deprivations of liberty, whether occurring in public or private life.” What this definition underlines is a social fact. It simultaneously poses a social responsibility. One simply cannot live by the comfortable assumption that when something is not visible, it is not happening. In fact most forms of violence against women are invisible, or, at the least, taking place out of public view.

For example, the innumerable instances of dowry deaths in India do not occur with any real evidence in public consciousness. Dowry is, by itself, a degrading and deeply offensive form of violence. On the surface it may not seem to be so to many people, especially men. It only becomes disgraced when someone with power or determination, or both, places the fact in the public domain, and for that to happen, the worst must occur! And that would be a death or murder at the very least.

The YMCA today is one of few organisations which have a vast and varied membership. In its membership are women and men in equal numbers. Which other social organisation can boast of 17 million women members? Not too many. Even women’s movements will find it hard to reach such membership figures. Moreover, the YMCA can make a legitimate claim to be a place where the formation of new ideas is nurtured, even created. Indeed, the YMCA has often been thought of as the ‘fountain place for new ideas about society’. This will remain merely a positive image until something substantial is done to pursue the possibilities and potentials that the YMCA possesses.

In 2000, the World Alliance of YMCAs in collaboration with the World Council of Churches, developed an agenda of ‘men in soli-

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darity with women’. At a broad-based and well represented meeting, women and men from around the world examined how they could work together to achieve what is necessary to transform malefemale relationships. They resolved that active partnerships must be encouraged at various levels of society, whether in churches, YMCAs, NGOs (non-governmental organisations), civil society groups, etc., within which women can challenge themselves and men assume transformative profiles and functions, and thus give seed and fruit to a popular movement for change. Since then, the World Alliance has vigorously developed analysis and action plans for work at all levels of the YMCA that deal with issues pertaining to the discrimination of women. The backdrop of globalisation was one that punctuated all these discussions. Feminisation of poverty was viewed as something that had to be aggressively tackled. For, it was clear, globalisation was beginning to create manifold problems for women, and capitalism was feeding and fuelling the flames of marginalisation of women in addition to the more traditional elements of culture and religion.

In the pages that follow you will find presentations from women around the world on particularly pressing issues that must constitute the gender agenda. Each of these presentations was thoroughly discussed and debated. None of these reports spoke of violence in a singular sense. They were comprehensive and the analysis and conclusions amply indicated that a transformative action in favour of gender justice can only be seen within the framework of social transformation itself. The report from Southern Africa, for example, speaks of issues ranging from domestic violence to femicide, with the inter-related question being sexual abuse of girls, marital rape, abuse of women in war zones and refugee camps, sexual harassment at work and in schools, trafficking in women and forced prostitution. The report indicates how there is a direct link between tradition and gender violence. It also provides evidence of how legal systems are fundamentally flawed and require radical alternatives and interventions. From the Asia Pacific region, there

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is an account of how the entire gamut of political, social, economic, environmental and cultural factors confound dimensions of gender inequality. It underlines how questions of migration, HIV, drug abuse, etc., only amplify levels of inequality. The escalation of violence in Europe is also obvious from the European report which estimates that one European woman in five has experienced violence in one form or another during her lifetime. Europe often projects a false image of a liberal social fabric. ‘Untrue’, the European report points out. In fact the report highlights how obstacles to women’s advancement are built into the very structures of society which do little or nothing to promote equality and social advancement. The report, like those of other regions, speaks of domestic violence, rape, trafficking and much more. From Latin America the report is no less damning. But the Latin American report focuses on the question of domestic violence. In fact it commences with the startling claim: “The most dangerous place for a woman in Latin America and the Caribbean may be her own home.” Perhaps the report that drew the most passionate responses was the one pertaining to violence against women in Palestine. Noting that the ideology of patriarchy is deeply embedded in Arab societies, the report goes on to link how the ongoing violence and war-like conditions are even more exasperating for women. Simply put, occupation means double and dual oppression. Much of the abuse that women currently suffer can hardly be corrected by legislation or education. With everybody worried about the politics of the situation, the status of women has been conveniently relegated. Some new dimensions of violence emerged in this report. For example, the report speaks of ‘honour killings’ - something which is never directed at men, and a growing global phenomenon.

These reports - from most regions of the world - were part and parcel of a global workshop held in July 2002 in Oaxtepec, Mexico.

Although violence against women is a widespread phenomenon in the USA and Canada also, we have not included reports from this region, since they were not presented in written form at the workshop.

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The findings and recommendations of this workshop are now an integral part of the YMCA mandate. The stories of anguish, vulnerability and a sense of hopelessness are common threads of the discussions. These are social problems, but because they are social problems they are social responsibilities too. This responsibility has been well recognised in Challenge 21 ‘The YMCA is a world-wide Christian Movement for women and men that seeks to share the Christian ideal of building a human community of justice with love, peace and reconciliation for the fullness of life for all creation.’ In presenting this report, the World Alliance invites YMCA members all over the world to join hands with each other and with other progressive movements for the speedy and effective transformation of gender relations that can contribute to stop violence against women.

World Alliance of YMCAs April 2003

We are Called to Eliminate Violence Against Women Message to the Workshop on Violence Against Women

by Bart Shaha, Secretary General Elect World Alliance of YMCAs Oaxtepec, Mexico, 13-14 July 2002

Dear Friends and Colleagues, Greetings to all of you who have gathered here together in this important Workshop on Violence Against Women. I sincerely believe that the beginning of this new millennium is a crucial era for the YMCA in its work towards empowering women. As a Movement, we have clearly articulated our aspiration to advocate for and promote the rights of women through Challenge 21, the contemporary expression of our Mission.

This Workshop on Violence Against Women is an integral part of the responses to the challenges being confronted by the Movement.

The path towards recognition of the status of women in the YMCA, and the world at large, has always been rough sailing, at times entailing going through painful struggles. There are still plenty of obstacles towards achieving gender equity. To date, the gender issue is still seen by men as a women’s issue. There is a need for us in the YMCA to transcend the current prevalence of service provision in our work, addressing mostly the practical needs of women. I strongly believe that we need to move towards developmental processes for women, genuinely empowering them, making strategic contributions towards their development, and thus aiming for gender equity. Nevertheless, the direction set by the global Movement has been encouraging and meaningful for many YMCAs.

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Let me note that women’s issues and concerns have always been raised in different platforms at various levels. The World Alliance was able to give substantial attention to this concern during the first World YMCA Women’s Meeting held in 1988.

Since then, questions and actions related to enhancing the status of women in society have become an important part of the World Alliance’s agenda through the efforts of men and women YMCA leaders who gave their dedication and commitment to this issue.

Our concepts, perspectives and corresponding actions also evolved over time. Beginning from ‘women and development’ strategies, which considered the multiple dimensions of women’s role and the positive impacts of including them in development, we now take the gender perspective that gives particular attention to people’s capacity to promote their own development, given adequate support and environment, bringing about a consciousness that both men’s and women’s efforts are needed towards building sustainable communities.

Therefore, we are challenged to work towards social transformation with men and women working together hand-in-hand. In the face of globalisation that intensifies environmental degradation, human exploitation, driving people towards consumerist lifestyles without regard for cultural traditions and values, our tasks become seemingly insurmountable.

Economic globalisation is increasingly expanding the gap between the rich and poor. We need to realise that 70% of the poor in the world are women, and this is aggravated by discrimination faced by women in regard to access to resources and property. Despite being responsible for half of the world’s food production, women in many places are starving. Their working conditions are worse than their male counterparts. Women continue to be discriminated against and to be the victims of gender-based violence. In your discussions

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in this Workshop, I am certain that you will recognise that progress addressing this issue is indeed very slow. The traditional prejudices against and misconceptions about women, as a result of our patriarchal upbringing, still persist despite advances in human development.

Furthermore, women lack access to power and decision-making processes which worsen their marginalised status. They are not provided with adequate space to express their experiences, their feelings and their know-how in addressing their own development and reclaiming their dignity as human beings.

You would all agree that a world of justice and peace, a transformed world, requires changes in women’s roles, attitudes and behaviour, and changes in men’s roles, attitudes and behaviour as well. In keeping with our Mission, the YMCA is called to take the lead in working for gender equity, towards a world that respects the differences between men and women and recognises that men and women can work together, share their resources, and combine their wisdom towards fullness of life for all.

As a Movement, we must continue our efforts towards this end. We must strive to internalise and commit ourselves to the issue and take an integrated, holistic approach towards gender within the YMCA and the communities where it serves.

As you know, the Strategic Directions to be presented at this World Council, integrate a Gender Equity Agenda. This will be another milestone in our history. The more practical concern, however, would be translating these strategies and commitments into actual work and programmes that would genuinely create an impact on the lives of men and women. We need to fill in the gap between conceptual discussions and actual grassroots work. The challenge is for all of us!

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A YMCA Agenda Against Violence that may be formulated in this Workshop and the corresponding follow-up actions, would be one practical step towards our commitment to gender equity. As a Christian organisation seeking justice, peace and love, we are called upon to eliminate violence against women, that is, ‘any act of gender-based violence that results in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual, or psychological harm or suffering to women, including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or private life’.

We need to encourage participation and actions at all levels of the YMCA, particularly at the grassroots level, to create an environment free of discrimination and violence against women. I am hopeful that this Workshop will be able to produce workable and realistic recommendations to prevent violence against women, and to move towards gender justice.

During this Workshop, let us therefore seek inspiration from the pain, suffering and hopes of our grandmothers, mothers, sisters and daughters, and the gender-sensitive men and women in the world.

Most of all, let us be guided by the life, love and teachings of Jesus Christ, who respected the dignity of women and men, and chose the path of peace until his death on the Cross.

Thank you.

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Threats and Physical Abuse Against Women in Southern Africa The Zimbabwean Situation Rosemary Siyachitema General Secretary YMCA of Zimbabwe

INTRODUCTION The term “violence against women” refers to many types of harmful behaviour directed at women and girls because of their sex. In 1993 the United Nations offered the first official definition of such violence when the General Assembly adopted the Declaration on the Elimination of Violence Against Women. According to Article 1 of the declaration, violence against women includes:

Rosemary Siyachitema.

‘Any act of gender-based violence that results in, or is likely to result in physical, sexual or psychological harm or suffering to women, including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivations of liberty, whether occurring in public or private life.’

There is increasing consensus that abuse of women and girls, regardless of where it occurs, is best understood within a “gender” framework because it stems in part from women’s and girl’s position in society. Violence against women is a manifestation of the historically unequal power relations between men and women, which have led to domination over and discrimination against women by men and to the prevention of women’s full advancement (Beijing Platform for Action, 1995).

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Violence against women encompasses:

a) Psychological abuse

• • • •

This form of violence is very subtle in that there is no physical evidence of violence, hence it is difficult to deal with. It is sometimes called verbal abuse or emotional abuse. It also includes spiritual abuse where one is denied the right to participate in religious activities or the choice of religion. Examples include:

• • • •

Domestic violence Child sexual abuse of girls Rape, including marital rape and rape in war Traditional practices, harmful to women, such as female genital mutilation (FGM) Sexual harassment and intimidation at work and in school Trafficking in women Forced prostitution Femicide

1. DOMESTIC VIOLENCE Domestic violence is the most prevalent form of violence against women in Zimbabwe.

Definition Domestic violence is infliction of physical or emotional pain by a spouse on another or on children or elderly members of the family.

Generally put, it is violence between intimate people or people emotionally involved.

• Humiliation in public • Constant criticism (“you are stupid”, “good for nothing”) • Threats to turn people against you, hurt or kill you, threatening you, your children or your family with weapons • Threats to leave the relationship, or come after you if you leave • Blaming you for his problem • Use of bad or foul language, shouting, yelling • Sudden mood changes, silent treatment • Saying spiteful and hurtful things about you or your family or friends • Denying or forces spiritual activities • Restricts your freedom, tells you what you can or can’t do • Jealous about who you see, makes you account for every minute b) Sexual abuse This is unwanted sexual activity such as

A victim of violence lives in daily fear for her safety and her life.

She does not know when next she will be attacked (verbally or physically). A victim agonises that violence will happen and she will be unable to prevent or avoid it. Contrary to popular belief, violence cuts across class, race, economic status and religion.

• • • • •

Pressures or forces you to have sex against your will Withholding sex to punish you Intentionally inflicts pain on you during sex Not allowing you to use birth control or any protection.

Having an affair and exposing partner to STIs/HIV/AIDS.

The forms c) Economic abuse Domestic violence takes many forms, which include: This is violence related to economy or monetary issues. It prevents

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the victims from being independent and forces them to be in a state of continued dependency. This takes different forms: • Keeps you short of money for basic and family needs • Prevents or stops you from getting a job and opening a personal bank account • Makes major decisions about money without consulting you • Controls all money • Undermines your attempts to improve your education • Spends money only on things he/she wants d) Physical abuse This is the most commonly cited form of abuse as it has evidence.

It includes: • Pushing, shoving and grabbing roughly and rudely, spitting, kicking, punching, choking, burning, slapping • Driving recklessly when you are in the car or attempting to run you over • Physically or sexually abusing children, hurting pets Society attitudes often do not define “violence” to include slapping or hitting that does not cause visible injuries to a woman. This has resulted in abused women with no severe injuries being turned away by police officers. e) Privilege • • • • •

Demands obedience from you as if you were a servant Makes decisions without your input Treats you like an inferior Says you can’t cope without her or him Treats you like a child

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Prevalence of Domestic Violence in Zimbabwe According to a survey conducted by the Musasa Project in 1996 in the Midlands province: • 1 in 4 women reported being kicked, beaten or slapped • 1 in 12 reported assault with a dangerous object or weapon • 1 in 25 reported being pushed, kicked or hit in the stomach whilst pregnant • 1 in 4 married women reported being forced to have sex by their partners • 1 in 4 reported being prevented from seeing family or friends • 1 in 6 women’s partners boasted about or bought home girlfriends • 1 in 5 reported being threatened with physical violence • 1 in 6 women were prevented from getting a job or going to work.

The extent to which women in the Midlands report experienced violence since the age of 16 was: • • • • •

42% experienced mental violence 39% economic violence 37% sexual violence 32% physical violence, and only 15% said they did not experience violence at all

The increasing demand for Musasa’s counselling services can be used to further signify the growing incidence of violence as well as the growing awareness of the availability of help. The following are Musasa’s counselling statistics over the years 1996-2000.

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1996 1997 1998 1999

Total number of counselling sessions 1,211 1,764 2,781 3,147 Number of counselling sessions per month 101 145 232 262 New clients 720 466 2,231 2,470 Returning clients 240 99 500 487 Of the total figure male clients were 111 112

2000 MarchDec. 2,367 237 1,860 325 169

Causes of violence A number of factors interplay to cause and perpetuate violence against women. Personal, situational, and socio-cultural factors combine to cause abuse.

At the centre of it all is the need for an abuser to be in power and control of his partner, emanating from existing inequalities between men and women. Women’s subordinate position within the home is deeply entrenched in traditional, legal, religious and social structures. A majority of Zimbabwean families are religious and in the religious and cultural circles the emphasis is on the woman’s obligation to “submit to her husband”. The irony of it is that even men who are not under Christ’s headship would like to quote this verse to their advantage.

Zimbabwean society widely tolerates violence within marriage.

Women, as in most communities in Southern Africa, are taught that violence is an inevitable part of a relationship and social norms commonly condone violence by men as a way of resolving disputes and exercising control within the family. Women seeking help from their aunts are shown scars from the violence suffered by the aunts, and persuaded to endure violence as a way of life.

Legal pluralism in Zimbabwe has allowed the co-existence of customary law alongside general law and at times the clash between the two results in customary law taking precedence and this usually puts women on the losing end. For example, Section 23 of our constitution still allows for discrimination of the sexes on the 24

grounds of customary practice. Although Zimbabwe has ratified the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), this has not been domesticated to enable enforcement. Further, Zimbabwean law does not recognise family violence as a serious offence and is generally considered less serious than violence among strangers. Musasa Project, a local NGO working together with the women’s movement, is still pushing for the tabling of the Domestic Violence Bill in parliament.

However the Bill has been continually put aside because other political and economic crises have taken precedence.

Domestic violence is further caused and maintained by the fact that it is often seen as a family affair that should be kept secret to outsiders hence the saying that “Women should not hang out their dirty linen in public.” Women who seek help from outside the family are taken as social outcasts and suffer more discrimination and abuse, even at the hands of their relatives.

More generally, an “ecological framework” can be used to understand the interplay of personal, situational, and socio-cultural factors that combine to cause violence: a. Individual • The fact that one is male • Witnessing marital violence as a child • Absent or rejecting father • Being abused as a child • Alcohol or substance abuse b. Relationship • Poor communication • Male control of wealth and decision-making in the family • Extended family • Economic problems

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c. Community • Poverty, unemployment • Isolation of women • Associating with delinquent peers d. Society • Norms granting men control over female behaviour • Acceptance of violence as a way to resolve conflict • Notion of masculinity linked to dominance, honour, or aggression • Rigid gender roles

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RAPE

Rape is sexual intercourse without a partner’s consent. It is rape even when: • • • • •

There is no physical violence There is no weapon used The woman does not have cuts or bruises When the woman does not fight the man A woman is coerced to consent to sex

The law says rape has occurred when the man’s penis enters the woman’s vagina against her will.

There are a number of other crimes that are related to rape: Attempted rape

when a man tries to rape a woman but she manages to fight him off.

Indecent assault when a man has sex with a woman in any way that does not involve the penis penetrating the vagina.

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Date rape

when the rapist and victim know each other. They can be friends or boyfriend and girlfriend.

Marital rape when a man forces his wife to have sex. Until recently, with the enactment of the Sexual Offences Act, the law did not recognise marital rape.

Child rape

is the offence of having sexual intercourse with a minor. A girl under the age of twelve is incapable of consenting to sex hence having sex with her, whether she agrees or not, is rape. It is also a crime to have sex with a girl aged 12- 6 even if she agrees.

This is called Statutory Rape.

Incest

is sexual intercourse between two persons regarded as too closely related to marry each other. A number of cases have emerged where a father sleeps with his daughter.

Trends in rape cases: Year National Rape Statistics Number of Juveniles Raped 1995 3148 1996 3317 1997 3938 1515 1998 3714 1620 1999 3259 1574 As of 30 October 2000 2923 1378

Many women do not report to the police that they have been raped. Women have various reasons for not reporting which include fear of being disbelieved, self-blame, long and insensitive interrogation by the police, and lack of evidence. Failure to report results in many rapists staying free and this puts more women and young girls at risk.

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3.

SEXUAL HARASSMENT

• Definition Sexual harassment is unwanted sexual advances, requests for sexual favours and other verbal, physical or any other conduct of a sexual nature.

Sexual harassment unreasonably interferes with an individual’s performance or creates an intimidating, hostile and offensive working environment. There are three distinct groupings of behaviours that constitute sexual harassment.

Because of the above issues, no statistics on sexual harassment are readily available in Zimbabwe, because people just don’t report!

However, our Labour Relations Act forbids sexual harassment.

• Forms Gender harassment

is sexist behaviour including the distribution of suggestive or pornographic material.

Unwanted sexual attentionincludes being harassed for dates and attempting to discuss personal or sexual matters despite efforts to discourage them.

Sexual coercion

At the extreme, sexual harassment can take the form of rape. As in all the other forms of gender violence, women are victims of sexual harassment more than men. This is because in general, men occupy the top positions at work and they are also the supervisors and hence the women depend on the men for advancement.

Women find themselves in very difficult situations. If a woman reports the case, she might be blamed for encouraging the perpetrator. If she stays on the job she will be treated unpleasantly. If she opts to leave the job then she will be without a source of income and other employers will not take her on if they know that she was previously involved in a sexual harassment case.

is the coercion of sexual activity by threat of punishment and reward.

4.

FEMICIDE

Femicide is one form of gender violence. It is the killing of women because of their gender. It has many variations: • intimate femicide where a woman is killed by her husband or partner • sexual murder where a man rapes a women and then kills her • witch killing where a women is killed after being accused of being a witch

It is sexual harassment when: • a person (man or woman) is forced into surrendering to sexual advances against their will for fear of losing a job, a salary increase or a promotion.

• the working environment makes it difficult for an employee to work, i.e. jokes, sexual advances, unwelcome attention.

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Femicide can be the end result of domestic violence, where a woman is abused over a long period of time and the husband finally kills her.

In court, femicide is treated as manslaughter or culpable homicide, which is a lesser charge than murder. In some cases the charges are even withdrawn or the accused is acquitted. The courts cite provo-

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cation as extenuating circumstances. Where the perpetrator is convicted the sentences are very light. For example in Botswana, 68% of perpetrators get sentences of less than 6 years for killing their partners.

THE IMPACT OF GENDER VIOLENCE

The provocation that is cited in court is demonstrated by the following article:

The individual

• Chidzingwa was beaten to death by her husband with utensils for delaying the cooking of sadza.

• Dube was beaten to death by her husband because he wanted to know where she was getting the food they were eating.

• Phiri was assaulted and her head crushed against a wall for arriving home late after having her hair done.

• Musingai was struck with an iron bar over a missing pot.

• Her husband assaulted Nyere, and killed her with a piece of wood because she went to the rural areas without his permission.

• Mapindu was struck with a machete for refusing to allow her husband and his girlfriend, who had returned from drinking beer, to sleep in the marital bed.

• Chinamasa was stabbed to death by her husband after he accused her of seeing other men.

• Kashiri committed suicide after enduring severe violence for many years. Her husband assaulted her regularly after she had given birth to six daughters and no sons.

[Source: The Daily News, 14 June 1999] In response to the problem of domestic violence and the realities that arise from it, a femicide register was initiated in Zimbabwe in September 1994 by staff and volunteers from Women In Law Development In Africa (WILDAF) and the Musasa Project.

However data compilation is still lagging behind.

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Violence against women makes an impact at four levels, i.e. the individual, the home, the society and the state.

When women are subjected to any form of violence, they fail to perform in the work or duty they are supposed to do. They are affected both physically and psychologically. They lose confidence in themselves. The following are some of the effects of violence on the individual: • physical injuries including disability and death • development of medical conditions, e.g. stress-related illnesses, high blood pressure, headaches or reproductive problems • failing to communicate with friends and family • depression • lack of control over when, who and how to have sex exposes the survivor of gender violence to HIV/AIDS. This power imbalance and inferior status for women in relations makes it difficult for them to negotiate for safe sex, thus making them highly vulnerable to HIV/AIDS Gender Violence & HIV/AIDS The gender and power dynamics that help perpetuate and condone gender violence are central features driving the HIV epidemic world-wide. In Zimbabwe, HIV has reached endemic proportions, with current estimates of HIV infection among adults in Zimbabwe ranging from 25-33 percent. Early and current AIDS prevention strategies promote partner reduction, condom use and STD treatment as ways to prevent the transmission of HIV infection.

However, research by Musasa Project highlighted how attempts to adopt such HIV prevention strategies by women in abusive rela-

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tionships are likely to and have led to abuse. Domestic violence reduces women’s control over their exposure to HIV. Obviously, in settings where violence is regarded as a man’s right, women are in a poor position to question their husbands about their extramarital encounters, negotiate condom use or refuse to have sex.

HIGHLIGHTS FROM MUSASA RESEARCH 1998 • Although the majority of the respondents indicated that they did not want their partner to have other sexual partners, the partners of 84% of the abused women had other sexual partners.

With one in three adult Zimbabweans currently HIV positive, this places the abused women at a very high risk of contracting HIV/AIDS. • 54% of women living in abusive intimate relationships had had a sexually transmitted infection within the last 6 months.

• 109 women had contracted an infection in the past six months, 39 having had recurrent infections.

• More than 36% had had a sexually transmitted infection at least three times within the past six months.

• Only 23% were using condoms with their current sexual partners. Where partners were not using condoms, it was mainly because the partner did not want to. The condom was not used consistently.

• 73% of the women reported having been forced to have sex by their partners with 72.8% having been forced on several occasions.

• 69 of these women had sex with their partner even when he had a sexually transmitted infection. The reasons were fear of abuse, which could be physical or psychological, or the economic dependence of the women on the men.

immense barriers against a married woman being able to protect herself from sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV infection.

Where a woman has found out her HIV status, in theory, open discussion between her and her partner would provide opportunities to prevent infection, to discuss the consequences of having more children, and to plan for their family’s future. However, clients visiting Musasa Project have highlighted how women disclosing their HIV status to their partners can face scorn, rejection or violence.

Women have been labelled witches after the death of their babies due to AIDS. Some have been evicted from the matrimonial home and have returned to their family of origin with nothing to care for and support them.

The stigma associated with HIV infection in combination with the power imbalances between men and women invariably means that women have limited options but to live with their diagnosis in silence. This limits women’s access to social and medical support.

The home Violence can hinder a woman from doing her household chores and this will have an adverse effect on the family. The children can be neglected due to violence. Where the woman works, she might stay away from work because of the violence and this will affect her income or may result in her losing the job.

The society

Women’s low status within marriage, the fear of violence and rejection, taboos on the discussion of sexual matters between husband and wife, and women’s limited ability to refuse sex all place

• The woman will tend to withdraw from participation in development issues because of the resulting low esteem and loss of confidence.

• Children brought up in a violent family are likely to be victims or perpetrators themselves late in life.

• The family system can break down, hence the number of people who need society’s protection in the form of shelter increases.

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The state

2. Financial

• Violence against women impacts on the state, economically and socially.

• The health care system will use resources to treat victims. These resources could have been used to treat those who are ill or those involved in emergency cases.

• More police should be provided to protect women. The State has to acknowledge violence against women as its problem, hence provision should be made for preventing and addressing the issue.

Women’s educational and economic disempowerment are responsible for their plight. In Zimbabwe the majority of women are not gainfully employed, and facing a bleak future without a roof over her head or without food is something a woman may not even want to face up to. She knows that if she leaves the relationship, she will have great difficulty supporting herself. Usually, her partner has reinforced these fears, telling her that he will not help support her, or that she can never find or keep a job. He may also threaten to make trouble for her on the job, if she is employed. This issue is compounded when children are involved. At times, a woman’s self esteem may be eroded so much that she ends up believing she is no good at anything and therefore is not capable of doing anything to support herself.

WHY PEOPLE STAY IN ABUSIVE RELATIONSHIPS Given the adverse effects of violence against women, many women still endure abusive relationships and do not report gender-based abuses against them. The reasons for this are complex and include the following.

1. Internalisation and Denial She truly may not believe she is being abused. The majority of women live with oppression for so long that they have internalised it and believe it to be part of their culture and traditions. An example is of one Zambian female politician who reportedly defended as “part of our culture” the practice whereby the wife of a dead man must sleep with her brother-in-law in order to exorcise the dead man’s evil spirits (Reconciliation International magazine, 1997).

In order to remain in the relationship, she has found ways to explain away the incidents of mistreatment, whether emotional or physical.

Or, she may feel that she can “handle” him and avoid serious incidents. At times she may actually feel that she contributes to her abuse.

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3. Fear Threats are used as an effective technique to keep someone in a relationship, which is the goal of the abuser. A woman may have been told over and over that if she leaves the relationship, terrible things will happen to her. He may have convinced her that no matter where she goes, he will find her and never leave her alone. She may also fear living alone and the prospect of trying to support herself and the children. Or he may have threatened to kill her, the children and himself. (Threatening suicide is quite common in relationships where the abuse is mostly emotional.) In Zimbabwe, where there is strong belief in supernatural powers, the man may threaten the woman with witchcraft, and with being haunted by spirits. He may also make threats about the children, or say that no other man could ever fall in love with her.

4. Love A woman usually wants her relationship to work and is willing to wait and hope that things will improve. She may believe the prom-

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ises and explanations her partner offers and may feel she can’t simply give up on the relationship because of a “few problems.” In Zimbabwe it is common knowledge that aunts and mothers emphasise the fact that it is a woman’s duty to make her marriage work at all costs. Whatever happens, people are likely to blame her or her family’s upbringing for the failure of the marriage.

the stereotype that for a woman to be respectable she has to be married. Payment of bride price may also force her to remain in the abusive relationship as her family may think they have an obligation to pay back the money/cattle to the man’s family.

5. Children

By the time she decides to leave, her abuser may have succeeded in isolating her from her family and friends. She may feel she has nowhere to go. She may be embarrassed to ask strangers for help and reluctant to go to a shelter - if there is one available. In Zimbabwe, the modern shelter is a foreign concept and most people do not understand how it helps women who have been abused. Zimbabweans say it’s “uncultural” for a woman to leave her matrimonial home to live with strangers. Those who subscribe to this notion say she should seek help within the extended family structure, as this is what is meant to be done traditionally. But currently the economic conditions, the breakdown of the extended family, and urbanisation which means relatives stay hundreds of kilometres apart, may just make it impossible for a woman to get help from the extended family. The abuser may follow her and abuse both the relatives and her.

Whether she wants her children to have good relationships with their father, or she feels guilty “breaking up” the family, or because of his threats to keep her away from the children, a woman often stays in an abusive relationship because of her children. Ironically, she will often leave because she realises her children are being adversely affected by living in an abusive atmosphere. At times women think the change of environment or standard of living may not be the best for the children.

6. Religion Most religions strongly discourage divorce and the break-up of the family. These ideals are admirable, but when abuse is involved, there is little Biblical support for remaining. But a woman who has strong religious convictions can feel enormous guilt if she leaves her marriage, and pressure from family or church: Surprisingly, the family may refuse to believe there is abuse in the relationship. Abusers can appear to be very charming and likeable to outsiders.

Sometimes, when a woman turns to her church for assistance, she is told she must stay in the marriage, because of her vows.

Fortunately, these attitudes are beginning to change with a greater understanding of the horrible effects of abuse.

8. No place to go

INTERVENTIONS IN ZIMBABWE Women in Zimbabwe have mobilised themselves and formed NGOs and pressure groups to fight violence against women. In the early 80s women took to the streets in protest of the rounding up of women at night as they were taken as prostitutes. This violation of women’s freedom to movement resulted in the establishment of a Women’s Action Group to articulate and advocate for women’s rights.

Zimbabwean society seems to put pressure on women by reinforcing

The growing incidence of domestic violence, and the absence of state or social intervention led two women, a lawyer and psychologist, to form the Musasa Project in 1988 to address issues of gender

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7. Status and culture

violence, and more specifically domestic violence.

REFERENCES:

Most gender-based violence problems require legal redress.

However, with men at the helm of law-making and enforcement, the justice delivery system is unfriendly and inaccessible to women.

To respond to women’s legal aid and education needs, as well as advocate for a gender sensitive justice delivery system, an association of Zimbabwean Women Lawyers was established.

• • • •

With the emergence of HIV/AIDS and realisation that women are most vulnerable to HIV/AIDS and bear the burden of care and support of the sick and orphans, Women and AIDS Support Network was established to articulate gender specific needs of women in light of HIV/AIDS.

United Nations General Assembly: CEDAW Musasa Project Annual Report, February 1999- February 2000.

Beyond Inequalities: Women in Southern Africa Population Reports, Series L, Number 11, Centre for Health and Gender Equity • Reconciliation International: The magazine of the International Fellowship of Reconciliation, RI 3, June 1997 • The Daily News, 14 June 1999.

Other partners in the fight against women’s abuse include local and regional organisations, such as Women and Law in Southern Africa (WILSA), Women in Law and Development (WILDAF), UNIFEM, Jekesa Pfungwa, Zimbabwe Women’s Resource Centre and Network (ZWRCN), the YWCA, Legal Resources Foundation, and Kunzwana Women’s Association.

Most organisations have comprehensive programmes to address violence against women, which include one or more of the following: • Public education to targeted groups, including men • Training of key service providers like the police, health, judiciary and education personnel • Counselling for abused women • Shelter • Legal education and aid • Support groups for abused women • Lobbying and advocacy • Economic empowerment • Sexual and reproductive health empowerment

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Trafficking of Women and Other Forms of Violence: Asia and the Pacific Phanomwan Yoodee, Chairperson, Committee on Gender, Asia and Pacific Alliance of YMCAs, and Director, Chiangrai YMCA, Thailand Shella Quezada-Zagada, Executive Secretary for Programmes, Asia and Pacific Alliance of YMCAs

INTRODUCTION Phanomwan Yoodee.

Violence against women is a problem that exists in most societies due to gender inequalities within social structures and cultural norms that condone males’ use of power and control over women.

Besides the cultural pervasiveness of violence against women, other social, political, economic, environmental and personal factors confound the problem. To seek a solution to this problem, we have to consider all those aspects.

The problem of violence against women is a great obstacle in the development of individuals, community and the country at large.

The problem not only impacts its victims, but also causes psychosocial and economic burdens.

Shella Quezada-Zagada, with husband Manny, and son Steven.

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Women make up over half of the world’s population. They also make up about half of the world’s working population in terms of formal and informal employment. One fourth of all households world-wide are headed by women and many other households are dependent on female income. Women as mothers are the first

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teachers and in effect play an important role in the shaping of attitude and in the inculcation of human values in the future generations. However, 80-90% of the female workforce is engaged in work outside the protection of labour law. Women own less than one percent of the world’s property. More than 60% of the one billion poor in the world are women. Two-thirds or about 750 million of the world’s illiterate are women and girls. Around the world, at least one in every three women has been beaten, coerced into sex, or otherwise abused in her lifetime. Among women aged 15-44 years, gender-based violence accounts for more death and disability among women than the combined effects of cancer, malaria, traffic injuries and war. Trafficking in women and girls for sexual exploitation is most common among poor women and girls. If humanity’s well-being is the end goal of development, then all kinds of discrimination against women should be withdrawn.

Most of the countries in Asia and the Pacific acknowledge the need to address violence against women. However, serious practical actions to eliminate this problem remain lacking.

Any acts of gender-based violence that result in, or are likely to result in, physical, sexual or psychological harm or suffering to women should be eliminated. These include threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or private life. Only when this is achieved can women develop their potential to be efficient resources and take an effective role in society.

The Asia and Pacific region is home to 3.8 billion people.

Abundance in resources, vast lands and diverse cultural traditions depict the region. Women populate these lands as much as men.

Forty percent of them comprise the workforce. Despite the share in human resource potentials, economic and socio-cultural lives of Asia-Pacific people, the contributions of women are hardly recognised. The glaring manifestation of this lack of recognition and lack of respect to the dignity of women is the pervasiveness of genderbased violence in the region.

Domestic violence and forced prostitution are seen as a serious problem in Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, Samoa and Papua New Guinea. Wife-beating in aboriginal communities and pacific islanders is noted. Many cases of rape victims and spousal abuse are unreported in Taiwan, Hong Kong, China, Japan and Korea.

Female feticide/infanticide is considered a significant problem in China. The traditional preference for boys and the strict family planning policy are among the reasons cited for feticide/abandonment. Authorities choose not to interfere in what they regard as family matters. Many victims still do not report these violations due to social and cultural concerns about shaming one’s family or endangering the reputation of one’s spouse or offspring. Trafficking in women is reportedly a serious problem in Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand and Myanmar, while domestic violence is common in Vietnam and Cambodia. Domestic violence appears to be relatively infrequent in Laos and Myanmar. In Myanmar, married couples often live in households with extended families where social pressure tends to protect the wife from abuse. Varying degrees of culturally based discrimination continue to be factors in the per-

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VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN

Except for a few countries which are under military regimes or in which the laws are suspended, most of the Constitutions of AsiaPacific countries prohibit gender discrimination. Enforcement of these, however, varies depending on social and cultural traditions, political will, lack of specific regulations and budgetary constraints.

Violence against women persistently occurring in the region includes cases of rape, domestic violence including spousal abuse, burning/acid throwing, female feticide/infanticide, honour killings, trafficking in women for prostitution/forced marriage and sexual harassment.

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Including wife beating serious and prevalent/common Samoa Papua New Guinea

Fiji

Australia

New Zealand

Majority of cases go unreported each year

Many cases but not reported Including gang rape serious and prevalent

Serious problem; one family in three or four affected; wife beating prevalent in aboriginal communities 1997, 1 in 7 women abused physically Abuse and involuntary detention of or sexually during the year; 1 in women reported; women trafficked into 16 likely to be assaulted each year; the country and forced into prostitution Maori women 7 times more likely to experience domestic violence between ages 15 and 24; high rate of DH among pacific islanders Trafficking in women is a problem; no laws address the problem; no available information whether women are forced into prostitution/ increase in number of persons arriving/transiting the country with false documents noted

Abduction of women for prostitution/forced marriage Prevalence/Forms of VAW Domestic violence PACIFIC

Rape

Aside from violence against women in particular societies, we found evidence of discrimination in women gaining full membership and thus minimal participation by women in decision-making processes within some YMCA structures in the region. The noninvolvement in the gender issue is mainly due to their lack of understanding of the problem, historical and cultural barriers, and other factors.

Violence Against Women in Asia and Pacific: Some facts and figures.

(Sources: See VAW Asia Pacific Paper)

petuation of violence against women in these societies. In Singapore, there is no evidence of widespread practice of violence against women, and trafficking in women is a limited problem.

Rape is one of the problems in Malaysia, Indonesia, East Timor and the Philippines. Some of the reasons for the persistence of these problems are lack of sufficient laws and enforcement of law, double standards of morality, social stigmatisation, and a traditional societal reluctance to discuss private family affairs. Rapes, domestic violence, dowry-related violence, burning/acid throwing, female feticide/infanticide, trafficking in women are common violations in South Asia: India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Pakistan.

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Reports of rape are common in the press and among women’s rights groups although the government has not released a comprehensive statistics Rape is a punishable offence, reliable statistics are unavailable

Philippines Rape continued to be a major problem

East Timor

Indonesia

Malaysia

Singapore

Myanmar

Laos Reportedly rare Cambodia Common

Vietnam

Rape

SOUTH-EAST ASIA

Domestic violence against Numerous women were raped during the women is a significant prob- September 1999 violence in East Timor, and many were kept as sex slaves lem

About 11% of rural women suffer some form of domestic violence

Spousal abuse has drawn considerable attention from government, NGOs and media

Domestic violence including spousal abuse, appears to be relatively infrequent

Violence in armed conflicts

Prevalence/Forms of VAW

Domestic violence is common; many divorces are due to domestic violence Reported but not widespread Common

Domestic violence

62% of women claimed to have experienced at least one act of sexual harassment in 1997 survey

Significant problem

Problem; cases 2 1/2 to 10 times more than reported

Sexual harassment

Trafficking in women and children for forced prostitution and forced labour are problems

Significant source, transit point and destination for trafficking in women and children for the purpose of forced prostitution and sometimes forced labour

Thought to be widespread but under-reported; harassment in Special Economic Zones is common

Trafficking in women for the purpose of forced prostitution both domestically and internationally is a problem Trafficking in women is a problem Reportedly rare Serious problem; 60% of prostitutes have been forced or deceived Trafficking in women for the purposes of prostitution is a serious problem Trafficking in women for the purpose of prostitution is a limited problem Source, transit, and destination country for trafficking in women

Abduction of women for Sexual harassment prostitution/forced marriage

Rape remained a serious Spousal abuse, has worsened with Transit point for traffickers of Asian problem with 6,359 cases the recent decline of the econo- women sold into sex trade and in 1999 my; 1997, 31.4% of households domestic servitude experienced domestic violence Serious problem; no reliable or exact statistics regarding the extent of such abuse but many believe that it is common; 70% of family abuse related to alcohol abuse

Korea

Mongolia

2,060 rapes and 6,310 indecent assaults were reported in 2000

Trafficking in women is a problem though difficult to quantify; Asian women reported to be trafficked into Macau for forced prostitution Reporting on the rise; occurs in Trafficking in women, kidnapping of all socio-economic levels; occurs women for sale or marriage is a serious in 30% of families (July 2000) problem; source and destination point Serious problem; destination country for trafficking in women for purposes of sexual exploitation

Japan

China

Macau

A problem; authorities phasing out legalised prostitution

Prevalence/Forms of VAW Domestic violence Abduction of women for prostitution/forced marriage

Remains a serious Wife beating widespread; in problem estimated 7,000 1994, 35% of married women occur annually, 7 times were victims of spousal abuse the reported cases Hong Kong Generally low

Taiwan

Rape

EAST ASIA

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Bangladesh Much of the violence against Extensive trafficking in women for women is related to disputes the purpose of forced prostitution over dowries within the country and to other countries in Asia India Dowry disputes are also a seri- Many indigenous tribal women are ous problem; 6,917 dowry forced into sexual exploitation; sigdeaths occurred in the coun- nificant source, transit point, and try in 1998 destination for many thousands of trafficked women; 16,381 abductions of women Nepal Killing of brides because of Trafficking in women remains a seridefaults on dowry payments is ous social problem in several of the rare, but does occur country’s poorest areas, and large numbers of women are still forced to work against their will as prostitutes in other countries Pakistan Killings of married women by Trafficking in women is also a signifirelatives over dowry cant problem Sri Lanka Trafficking in women and children occurs

Dowry-related violence

SOUTH ASIA

Dowry-related; most “stove deaths” are in fact killings based upon a suspicion of illicit sexual relationship or upon dowry demands

Prevalence/Forms of VAW Abduction of women for prostitution/forced marriage

Continues to be serious Spousal abuse continues to be a and pervasive problem serious and pervasive problem

Sri Lanka

Pakistan

Nepal

India

Assailants who fling acid in their faces disfigured numerous women; 181 women suffered acid attacks in 2000

Burning/acid throwing

Prevalence/Forms of VAW Domestic violence is widespread; 47% of adult women report physical abuse by their male partner in 2000; 3,516 rapes and 3,523 incidents of spousal abuse were officially reported in 2000 Rape has received Common and a serious problem; in greater political and 2000, more than half of the women social attention than in said that violence was a normal earlier years; local part of married life; more than half women’s organisations of 90,000 women surveyed in 2000 claim that there has acknowledge being battered simply been increased reporting; in 1998 there were 15,031 reported rapes Problem, particularly in 1996 study, 50% of the respondents rural areas said that they know someone who was the victim of domestic violence; 58% reported that it is a daily occurrence Extensive problem/at Widespread and serious problem; least eight women, five 70 to 90 percent of women are vicof them minors, are tims of domestic violence; husraped every day; two- bands are known to kill their wives thirds of those are even for trivial offences gang-raped

Domestic violence

Bangladesh

Rape

SOUTH ASIA

Numerous reports of women killed or mutilated by male relatives who suspect them of adultery; 300 women are killed each year by their husbands or family

Honour killings

Large numbers of working women face discrimination and sexual harassment

31,046 cases of molestation, and 8,123 cases of sexual harassment

Sexual harassment

Higher female mortality at all age levels, including female infanticide and sex selective termination of pregnancies; accounts for an increase in the ratio of males to females to 107.9 males per 100 females in 1991

Female feticide/infanticide

HOW TO STOP VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN

YMCA INVOLVEMENT IN THE REGION

In 1993, the UN Declaration on the Elimination of Violence Against Women was adopted to emphasise the need for the universal application to women of the rights and principles with regard to equality, security, liberty, integrity and dignity of all human beings. Not only governmental and non-governmental organisations (GO and NGO) efforts, but communities, families and individuals must also work toward prevention of violence and changing values against women.

In Challenge 21, we affirmed that “the YMCA is a world-wide Christian, ecumenical, voluntary movement for women and men with special emphasis on and the genuine involvement of young people, which seeks to share the Christian ideal of building a human community of justice with love, peace and reconciliation for the fullness of life for all creation”. Our mission focuses on building community and upholding human dignity and creating just and equitable society. A world that is filled with stories of gender-based violence calls on us to be change agents, and to resist a society that maintains discrimination and violence against women, against humanity.

It is also important that men’s participation should not be overlooked. The following programmes could be implemented: On the individual level, many GOs and NGOs could initiate programmes that include legal aid, shelter, hotlines, individual and family counselling, education and information on options. The strategies for these endeavours should be culturally appropriate in order to gain community acceptance.

On a community level, programmes such as public awareness campaigns and capacity building for systems that confront and facilitate the elimination of various forms of gender-based violence could be carried out, for example unfair treatment of women, efforts to improve the status of women in the society and gender sensitivity training for various groups. Men should be encouraged to be involved in dialogues and action programmes that promote gender equity.

On the public level, attempts can be made in addressing and revising policies, laws and regulations that perpetuate gender-based violence and are insensitive to women’s rights. Policies that affect women and provide direction on gender issues should be created and strengthened.

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The realities of women have been tackled on various platforms in the YMCA arena. In an Asia Pacific Regional Consultation on Women in Society held in 1985, it was noted that the status of women remained unchanged and even deteriorated despite the UN Decade for Women. This was affirmed in later deliberations held in 1990 and 1993. The recent Consultation on Gender Concerns Focusing on Girls Trafficking and Forced Prostitution in September 2001, suggested that women must be empowered in order to create an equal partnership for women and men in determining and directing their collective future.

Several initiatives directly or indirectly address the issue of violence against women in the region. The National Local Action Programmes on Women’s Issues implemented and monitored by the Asia and Pacific Alliance of YMCAs encourages action programmes related to empowerment of women and raise gender-related issues. Some of these national/local actions include, among others, alternatives to girls-at-risk, preventing girls’ trafficking, empowerment of women, peer educators’ programmes, self employment programme, formation of mutual support women’s groups, formation of action groups for self-reliance and empowerment of

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women and men, and empowerment of indigenous and rural women.

Other programmes being implemented by some national/local movements include women’s forums, HIV/AIDS prevention and education, network-building/linkages, sustainable development programmes, policy advocacy, etc. Moreover, various YMCAs are in the process of changing their constitution to encourage women to participate and to strive to mainstream the gender issues into the structure and programmes of the YMCAs. Programmes with different participating YMCAs are shown in the table.

Programmes and participating YMCAs Programmes Participating YMCAs Leadership training Bangladesh, Indonesia, Philippines, Vietnam, Thailand 2. Sex education Indonesia, Japan, Korea 3. Counselling centre/resource centres Australia, Fiji, India, Indonesia, (domestic violence, trafficked girls/ Japan, Korea, Nepal, Thailand, women, female migrant workers, etc.) Philippines, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh 4. Medical assistance and rehabilitation India, Nepal 5. Health education (HIV/AIDS India, Japan, Myanmar, Nepal, programmes, rehabilitation for Vietnam, Samoa, Thailand drug addicts, etc.)

6. Child care centres Australia, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Myanmar, New Zealand, Vietnam, Singapore, Thailand 7. Awareness raising/campaigning against Nepal, Thailand trafficking in women (printed material, radio broadcasts, scholarships to continue education) 8. Alternative employment, Bangladesh, Hong Kong, vocational training Indonesia, India, Japan, Myanmar, Nepal, New Zealand, Vietnam, Thailand, Philippines 9. Credit fund/revolving fund for women Bangladesh, Myanmar, Vietnam, Thailand, Philippines 10. Handicraft marketing Myanmar, Vietnam, Malaysia, Thailand 11. Legal education, legal assistance Indonesia, India # 1.

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12. Women’s group formation and Bangladesh, Indonesia, India, networking (women’s groups, women Nepal, Thailand, Philippines leaders, women’s alliance, gender issues, stop girl trafficking, home-based workers, etc.)

13. Advocacy for gender issues/ girls Indonesia, Thailand and women’s rights

A Workshop on Gender Advocacy on Violence Against Women is programmed for November 2002, geared towards clarifying the YMCA’s roles and tasks in advocating for gender justice within and outside the YMCAs.

FUTURE INVOLVEMENT/RECOMMENDATIONS Action programmes and campaigns to stop violence against women take so much time and effort without guarantee of success and require support from all concerned. We need to constantly remind ourselves that manhood and womanhood are socially constructed.

We are born as sex-neutral beings. Unfortunately, we are reared in a gender-biased socialisation process. This patriarchal socialisation negatively and unjustly affects girls and women.

Considering that Challenge 21 calls on the World YMCA community to advocate and promote the rights of women, the YMCA should develop strategies addressing the issue of violence against women, a manifestation of the lack of respect for the dignity of women, which has caused the destruction of their lives.

The education of women is an essential element of this promotion.

Training on education and changing social attitudes is of the utmost importance. In the past the YMCA has held many seminars and disseminated lots of information to the public in regard to this issue. In the future we need to focus more on the policy at the pub-

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lic level. Advocacy of women’s empowerment and working to modify existing laws and create new ones are also important.

In addressing the issue, empowering women should be the key strategy for eliminating violence. Existing programmes can be enhanced to integrate the issue of violence against women. Institutional mechanisms such as setting up of agencies for gender concerns and active involvement of civil society strengthens the support base on actions and enactment of laws against violence against women.

The recent Asia Pacific Regional Programme on Gender Concerns proposed the following goals, strategies/approaches and action plans which could be useful in taking up the challenge of confronting gender-based violence: Goals/objectives: 1. To integrate gender perspective in all YMCA planning processes and programmes, particularly leadership development programmes.

2. To urge national/local YMCAs to increase their responsiveness to address gender concerns within their own contexts (encourage national movements to develop a three-year Action Plan on Gender Concerns in accordance with the regional plan).

3. To develop policies encouraging women’s equal participation, including full membership at local and national levels.

4. To increase women’s participation in YMCA governance, e.g. board and standing committees at local, national, regional and world levels.

Strategies/approaches National/local levels: 1. Incorporate gender components in all forms of leadership development programmes.

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2. Emphasise empowerment of women and leadership development for women.

3. Put special focus on young women and men by providing programmes such as ‘sex education’ and ‘gender awareness training’ in ways that are interesting and relevant to youth.

4. Clarify concrete stages and criteria for women’s empowerment, to reach a goal of genuine participation and partnership with men.

5. Set up both qualitative and quantitative indicators in programme development, implementation, monitoring and evaluation.

6. Establish and/or enrich theological bases on gender concerns.

7. Develop culturally appropriate strategies based on the awareness that gender concerns are deeply embedded in culture.

8. Make best use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) which is the most popular tool of communication for many urban youth. At the same time, take measures to include youth who do not have access to ICT, especially youth in rural areas.

9. Initiate and/or strengthen networking with ecumenical partners and like-minded NGOs to ensure holistic approaches in addressing gender issues Regional/world levels: 1. Encourage national/local YMCAs to move from service-oriented programmes to participatory and process-oriented approaches.

2. Create a Network of Men in Solidarity with Women and gender concerns at regional and national levels.

3. Set criteria in all funding to encourage national/local YMCAs to integrate a gender perspective in their programming.

4. Include a gender component in the extension and consolidation work of the Asia and Pacific Alliance of YMCAs.

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Recommendations for A Three-Year Action Plan on Gender Concerns National/local levels: 1. Disseminate/promote ‘Challenge 21’ to the local/grassroots level (including translation into own languages).

2. Review membership policies in those YMCAs where full membership for women is restricted.

3. Conduct gender-awareness and consciousness-training at all levels of the YMCAs, especially for leaders in decision-making positions.

4. Appoint professional staff to be responsible for the implementation and dissemination of measures and programmes relating to gender concerns.

5. Provide self-development programmes for women based on life values, and develop educational/vocational programmes in nontraditional fields.

6. Engage in social advocacy on gender-related issues such as domestic violence, maternity protection, human rights, etc.

7. Develop and provide re-employment programmes for working women after maternity and/or childcare leave of absence.

8. Develop programmes on media monitoring and critiquing, including alternative media campaigns.

9. Provide resources/services - e.g. space for children - to facilitate women’s participation at local levels.

10.Develop programmes to encourage men to enter the ‘area’ of work regarded as women’s work, e.g. a campaign to build a social milieu based on fair share of domestic chores.

11.Produce materials for Biblical interpretation including both a gender and an Asian/Pacific women’s perspective, and disseminate them within every field of the YMCA Bible studies.

12.Develop gender-fair and gender-sensitive liturgies.

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Regional/world levels: 1. Encourage national/local YMCA leaders to initiate a constitutional review process to make them in accordance with ‘Challenge 21’.

2. Organise ‘Training for Trainers’ by gender experts at the regional level to be echoed to the national/local YMCAs. 3. Provide concrete policy guidelines to encourage national/local YMCAs to adopt measures for increasing women’s participation.

4. Set up and implement a feedback and monitoring/evaluation mechanism (including indicators) on a yearly basis.

5. Strengthen co-ordination/communication on gender issues between national YMCAs, area alliances and the World Alliance.

The YMCA, as an ecumenical, Christian organisation committed to extend God’s reign on earth, can play a significant role in unleashing the burden of those who are suffering from genderbased violence and all forms of discrimination, and in promoting respect for humanity. In the eyes of God, we are all equal - men and women. We are all children of God, with unique potentials and talents, created in God’s image. We have the responsibility to carry out God’s will, a violence-free life for all.

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• Allison, Saralyn, “Domestic Violence, A Global Problem to Overcome”, World Alliance of YMCAs, 2000.

• Amnesty International, Amnesty International Report 2001 (www,web.amnesty.org/web/ar2001.nsf/regASA/regASA?Open Document) • Bindel, Julie, “Violence Against Women” (http://www.f-mail.demon.co.uk/campaign1.html) • Asia and Pacific Alliance of YMCAs, “Statement of the Regional Consultation on Gender Concerns Focusing on Girls’ Trafficking and Forced Prostitution”, 14-19 September 2001, Bangkok, Thailand • Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (http://www.unhchr.ch/html/menu3/b/h_cat39.htm) • Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (gopher://gopher.un.org/00/ga/cedaw/convention) • Declaration on the Elimination of Violence Against Women, General Assembly resolution 48/104, UN 1994 (http://www.unhchr.ch/huridocda/huridoca.nsf/(Symbol)/A.RE S.48.104.En?Opendocument) • FWCW Platform for Action, “Violence Against Women” (http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/beijing/platform/violence.htm) • Hassan, Zahid. “The Curse of Violence Against Women: Social and National Implications”.

• (http://independentbangladesh.com/news/apr/12/12042002ft.htm) • International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (http://www.tufts.edu/departments/fletcher/multi/texts/BH498.txt) • International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (http://www.tufts.edu/departments/fletcher/multi/texts/BH497.txt)

• “Rape: An Underreported Crime” (http://www.aworc.org/bpfa/pub/sec_d/vaw00001.html) • R.E.S.O.U.R.C.E.S SIGI, Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), “General Recommendation No. 19, Violence Against Women”, (http://www.sigi.org/Resource/genrec19.htm) • R.E.S.O.U.R.C.E.S SIGI, “Statistics”, (http://www.sigi.org/Resource/stats.htm) • Segala, Uma, “Family Violence: A Focus on India”. (www.asiamedia.ucla.edu/Deadline/ViolencAgainstWomen/articles/Segal a.htm) • UNIFEM, “Masculinity and Gender Violence”, UNIFEM East and South East Asia, Gender Issues 5 (http://www.unifem-eseasia.org/Gendiss/Gendiss5.htm) • UNIFEM, Principles of CEDAW, (http://www.unifemeseasia.org/Gendiss/Gendiss3.htm) • Universal Declaration of Human Rights (http://www.unhchr.ch/udhr/lang/eng.htm) • US Department of State Country Reports (http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2000) • “Violence Against Women and the Media” (http://www.aworc.org/bpfa/pub/sec_d/vaw00003.html) • “Violence Against Women: Clarifying definitions, scope, forms, etc.”, (http:www.philwomen.net/pbsb/bulletin/endissue/violence.htm) • Yoodee, Phanomwan, “Women and Violence: Experience of the YMCA of Chiangmai, Thailand”, Paper presented on October 12-15, 2000 in Mexico City, Mexico.

• Yoshihama, Mieko. “Domestic Violence: Japan’s Hidden Crime”, (http:www.asiamedia.ucla.edu/Deadline/ViolenceAgainstWome n/articles/Yoshihama.htm) • World Conference Against Racism, “At the Crossroads of Gender and Racial Discrimination”, .(http://www.un.org/WCAR/e-kit/gender.htm)

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SOURCES:

Patriarchy at the Root of Violence in Europe Part I: In Europe Part II: In Central and South-Eastern Europe and the Newly Independent States Part III: In Latvia Evija Samsonova, YWCA/YMCA of Latvia

Part I: Violence Against Women in Europe Violence against women has its roots in the very structure of European societies, based on patriarchal values and principles.

Although male violence can also be directed against other men and incidents concerning violent women are reported, the vast majority of victims of violence in Europe (Council of Europe’s1 member States) are women and children.

Evija Samsonova (2nd from right) with friends.

Women suffer from violence resulting in physical, sexual or psychological harm or suffering, both in private and public life.

Violence can take different forms, such as sexual assault, violence within the family or in the domestic unit, sexual harassment and intimidation (in education, at work, in institutions or in any other place), denial of reproductive rights, genital mutilation, trafficking in human beings for the purposes of sexual exploitation and sex The Council of Europe is a political organisation which was founded on May 5 1949 by ten European countries in order to promote greater unity between its members. It now numbers 44 European states. The main aims of the organisation are to promote democracy, human rights and the rule of law, and to develop common responses to political, social, cultural and legal challenges in its member states. Since 1989 it has integrated most of the countries of central and Eastern Europe and supported them in their efforts to implement and consolidate their political and administrative reforms.

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tourism, rape or assaults in (armed) conflict situations, honour killings and forced marriages.

It is estimated that one European woman in five has experienced violence. However, although the Council’s member states are taking an increasing interest in the subject of violence, it remains true that this subject-matter is relatively recent and the majority of countries desperately lack precise statistics in the various areas where violence towards women exists. Also, in order to establish the statistics, the violence must be reported. Yet, for an entire range of reasons, related to fear, shame and limited access to official services, violence is not recorded. In addition, the authorities do not include certain forms of violence, as they do not fit into pre-established definitions or are not viewed as crimes, chiefly because they are taboo subjects.

The various data obtained by the Council of Europe on this matter show clearly that the recorded number of cases of domestic violence has risen over the past decade. Yet this trend must not be interpreted as a real increase in the number of incidents. It seems more probable that women in the 1990s have approached the various public or associative structures for help more frequently.

Structural violence is often under-estimated, since it is less obvious and less direct than physical violence. It is defined as any situation where a woman is disadvantaged solely on account of the fact of her sex, particularly when she is deprived of her most basic rights, such as the freedom to exercise a profession, to have a bank account of her own, etc. These inequalities engender and encourage male violence towards women.

2) Rape and sexual assault

In addition to the various forms of violence listed above, we can also speak of structural violence, which is closely related to economic violence and prevents women exercising their fundamental rights. These obstacles are part of the very fabric of society and are self-perpetuating, since they relate to differences, inequalities and power structures that create and legitimise inequality.

DIFFERENT FORMS OF VIOLENCE 1) Domestic violence The most common form of violence against women is domestic violence. The various statistics show that a woman is more likely to be attacked and beaten, even killed, by her partner or former partner than by any other person. Depending on the European country concerned, from 20% to more than 50% of women are victims of domestic violence. There is no typical identikit for a violent spouse.

Domestic violence affects all sectors of society and all ages.

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Most statistics in this field show that this form of violence is not connected to a specific category of victim, but that it affects all social classes, regardless of age, physical appearance or racial origin.

One woman in five is subjected to sexual assault at some stage and, unfortunately, the age of the victims varies from two months to 90 years. The figures tell of increasing numbers of assault against very young girls. 98% of aggressors are male, and 50% are married or living in a de facto marriage or as a couple. Furthermore, 70% of rapes are premeditated and only 3% of aggressors are mentally unbalanced.

One might also note the growing phenomenon of multiple rapes.

3) Domestic slavery Statistics on this issue are very rare, since the victims, frequently illegal immigrants who are hidden away by their exploiters, rarely make themselves known. It is nonetheless true that this phenomenon does in fact exist in proportions that are as yet impossible to ascertain.

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National anti-slavery associations which co-operate at European level have identified the criteria required in order to be able to describe a situation as slavery. In particular, it is noted that the employer systematically confiscates identity papers. The girl has nowhere to turn and is afraid of deportation if she contacts the police. She cannot claim her rights if she is unaware of them.

In addition, the working conditions violate human dignity: 15-21 hours of work per day, 7 days a week, without leave and without remuneration, or with a derisory salary. Accommodation conditions are usually deplorable and these girls most often sleep directly on the floor.

These persons are sequestrated, either physically, by forbidding them to leave the house and locking them inside, or by training them psychologically about the “dangers� in the outside world, mainly with regard to their illegal status.

Most employers ensure that all the victim’s family ties are broken, or apply pressure on the family left behind.

Cultural isolation has also been identified as a criterion, in that the majority of girls who arrive in Western European countries do not usually know the language and are disoriented. It is all the more difficult for them to seek help in these circumstances.

The girls, who are usually recruited while they are underage, enter employment with serving diplomats in European countries. These persons enjoy diplomatic immunity and it is difficult to charge them. Some employers are also important figures in their country of origin, or know important figures, which mean that they enjoy relatively secure protection that the exploited girl, her family, or even certain authorities are unable to challenge.

patriots who have emigrated to a European country. These people are not necessarily better off, but they take advantage of someone who is weaker than themselves.

This new form of violence, which has just come to light, could be eliminated first by introducing a code of good conduct for diplomats, then by making it possible to request the lifting of diplomatic immunity for those who engage in this kind of exploitation while above the law.

4) Trafficking in women and prostitution In its recommendation 1325 (1997), the Council of Europe defined trafficking in women and forced prostitution as any legal or illegal transporting of women and/or trade in them, with or without their initial consent, for economic gain, with the purpose of subsequent forced prostitution, forced marriage, or other forms of forced sexual exploitation. The use of force may be physical, sexual and/or psychological, and includes intimidation, rape, abuse of authority or a situation of dependence.

Over the last decade, Europe has opened its borders and created new opportunities for the circulation of individuals. New migratory flows have developed, particularly from the countries of Eastern Europe towards the West. Poor economic and social situations encourage migration. There is a strong temptation to leave and earn money more easily elsewhere, and many young women fall into the trap of exploitative networks. One of the most common features of these networks is trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation.

Situations also arise where the girls are exploited by their own com-

There are three main characteristics to trafficking in women for the purpose of forced prostitution: the creation of networks, the movement of the women from one place to another, and the almost constant violence.

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The creation of networks is facilitated by the diaspora of certain communities in Western Europe. In particular, the Albanians and the Russians have set up enough networks of contacts across several countries to be able to organise large-scale trafficking. Through these networks, the girls are moved from one town to another and from one country to another.

The trend in this area identified since the beginning of the 1990s by the International Office for Migration shows that the vast majority of trafficking in Europe concerns girls from Central and Eastern European countries being sent to the countries of the European Union, where the opening up of borders facilitates the movements of traffickers.

Data provided by Interpol shows that most of the women affected by such activities come from Europe: Central Europe (39%), Eastern Europe (22%) and the Balkans (17%). Other young women come from Africa or South America, but to a lesser degree. With regard to their destinations, it has been detected that the trafficking in women from the Czech and Slovak republics, Poland, Hungary and Romania is channelled mainly towards the pavements of Germany, Belgium, France, Italy and Finland. Young Bulgarian, Albanian and Serb women are to be found in Belgium, the Netherlands and Italy. Young girls from Russia, Ukraine and Moldova are in Germany, France, Belgium and Finland. 80% of the prostitutes in Amsterdam are foreigners and 70% have no papers.

Recruitment takes place by various methods. The majority of young immigrant women are deceived by false promises of marriage, employment, etc. A Europol investigation states that only a third of the women know what lies ahead in the destination country. As soon as they leave their country of origin, their papers are removed and they are looked after by the network until their final destination. They are then bound to their pimp through a long-term debt contract, which is meant to reimburse transport, visa, accommoda-

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tion and other costs. There is no way out for these girls, who are under constant surveillance. Some are kidnapped, whilst others know perfectly well what they are letting themselves in for.

They do not report what is going on for several reasons: they are illegal immigrants without the relevant papers, and are afraid of the police. Some often have false passports from countries that are at war, since the majority of Western European states do not deport nationals of such countries. Further, the young women do not report what is going on because they are afraid of reprisals against themselves and their families. The violence inflicted on these women as a means of exerting pressure is particularly deplorable since, as well as the sexual violence imposed on them, some are beaten, tortured or even killed if they do not bring back their earnings and reimburse their debt. Some women have even been sent to “training camps� in Italy, where they must accept 50-60 clients per day. Finally, pressure may also be exerted with regard to the young woman’s family.

However, it is clear that this traffic would be smaller if the majority of European countries had stricter laws on prostitution.

Countries such as the Netherlands have chosen to treat prostitution as a lesser evil and consequently to liberalise the sex trade.

Naturally, this approach leaves the door open to every kind of mafia, for whom trafficking is extremely profitable.

It should also be pointed out that in the absence of international agreements, victims of prostitution cannot be returned to their country of origin. For this reason, in addition to the need for stricter legislation in this field, it would appear essential that as much information as possible on the criminals involved in this trafficking be made available to specialised police forces.

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CONCLUSIONS Unfortunately, the majority of Council of Europe member states do not yet have precise statistical data so as to assess the extent and social weight of violent acts committed against women. In most cases, states use the data provided by associations and NGOs and base their policies for fighting violence mainly on this information.

However, it should be noted that states are increasingly involved in implementing policies to take account of violent situations and their consequences, and have instructed the relevant ministries and departments to take action in this field. Most have set up interministerial or inter-institutional structures that are responsible for issues related to equal opportunities and particularly for the problems of violence.

disband the networks and warn young women. Unfortunately, border checks are not very effective, since, in the majority of cases, the young women enter the host countries perfectly legally, and it is only once they arrive that they are deprived of all their rights. At the same time, it is necessary to relax the conditions of residence for women who have been victims of trafficking (e.g., they will not be deported if they come forward), to grant them access to assistance and to public and juridical services, and to enable them to take part in court proceedings against their “employers”.

However, priorities vary from one country to another, mainly depending on how women are viewed in the society concerned. It is difficult to implement effective policies to fight violence if public awareness has not been raised regarding the issue of equality between women and men.

The Council of Europe has taken the initiative on several occasions, through various reports and inter-governmental conferences, in encouraging member States to regard the elimination of violence as a priority. It has already urged them to co-operate and adopt common objectives at European level.

The Council of Europe states all have different views regarding the attitude to be adopted towards prostitution and procuring. These misgivings and differences in treatment according to the country benefit trafficking. It is therefore necessary to harmonise legislation in European countries and particularly in the “host” countries for trafficking. As for the countries of origin, concerted action must be taken in co-operation with the forces of Interpol and Europol to

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Part II: Violence against Women in Central and South-Eastern Europe and the Newly Independent States Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Estonia, Georgia, Hungary, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Moldova, Poland, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Kosovo, Serbia

1) Domestic violence Domestic violence is the most widespread situation in all these countries. The legal systems do not properly address this issue: no specific provisions exist, nor are any restraining orders possible.

There is also an insufficient understanding in society of what exactly domestic violence is and thus a failure to always recognise and name it. The lack of knowledge about the nature of domestic violence among women, and the absence of a support network in part determine why women themselves often downplay the seriousness of the abuse. Professional groups are also inadequately educated about the issue and there is no network of shelters for victims of domestic violence. It is very common for women to stay in an abusive marriage or relationship due to economic dependence on an abusive male husband or partner; at the same time state authorities do either little or nothing to put an end to this situation.

In some countries, such as Ukraine, domestic violence is not recognised as a problem and since it is so widespread in both private and social environments there is an impression that a “non-violent existence” is impossible. Moreover, women in many cases do not consider themselves as victims of violence because they are “used to” this lifestyle. Unless it results in severe health consequences, the vast majority of victims of domestic violence do not report it to

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the police: it is assumed that this is a private issue that should be resolved within the family itself. In its turn, media coverage of domestic violence is very rare.

Domestic violence is further strengthened by a sense of shame, due to traditions that do not allow women to disclose some acts of violence, totalitarian relations within families, low standards of living, and overcrowded accommodation. All these factors make the protection of women rather complicated, substantially reducing the numbers of registered cases of violence against women.

In Kyrgyzstan, social research on this topic showed that out of 1,000 women respondents, only 10,8% had not been abused. The remaining 89,2% of women were abused in different ways – by their husbands, partners, children and relatives. Among the abused women, 65% had special secondary and university education, thus overturning the prejudice that violence against women occurs only in poor, less educated families.

It is quite common practice for the police not to respond to an emergency phone call because they say they do not have the authority to intervene in the absence of serious threats to the body or life of the women or children. Sometimes they do not react because they think that domestic violence is a family matter.

Currently, in few countries are the police trained to raise the awareness on the issue of domestic violence.

2) Rape The sexual abuse of women is yet another widespread pattern, and not a single country could provide an accurate figure on the number of rape cases since the offence is largely unreported. Traditional views on the responsibility of victims of rape are to be found everywhere.

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As a general rule, almost all countries consider rape only to be sexual intercourse – with two consequences: first, only women can be victims of rape; secondly, other forms of sexual assault are considered other types of crimes, usually with a lesser punishment, as if the victim was not similarly traumatised by the offence as such.

This approach in itself has to do with how women are perceived in societies and the role to which they are assigned. Croatia and Poland are exceptions in this respect.

In Armenia, although marriage is not a legal means to avoid punishment, in practice there are cases of unreported rape that may be resolved through marriage. Mostly, rape victims do not report the act because they are ashamed. Furthermore, families and victims of rape usually try to force the perpetrator to marry the victim, since victims of rape have less chance of marrying in the future than “ordinary” girls. If the rape is reported (which means that the victim’s family does not want to tolerate this fact and resolve it through marriage), the family provides moral support for the victim.

In Romania, although rape has usually been punished, a perpetrator may legally avoid penal sanctions if he marries the victim. For several years, until quite recently, this was possible even if the rape was committed by several perpetrators.

3) Modern slavery Although not referred to as slavery, most probably due to its embarrassing meaning, new forms of this old practice continue to exist. In fact, it seems that they are more widespread than ever before, since new means of communication and transportation facilitate the lives of (internationally organised) criminals. All the countries surveyed are, in one way or another, places where some “modern slavery” – softly called forced labour and trafficking in persons/women – exists.

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In many countries, women take all sorts of jobs in order to get some money, particularly in underground activities without any social security. In some countries they are forced to accept all kinds of activities without any possibility to resist, since resistance implies starvation for themselves and most often for their families as well.

However, in addition to this, real slavery occurs. Statistics on Turkey reveal relationships of slavery: 1.5 million workers are employed in the textile sector (out of a total of 2 million illegal workers), most of whom are women and children. Approximately 75% of female workers employed in Turkish industry and 90% of child workers are employed in the textile sector. Female workers, who comprise 40% of all workers in this sector, work without any social security and sanitation, especially in small garment workshops.

Other forms of slavery have been made possible due to wars in various regions and the lack of governmental responsibility. In Kyrgyzstan, for example, a sort of slave labour is widespread in rural areas and among the refugees in the cities. In such circumstances there is no payment for labour. Female slavery takes place in the form of a home nurse or poor relative who does all the difficult housework. The exploitation of these people, alongside the loss of their status and rights as citizens, ultimately leads to their social demise. In Bishkek, female slavery among the refugees from Tajikistan is widespread. In addition, the governmental attitude of silence has created new opportunities for the development of the underground economy.

crossings. In most countries, each of these components is punishable under different legal texts as a separate offence, but the most important, and at the same time the most difficult, task is the legal prosecution of trafficking by punishing all the mediators of the crime. The lack of adequate legal and substantial measures puts the states in a position of direct involvement in facilitating the phenomenon of trafficking. Practically all the countries are affected by this problem, whether as countries of origin, of transit, of destination or all of the above.

Despite the aforementioned points, state officials quite often deny the scope and seriousness of trafficking. A good example is of the Russian Ministry of Interior, which believes that the problem of “trafficking in women” falls within the exclusive competence of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the consulates abroad. The following statement illustrates the existing attitude: “The Ministry of Interior is not particularly concerned about the problem as there are no criminal contents in it. All offences against the women who departed are committed in the territories of the countries to which they go. That means it is those countries’ problem. In general, the discussion about trafficking women has come to us from the West.”

In Kosovo, prostitution increased after the war, particularly due to the large number of internationals working there. Such persons are the key clients of prostitution services – most of which is “forced” in Kosovo, making it in many ways indistinguishable from trafficking.

4) Trafficking in women Trafficking in women as defined in the relevant international research is a very complex crime that involves forced labour, deprivation of freedom and illegal confinement, bodily and psychological injuries, battery, rape, false papers, blackmail, and illegal border

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Part III: Violence Against Women in Latvia 1) Domestic violence Recognition of domestic violence in the late 90s The end of the last decade has shown a slow but growing awareness among professionals and the general public in Latvia about domestic violence and violence against women in general. An assessment of the gender equality situation, commissioned by the Foreign Ministry and UNDP, states: “When asked about the most urgent gender equality problem, most women indicated domestic violence.” However, international and domestic sources indicate that the entire legal system, including the courts, tends to downplay the seriousness of domestic violence.

There are no official statistics, no data collection system and little research to provide a comprehensive picture of the scope of domestic violence in Latvia, whose criminal legislation does not single out domestic violence either as an aggravating or mitigating circumstance. As a result, the courts refer to the norms in the special sections of the Criminal Code that deal with homicide, severe bodily harm, sexual crimes, etc. The legal system does not envisage protection orders and there is insufficient understanding in society of what exactly domestic violence is - and therefore a failure to always recognise and name the problem. Lack of knowledge amongst women and the absence of a support network are partly responsible for the fact that women themselves often downplay the seriousness of the abuse. Professional groups are also inadequately educated about the issue and there is no network of shelters. Until recently, there was a widespread belief among the public that domestic violence was a new phenomenon either “imported from the West” or that domestic violence was more prevalent in Russian-speaking families. While some attempts have been made to collect data on

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gender-based violence, none have been comprehensive and none have yielded entirely reliable results. A survey carried out in 1997 suggests a substantial amount of under-reporting. Among respondents, 9.4% of women said they had been victims of physical violence, 18.7% of psycho-logical violence, and 6.6% of sexual violence. Small-scale surveys and informal research undertaken by NGOs have in fact yielded results more in line with global statistics, although given the lack of necessary funding, such research has been limited in terms of methodology. Economic dependence, concern for children and the lack of alternative housing arrangements are among the main reasons why women are often forced to stay with their abusers.

In October 1999, a Riga-based crisis centre, “Skalbes,” organised a weeklong telephone campaign during which women who had suffered domestic violence could call in for free and receive advice.

During the campaign, an average of 25-30 women per day sought assistance. 72% of callers said they were victims of violence and 25% said they had been threatened. 55% reported living in a violent environment with their children.

Although NGOs have started organising victim-sensitive training for law enforcement officers on domestic violence, the police force is frequently criticised for its insensitivity in handling cases of this kind. Within the National Police, serious cases involving violence (rape, aggravated assault, homicide, etc.) against women are dealt with by the Department of Crime Prevention of the Order Maintenance Police. In 1999, nearly 40,000 crimes were registered in Latvia, of which 10,280 were committed against women: 57 homicides (mostly as a result of domestic violence), 223 bodily injuries, 81 rapes, 912 robberies, and 241 acts of hooliganism. In the capital and other larger towns the municipal police handle domestic disputes. On average, around 60% of calls registered by the municipal police are related to domestic disputes. Victims frequently complain of indifference and a lack of professionalism

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among the police towards their needs, while the police claim that poor material conditions and a limited staff prevent them from adequately reacting to calls: “Everything stops with a lack of resources.

If there is a call about homicide and about punching a wife, the preference is given to the more serious crime.”

2) Sexual abuse There were 134 registered rapes (70.1% cases were solved), including attempted rapes, in 1990; 158 in 1995; 130 in 1996; 119 in 1997; 83 in 1998 and 101 in 1999. 102 persons were convicted of rape in 1990; 142 in 1992; 70 in 1995; 64 in 1996; 102 in 1997 and 101 in 1998. As elsewhere in the region, statistics underestimate the scope of the problem. Local doctors, psychologists and crisis workers estimate the number of women rape victims to be 10-20 times higher, but most of the cases are not reported. There is little research about public attitudes concerning the response of law enforcement institutions towards cases of the sexual abuse of women.

There are no specialised departments within the police or prosecutor’s office for handling cases of rape and there are no special training programmes for police and prosecutors investigating rape cases.

Frequently, women rape victims have no opportunities to be referred to policewomen. There are no legal provisions or special instructions regarding the proof of rape and criminal cases of rape are investigated like any other serious crimes. Complaints are also frequently withdrawn in cases where the perpetrator or his parents pay a substantial sum of money to the victim. The law does not foresee the possibility for a perpetrator to avoid legal sanctions if he marries the victim after the alleged rape.

Myths The Latvian public, too, is influenced by traditional myths and notions surrounding rape, for example: only sexual perverts or

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mentally unstable men rape women, women provoke rape by wearing sexy clothes, mostly young and pretty women are raped, the majority of women are raped by strangers, most women cry rape out of revenge, rape is a crime of ungovernable lust and passion, etc. Simplified explanations of rape and stereotypical gender roles often lead to blaming the victim, which, in turn, influences the attitudes of the police, family members, the general public, and victims themselves - often resulting in re-victimisation.

There are no specialised support programmes and shelters for victims of rape, but psychological counselling is provided by crisis centres and psychologists. The Crisis Centre “Skalbes” notes an increasing number of young women engaged in prostitution who have been raped and then seek psychological assistance.

Psychologists report that nearly one third of their patients are women rape victims.

The average age of prostitutes is 20.8 years, compared with 24.9 years five years ago. Surveys also indicate an increasing sex-tourism in Latvia.

STD/HIV prevention The Government’s strategy for limiting the spread of HIV/AIDS in Latvia (1999-2003) lists limiting the spread of HIV among prostitutes amongst its objectives, which also include the development and dissemination of information and educational materials, the development of outreach projects for the prevention of HIV/AIDS, the promotion of service point development aimed at prostitutes which would provide confidential STD/HIV testing and access to medical treatment, and psychological support and counselling in the area of STD/HIV and drug use. However, no state funding has been budgeted for the purpose.

NGO activities

3) Sexual harassment There are no official statistics about the scope of sexual harassment.

Anecdotal evidence suggests that sexual harassment is widespread, but unfortunately women do not complain and take cases to court for fear of losing their jobs.

4) Women and sexual exploitation There are no official numbers on the scope of prostitution, but various governmental and non-governmental sources consider there to be 10,000-15,000 prostitutes. There are around 50 “intimate clubs” in Latvia. Recent years have seen the increasing involvement of minors in prostitution, especially those coming from children’s homes and boarding schools. Various governmental and non-governmental sources indicate that 15% of prostitutes are thought to be under 18. The youngest prostitutes detained were 8-10 years old.

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In May 2000, a drop-in centre for prostitutes was opened in Riga.

The initiative is a joint project between the Centre for Sexually Transmitted Diseases and the NGO Gender Problem Centre.

Prostitutes can attend the STD centre twice a week, where they can receive relevant information, undergo medical check-ups and receive condoms. The Gender Problem Centre regularly publishes leaflets for prostitutes on safe sex, STD and Hepatitis B and C. The centre recently tried to expand its activities to other towns in Latvia, but the number of NGOs working with prostitutes is very limited. The Centre has also begun a three-year project, “Moonlight Safe Prostitution,” under which a shelter for prostitutes and victims of trafficking will be created. The projects will be implemented by the TAMPEP International Foundation (from the Netherlands) in partnership with the Gender Problem Centre and will be funded by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

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5) Trafficking in women So far, there have been no criminal cases involving trafficking in women in Latvia and until 19 May 2000 the Latvian Criminal Law did not prosecute trafficking as a separate offence. Although the Criminal Law includes provisions on the illegal deprivation of liberty, kidnapping, compelling people to engage in prostitution, and living on the avails of prostitution, none of these provisions have been evoked in dealing with trafficking in women. Due to the absence of protection programmes in the country, witnesses or victims have been extremely reluctant to provide evidence in such cases. In May 2000 the Parliament adopted several amendments to the Criminal Code criminalising trafficking in human beings in connection with sexual exploitation.

Latvia is identified as a country of origin and women are mainly trafficked to Germany, Israel, UK, the Netherlands, Greece, and Italy. Women are also trafficked to Denmark, Poland, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Hungary, France, Spain, United Arab Emirates, and China. To a certain extent, Latvia is also a “transit” country. There is no data on how many prostitutes arrive in Latvia from countries of the former Soviet Union and leave for Western Europe, but governmental and non-governmental sources consider there to be several hundred.

second group consists of young women who know or suspect that they might work in the sex industry and who are transported abroad by traffickers, where they find themselves held under slave-like conditions. Women are sold to pimps for a price ranging from USD 5,000 – 20,000.

According to a pilot study “The Trafficking of Women and Girls in Latvia,” there is very limited awareness about trafficking among the Latvian youth.

There is practically no research on the scope of trafficking in women from Latvia. The only official statistics provided by the Latvian National Police are on the number of women deported from various countries: 70 women were deported back to Latvia in 1997, 251 in 1998 and 245 in 1999. Police authorities speak of 1015 young people, mostly women, leaving Latvia for new jobs abroad every week.

CONCLUSIONS

In Latvia, women are usually trafficked in two ways. Organised criminal groups who promise them lucrative work as waitresses, au pairs, domestic workers, dancers or escorts lure unsuspecting young women abroad. They are recruited through job advertisements, model agencies, marriage or travel agencies, and night-clubs. The

Violence against women, and domestic violence in particular, is prevalent throughout the entire region. In a great number of countries, such phenomena are not “regarded as a problem”, either from the point of view of the law or of society. With rare exception, domestic and sexual violence against women are considered a ‘private matter’ – exempt from state and public intervention. The most widely cited reason for women to stay in an abusive relationship is economic dependence, together with social attitudes that chastise women who leave and the lack of support services for women who choose to do so. While some shelters are available in some countries and provide women with temporary accommodation and safety, they do not raise political or social consciousness and ultimately provide more protection for the perpetrator than the victim.

Even when countries were able to cite figures on the number of

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The large number of unemployed women and the abundance of women looking for work and a better life in the West – together with lax travel restrictions and the difficulty in prosecuting trafficking cases – have contributed to the trafficking phenomenon in Latvia.

cases of domestic violence, rape, marital rape, incest and sexual harassment, the fact that such cases are severely underreported due to fear, shame, and distrust in the law and law enforcement bodies was universally noted. Legislative gaps in addressing this topic are compounded by the attitude of law enforcement officials, who largely do not view violence against women as a crime, are “reluctant” to intervene in family affairs or view women as responsible for or deserving of the violence.

Violence is not an inherent part of human nature or culture. It is socialised behaviour that is nourished by the law, by state officials and police charged with law enforcement, by men who do it and by women who tolerate it.

BIBLIOGRAPHY: • Doc.8667, COE Violence Against Women in Europe, 15 March 2000, Report, Committee on Equal Opportunities for Women and Men. • Report of Seminar “Men and Violence Against Women”, Palais de l’Europe Strasbourg, 7–8 October 1999.

• Seminar “Violence Against Young Women in Europe”, EYC, Budapest, 22-27 May 2001.

• Women 2000. An Investigation into the Status of Women’s Rights in Central and South-Eastern Europe and the Newly Independent States, International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights.

• U.S. Department of State. Latvia. Country Reports on Human Rights Practices – 2000, Released by the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labour, February 23, 2001.

• Gender and Human Development in Latvia, UNDP, Riga, 1999.

• Conference proceedings “Women’s Studies and Gender Research in the Baltic and Nordic Countries. Mapping the Situation”, 1998.

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Domestic Violence in Latin America Marina Perdomo, ACJ Honduras Renata Ferrari, ACJ Uruguay

“The most dangerous place for a woman in Latin America and the Caribbean may be her own home.�

Ulrica Messing, Swedish Minister for Equality Affairs

DOMESTIC VIOLENCE: THE FACTS IN LATIN AMERICA

Marina Perdomo (centre) with other participants at the Inter-Regional Consultative Task Group on Gender and Development, Geneva, Switzerland, 14-16 January 2001.

Domestic violence in Latin America affects the whole family, and a large part of the female population, regardless of their social condition. The most frequent forms of violence are psychological and physical (slight forms). The group which is at higher risk are those women aged between 25 and 40.

Domestic violence against young women is not performed in one single and isolated act. The victim suffers from constant mistreatment during her lifetime. The problem is usually discovered when the affected person needs medical treatment after having suffered from physical damage or genital infection.

Prevalence of Violence Against Women in Latin American and Caribbean Countries

Country/City Santiago, Chile (1993)

Colombia (1990)

Renata Ferrari.

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Findings 33.9% psychological 0.7% physical (severe violence) 15.5% physical (less severe) 33.9% psychological 20% physical 10% sexual

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Colombia (1995) San José Costa Rica (1994)

19% physical 75% psychological 10% physical Sacatepequez, Guatemala (1990) 49% abused 74% of them by an intimate male partner Haiti (1996) 70% abused 36% of them by an intimate male partner Guadalajara, Mexico (1997) Monterrey, Mexico (1996) Leon, Nicaragua (1995) Paraguay (1996)

13% physical 16% physical 40% physical 9.4 % physical 31.1% psychological 45.2% abused 17.5% physical and sexual 15.6% physical and psychological.

25% physical 28% physical

Monterrey, Mexico (1995)

Canada (1993) United States (1986)

DOMESTIC VIOLENCE IMPACTS ON WOMEN’S HEALTH • Duplication in use of health services / Mexico: 5 in 10 women using health services had injuries due to domestic violence.

Domestic violence causes the loss of 37% of years of healthy life (disability-adjusted life years: DALYS - AVISA in Spanish).

• Low self-esteem • Depression • Headaches and other ailments • Post traumatic syndrome • Vaginal infections • Higher suicide rates • Higher rate of substance abuse (tranquillisers, etc).

ECONOMIC IMPACT OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE In Chile, for example, the loss of income due to women suffering domestic violence is approximately USD 1,200,000 per year.

Comparison of data from Chile, Nicaragua and Uruguay (Morrison and Oriando, 1999)

Santiago de Chile, Chile Managua, Nicaragua

Montevideo, Uruguay

Any sort of Psycho- Severe Ask for Violence started violence logical physical police Violence violence protection 41% 33% 12% 17% Over 70% during engagement 53%

43%

28%

14%

46%

36%

10%

25%

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80% during first four years together 50% during first two years together Early

Domestic Violence Risk Factors in Latin America Individual Gender Age Biological Educational level Socio-economic level Employment status Substance abuse Early exposure to aggression

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Most important area of life for men

Household Household size/density Family violence history Household dynamics and norms Household poverty level

other 2% my religious life 8% my couple 2%

my children 9%

Community/Societal Societal inequality History of societal violence (wars) Effectiveness of institutions of social control Availability of guns and drugs Media violence Cultural norms Neighbourhood poverty level Neighbourhood crime rate Neighbourhood environmental features (housing, street lighting, etc.)

FACTORS THAT LEGITIMISE DOMESTIC VIOLENCE IN LATIN AMERICA • Gender stereotypes / power imbalance • Myths and beliefs sustained by large groups of the population: - women are inferior to men - the man is the chief of the family - men have property rights over women

my job or study 55%

my family life 24%

Most important area of life for women my religious life 16%

other 1%

my couple 5%

my family life 39%

my children 31%

Prevalence of Gender Stereotypes (Research on Masculinity. Costa Rica, 1997 Source: Batres Méndez, Gioconda. El Lado Oculto de la Masculinidad.

Tratamiento para ofensores)

90

my job 8%

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DOMESTIC VIOLENCE: THE FACTS IN HONDURAS

PROFILE OF THE AGGRESSORS IN HONDURAS

The most frequent acts of aggression are:

• In 60% of the mistreated girls aged between 0 and 12, the aggressor was the father or a person with a similar role.

• Physical mistreatment using different parts of the body to kick, bite, etc.

• Acts of aggression with objects like belts, bottles, chairs, stones, knives etc.

• Sexual mistreatment takes the third place.

• In the case of female adolescents aged between 12 and 20, the most frequent violent person was the father or a male person in a similar role; in second place the violent person was the boyfriend.

• Women aged between 21 and 41 usually were mistreated by their husbands or by their partners.

Women at higher risk: • Those who depend economically on their family.

• Students or women working at home.

• Women who haven’t completed their school career (61%).

• Women older than 41 were mostly aggressed by their sons or daughters.

Chronology of Violence - Honduras 1998-2001 150

DOMESTIC VIOLENCE: THE FACTS IN URUGUAY Proportion of Households with Violence in Uruguay - 1997 120

10.8%

1998 1999 2000 2001

90

35.6%

■ Violence free

60

■ Only psychological violence ■ Physical and sexual violence

30 53.6%

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In ce st

M en ac Se es xu D al isa H pp ar as ea sm ra nc en es t an d ki dn ap pi ng

Ki dn ap pi ng

Su ic id e

Ra pe

Ra pe

A tt em pt ed

M ur A gg de re r ss io ns /I nj ur ie s

A tt em pt ed

Fe m ic id e

0

93

Domestic Violence according to Socio-economic Level in Uruguay 80

■ Violence free ■ With Violence ■ Only psychological violence ■ Physical violence

70

60

50

40

30

RESPONSES FROM CIVIL SOCIETY IN LATIN AMERICA: NGOs AND WOMEN’S MOVEMENTS • In the past 20 years, women’s organisations have developed resources and methodologies as regards procedures and knowledge.

• Articulation of community responses with local, national, regional and international responses.

• Monitoring and observing the States in the fulfilment of the international commitments regarding women’s rights.

• Lack of funding.

20

10

0 High

Middle

Low

INSTITUTIONAL (STATE) RESPONSES IN LATIN AMERICA • States have ratified international legal instruments for the promotion and protection of women’s rights.

• Major lack of observance and application.

• Gender perspective has not been adopted in policy-making.

Women are still seen as “vulnerable”, instead of attacking the root social and economic causes of violence.

• No monitoring instruments to measure the impact of new laws.

• No response to sexual exploitation and violence derived from prostitution.

• Lack of commitment with the issue of women under armed conflict.

• Lack of political will to allocate local funds: most actions depend on international funding.

• Feminisation of poverty as a result of the economic policies adopted.

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Important achievements in Honduras (institutional and civil society) 1980:

Ratification of CEDAW.

1991:

“The Collective” (NGO network) created to fight violence against women.

In the 90s:

Review of penal code and sanctions concerning the law of domestic violence.

In 1995 :

Domestic violence is declared a public health problem by the Health Ministry.

1999 / 2000: The Law of Equal Opportunities presented to the National Congress.

2001:

Women’s National Policy created.

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RESPONSES OF THE YMCA: THE CASE OF URUGUAY The YMCA Uruguay has developed its actions on domestic violence within the framework of the Gender Programme, focusing on three main areas of work: 1. Prevention • Including a gender perspective in all programmes.

• Specific programmes to strengthen women, in particular young women: - Project VIAS, - Project SPACES - Adolescents and Women from a local village (Aeroparque).

- Programme “Tu Otra Vos”: empowering and gender training for 120 female leaders of different youth organisations.

- Net of Youth for Sexual and Reproductive Rights and Gender Equity.

- Programme in Montevideo (Colón Neighbourhood) “Adolescents as Promoters of their Rights”: strengthening of local agents, sensitisation workshops, and training for educators and youth to be agents to promote their sexual and reproductive rights.

• Promoting gender equity (included in all leadership and social volunteer training programmes) • Employment Programme for Women (125 women in Montevideo)

• Participation in United Nations: Beijing + 5, Special Session on Children 3. Referral • If amongst the participants in any of our programmes (from the pool to the community projects) we detect women who are suffering from violence, we co-ordinate the reference to other agencies or organisations that provide specialised care.

RESPONSES FROM THE YMCA: THE CASE OF THE ACJ TRINACIONAL: HONDURAS, EL SALVADOR AND NICARAGUA

Our Mission: • Try to change attitudes that still build a base for inequality of opportunities and for the discrimination of women.

• To point out the potential of the female population and to underline the rights of all components of poor population.

• To work towards a new vision of the world from an alternative point of view; a vision that values and respects every single human being with his or her differences, possibilities and realities.

2. Advocacy and lobbying

Concrete actions developed:

• Part of the Beijing Follow-up Committee.

• Follow-up to Domestic Violence Law approval process in Parliament.

• Youth Network: spaces for debate on issues such as abortion, participated in local activities on 25 November, 8 March, and 28 May.

1. Advocacy

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• Participation in processes of elaboration of laws and political strategies to eradicate the situation of inequality and violence against women.

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• Participation in organising and developing national and international events against violence, such as marches, protests, round tables, elaboration of legal propositions, etc.

2. Prevention • Planning, executing and monitoring of permanent education and sensitisation of the young women and men belonging to the YMCA movement. Examples for these actions are workshops, round tables, video forums, exhibitions, meetings, etc.

• Implementation of programmes and projects that help young women to understand their differences, their potential and their real conditions.

GENERAL RECOMMENDATIONS AT STATE LEVEL: POLICY-MAKING • Transversal public policies.

• States to take into account the knowledge of social organisations.

• Monitoring and evaluation of progress tools for the States.

• Long term plans.

• Political will (allocation of funds).

• Statistics to monitor the progress and impact of policies.

• Abolish laws that preserve traditional concepts regarding sexual violence.

• Promote and protect sexual and reproductive rights.

• Ensure that women have access to justice.

• Ensure process guarantees to women.

• Involve experienced women’s organisations in the process of reform of the judicial system.

• Train government employees on gender perspective and domestic violence.

• Develop a framework to eradicate forced prostitution of girls and women.

• Establish a regional monitoring system.

• Include a human rights approach in the formal education system, including women rights.

• Provide counselling services at schools for cases of domestic violence.

• Protect the rights of women in prison, and study the causes of the increase of crime among women.

CONCRETE PROPOSALS FOR THE YMCA 1. International level (World Alliance level)

• Strengthen legislation, including CEDAW, and the Interamerican Convention.

• Sanction restrictive practices in the labour market.

• Adequate domestic violence legislation to implement international instruments.

• To influence and educate national boards, lay leaders, general secretaries, and young people on gender, domestic violence, masculinity, etc.

• To be active in international networks that promote women’s rights and gender justice, and fight domestic violence.

• To continue participating at United Nations level in meetings on issues around women’s rights, gender justice, sexual and reproductive rights, and domestic violence, representing the world movement, bringing updated information to national and local YMCAs and influencing the international policy-making process.

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SPECIFIC RECOMMENDATIONS AT STATE LEVEL: ACTION PLANS

2. National level - to engage national movements in: • Designing and implementing an educational strategy based in the national context that contributes to the eradication of discrimination against women. This strategy should be applied in all YMCA programmes, members, beneficiaries, etc.

• Co-ordinating with actions of the women’s movement to mobilise political will.

• Designing and implementing specific programmes to strengthen women, especially young women, so that they can get out of domestic violence.

• Strengthening training and reflection spaces for men to change values that encourage gender inequality.

• Helping improve the communication and record of acts of domestic violence. Supporting the denunciation and trial of perpetrators of domestic violence.

• •

•

• •

DEM (Comité de América Latina y el Caribe para la Defensa de los Derechos de la Mujer). OXFAM. 2000.

Traverso, María Teresa. “Violencia en la Pareja. La Cara Oculta de la Relación”. Banco Interamericano de Desarrollo. 2000 Kenedy Mirtha, “Violencia Intrafamiliar, Ruta Critica de las Mujeres Afectadas “ Organizacion Pamericana de la Salud OPS 1999.

Mendoza Brendy, Violencia Domestica, un Enfoque Multidiciplinario, Casa de Estudios de La Mujer en Honduras CEM/ H 1997.

Programa de las Naciones Unidas para el Desarrollo PNUD Informe de Desarrollo Humano Honduras, ano 1999 y 2000.

Instituto Nacional de la Mujer INAM, 1998. Ley Contra La Violencia Domestica de Honduras

BIBLIOGRAPHY • Buvinic Mayra, Morrison Andrew, Shifer Michael. “Violence in Latin America and the Caribbean: A Framework for Action”.

Technical Study, Sustainable Development Department, InterAmerican Development Bank. March 1999 • Buvinic Mayra, Morrison Andrew. Notas Técnicas sobre Prevención de Violencia. Banco Interamericano de Desarrollo.

1999.

• Buvinic Mayra. “Women in Poverty. A new Global Underclass”.

Article of the Foreign Policy. 1998.

• Morrison Andrew, Biehl Loretto. “Too Close to Home.

Domestic Violence in Latin America”. Monograph published by the Inter-American Development Bank and Johns Hopkins University Press.

• Tamayo León, Giulia. “Balance Regional y Desafíos sobre el Derecho de las Mujeres a una Vida Libre de Violencia”. CLA-

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Women Facing Violence Under Occupation in Palestine Mai Jarrar, East Jerusalem YMCA

INTRODUCTION Patriarchal ideology is deeply rooted in Arab societies, where the notions of father and brother are prevalent. According to these notions, mail dominance supports the structure that keeps men in positions of power, authority and control. This type of power imbalance is reflected in the low status of women in economic, political, religious, educational and legal systems of these societies.

In a nuclear family the senior man holds power over everyone else, including young men, and exercises control over women that exceed cultural and religious boundaries. According to this the husband is culturally accepted as ruler of the family and regarded as the formal authority to which the wife and the children must ultimately respond.

Mai Jarrar (3rd from right), standing next to Dr. Judeh Majaj, General Secretary of the East Jerusalem YMCA, at a graduation ceremony for women in one of the Palestinian villages.

In Palestinian Arab society, as in many other societies, social and cultural conditions influenced by Islamic beliefs and traditions contribute towards delineation of gender roles. Thus the prevailing socio-cultural ideology considers women as a source of evil, anarchy (Fitna) and trickery. In addition, the prevailing standard of morality stresses the norms and values associated with traditional ideas of femininity, motherhood, wifehood and sexuality.

Domestic violence is still far from being recognised in the Arab world. Specifically, research on different dimensions of wife abuse and battering in Arab societies is lacking, and social and legal policies for confronting domestic violence have yet to be formulated.

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Moreover, Arab governments do not allocate appropriate resources to combat the problem, and relevant educational programmes for health, mental health, and human service practitioners in Arab societies are rarely offered. Shelters and other protection homes for battered women are not available in the Arab world. Community, local, and media campaigns and other types of public education projects aimed at preventing domestic violence are lacking in Arab societies.

In research on wife abuse and battering in Arab societies, the only estimates of this problem are available on women’s health issues (which do not focus exclusively on domestic violence) or from studies conducted among samples of women’s offspring. For example, El-Zanaty, Hussein, Shawky, Way, and Kishor (1996) report a demographic and health survey conducted among a national random sample of 14,779 women in Egypt. The results indicate that their husbands had beaten about one out of three Egyptian women at least once during the course of marriage. Among Egyptian women beaten at some point during their marriage, about 45% had been beaten at least once over the past year, and 17% had been beaten at least three times during the same period. !8% mentioned they had been hurt as a result of the beating, and 10% mentioned that they needed medical care.

THE PALESTINIAN SOCIETY UNDER THE INTIFADA Since 28 September 2002, the Palestinian Territories have been subjected to severe violations of human rights as a result of the escalation of suppressive policies against our Palestinian people by the Israeli occupation forces.

Palestinian women were not excluded from such violations.

Women were killed, and injured at Israeli checkpoints and during Israeli incursion, whether they were in their homes or nearby. At the checkpoints, obstruction of ambulances to arrive on time to transport pregnant women who were due to deliver, resulted in either safe delivery under unhygienic conditions, or the babies died.

Many women suffered miscarriages due to the exhausting and strenuous long hours of waiting at the checkpoints, during which they were exposed to the heat of the sun, dust, pollution, rain, cold weather and harassment by the Israeli soldiers.

In addition, new realities have been created for numerous Palestinian women who are the wives or mothers of martyrs, and/or injured and/or disabled. These realities added new burdens and responsibilities since many became the breadwinners of the family in addition to taking care of and providing safety for their children.

Another study of an Arab society was conducted among a stratified random sample of 832 Arab adolescents from Israel (Haj -Yahia and Dawud-Noursi, 1998): about 76% of the participants in that study reported that they had witnessed their fathers verbally and psychologically abusing their mothers; 23% revealed that they had witnessed their fathers use moderate physical abuse against their mothers (i.e., slapping, pushing, smashing or kicking something, or grabbing); 10% reported that their fathers had engaged in at least one severe act of physical abuse against their wives.

The violations of human rights within the oppressive current political situation reflect negatively on the social fabric of the nuclear and extended families and the Palestinian society at large. Women, specifically, suffer from such cycles of violence.

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The statistics available indicate that cases of domestic violence and specifically wife abuse and battering increased after the first Intifada, which started in 1987. The same is expected during the current Intifada. Immediate action to deal with this phenomenon is mandatory.

In spite of the long term negative impact of political violence on social and domestic violence, preliminary indicators started to emerge. In January and February of the year 2001 ten cases of women being killed were documented due to various social reasons; later on it was clear that some of the cases had a direct association with the current difficult political and economic situation of our Palestinian society. In addition, and within the above-mentioned two months, there was an increase in the number of women who call on psycho-social counselling centres as a result of being exposed to domestic violence.

• 32% of the women reported that their husbands slapped them.

• 15% of the women reported that their husbands had attacked them with a stick, belt, or other object of that kind.

• 81% of the women reported that their husbands had attacked them with a dangerous implement such as a knife or a metal rod.

WIFE ABUSE AND BATTERING

Economic abuse: • 40% of the Palestinian women reported that their husbands prevented them from using the family’s money as they saw fit.

• 19% of the participants indicated that their husbands tried to control their behaviour or forced them to do what they wanted while misusing the family’s income and other resources.

Referring to the results of two national surveys in the West Bank and Gaza Strip on wife- abuse and battering (Haj-Yahia, 1999), the following results were revealed: Psychological abuse: • 73% of the women indicated that their husbands had yelled at them during a heated argument.

• 25% of the participants indicated that their husbands had belittled and insulted them or their acquaintances in an attempt to intimidate them.

• 22% of Palestinian women reported that their husbands had forced them to do something with the intention to insult them.

• 36% of the women indicated that their husbands scolded them while belittling their thoughts, beliefs and attitudes.

• 26% of the women reported that their husbands had belittled the way they dress, their body and the way they maintain their appearance.

Sexual abuse: • 33% indicated that their husbands had tried to have sex with them without their consent.

• 30% reported that their husband had sex with them without their consent.

The results analysis revealed that women are more likely to be abused when: • they are residing in rural areas and refugee camps; • they have a low level of education, or they and their husbands have a low level of education; • they are in large families; • they do not work for a living or come from low-income families; • their level of education is higher than their husbands; • they are Moslem women rather than Christian women.

FEMICIDE OR ‘HONOUR’ CRIMES

Physical violence: • 37% of the women indicated that their husbands had thrown, kicked or broke something while arguing.

Honour is connected to the behaviour or perceived behaviour of women. The expected behaviour is imposed by the inherited values, which are derived from patriarchal norms and standards.

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Trespass on these accepted behaviour norms confers upon the relevant male a right to ‘discipline’ the woman in order to ‘restore’ family honour. This restoration sometimes takes the form of murdering the woman concerned. Based on this, several women are killed or threatened with killing every year. For example, 38 cases of femicide were documented between 1996-1999. The average age of murdered women was between 20-30 years. First-degree male relatives committed all the murders.

This problem is not restricted to a certain sector or one specific social class. Young girls are more exposed than others to sexual assaults in the family, particularly girls within the age group of 4-13 years.

The Jordanian Criminal Law #16 of 1960 concerning femicide includes a ‘mitigating circumstances’ clause, whereby the perpetrator of an honour crime may be immune from punishment if it is shown that he discovered the (close female relatives) committing an adulterous act.

In Jordanian law, the crimes of rape, indecent assault, and incest fall under the category of ‘crimes against public morals and ethics’, and not under ‘crimes against individuals’. Sentences are generally shorter for crimes against the public, as opposed to crimes against individuals. Moreover, Article 286 stipulates: “Incestuous actions shall only be pursued upon the complaint of a male relative or an in-law, up to a fourth-degree kinship.” In other words, neither the victim nor any of her female relatives, such as her mother, are allowed to file a complaint in incest cases.

FAMILY VIOLENCE AGAINST UNMARRIED WOMEN

RAPE

There are no official statistics or data on family violence against unmarried women. Most data on family violence against unmarried women is based on the cases made available by Palestinian NGOs, e.g. the Society for the Defence of the Family received 525 cases during the period between 1996-1998: 300 cases involved psychological violence, 99 cases involved sexual violence and 126 cases involved physical violence.

Statistics on crime issued by the Central Bureau of Statistics indicated in 1998 a total of 115 cases of rape or attempted rape in the Palestinian Territories, 85% of which occurred in the West Bank, with 30 cases in the Gaza Strip. The same statistics indicate that 4,918 cases of ‘moral’ offences were reported: 3,180 in the West Bank and 1,738 in the Gaza Strip. Definitions are not clear on the meaning of ‘moral offence’. It could mean sexual harassment, or other types of similar actions, and it may include offences against either males or females.

SEXUAL ASSAULT IN THE FAMILY (INCEST) Statistical data available is unofficial. According to Working Women’s Society, 75% of sexual assault cases against women involve men closely related to them, such as fathers, brothers, and uncles. In a smaller number of cases of sexual assault, perpetrators include teachers, neighbours, taxi drivers, and others.

Criminal law does not impose effective deterrent penalties against perpetrators of these kinds of crimes. The Jordanian Penal Code imposes hard labour for at least five years if the assault was carried out against a single woman, whereas the penalty is not less than seven years if the victim was under 15 years of age. The law does not consider it rape if a man forces sex upon his wife against her will.

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Article 308 of the Jordanian Penal Code lowers the sentence against the perpetrator if a “legal and correct marriage contract is forged” between him and the victim. In other words, the law grants the perpetrator the chance to escape penalty by marrying the victim. He is, therefore, rewarded instead of being punished for his crime, while the victim’s interests, mental health and personal security are completely neglected as social forces coerce her into marrying her victimiser.

WOMEN’S TRAINING PROGRAMME The East Jerusalem YMCA believes that social change is a slow process. It is important to reinforce the role of Palestinian women through strengthening their initiatives and capacities in order to achieve a sustainable development and change of status of women’s role in the long term. The most important thing is to give women equal opportunities to be active members in society.

Through its programmes, especially the Women’s Training Programme, the YMCA offers a complete approach that aims at working on personal and social aspects of young women which would help them understand themselves and their capabilities, guide them to be responsible members of society, and to be able to take decisions which affect their lives and others people’s lives.

Helping young women towards self actualisation, understanding their needs, helping them acquire the tools for decision-making and stressing their role in bringing about changes in conditions for all Palestinian women, are initial steps towards a slow process of change that lays solid foundations for sustaining and maintaining the changes and enabling them to become a way of life.

future. Training for women and enhancing their skills and capabilities offers them the opportunity to provide their input, design their plans, and organise their proper implementation. It also assists them to improve their social status, analyse the surrounding social and economic constraints and develop procedures to overcome their problems.

For those reasons, the East Jerusalem YMCA Women’s Training Programme was established in 1993. Since that time over 3,000 young girls and over 2,500 women benefited from the programme activities through which we helped them to change their lives in a positive way. The feedback of those young women and girls shows that they became more capable in expressing themselves and confronting the social difficulties and problems they face in their daily life. Most of the girls felt that they are more self-aware and selfassertive. The trained women felt more self-confident, and more respected by their husbands and male members in the family, especially as they became productive, and the violence against them was drastically reduced.

BIBLIOGRAPHY • Haj yahia, Muhammad: “Wife Abuse and Battering in the West Bank and Gaza (results of 2 national surveys)”, Bisan Center for Research and Development, Ramallah, 1999.

• Women’s Centre for Legal Aid and Counselling: “A Gap Analysis Report on Status of the Palestinian Women (summary report)”, 2001.

The East Jerusalem YMCA believes that it is important to provide women with opportunities to participate in shaping their own

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15th World Council Resolution on Violence Against Women The participants of the World Alliance of YMCAs Inter-Regional Workshop on “Violence Against Women”, held in Oaxtepec, Mexico from 13-14 July, 2002 call on the delegates of the XVth World Council to adopt their statement and recommendations on the question of Violence Against Women around the world. The concepts and ideas in the accompanying report provide the perspective, framework and policy base on the subject.

INTRODUCTION We, the participants of the World Alliance of YMCAs’ InterRegional Workshop on Violence Against Women, held from 13-14 July, 2002 in Oaxtepec, Mexico, shared experiences, information and situations of women experiencing violence in our regions.

The stories of anguish, vulnerability and hopelessness of women echoed around the room where we met. They were similar in all regions: situations that have crippled and stopped women from living their life in abundance, and violent situations that have resulted from the perpetuation of patriarchal systems.

We acknowledged that violence against women is not only a women’s issue, but also a gender issue concerning both men and women. Violence against women is the most widespread, yet the least recognised human rights abuse in the world. Violence against women is an affront against YMCA values and against Challenge 21.

We are shocked by the prevalence of domestic violence in all our regions and that so often the most dangerous place for a woman is her own home.

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We are shocked by the domestic violence and the increasing trafficking of women in Asia and the Pacific. We are shocked by the frequent psychological and physical abuse of women; and the lack of political will to put into action existing legislation in Latin America and the Caribbean. We are shocked by child sexual abuse and the exposure of women to the spread of HIV/AIDS, putting many girls and women at risk in Africa. We are shocked by the alarming rate of domestic violence in North America. We are shocked by the forced prostitution in Europe. We are shocked that in Palestine many human rights violations, occurring because of the current political situation, doubly affect women. Many women have been killed or injured at checkpoints and babies have died through miscarriages as mothers have been unable to access medical attention due to queues at checkpoints.

• Trafficking of women Under false promises of work in richer countries, women and young girls are forced into prostitution or domestic slavery.

COMMON THREADS

• Conflict Situation Women living in situations of conflict and/or war are suffering due to violence in their environment and in their homes.

The different regional reports made us aware of common threads crossing social, economic, geographic and cultural boundaries. The most common threads are the following: Forms of violence against women We understand that violence against women as defined by the United Nations means: “Any act of gender-based violence that results in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual or psychological harm or suffering to women, including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or private.”

• Sexual harassment Women are subjected to unwanted sexual advances, requests for sexual favours at work, in school and in the community.

• Structural violence Women are disadvantaged solely on account of their being women. There are insufficient services or resources for women experiencing violence. The access to education is unequal for men and women. Women experience discrimination in the labour force. Women are more vulnerable to poverty. They depend economically on men.

Information, education and research about gender issues • Lack of studies showing the economic and social impact of violence against women.

• Lack of statistics regarding violence against women.

• Under-reporting of cases due to stigmatisation of the victims.

• Violence against women is considered a private matter, even if human rights are at stake.

• Women lack information on their rights.

Policies and legislation

• Domestic violence Different types of domestic violence have become very prevalent in all societies and manifest themselves as psychological, sexual and physical abuse.

• Insufficient policies to address violence against women.

• Women are not everywhere protected equally under the law and where they are, the enforcing of these laws is weak.

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• Police and justice systems are male-dominated and lack training on issues of violence against women.

BIBLICAL AND THEOLOGICAL REFLECTION We reflected on Jesus’ teaching as stated in the Book of Galatians 3:28:

Myths Traditional misconceptions, myths (“single women are hysterical and bitter”, “a man who loves his wife beats her”) and stereotypes perpetuate violence against women.

RECOGNISING THE WORK OF THE YMCA We recognised that YMCAs have tackled the gender issue on various platforms. The concepts and perspectives have evolved over time, from addressing women’s issues to mainstreaming gender perspective. Information sharing, leadership training, credit assistance, sensitisation on gender issues and developing and mainstreaming gender policies are among the programmes in Africa. In the Asia and Pacific region, numerous programmes have been initiated and are still being implemented. Some of these are leadership training, sex education, health education, childcare centres, awareness-raising, campaigning against trafficking in women, vocational training, handicraft marketing, legal aid and education, counselling, formation of women’s groups and advocacy for gender issues. The Latin American YMCAs implement maternity/health programmes, gender training among the youth, employment programmes, campaigning against violence against women and other support services. The YMCAs in the Middle East conduct women’s empowerment programmes using participatory approaches, and capacity-building for women, particularly young people. North American YMCAs provide shelter and transitional housing for victims of domestic violence and conduct prevention programmes focused on empowering girls. While there are efforts towards women’s empowerment and gender equity, more still needs to be done to create a stronger impact on the lives of people within and outside the YMCA.

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“There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”

The Book of Genesis 2:18, 22 also proclaims: “It is not good that the man should be alone.”

“And from the rib, which the Lord God had taken from man, made He a woman, and brought her unto the man.”

These verses stress equality, mutuality and inter-dependence between men and women.

Challenge 21, which is the contemporary expression of our Mission, affirms that: “The YMCA is a world-wide Christian movement for women and men that seeks to share the Christian ideal of building a human community of justice with love, peace and reconciliation for the fullness of life for all creation.”

This mission is based on our faith in God who is the Creator of communities characterised by harmony, mutual growth and interdependence. God created both men and women in His image. God created both man and woman as equal and equivalent, created of mutuality, wholeness and community. With these as bases of our faith, we walk the path of spirituality and follow the teachings of Jesus Christ that emphasise peace, love, justice, freedom from oppression, hope, and upholding the truth.

We see the need to work for gender equity, fostering human dignity. We are called upon to uphold peace and eliminate all forms of

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violence against women and humanity so that women and men can fully participate as partners in building a new heaven and a new earth.

• establish partnerships and network mechanisms with organisations working/active on gender issues, e.g. World Council of Churches, Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF), YWCA, UN, UNIFEM, UNICEF, etc.

RECOMMENDATIONS As a Christian organisation seeking justice, peace and love, we are called upon to eliminate violence against women.

Therefore, we recommend that YMCAs: • establish preventive education programmes that empower women; • explore ways to be involved in direct intervention addressing violence against women, including setting up shelters, counselling centres or support groups that are involved in these programmes as needed; • conduct policy advocacy programmes to effect changes in existing laws to promote the elimination of gender-based violence; • promote biblical and theological reflections with a gender perspective by developing resource materials; • produce materials and workbooks addressing gender issues; • while strengthening programmes providing services to women, put emphasis on addressing women’s strategic needs; • develop and implement programmes that would facilitate changes in people’s cultural attitudes, especially young men and women, that reinforce or favour violence against women; • initiate policy changes and set up mechanisms that would enhance the role of YMCAs as a model of gender equity; • develop and integrate a gender perspective including violence against women in YMCA programmes and training at all levels; • encourage YMCA members to commit themselves to stop violence against women, denounce physical and sexual violence against women, promote women’s participation in decisionmaking, and work for gender justice in and outside the YMCA;

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As an expression of our solidarity and concern about the women in Palestine, we also recommend the following: • initiate and strengthen programmes that would enable young women towards self-actualisation, understanding their needs, helping them acquire the tools for decision-making and stressing their role in bringing about changes in conditions for all Palestinian women through training/capacity-building among women; • advocate for Palestinian women’s rights, so that they become more capable of expressing themselves and confronting the social difficulties and problems in their daily life, especially due to the occupation.

To all the above ideas and recommendations, we invite women and men at all levels of the YMCA to join hands and transform the patterns of inequity and injustice against one-half of the world: the women.

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LIST OF PARTICIPANTS Inter-Regional Workshop on Violence against Women 13-14 July 2002, Oaxtepec, Mexico

Sophie Mawussi Ahadji Renata Ferrari Mai Jarrar Jennifer Kean Sheila Laursen Jaidivi Núñez* Gloria Marina Perdomo Rodríguez Beatrice Perregaux Allisson Evija Samsonova Rosemary Siyachitema Phanomwan Yoodee Shella Zagada

Togo Uruguay East Jerusalem USA Canada Colombia Honduras Switzerland Latvia Zimbabwe Thailand Asia and Pacific Alliance of YMCAs

Helga Serrano Ranjan Solomon

World Alliance of YMCAs World Alliance of YMCAs

* Chairperson of Gender Committee

G:\Justice\Women-Gender\Women_Violence Workshop\Final Report.doc 3 April 2003

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Appendix The Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) brings together, in a single legally binding document, obligations aimed at eliminating discrimination against women in all spheres of life: civil, political, economic, social and cultural, whether in the public or private sphere, including the family. It is directed to the elimination of laws, policies and programmes that directly discriminate against women, as well as those, which, although not intended to discriminate against women, have that effect or result.

The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, a 23-member body, oversees the implementation of CEDAW in the 168 States party to the treaty. States obligations require active participation to prevent all forms of discrimination against women. Non-governmental organisations (NGOs) can also play an important role in monitoring the State Parties’ adoption of measures required for the elimination of discrimination against women in all its forms and manifestations.

The Convention’s Optional Protocol (ratified by 34 states) entitles this Committee to consider communications from an individual or groups of individuals alleging violations of the rights of the Convention. It can also enquire into grave or systematic violations of the Convention in the 34 states.

The Gender Justice and Women’s Leadership Committee of the World Alliance of YMCAs’ Executive Committee (2002-2006) recommended that the CEDAW be widely disseminated throughout the YMCA, as a way to promote women’s human rights and gender equity, in line with the Movement’s Challenge 21 agenda.

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CONVENTION ON THE ELIMINATION OF ALL FORMS OF DISCRIMINATION AGAINST WOMEN (CEDAW) Adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on 18 December 1979

The States Parties to the present Convention, Noting that the Charter of the United Nations reaffirms faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person and in the equal rights of men and women, Noting that the Universal Declaration of Human Rights affirms the principle of the inadmissibility of discrimination and proclaims that all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights and that everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth therein, without distinction of any kind, including distinction based on sex, Noting that the States Parties to the International Covenants on Human Rights have the obligation to ensure the equal right of men and women to enjoy all economic, social, cultural, civil and political rights, Considering the international conventions concluded under the auspices of the United Nations and the specialized agencies promoting equality of rights of men and women,

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Noting also the resolutions, declarations and recommendations adopted by the United Nations and the specialized agencies promoting equality of rights of men and women, Concerned, however, that despite these various instruments extensive discrimination against women continues to exist, Recalling that discrimination against women violates the principles of equality of rights and respect for human dignity, is an obstacle to the participation of women, on equal terms with men, in the political, social, economic and cultural life of their countries, hampers the growth of the prosperity of society and the family and makes more difficult the full development of the potentialities of women in the service of their countries and of humanity,

among countries and the realization of the right of peoples under alien and colonial domination and foreign occupation to self-determination and independence, as well as respect for national sovereignty and territorial integrity, will promote social progress and development and as a consequence will contribute to the attainment of full equality between men and women, Convinced that the full and complete development of a country, the welfare of the world and the cause of peace require the maximum participation of women on equal terms with men in all fields,

Concerned that in situations of poverty women have the least access to food, health, education, training and opportunities for employment and other needs,

Bearing in mind the great contribution of women to the welfare of the family and to the development of society, so far not fully recognized, the social significance of maternity and the role of both parents in the family and in the upbringing of children, and aware that the role of women in procreation should not be a basis for discrimination but that the upbringing of children requires a sharing of responsibility between men and women and society as a whole,

Convinced that the establishment of the new international economic order based on equity and justice will contribute significantly towards the promotion of equality between men and women,

Aware that a change in the traditional role of men as well as the role of women in society and in the family is needed to achieve full equality between men and women,

Emphasizing that the eradication of apartheid, of all forms of racism, racial discrimination, colonialism, neocolonialism, aggression, foreign occupation and domination and interference in the internal affairs of States is essential to the full enjoyment of the rights of men and women,

Determined to implement the principles set forth in the Declaration on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women and, for that purpose, to adopt the measures required for the elimination of such discrimination in all its forms and manifestations, Have agreed on the following:

Affirming that the strengthening of international peace and security, relaxation of international tension, mutual co-operation among all States irrespective of their social and economic systems, general and complete disarmament, and in particular nuclear disarmament under strict and effective international control, the affirmation of the principles of justice, equality and mutual benefit in relations

PART I

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Article 1 For the purposes of the present Convention, the term “discrimination against women� shall mean any distinction, exclusion or

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restriction mode on the basis of sex which has the effect or purpose of impairing or nullifying the recognition, enjoyment or exercise by women, irrespective of their marital status, on a basis of equality of men and women, of human rights and fundamental freedoms in the political, economic, social, cultural, civil or any other field.

(f) To take all appropriate measures, including legislation, to modify or abolish existing laws, regulations, customs and practices which constitute discrimination against women; (g) To repeal all national penal provisions which constitute discrimination against women.

Article 2 Article 3 States Parties condemn discrimination against women in all its forms, agree to pursue by oil appropriate means and without delay a policy of eliminating discrimination against women and, to this end, undertake: (a) To embody the principle of the equality of men and women in their notional constitutions or other appropriate legislation if not yet incorporated therein and to ensure, through low and other appropriate means, the practical realization of this principle; (b) To adopt appropriate legislative and other measures, including sanctions where appropriate, prohibiting all discrimination against women; (c) To establish legal protection of the rights of women on an equal basis with men and to ensure through competent notional tribunals and other public institutions the effective protection of women against any act of discrimination; (d) To refrain from engaging in any act or practice of discrimination against women and to ensure that public authorities and institutions shall act in conformity with this obligation; (e) To take all appropriate measures to eliminate discrimination against women by any person, organization or enterprise;

States Parties shall take in all fields, in particular in the political, social, economic and cultural fields, all appropriate measures, including legislation, to ensure the full development and advancement of women, for the purpose of guaranteeing them the exercise and enjoyment of human rights and fundamental freedoms on a basis of equality with men.

Article 4 1. Adoption by States Parties of temporary special measures aimed at accelerating de facto equality between men and women shall not be considered discrimination as defined in the present Convention, but shall in no way entail as a consequence the maintenance of unequal or separate standards; these measures shall be discontinued when the objectives of equality of opportunity and treatment have been achieved.

2. Adoption by States Parties of special measures, including those measures contained in the present Convention, aimed at protecting maternity shall not be considered discriminatory.

Article 5 States Parties shall take all appropriate measures: (a) To modify the social and cultural patterns of conduct of men

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and women, with a view to achieving the elimination of prejudices and customary and all other practices which are based on the idea of the inferiority or the superiority of either of the sexes or on stereotyped roles for men and women; (b) To ensure that family education includes a proper understanding of maternity as a social function and the recognition of the common responsibility of men and women in the upbringing and development of their children, it being understood that the interest of the children is the primordial consideration in all cases.

Article 6 States Parties shall take all appropriate measures, including legislation, to suppress all forms of traffic in women and exploitation of prostitution of women.

PART II

Article 8 States Parties shall take all appropriate measures to ensure to women, on equal terms with men and without any discrimination, the opportunity to represent their Governments at the international level and to participate in the work of international organizations.

Article 9 1. States Parties shall grant women equal rights with men to acquire, change or retain their nationality. They shall ensure in particular that neither marriage to an alien nor change of nationality by the husband during marriage shall automatically change the nationality of the wife, render her stateless or force upon her the nationality of the husband.

2. States Parties shall grant women equal rights with men with respect to the nationality of their children.

Article 7

PART III

States Parties shall take all appropriate measures to eliminate discrimination against women in the political and public life of the country and, in particular, shall ensure to women, on equal terms with men, the right: (a) To vote in all elections and public referenda and to be eligible for election to all publicly elected bodies; (b) To participate in the formulation of government policy and the implementation thereof and to hold public office and perform all public functions at all levels of government;

Article 10 States Parties shall take all appropriate measures to eliminate discrimination against women in order to ensure to them equal rights with men in the field of education and in particular to ensure, on a basis of equality of men and women:

(c) To participate in non-governmental organizations and associations concerned with the public and political life of the country.

(a) The same conditions for career and vocational guidance, for access to studies and for the achievement of diplomas in educational establishments of all categories in rural as well as in urban areas; this equality shall be ensured in pre-school, general, technical, professional and higher technical education, as well as in all types of vocational training;

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(b) Access to the some curricula, the some examinations, teaching staff with qualifications of the same standard and school premises and equipment of the some quality; (c) The elimination of any stereotyped concept of the roles of men and women at all levels and in all forms of education by encouraging coeducation and other types of education which will help to achieve this aim and, in particular, by the revision of textbooks and school programs and the adaptation of teaching methods; (d) The same opportunities to benefit from scholarships and other study grants; (e) The same opportunities for access to programmes of continuing education, including adult and functional literacy programmes, particularly those aimed at reducing, at the earliest possible time, any gap in education existing between men and women; (f) The reduction of female student drop-out rates and the organization of programmes for girls and women who have left school prematurely; (g) The some opportunities to participate actively in sports and physical education; (h) Access to specific educational information to help to ensure the health and well-being of families, including information and advice on family planning.

Article 11

(a) The right to work as an inalienable right of all human beings; (b) The right to the same employment opportunities, including the application of the some criteria for selection in matters of employment; (c) The right to free choice of profession and employment, the right to promotion, job security and all benefits and conditions of service and the right to receive vocational training and retraining, including apprenticeships, advanced vocational training and recurrent training; (d) The right to equal remuneration, including benefits, and to equal treatment in respect of work of equal value, as well as equality of treatment in the evaluation of the quality of work; (e) The right to social security, particularly in cases of retirement, unemployment, sickness, invalidity and old age and other incapacity to work, as well as the right to paid leave; (f) The right to protection of health and to safety in working conditions, including the safeguarding of the function of reproduction.

2. In order to prevent discrimination against women on the grounds of marriage or maternity and to ensure their effective right to work, States Parties shall take appropriate measures: (a) To prohibit, subject to the imposition of sanctions, dismissal on the grounds of pregnancy or of maternity leave and discrimination in dismissals on the basis of marital status;

1. States Parties shall take all appropriate measures to eliminate discrimination against women in the field of employment in order to ensure, on a basis of equality of men and women, the some rights, in particular:

(b) To introduce maternity leave with pay or with comparable social benefits without loss of former employment, seniority or social allowances;

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(c) To encourage the provision of the necessary supporting social services to enable parents to combine family obligations with work responsibilities and participation in public life, in particular through promoting the establishment and development of a network of child-care facilities;

(b) The right to bank loans, mortgages and other forms of financial credit;

(d) To provide special protection to women during pregnancy in types of work proved to be harmful to them.

Article 14

3. Protective legislation relating to matters covered in this article shall be reviewed periodically in the light of scientific and technological knowledge and shall be revised, repealed or extended as necessary.

(c) The right to participate in recreational activities, sports and all aspects of cultural life.

1. States Parties shall take into account the particular problems faced by rural women and the significant roles which rural women play in the economic survival of their families, including their work in the non-monetized sectors of the economy, and shall take all appropriate measures to ensure the application of the provisions of this Convention to women in rural areas.

Article 12 1. States Parties shall take all appropriate measures to eliminate discrimination against women in the field of health care in order to ensure, on a basis of equality of men and women, access to health care services, including those related to family planning.

2. States Parties shall take all appropriate measures to eliminate discrimination against women in rural areas in order to ensure, on a basis of equality of men and women, that they participate in and benefit from rural development and, in particular, shall ensure to such women the right:

2. Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph 1 of this article, States Parties shall ensure to women appropriate services in connection with pregnancy, confinement and the post-natal period, granting free services where necessary, as well as adequate nutrition during pregnancy and lactation.

(a) To participate in the elaboration and implementation of development planning at all levels;

Article 13

(c) To benefit directly from social security programmes;

1. States Parties shall take all appropriate measures to eliminate discrimination against women in other areas of economic and social life in order to ensure, on a basis of equality of men and women, the some rights, in particular:

(d) To obtain all types of training and education, formal and nonformal, including that relating to functional literacy, as well as, inter alia, the benefit of all community and extension services, in order to increase their technical proficiency;

(a) The right to family benefits;

(e) To organize self-help groups and co-operatives in order to obtain

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(b) To have access to adequate health care facilities, including information, counseling and services in family planning;

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equal access to economic opportunities through employment or self-employment; (f) To participate in all community activities; (g) To have access to agricultural credit and loans, marketing facilities, appropriate technology and equal treatment in land and agrarian reform as well as in land resettlement schemes; (h) To enjoy adequate living conditions, particularly in relation to housing, sanitation, electricity and water supply, transport and communications.

PART IV Article 15 1. States Parties shall accord to women equality with men before the law.

2. States Parties shall accord to women, in civil matters, a legal capacity identical to that of men and the some opportunities to exercise that capacity. In particular, they shall give women equal rights to conclude contracts and to administer property and shall treat them equally in all stages of procedure in courts and tribunals.

3. States Parties agree that all contracts and all other private instruments of any kind with a legal effect which is directed at restricting the legal capacity of women shall be deemed null and void.

4. States Parties shall accord to men and women the same rights with regard to the law relating to the movement of persons and the freedom to choose their residence and domicile.

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Article 16 1. States Parties shall take all appropriate measures to eliminate discrimination against women in all matters relating to marriage and family relations and in particular shall ensure, on a basis of equality of men and women: (a) The same right to enter into marriage; (b) The same right freely to choose spouse and to enter into marriage only with their free and full consent; (c) The same rights and responsibilities during marriage and at its dissolution; (d) The same rights and responsibilities as parents, irrespective of their marital status, in matters relating to their children; in all cases the interests of the children shall be paramount; (e) The same rights to decide freely and responsibly on the number and spacing of their children and to have access to the information, education and means to enable them to exercise these rights, (f) The same rights and responsibilities with regard to guardianship, wardship, trusteeship and adoption of children, or similar institutions where these concepts exist in national legislation; in all cases the interests of the children shall be paramount; (g) The same personal rights as husband and wife, including the right to choosing a family name, a profession and an occupation; (h) The same rights for both spouses in respect of the ownership, acquisition, management, administration, enjoyment and disposition of property, whether free of charge or for a valuable consideration.

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2. The betrothal and the marriage of a child shall have no legal effect, and all necessary action, including legislation, shall be taken to specify a minimum age for marriage and to make the registration of marriages in an official registry compulsory.

PART V Article 17 1. For the purpose of considering the progress made in the implementation of the present Convention, there shall be established a Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (hereinafter referred to as the Committee) consisting, at the time of entry into force of the Convention, of eighteen and, after ratification of or accession to the Convention by the thirty-fifth State Party, of twenty-three experts of high moral standing and competence in the field covered by the Convention. The experts shall be elected by States Parties from among their nationals and shall serve in their personal capacity, consideration being given to equitable geographical distribution and to the representation of the different forms of civilization as well as the principle legal systems.

2. The members of the Committee shall be elected by secret ballot from a list of persons nominated by States Parties. Each State Party may nominate one person from among its own nationals.

3. The initial election shall be held six months after the date of the entry into force of the present Convention. At least three months before the date of each election the Secretary-General of the United Nations shall address a letter to the States Parties inviting them to submit their nominations within two months. The Secretary-General shall prepare a list in alphabetical order of all persons thus nominated, indicating the States Parties which have nominated them, and shall submit it to the States Parties.

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4. Elections of the members of the Committee shall be held at a meeting of States Parties convened by the Secretary-General at United Nations Headquarters. At that meeting, for which two thirds of the States Parties shall constitute a quorum, the persons elected to the Committee shall be those nominees who obtain the largest number of votes and an absolute majority of the votes of the representatives of States Parties present and voting.

5. The members of the Committee shall be elected for a term of four years. However, the terms of nine of the members elected at the first election shall expire at the end of two years; immediately after the first election the names of these nine members shall be chosen by lot by the Chairman of the Committee.

6. The election of the five additional members of the Committee shall be held in accordance with the provisions of paragraphs 2, 3, and 4 of this article, following the thirty-fifth ratification or accession. The terms of two of the additional members elected on this occasion shall expire at the end of two years, the names of these two members having been chosen by lot by the Chairman of the Committee.

7. For the filling of casual vacancies, the State Party whose expert has ceased to function as a member of the Committee shall appoint another expert from among its nationals, subject to the approval of the Committee.

8. The members of the Committee shall, with the approval of the General Assembly, receive emoluments from United Nations resources on such terms and conditions as the Assembly may decide, having regard to the importance of the Committee’s responsibilities.

9. The Secretary-General of the United Nations shall provide the necessary staff and facilities for the effective performance of the functions of the Committee under the present Convention.

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Article 18

Article 21

1. States Parties undertake to submit to the Secretary-General of the United Nations, for consideration by the Committee, a report on the legislative, judicial, administrative or other measures which they have adopted to give effect to the provisions of the present Convention and on the progress made in this respect:

1. The Committee shall, through the Economic and Social Council, report annually to the General Assembly of the United Nations on its activities and may make suggestions and general recommendations based on the examination of reports and information received from the States Parties. Such suggestions and general recommendations shall be included in the report of the Committee together with comments, if any, from States Parties.

(a) Within a year after the entry into force for the State concerned; and (b) Thereafter at least every four years and further whenever the Committee so requests.

2. Reports may indicate factors and difficulties affecting the degree of fulfillment of obligations under the present Convention.

Article 19 1. The Committee shall adopt its own rules of procedure.

2. The Committee shall elect its officers for a term of two years.

2. The Secretary-General shall transmit the reports of the Committee to the Commission on the Status of Women for its information.

Article 22 The specialized agencies shall be entitled to be represented at the consideration of the implementation of such provisions of the present Convention as fall within the scope of their activities. The Committee may invite the specialized agencies to submit reports on the implementation of the Convention in areas falling within the scope of their activities.

Article 20

PART VI

1. The Committee shall normally meet for a period of not more than two weeks annually in order to consider the reports submitted in accordance with article 18 of the present Convention.

2. The meetings of the Committee shall normally be held at United Nations Headquarters or at any other convenient place as determined by the Committee.

Article 23 Nothing in this Convention shall affect any provisions that are more conducive to the achievement of equality between men and women which may be contained: (a) In the legislation of a State Party; or (b) In any other international convention, treaty or agreement in force for that State.

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Article 24 States Parties undertake to adopt all necessary measures at the national level aimed at achieving the full realization of the rights recognized in the present Convention.

2. For each State ratifying the present Convention or acceding to it after the deposit of the twentieth instrument of ratification or accession, the Convention shall enter into force on the thirtieth day after the date of the deposit of its own instrument of ratification or accession.

Article 28

Article 25 1. The present Convention shall be open for signature by all States.

2. The Secretary-General of the United Notions-is designated as the depositary of the present Convention.

3. The present Convention is subject to ratification. Instruments of ratification shall be deposited with the Secretary-General of the United Nations.

4. The present Convention shall be open to accession by all States.

Accession shall be effected by the deposit of an instrument of accession with the Secretary-General of the United Nations.

Article 26 1. A request for the revision of the present Convention may be made at any time by any State Party by means of a notification in writing addressed to the Secretary General of the United Nations.

2. The General Assembly of the United Nations shall decide upon the steps, if any, to be taken in respect of such a request.

Article 27

1. The Secretary-General of the United Nations shall receive and circulate to all States the text of reservations made by States at the time of ratification or accession.

2. A reservation incompatible with the object and purpose of the present Convention shall not be permitted.

3. Reservations may be withdrawn at any time by notification to this effect addressed to the Secretary-General of the United Nations, who shall then inform all States thereof. Such notification shall take effect on the date on which it is received.

Article 29 1. Any dispute between two or more States Parties concerning the interpretation or application of the present Convention which is not settled by negotiation shall, at the request of one of them, be submitted to arbitration. If within six months from the date of the request for arbitration the parties are unable to agree on the organization of the arbitration, any one of those parties may refer the dispute to the International Court of Justice by request in conformity with the Statute of the Court.

1. The present Convention shall enter into force on the thirtieth day after the date of deposit with the Secretary-General of the United Nations of the twentieth instrument of ratification or accession.

2. Each State Party may at the time of signature or ratification of this Convention or accession thereto declare that it does not consider itself bound by paragraph 1 of this article. The other States Parties shall not be bound by that paragraph with respect to any State Party which has made such a reservation.

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3. Any State Party which has made a reservation in accordance with paragraph 2 of this article may at any time withdraw that reservation by notification to the Secretary-General of the United Nations.

Article 30 The present Convention, the Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish texts of which are equally authentic, shall be deposited with the Secretary-General of the United Nations.

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