United
Nations
Economic and Social Council
Distr.: General
Original: English
Commission on the
Status of Women
Fifty-first session
26 February-
Item 3 (a) (i) of the provisional agenda*
Follow-up to the Fourth World Conference on Women
and to the twenty-third special
session of the General Assembly, entitled “Women 2000: gender equality,
development and peace for the twenty first century”: implementation
of strategic objectives and action in critical areas of concern
and further actions and initiatives: the elimination of all forms of
discrimination and violence against the girl child
Statement submitted
by Coalition against Trafficking in Women, Congregation of Our Lady of Charity
of the Good Shepherd, UNANIMA International, non governmental organizations in
consultative status with the Economic and Social Council
The Secretary-General has received the following statement, which is
being circulated in accordance with paragraphs 36 and 37 of Economic and Social
Council resolution 1996/31 of
Statement
Introduction
At this 51st session of the Commission for Status of Women (CSW), we, international NGOs, draw attention to the “elimination of all forms of discrimination and violence against the girl child,” particularly the migrant girl child.
Reality of the Girl
Child and Migration:
While migration offers
hope and positive benefits every year to millions of men, women and children
around the world and the countries that receive them, migration can also have
serious consequences, especially for children. A number of forms of migration
increase the vulnerability of girls in particular. In the absence of adequate
polices related to girl children, girls face severe violence and discrimination
in migrant situations. Every day
NGO personnel meet girl children migrants in sub-Saharan
1 Child Labor:
(Targeting the Intolerable, Report submitted to the 86th Session of Int. Labor
Conf, Geneva ILO Office 1998)
Further, up to 50% of
the over 1.2 million persons trafficked each year are children. We note also
that there are strong links between human trafficking and migration policies.
The United Nations Population Fund UNFPA, State of the World Population Report:
Selling Hope and Stealing Dreams, 2006 says that “trafficking is not only one of
the most horrific manifestations of migration ‘gone bad,’ it also undermines
national security and stability.” It further states that increasingly
restrictive immigration policies limit the possibility of legal entry [into
another country], which in turn drives more and more would-be migrants,
particularly women and girls, to unwittingly entrust themselves to
traffickers. Economic development
fueled by migration should not be promoted at the expense of girl children. Any short-term gains are far outweighed
by the costs associated with violence against women and girls such as health
care and criminal justice responses to commercial sexual exploitation. Further
detail on these costs can be found in the 2006 report of the Secretary
General.2
Despite international human rights obligations, states often fail
to provide social protection to the girl child, particularly the girl child who
is moving between one state or region and another. Societies continue to be
characterized by male domination and patriarchal political, economic and social
structures, which disadvantage girls from birth. The perpetrators of violence
against girls proceed with impunity. The UN Special Rapporteur on Violence
against Women cites the lack of rights afforded to women as one of the primary
causative factors at the root of both migration and trafficking. When half the
world’s population is discriminated against, this denial of individuals’ human
rights expands to become a persistent threat to social stability and global
security. Changing a gender paradigm by which women and girls are objects of
male aggression is necessary to realize the advancement of women in social,
political or economic life. We
urgently affirm the need for full implementation of Section L of the Beijing
Platform for Action (BPFA) and Articles 19, 20, and 34-36 of the Convention on
the Rights of the Child. We remind the CSW that at the 2005 World Summit, world
leaders reaffirmed their previous commitments to eliminate all forms of
discrimination and violence against women and girls. At its sixtieth session,
the General Assembly adopted resolution 60/141 on the girl child, which
expressed deep concern about discrimination against the girl child and the
violation of her rights and stressed the importance of a substantive assessment
of the implementation of the BPFA with a life-cycle
perspective.
Effective Practices
Make a Difference
We
are aware that NGOs and governments have made efforts to protect and empower
girls, supporting their participation in development of programs and structures
that afford them rights and opportunities. We encourage the international
community to build on existing effective practices. Education is essential in
effective practices. In
2 In-depth Study
on all Forms of Violence Against Women, A Report by the Secretary General;
A/61/122/Add.1
Prevention strategies
also counter discrimination against girls. An international micro-enterprise
project of the Congregation of Our Lady of Charity of the Good Shepherd,
Handcrafting Justice, supports local skills training and economic empowerment
for women and girls. Thus, girls need not migrate from their home communities
but can participate in the economic life of their communities, including
education and personal development, in a safe environment. Their skills empower
them to resist recruiters who try to lure them into activities where they are
vulnerable to discrimination and violence.
Government-NGO partnerships can model possibilities in the global
reality. For example, in
Recommendations
We call on this Commission to meet these urgent issues by developing an unambiguous statement denouncing all forms of violence against girls, with special attention to migrating girls. Such a statement must include mechanisms for enforcement and monitoring,
Specifically we recommend that governments
• Ratify and implement the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families (Adopted by General Assembly resolution 45/158, 1990). Destination states have a particular responsibility for this implementation.
• Support the creation of an inclusive UN Forum on migration, following the recommendations of the General Assembly High Level Dialogue on Migration of September 2006. Ensure that such a Forum includes meaningful participation of persons who have been migrants.
• Articulate a coherent national policy explicitly denouncing all violence, including the prostitution of girls, as a violation of the human rights of women. Review and amend laws that structurally support inferiority of girls and women (e.g., dowry laws, marriage laws, property laws, etc.)
• Support public service campaigns on national levels that promulgate clear messages opposing violence against girls and women and articulating support for gender equality in all spheres of life.
• Integrate a gender and age sensitive approach in comprehensive management of migration.
• Make clear, specific and local recommendations not only about ending particular forms of violence, but about transforming the patriarchal social and economic systems that disadvantage women and girls and make them vulnerable in the processes of migration.
• Base migration policy on the standard that migrant must have equal access to basic services and protection of their human rights.
• Renew States’ commitment to implement Section L of the Beijing Platform for Action and the provisions of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, including strategies that will change cultural practices which discriminate against and oppress women and girls and promote conditions leading to the human development of all people.
We in the NGO community commit to support and work enthusiastically in partnership with all such initiatives by States Parties, the United Nations and other agencies.
Note: Statement
endorsed and supported by the following non-governmental organizations in
consultative status with the Economic and Social Council: Dominican Leadership
Conference, Grail, International Presentation Association of the Sisters of the
Presentation, International Public Policy Institute, International Union of
Anthropological and Ethnological Sciences, Loretto Community, Maryknoll Fathers
and Brothers, Maryknoll Sisters of St. Dominic, Pax Christi International,
School Sisters of Notre Dame, Sisters of Mercy of the Americas, Sisters of Notre
Dame de Namur, and World Movement of Mothers.