Transcript Bild 1 - Indevelop

RESISTANCE
• Gender-based violence is both persistent and
widespread, and ranks as top public health crisis for
women in the world today. Women aged 15 through
45 are more likely to be maimed or die from male
violence than from cancer, malaria, traffic accidents
and war combined.
• Surveys suggest that about one-third of all women
globally face beatings in the home
• Up to 70 percent of female murder victims are killed
by their male partners, according to the World Health
Organization.
• http://www.halftheskymovement.org/issues/genderbased-violence
CSW57 on violence against
women (2013)
• The resistance became quite obvious
on the issue of violence against women
and an international declaration.
• Who were the opposition?
“Unholy alliance”
• The Vatican, Iran and Russia tried to
take out any writings saying that
religion, customs and tradition cannot
be used by government to stop their
efforts to eliminate violence against
women.
Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood
• “This declaration, if ratified, would lead
to complete disintegration of society,
and would certainly be the final step in
the intellectual and cultural invasion of
Muslim countries, eliminating the moral
specificity that helps preserve cohesion
of Islamic societies”
Libya’s Grand Mufti’s Fatwa
• Even though Libya didn't have an
official delegation to the CSW, they
stood as being opposed to the text after
Grand Mufti Ghariani denounced the
outcome of the meeting even before the
text was finalized
The NGO side (Arab Caucus)
• “At this meeting our governments are
increasingly using arguments based on
religion, culture, tradition or nationality
to justify violence, discrimination and
allow the violations against human
rights and continue with the impunity”
• AND THEN.......
Mervat Tallawy
• Chief Egyptian official at the meeting,
Mervat Tallawy, head of the country's
National Women's Council, backed the
accord. She said the declaration was
needed to counter "a global wave of
conservatism, of repression against
women."
• What was it that was
so dangerous?
• 11. “The commission stresses that “violence
against women” means any act of genderbased violence that results in, or is likely to
result in, physical, sexual or psychological
harm or suffering to women and girls,
including threats of such acts, coercion or
arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether
occurring in public or in private life.”
Impunity
• (n) “End impunity by ensuring
accountability and punishing
perpetrators of the most serious crimes
against women and girls under national
and international law, and stressing the
need for the alleged perpetrators of
those crimes to be held accountable”
SRHR
• The agreed conclusions calls for
accessible and affordable healthcare
services, including sexual and
reproductive health care
• That means the right for emergency
contraception and safe abortions for
victims of violence (including victims of
rape)
Connected with Women,
Peace and Security
• This agreed conclusions are a landmark
as it took so long to get it adopted. It
also mention women’s participation and
the women, peace and security agenda
Agreed language can
disappear
• On November 27th, 2013, at the end of the United
Nations General Assembly Third Committee, for the
first time ever, a resolution on women human rights
defenders entitled ‘Promotion of the Declaration on
the Right and Responsibility of Individuals, Groups
and Organs of Society to Promote and Protect
Universally Recognized Human Rights and
Fundamental Freedoms: Protecting Women Human
Rights Defenders’ was adopted.
• Text on SRHR was taken out, although
WHRD working on this issue is under a
lot of threats
More text disappeared
• “Calls on states to condemn all forms of
violence against women and women
human rights defenders, and to refrain
from invoking any customs, tradition or
religious consideration to avoid
obligations related to the elimination of
violence against women
• (earlier agreed language)
”If you can’t move freely, it is very hard to be active in
politics. For girls there are so many obstacles and
barriers. All young girls have the same dream. They
want to be able to move freely and feel safe.”
Maia Kvaratskhelia, Avangard, Gali, Abchazia/Georgia
CSW this year
• The topic something else – the post
2015 agenda.
• The resistance is still there.
• Again a pushback on agreed language
on human rights as a whole, on SRHR
and comprehensive health education.
• A small number of states led by the
USA and China managed to delete a
paragraph on reducing military spending
and financing development
• (agreed language since Beijing
Plattform for action 1995)
But also
• Recommended a stand alone goal on
Gender Equality and to have a gender
perspective in all of the goals
• The resistance comes from many
places when it comes to SRHR
Outcome of the US election – the candidates that had talked about rape, pregnancy
and abortion. It was said that it was the women of the country that decided what
president was elected. Women as voters are a very powerful group.
• Yesterday, a 21 years old woman was
shot killed by her ex boy friend. She
was a university student, and applied for
police protection twice last week.
Violence against women multiplied by
14 times during AKP rule. Wonder why?
Check out only few of the many
statements in governmental level. (from
Turkey the 8th of March 2014)
“New kid in town”
• Traditional values and the UN Human
rights council
• Promoting human rights and
fundamental freedoms through a better
understanding of traditional values of
humankind: best practices September
2012
• Follow up resolution was dropped this
year, but rather late....and it seems like
the subject is here to stay
• Why is that a problem?
• Traditional values can be just about
anything – no clear definition, worry that
it might be used to legitimize human
rights abuse
• It puts focus on the family unit rather
than the rights of each individual in the
family
• It talks about the “normal” family – not
any other form
• It is thought to be used as a tool to
come down on women rights activists,
LGBT activists, and other groups that
are taking a stand against their regimes
Consequenses?
• Have it been used? Do you know about
any cases?
• Women’s Resource Center Armenia:
• ”Not true armenian” ”Lesbians” ”Against
family values and traditions”
What is so dangerous with
educated girls?
• It changes power dynamics, this is
when it is easy to talk about “in our
culture etc”
Group work
• Sit in groups of 3
• When you hear things like ”This is not in
our tradition” ”In our culture women are
not….” etc
• HOW DO YOU COUNTERACT THIS?
• Come up with arguments against this!
• 10 minutes