Women in international law

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International law is a series of verbal agreements and written contracts between nations that govern how those nations interact with one another. "Public" international law includes human rights both in conflict situations and post-conflict reconstruction. The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 1979 and has the goal of promoting women's rights. [1] Women have contributed to work on post-conflict reconstruction, aid and ceasefire negotiations. [2] They have also contributed to the Geneva II peace talks regarding Syria, and were involved in the Rohingya conflict in Myanmar as 'front-line responders'. [3] [4]

Contents

International law mechanisms

The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on 18 December 1979, thirty years after the establishment of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women. The goals of the convention were to promote women's rights and address systematic discrimination experienced by women. [5] [1] The rights covered in CEDAW includes women's political participation, education, health, employment, marriage and legal equality. CEDAW also advocates for a change in the traditional roles of men and women. [6]

United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325, adopted on 31 October 2000, states the role women can play in conflict prevention and resolution, peace processes and post-conflict reconstruction. [7] This resolution was the first time that the UN Security Council addressed the impact of armed conflict on women. [8] UNSCR 1325 encourages all actors to increase the participation of women in these processes and to install mechanisms that will protect women and girls from violence on the basis of gender in conflict situations, such as rape and sexual abuse. [9] Subsequent research undertaken since the adoption of UNSCR 1325 has addressed the involvement of women in peace and security, and is now consolidated under the "Women, Peace and Security Agenda." Additionally, evidence collected by UN Women illustrates the correlation between conflict prevention and gender equality. In 2016, the report found a 20% reduction in peace agreements containing gender-specific provisions, dropping from 70% to 50%. [10]

Prominent Women of International Law Award recipients

The American Society of International Law has a Women in International Law Interest Group (WILIG) "created to promote and enhance the careers of women in the field of international law. [11] Every year, the WILIG Prominent Woman in International Law Award honors those who have advanced women, gender, and women's rights in international law.

Previous awardees:

Democratic Republic of the Congo: Violence against women

Some academic research surrounding gender inequality has included the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) in their case studies. [12] Women and girls have been found to be targets within DRC conflicts, including of crimes such as rape, forced prostitution and forced marriage. [13] Up to six million people were killed in wars in the region lasting approximately two decades. Reasons for the conflict include the DRC's mineral wealth and natural resources. [14] Crimes against civilians, predominantly women and girls, have not been subject to formal prosecution. These acts include gang rape (which accounts for a majority of cases [13] ), public rape, instrumental rape and female genital mutilation.

The UN Population Fund concluded that over 8,000 acts of sexual violence occurred in 2009 and 2010 in the DRC. By 2011, it was estimated that 1,152 women were raped every day, or 48 women per hour. [15] In 2014, reported cases of rape in the DRC were increasing. Gender-based and sexual violence in the region persists due to high instability. [13] Another reason is the high level of impunity that acts of sexual assault are met with, as the judicial system is under-resourced and the social status of women in the DRC remains low, whereby there exists a social stigma surrounding female rape victims. Additionally, displacement, insecurity and continuing conflict increase violence against women and girls, by members of their communities as well as armed groups. [16]

In 2006, the Congolese government adopted a new law providing a legal framework to criminalise acts of sexual mutilation, sexual slavery, sexual relations with underage children, and the use of instruments in sexual violence. [13] This has been designed to combat informal settlements between perpetrators and the families of victims, such as forced marriages between a victim and her rapist. The UN has since adopted the Comprehensive Strategy on Combating Sexual Violence in the DRC, focusing on combating impunity; preventing violence; reformation of the security sector; and assistance for survivors. Additionally, the UN Security Council has since adopted Resolutions 1856 (2008), 1888 (2009) and 1960 (2010) to condemn sexual violence in conflict situations, building on Resolution 1325 in its advocacy of women's involvement in peace processes and post-conflict reconstruction. [13]

Within Congolese society there exists a stigma surrounding female rape victims, whereby they are ostracised from their families and communities. In 2017, the international campaign "16 Days of Activism" (established 1991) to end violence against women and girls, saw governments, activists, men, women and civil society collectively promote human rights. On November 25, 2017, UN agencies, media, civil society, government officials and students gathered in Kinshasa to launch the 2017 campaign theme "Leave No One Behind: End Violence Against Women and Girls." [17] This included school competitions in which students answered questions about the texts and laws designed to protect women and girls from gender-based violence.

Syria: Women's involvement in the peace talks

Due to the Syrian civil war, Syrian women and girls have been vulnerable to sexual and gender-based violence, marginalization and poverty. [3] As a result, there have been approximately 500,000 deaths and an unprecedented number of refugees. While both women and men are subjected to gender-based violence, women and girls have statistically been the greater targets of these acts. [18] Pre-existing gender inequalities put women and girls at a greater risk of violence, trafficking, forced marriage and exploitation. Some women participated in the Geneva II peace talks, although not formally. In 2012, UN Women reviewed 31 peace processes and found that 4% of peace agreements contained female signatories. A study undertaken by the Council on Foreign Relations in 2018 found that between 1990 and 2017, 19% of peace agreements contained references to women. [19]

Women have predominantly been actors at the local level and not in formal peace negotiations, addressing the consequences of civil war by assisting internally displaced peoples and survivors of sexual violence, engaging in ‘cross-community dialogue’ and working in factories at their own personal risk. [20] Women have led non-violent protests to release detainees, worked in field hospitals and schools, distributed aid and supplies, and "documented human rights violations." [21]

On 6 January 2014, the Syrian Women's Charter was created in Damascus, advocating an end to violence and for Syrian unity to create a Syria that will better recognise and uphold the basic human rights of its nation. [22] Syrian women have made active proposals for civil society participation and have worked together despite personal and political differences. Additionally, the Syrian Women's Political Movement was created and is aiming for a 30% quota of women participating in conflict resolution processes. [19] The "It Takes a Woman" campaign was launched by UN Women in 2017 to raise awareness of Syrian women activists involved in both formal and informal peace processes, highlighting public debate over women's rights to participate in the ongoing peace processes. [23]

Myanmar: Rohingya women respond to the ongoing crisis

In Western Myanmar, the Rohingya population continues to be affected by mass killings, village destruction and gang rapes perpetrated by Myanmar's security forces. [24] The attacks began in Myanmar's Rakhine State in August 2017, and the violence is ongoing. Since then, approximately 650,000 people have crossed into neighbouring Bangladesh, with tens of thousands displaced within the Rakhine state. [24] Women and girls have been affected by issues such as mutilation, gang rape, forcible detention and being burned to death (Refugees International 2018). Exact statistics are unknown, due to difficulties in documentation of sexual violence. In a camp in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh, up to 600,000 refugees live in crowded conditions, with girls as young as 11 reported to be forced into marriage by their families. [25]

Statistics show that the representation of women in Myanmar's peace talks remains low. In the April 2016 peace talks, women accounted for 13% of the 700 delegates, the number increasing to 17% in May 2017. [26] 4% of the 48-member peace committee were women. In the conflict zone, women operate as 'front-line responders', mostly taking care of other women in roles ranging from midwives to caseworkers, and providing information about services, safety, and human rights to the community. [4] In October 2017, the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) and the Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) called on Myanmar to stop the violence in the Rakhine State and to investigate cases of violence against women and children. [27]

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Crimes against humanity</span> Serious crimes committed as part of a large-scale attack against civilians

Crimes against humanity are certain serious crimes committed as part of a large-scale attack against civilians. Unlike war crimes, crimes against humanity can be committed during both peace and war and against a state's own nationals as well as foreign nationals. Together with war crimes, genocide, and the crime of aggression, crimes against humanity are one of the core crimes of international criminal law, and like other crimes against international law have no temporal or jurisdictional limitations on prosecution.

Sexual violence is any harmful or unwanted sexual act—or attempt to obtain a sexual act through violence or coercion—or a an act directed against a person's sexuality without their consent, by any individual regardless of their relationship to the victim. This includes forced engagement in sexual acts, attempted or completed, and may be physical, psychological, or verbal. It occurs in times of peace and armed conflict situations, is widespread, and is considered to be one of the most traumatic, pervasive, and most common human rights violations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women</span> International bill of rights for women

The Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) is an international treaty adopted in 1979 by the United Nations General Assembly. Described as an international bill of rights for women, it was instituted on 3 September 1981 and has been ratified by 189 states. Over fifty countries that have ratified the convention have done so subject to certain declarations, reservations, and objections, including 38 countries who rejected the enforcement article 29, which addresses means of settlement for disputes concerning the interpretation or application of the convention. Australia's declaration noted the limitations on central government power resulting from its federal constitutional system. The United States and Palau have signed, but not ratified the treaty. The Holy See, Iran, Somalia, Sudan, and Tonga are not signatories to CEDAW.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Human rights in Myanmar</span> Overview of human rights in Myanmar

Human rights in Myanmar under its military regime have long been regarded as among the worst in the world. In 2022, Freedom House rated Myanmar’s human rights at 9 out 100.

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Human rights in Uganda have trended for the past decades towards increasing harassment of the opposition, cracking down on NGOs which work on election and term limits, corruption, land rights, environmental issues, womens, children and gay rights. In 2012, the Relief Web sponsored Humanitarian Profile – 2012 said Uganda made considerable developments Since at least 2013 the Freedom in the World report by Freedom House has identified Uganda as a country considered to be "Not Free".There are several areas of concern when it comes to human rights in Uganda, and the "Not Free" classification is due to both low political rights and civil liberties rankings.

United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 (S/RES/1325), on women, peace, and security, was adopted unanimously by the UN Security Council on 31 October 2000, after recalling resolutions 1261 (1999), 1265 (1999), 1296 (2000), and 1314 (2000). The resolution acknowledged the disproportionate and unique impact of armed conflict on women and girls. It calls for the adoption of a gender perspective to consider the special needs of women and girls during conflict, repatriation and resettlement, rehabilitation, reintegration, and post-conflict reconstruction.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Violence against women</span> Violent acts committed primarily against women and girls

Violence against women (VAW), also known as gender-based violence and sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV), are violent acts primarily or exclusively committed by men or boys against women or girls. Such violence is often considered a form of hate crime, committed against women or girls specifically because they are female, and can take many forms.

Deshamanya Radhika Coomaraswamy is a Sri Lankan lawyer, diplomat and human rights advocate who served as an Under-Secretary General and Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict from 2006 to 2012. Secretary-General Kofi Annan appointed her to the position in April 2006. In 1994, she was appointed the United Nations’ Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women — the first under this mandate. Her appointment marked the first time that violence against women was conceptualized as a political issue internationally.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Women in the Democratic Republic of the Congo</span> Overview of the status of women in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wartime sexual violence</span> Acts of sexual violence committed by combatants during armed conflict, war or military occupation

Wartime sexual violence is rape or other forms of sexual violence committed by combatants during an armed conflict, war, or military occupation often as spoils of war, but sometimes, particularly in ethnic conflict, the phenomenon has broader sociological motives. Wartime sexual violence may also include gang rape and rape with objects. It is distinguished from sexual harassment, sexual assaults and rape committed amongst troops in military service.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sexual violence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo</span>

The Democratic Republic of the Congo, and the east of the country in particular, has been described as the "Rape Capital of the World", and the prevalence and intensity of all forms of sexual violence has been described as the worst in the world. Human Rights Watch defines sexual violence as "an act of a sexual nature by force, or by threat of force or coercion", and rape as "a form of sexual violence during which the body of a person is invaded, resulting in penetration, however slight, of any part of the body of the victim, with a sexual organ, or of the anal or genital opening of the victim with any object or other part of the body."

The Declaration on the Elimination of Violence Against Women was adopted without a vote by the United Nations General Assembly in the 48/104 resolution of 20 December 1993. Contained within it is the recognition of "the urgent 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". It recalls and embodies the same rights and principles as those enshrined in such instruments as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and Articles 1 and 2 provide the most widely used definition of violence against women.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Genocidal rape</span> Mass sexual assault during wartime as part of a genocidal campaign

Genocidal rape, a form of wartime sexual violence, is the action of a group which has carried out acts of mass rape and gang rapes, against its enemy during wartime as part of a genocidal campaign. During the Armenian Genocide, the Greek genocide, the Assyrian genocide, the second Sino-Japanese war, the Holocaust, the Bangladesh Liberation War, the Bosnian War, the Rwandan genocide, the Congolese conflicts, the South Sudanese Civil War, the Yazidi Genocide, Rohingya genocide, the mass rapes that had been an integral part of those conflicts brought the concept of genocidal rape to international prominence. Although war rape has been a recurrent feature in conflicts throughout human history, it has usually been looked upon as a by-product of conflict and not an integral part of military policy.

The term international framework of sexual violence refers to the collection of international legal instruments – such as treaties, conventions, protocols, case law, declarations, resolutions and recommendations – developed in the 20th and 21st century to address the problem of sexual violence. The framework seeks to establish and recognise the right all human beings to not experience sexual violence, to prevent sexual violence from being committed wherever possible, to punish perpetrators of sexual violence, and to provide care for victims of sexual violence. The standards set by this framework are intended to be adopted and implemented by governments around the world in order to protect their citizens against sexual violence.

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Rape during the Syrian civil war was used as a strategy throughout the Syrian conflict by pro government supporters, members of the Free Syrian Army, and militants fighting for the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. According to the International Rescue Committee (IRC) rape has been a "significant and disturbing feature" during the conflict, and the primary reason given for 600,000 women fleeing the war zone is fear of sexual assault. For the background and legal content use the prosecution of Syrian civil war criminals. Human Rights Watch have requested that the United Nations Security Council refer Syria to the International Criminal Court.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pramila Patten</span> Mauritian barrister, womens rights activist, and United Nations official (born 1958)

Pramila Patten is a Mauritian barrister, women's rights activist, and United Nations official, who currently serves as the United Nations Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict and Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations; she was appointed in 2017. Her office was established by Security Council Resolution 1888, introduced by Hillary Clinton, and she succeeded Margot Wallström and Zainab Bangura.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict</span> Office of the United Nations Secretariat

The Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict (OSRSG-SVC) is an office of the United Nations Secretariat tasked with serving the United Nations' spokesperson and political advocate on conflict-related sexual violence, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict (SRSG-SVC). The Special Representative holds the rank of Under-Secretary-General of the UN and chairs the UN Action Against Sexual Violence in Conflict. The mandate of the SRSG-SVC was established by Security Council Resolution 1888, introduced by Hillary Clinton, and the first Special Representative, Margot Wallström, took office in 2010. The current Special Representative is Pramila Patten of Mauritius, who was appointed by UN Secretary General António Guterres in 2017. The work of the SRSG-SVC is supported by the UN Team of Experts on the Rule of Law/Sexual Violence in Conflict, co-led by the Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPO), Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and the UN Development Programme (UNDP), also established under Security Council Resolution 1888.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Julienne Lusenge</span> Congolese human rights activist

Julienne Lusenge is a Congolese human rights activist recognized for advocating for survivors of wartime sexual violence. She is co-founder and President of Female Solidarity for Integrated Peace and Development (SOFEPADI) and director of the Congolese Women's Fund (FFC).

References

  1. 1 2 "What is CEDAW?". Australian Human Rights Commission. Retrieved 6 October 2018.
  2. ↑ "Women's Participation in Peace Processes". Council on Foreign Relations. Retrieved 6 October 2018.
  3. 1 2 "Women, peace and Syria". United Nations Association-United Kingdom. 15 March 2017. Retrieved 6 October 2018.
  4. 1 2 "As Rohingya refugee crisis escalates, women emerge as front-line responders". UN Population Fund. Retrieved 6 October 2018.
  5. ↑ "Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women New York". Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. Retrieved 6 October 2018.
  6. ↑ "Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women New York". Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. Retrieved 6 October 2018.
  7. ↑ "Landmark resolution on women, peace and security". Office of the Special Adviser on Gender Issues and Advancement of Women. Retrieved 6 October 2018.
  8. ↑ "Security Council Resolution 1325". Women's International League for Peace and Freedom. 18 December 2014. Retrieved 6 October 2018.
  9. ↑ "Landmark resolution on Women, Peace and Security". Office of the Special Adviser on Gender Issues and Advancement of Women. Retrieved 6 October 2018.
  10. ↑ "Women, peace and security: preventing war and sustaining peace". UN Women. Retrieved 6 October 2018.
  11. ↑ "Women in International Law". ASIL.
  12. ↑ "Violence against women in Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo: Whose responsibility?". BBC News. 4 May 2011. Retrieved 6 October 2018.
  13. 1 2 3 4 5 "Violence against women in Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo: Whose responsibility? Whose complicity?" (PDF). International Trade Union Confederation. Retrieved 6 October 2018.
  14. ↑ "DR Congo country file". BBC News. 4 May 2011. Retrieved 6 October 2018.
  15. ↑ Adetunji, Jo (12 May 2011). "Forty-eight women raped every hour in Congo, study finds". The Guardian. Retrieved 6 October 2018.
  16. ↑ Law, James. "Democratic Republic of Congo: The worst place in the world to be a woman". News.com.au. Retrieved 6 October 2018.
  17. ↑ "Uniting to End Violence against Women and Girls: 16 Days of Activism Launched in DRC". Management Sciences for Health. Retrieved 6 October 2018.
  18. ↑ "UN Commission of Inquiry on Syria: Sexual and gender-based violence against women, girls, men, and boys a devastating and pervasive feature of the conflict and must end now". Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. Retrieved 6 October 2018.
  19. 1 2 "Syria". Council on Foreign Relations. Retrieved 6 October 2018.
  20. ↑ Rees, Madeleine. "If Women are Left out of Peace Talks". Forced Migration Review. 50: 34–37.
  21. ↑ "Syria". Council on Foreign Relations.
  22. ↑ "Syrian Women's Charter" (PDF). Syrian Women's Forum for Peace.
  23. ↑ "It Takes a Woman to Build Peace in Syria". Women's International League for Peace and Freedom. May 2017. Retrieved 6 October 2018.
  24. 1 2 "Myanmar: Country Profile". Peace Insight.
  25. ↑ "NGO Statement Concerning Sexual and Reproductive Rights of Rohingya Women and Girls Displaced Due to Conflict in advance of the UN Security Council's Mission to Myanmar, Bangladesh" (PDF). Women's Refugee Commission. Retrieved 6 October 2018.
  26. ↑ "Myanmar". Council on Foreign Relations. Retrieved 6 October 2018.
  27. ↑ "Myanmar Rohingya abuses may be crimes against humanity, UN rights experts warn". Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. Retrieved 6 October 2018.
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