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HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL DISCUSSES VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN, MATERNAL
MORTALITY AND HUMAN RIGHTS OF WOMEN
5
June 2008
Excerpts presented by WUNRN.
For FULL TEXT, see WEBSITE LINK:
The Human Rights Council this afternoon held two panel discussions on the
human rights of women, the first discussing violence against women –
identification of priorities, and the second discussing maternal mortality and
the human rights of women.
Louise Arbour, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, speaking at
the beginning of the meeting, welcomed the debate that focused on the two
pressing issues of violence against women and maternal mortality. The General
Assembly had tasked the Council with setting priorities in addressing violence
against women as a follow-up to its consideration of the Secretary-General's
study on the subject. Millions of women and girls were subjected to desperate
and dehumanising conditions on a daily basis, and in many cases with no relief
or recourse to justice. In particularly egregious forms, violence, including
sexual violence, had been committed and continued to be perpetrated in the
midst of conflict and post-conflict societies on a magnitude and level of
brutality that defied belief. Whether perpetrated in conflict or in peace, the
root causes of violence against women were deep-seated inequalities and
discrimination. A concomitant denial of basic rights, such as access to health
services, education and water, overwhelmingly affected women.
Delegations also said that violence against women was one of the most pervasive
human rights abuses that persisted in all countries of the world. A lack of leadership,
political will and resources to take effective action was noted. The need for a
coordinated database was underlined. Also discussed were the need to protect
women from rape and sexual abuse in peacetime, wartime and conflict and post
conflict situations; harmful traditional practices such as female genital
mutilation; enhancing women’s participation in decision making issues; and
promoting their access to education. It was noted that a comprehensive approach
towards empowerment of women remained the most effective instrument to counter
violence against women.
In summing up, the Moderator, Mr. Elferts, said that among issues highlighted
in the discussion had been the need for legislation, awareness-raising, and
attention to victims. Also, the role of men should not be forgotten, and the
need to target actions in that regard. The Secretary-General's report had been
raised as an essential tool, and the fact that violence against women was part
of the Universal Periodic Review process had also been seen as useful. Further,
it had been underscored that to establish best practices and formulate the
comprehensive approach that was necessary to address violence against women,
they needed to gather data. Also essential was the need for the political will and
commitment to allocate the necessary financial and human resources.
Speaking in the interactive discussion on violence against women were the
delegations of the Maldives, Slovenia on behalf of the European Union, Qatar,
Argentina, France, the Netherlands, Mexico, New Zealand and Canada in a joint
statement, Norway, Switzerland, India, Pakistan, Brazil, Australia, Algeria,
Romania, Sweden and Indonesia in a joint statement, Finland on behalf of the
European Union, Egypt, Turkey, South Africa, Republic of Korea, Malaysia,
China, the United Nations Population Fund, the Russian Federation, Italy, Sri
Lanka, Morocco, the International Organization of the Francophonie, Colombia,
Ireland and Tunisia.
Also speaking were representatives of the International Federation of
University Women in a joint statement, the Inter-African Committee on
Traditional Practices Affecting the Health of women and children in a joint
statement, World Young Women’s Christian Association in a joint statement,
Coalition Against Trafficking in Women, World Organisation Against Torture, the
International Indian Treaty Council in a joint statement and Human Rights Watch
in a joint statement, the International Women’s Rights Action Watch Asia
Pacific, the International Network for the Prevention of Elder Abuse, Union de
l’Action Feminine, Comite International pour le Respect et l’Application de la
Charte Africaine des Droits de l’Homme et des Peuples, Action Internationale
pour la Paix et le Developement dans la Region des Grands Lacs and the Canadian
HIV/AIDS Legal Network.
In the second panel discussion on maternal mortality and the human rights of
women, the Moderator, Francis Songane, Secretariat for the Partnership for
Maternal, Newborn, and Child Health, and Former Minister of Health of
Mozambique, said giving birth should be a time of joy. For too many women it
was a time of death and disability. Many babies died due to poor care at birth,
often related to the death of the mother. The life-time risk of death during
childbirth or pregnancy was highest in sub-Saharan Africa.
Monir Islam, Director of Making Pregnancy Safer at the World Health
Organisation, said that every minute somewhere in this world, a woman was
giving her life during pregnancy, childbirth or the post partum period. From
country after country analysis it had become clear that rural and poor women
were excluded, marginalized and had very little or no access to health services
during pregnancy and mostly died or suffered from long term disabilities.
Vincent Fauvau, Senior Maternal Mortality Advisor at the United Nations
Population Fund, said that the fifth goal in the Millennium Development Goals
set to reduce infant mortality ratio by 75 per cent, which would unlikely be
met. Half a million women died each year, and it was unacceptable that a high
number of women still died from complications of pregnancy and childbirth when
proven interventions existed.
Jashodhara Dasgupta, Coordinator of SAHAYOG, said that despite all the
technology, despite the advances in communication and medicine, women still
died during child birth. A group of 4,000 rural woman in India had come
together to declare that the issue was a violation of their human rights. She
outlined a number of actions these Indian women had taken, including learning
about the entitlements available to them and getting valuable information.
Tackling the problem of maternal mortality meant empowering and educating
women.
Paul Hunt, Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the
highest attainable standard of physical and mental health, said the right to
the highest attainable standard of life demanded that a health system had
certain key features. Of course, this right was subjected to resource
availability; this was a complication but it was manageable. Millennium
Development Goal 5 had not generated as much attention as other Millennium
Development Goals, but there was now a proliferation of initiatives and
programmes for maternal health. Further, human rights demanded accountability.
It seemed that currently, independent accountability was weak.
In the following debate, delegations made comments and raised questions on the
promotion of gender equality and that the enjoyment of human rights by women
and girls were goals in their own right. How could it be guaranteed that women
and men had access to the information, education and services needed to achieve
good sexual health and exercise their reproductive rights and responsibilities?
The issue of violence against women had many dimensions. A comprehensive
approach was important to deal with the issue in all its complexity. Fostering
coordination between international actors was vital to ensuring consistent and
coordinated approaches to prevention measures at the national level.
Mr. Songane, the Moderator, in summarizing some of the key points made during
the panel discussion, said some of the points made were on recognizing that
maternal mortality and infant mortality were recognized as human rights issues,
there was a call to address the issues, that accountability was at both the
national and international level, availability of data was vital and not just
global data, but local data that could help these groups of people, community
support was strongly encouraged as they could reach the most marginalized
members, and a comprehensive plan at the national level should be devised,
including a budgetary plan. The relevant Special Rapporteurs were also
encouraged to give this issue special attention. The creation of a simple
mechanism for accountability to meet the Millennium Development Goals was
stressed.
Statement by the High Commissioner for Human Rights
LOUISE ARBOUR, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights,
welcomed the debate today, focusing on the two pressing issues of violence
against women and maternal mortality. The General Assembly had tasked the
Council with setting priorities in addressing violence against women as a
follow-up to its consideration of the Secretary-General's study on the subject.
Released in 2006, the study unequivocally demonstrated that multiple forms of
violence against women remained pervasive in the world. The report described
that violence as a "pandemic" and as "one of the most serious
challenges of our time". But those alarming words just barely afforded a
glimpse into the desperate and dehumanising conditions that millions of women
and girls were subjected to on a daily basis, and in many cases with no relief
or recourse to justice. In particularly egregious forms, violence, including sexual
violence, had been committed and continued to be perpetrated in the midst of
conflict and post-conflict societies on a magnitude and level of brutality that
defied belief. However, although violence against women had been an ugly
feature of wars since time immemorial, only recently had there been a
recognition that such violence was punishable by law as a war crime, a crime
against humanity and, indeed, at times, an act of genocide. International
enforcement of that law represented a vital step forward.
Ms. Arbour highlighted that, whether perpetrated in conflict or in peace, the
root causes of violence against women were deep-seated inequalities and
discrimination. They certainly recognized that, since the adoption of the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights, much progress had been made to eliminate
discrimination against women. Obligations had been set forth in the Convention
on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, the
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and other treaties. Still,
a recent study underscored the persistence of laws and customs that made women
second-class citizens and that, consequently, exposed them to undeterred and
unpunished violence and equality. A concomitant denial of basic rights, such as
access to health services, education and water, overwhelmingly affected women.
That inequality might condemn women to poverty which, in turn, exposed hundreds
of millions of girls and women to continuous abuse.
Discriminatory laws and practices were also at the root of many cases of
maternal mortality. Early marriage, female genital mutilation and disrespect of
women's safe reproductive rights – which were incompatible with the obligations
set forth in the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination
against Women – were key contributors to the millions of deaths and
disabilities resulting from pregnancy and childbirth annually. The Human Rights
Council, alerted by today's discussion, could play a groundbreaking role in
clearly defining maternal mortality as a human rights issue and articulating
the indivisibility and interrelatedness of rights in that respect. To conclude
on a positive note, Ms. Arbour noted that it was very encouraging that several
States had made commitments with respect to women's rights in the context of
the Universal Periodic Review, including pledges to remove far-reaching and
longstanding reservations made to the Convention on the Elimination of All
Forms of Discrimination against Women.
KATHLEEN CRAVERO, Assistant Administrator and Director of the United Nations
Development Programme (UNDP), said that in today's wars, modern armies and
militia used sexual violence against women as a strategy of war, scarring not
only victims, but all who witnessed that brutality; that "scorched-women
policy" would destabilize generations to come. Many were forced to bear
children of the enemy who would find no place in the post-conflict communities.
Others succumbed to the slow murder of HIV/AIDS. Perhaps the worst atrocities
today were being perpetrated in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where the
scale of the violence affirmed that women's bodies were part of the
battlefield. Victims had little hope to see their rapists brought to justice.
As one seasoned peacekeeper had said, it was now more dangerous to be a woman
than to be a soldier in the Eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Ms. Cravero noted that, according to the Rome Statute of the International
Criminal Court, sexual violence was among the gravest breaches of international
law: constituting a war crime, a crime against humanity, torture, even genocide
– depending on the elements of the offence. However, often these crimes kept
below the radar. The victims often did not report sexual violence fearing
stigmatisation or, worse, being accused of adultery. As women's social standing
was reduced in that atmosphere of impunity, sexual violence could then be seen
as both a cause and effect of women's diminished status.
The challenge was threefold, Ms. Cravero said. They had to work towards
prevention, address impunity and bring redress for victims. In terms of
prevention, they desperately needed to promote the empowerment of women, by
taking the principle of non-discrimination and applying it to the entire range
of economic and social rights. That meant such things as ensuring equality of
access to education, as well as prioritising antenatal and women's health care
services, and ensuring women had to be able to own land and property. In terms
of impunity, few perpetrators had been brought to justice. The International
Criminal Court had an important role to play in that regard. Finally, on
redress, women had to have access to health and other essential services. They
had to be better at empowering women. Their failure to do so was in large
measure what had blocked effective implementation of Security Council
resolution 1325.
Discussion on Violence against Women
In the following interactive discussion, delegations made various comments and
asked questions on gender based violence, the impact of the interpretation of
religion on women, the structural relationships of inequality between women and
men, the empowerment of women, international standards and norms to eliminate
all forms of violence against women, and the situation of women in
post-conflict areas. How could the Human Rights Council support the
implementation of the Secretary-General’s recommendations to eliminate all
forms of violence against women?
Delegations also said that violence against women was one of the most pervasive
human rights abuses that persisted in all countries of the world. A lack of
leadership, political will and resources to take effective action was noted.
The need for a coordinated database was underlined. Also discussed were the
need to protect women from rape and sexual abuse in peacetime, wartime and
conflict and post conflict situations; harmful traditional practices such as
female genital mutilation; enhancing women’s participation in decision making
issues; and promoting women’s access to education. It was noted that a
comprehensive approach towards empowerment of women remained the most effective
instrument to counter violence against women.
Another important area underlined by delegations was the sex industry and the
commercial sexual exploitation of women; these were among the most humiliating
and degrading forms of violence against women. How could the Council address
gender stereotypes? Maternal mortality was also addressed. It was important to
enable women to attain appropriate standards of health. It was also noted that
developing countries found more difficulties to implement policies. Could the
panellists comment on the relationship between the rights of women and the
right to development?
Non-governmental organizations also addressed the practice of collective rape
in armed conflicts; it was felt that it should be condemned as a crime against
humanity. How could the Council more effectively address human rights
violations taking place in the private sphere? The Council’s attention was
called to the over 500 mainly unresolved murders and disappearances of
indigenous women in Canada. A study had indicated that indigenous women were
2.5 times more likely to be raped than other women in the United States.
In the first round of answers, panelists said that the Council should urge
countries to bring legislative changes in order to protect women more
effectively against violence and to reform cultural norms that were the basis
of human rights violations. The problem of violence against women in all its
different aspects should be included in the Universal Periodic Review process.
Prevention was seen as the foremost step. It was noted that rape was now a
systematic strategy of war and thus, it should be pursued as a war crime. A
generally agreed issue was that violence against women had cultural roots and
that this was a grave human rights violation. Investing into policies providing
greater equality was seen as one of the step to take in order to improve the
situation. The problem of sexual exploitation and human trafficking was
believed to be one of the most outstanding problems; it was similar to slavery.
The Council was urged to readdress this situation.
In a second round of questions, delegations talked about the importance of data
collection in fighting against violence against women. What were the ways and
means to strengthen the possibilities to acquire objective data about violence
occurring within families? It was also underlined that women empowerment
remained central for achieving the Millennium Development Goals. What role did
the panel see for the Council in order to re-launch a specific reflection on
how to eradicate female genital mutilation? How could discussions in forums,
such as this, lead to practical work on the ground?
Non-governmental organizations also noted that gender-specific human rights
violations against women were too often invisible and seen as trivial or
private matters, despite efforts by women human rights activists for decades.
The rights of elder women were also addressed; they should be recognized as a
distinct vulnerable group and issues relating to them should be mainstreamed
within all Special Mandates. With regard to the Millennium Development Goals,
States were urged to allocate adequate resources to address gender equality and
provide financial support to women’s movements. The issue of women and young
girls affected by the conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo was also
brought up.
Statements by Panellists in Panel on Maternal Mortality and the Human
Rights of Women
PAUL HUNT, Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of
the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health, said that
the landscape of human rights was changing dramatically and this panel symbolised
this change. Human rights were also about prisoners of poverty and about
avoidable deaths from preventable health conditions. Poverty and preventable
maternal health had not been part of the human rights landscape ten years ago.
These changes demanded other changes, like cooperation across different
governmental departments, United Nations Agencies and professions. Today’s
panel typified the sort of cooperation that the new human rights landscape
demanded. In recent years, the Human Rights Council had played a decisive role
in shaping this new human rights landscape.
The health system required basic data which were disaggregated so that they
could know which disadvantaged groups to target. It required outreach
programmes to reach disadvantaged groups. It required monitoring and
accountability mechanisms to know what was working and what not. The right to
the highest attainable standard of life demanded that a health system had
certain key features. Of course, this right was subjected to resource availability;
this was a complication but it was manageable. Millennium Development Goal 5
had not generated as much attention as other Millennium Development Goals, but
there was now a proliferation of initiatives and programmes for maternal
health. Further, human rights demanded accountability: an accessible,
transparent, effective and independent mechanism, with a view of finding out
what worked. It seemed that currently, independent accountability was weak.
Women’s commissions were needed at the national level. At the international
level, the Universal Periodic Review had to routinely encompass maternal
mortality and relevant Special Procedures should be encouraged to give careful
attention to the topic. Could one expect the United Nations agencies to hold States
and others to account in relation to maternal mortality? It was not what they
were designed to do. There was no alternative to a simple mechanism at the
international level to hold States to account in this regard.
Discussion on Maternal Mortality and the Human Rights of Women
In the following debate, delegations made comments and raised questions on the
promotion of gender equality and that the enjoyment of human rights by women
and girls were goals in their own right. How could it be guaranteed that women
and men had access to the information, education and services needed to achieve
good sexual health and exercise their reproductive rights and responsibilities?
The issue of violence against women had many dimensions. A comprehensive
approach was important to deal with the issue in all its complexity. While it
was the responsibility of States to promote the rights of women, efforts needed
to be made at the international level to help develop remedies to deal with
such issues. Solutions should go beyond advocacy. Counselling and directives
should be aimed at underdevelopment and poverty, which constituted two main
causes hindering women’s enjoyment of all their rights.
Fostering coordination between international actors was vital to ensuring
consistent and coordinated approaches to prevention measures at the national
level. If a human rights consideration was integrated into policies and
programmes to address maternal mortality, such initiatives were likely to be
more effective, equitable, non-discriminatory and participatory. What role
could national human rights mechanisms play in assisting existing efforts to
reduce maternal mortality rates? It was clear that preventing maternal
mortality was more than just a critical health issue, as well as one of the
Millennium Development Goals, but also a human rights issue that demanded the
attention of the Council. How would such information as treaty body reports,
facilitated visits by Special Rapporteurs and submissions for the Universal
Periodic Review help reduce the incidence of maternal mortality and how would
it relate to existing policies and programmes at the international and national
levels? Women should be able to participate in the design and implementation of
policy aimed at reducing maternal mortality rates. Would the Universal Periodic
Review mechanism be an effective mechanism used to affect maternal mortality
rates? If so how could it be used?
The Secretary-General’s study identified a number of actions States should
undertake in order to prevent and combat violence against women, speakers said.
Infant mortality rates had reduced and efforts had been made to continue to
generate greater resources to continue cutting these rates. Could the panel
point to practical and feasible ways that health service providers and
non-governmental organizations could aim to reduce maternal mortality?
Maternal health was accorded a top priority in the belief that healthy mothers
brought up healthy children. There had been collaboration with the World Health
Organization to develop training in family planning and safe motherhood
strategies. What role could the Council play in addressing this issue without
duplicating already established efforts? If the Millennium Development Goals
were not met it would be an injustice to women worldwide. Meetings such as the
Human Rights Council should take place regularly to address maternal health.
Could accessibility, availability, appropriateness, and quality be good
indicators for establishing policies for high standard heath care services?
Concluding Remarks by Panellists on Maternal Mortality and the Human
Rights of Women
PAUL HUNT, Special Rapporteur on the right to health, answering
questions that pertained to how to keep institutions from overlapping work and
also how to bring a human rights perspective to maternal mortality, said that
there were many technical experts available who knew what had to be done to
reduce maternal mortality. They were not well positioned to make independent
judgements about what States and others were doing. It was the United Nations
rights system that was best positioned to do that. A mechanism of robust,
transparent and effective international accountability was needed. And here was
a role the Human Rights Council could play. It would have to develop the
capacity, however, employing medical experts and workers along with human
rights experts.
Mr. Hunt, in concluding remarks, said that, as was known, in 1978, the World
Health Assembly had adopted the goal of “Health for All” by 2000. It was an
inspiring document. But the goal had not been realised, nor had there been an
independent monitoring process of the implementation of this decision. It was
now known that national policies had been put in place during this time that
had been running counter this goal.
On the role of donors, Mr. Hunt said that maternal mortality was a great
challenge for developed countries. In recent studies, it had been revealed that
the great bulk of donors were still going through projects, not through budget
support. Additional investments were needed to realise Millennium Development
Goal 5. But the recipients States also had their roles to play. Further,
settling the issue of maternal mortality required a number of different
interventions and most of all an effective health system was needed. What had
to be done was known, but it was strange that some States were doing what was
needed and others were not doing what was needed.
Also, there was no point accelerating women’s access to clinic, if when they
got there services were inadequate or inexistent, noted Mr. Hunt. A package of
intervention was needed: education about reproduction was needed, talk about
contraception was important. These were sensitive issues that had to be
approached with the right mix.
On indicators and benchmarks, Mr. Hunt said that they were much needed. They
could help policy makers. United Nations treaty bodies had been encouraging
States to work with such tools. The scale of maternal mortality was absolutely
shocking, it was nothing compared to the number of executions and
disappearances throughout the world. Maternal mortality was, for its most part
preventable. It was not just a humanitarian and health problem, it was a human
rights problem. The good news was that experts knew what needed to be done. One
of the key issues was international accountability. Other international
initiatives were urged to take that role if the Human Rights Council was
presently not able to do so.
FRANCIS SONGANE, Secretariat for the Partnership for Maternal, Newborn and
Child Health, Former Health Minister of Mozambique, Moderator, said that it
was important to share information and it would be useful if the Human Rights
Council had the issue of maternal mortality as a regular agenda item.
In summarizing some of the key points made during the meeting, Mr. Songane said
some of the points made were on recognizing that maternal mortality and infant
mortality were recognized as human rights issues, there was a call to address
the issues, that accountability was at both the national and international
level, availability of data was vital and not just global data, but local data
that could help these groups of people, community support was strongly
encouraged as they could reach the most marginalized members, and a comprehensive
plan at the national level should be devised, including a budgetary plan. The
relevant Special Rapporteurs were also encouraged to give this issue special
attention. The creation of a simple mechanism for accountability to meet the
Millennium Development Goals was stressed.
Mr. Songane said that in order to ensure that information was shared it was
important to liaise with the Secretariat. Further to build on that knowledge
base, published information could be used and built on. Having maternal health
on the Council’s agenda would be extraordinary. The strengthening of the health
care systems was the best way to track the rates. For example caesarean
procedures dealt with real emergencies, a time when complications could not
arise and if a facility could deal with this type of procedure in a timely
manner; providing the quality of care necessary to successfully and safely
deliver a healthy baby, this would be a good indicator that there had been
progress in improvement of that health care system.
This was the first time this topic had been debated for three hours at the
Council. It was remarkable and he was very thankful and looked forward to
working with the interface of the Council and other institutions. At the
meeting in Cape Town, at the inter-parliamentary meeting where over 300
parliamentarians discussed these issues, they were surprised with the scale and
magnitude. Information was crucial to improving maternal and child health care
and was necessary to reach the Millennium Development Goals.
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