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/gender-based-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 gender-based 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