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SPECIAL RAPPORTEUR ON VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN CALLS ON WOMEN & MEN TO
UNITE IN TIMES OF ECONOMIC CRISIS
6
March 2009
On the occasion of International Women's Day (8 March), the UN Special
Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences, Yakin
Ertürk, issued the following statement:
“The scale and impact of the current crisis is still largely unknown, but it is
expected that women and girls in both developed and developing countries will
be particularly affected by job cuts, lose of livelihoods, increased
responsibilities in all spheres of their life, and an increased risk of
societal and domestic violence. A systematic gender analysis of the current
economic crisis is critical for developing viable solutions and upholding human
rights standards”, recommends the Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women,
its causes and consequences.
The World Bank predicts that up to 53 million more people will be driven to
poverty in developing countries this year, bringing the total number of those
living on less than $2 a day to over 1.5 billion. This will seriously
jeopardize the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals which aim to slash
poverty, hunger, infant and maternal mortality, and illiteracy by 2015. These
worrisome signs are likely to result in serious setbacks to the realization of
gender equality.
“Studies have shown that violence against women intensifies when men experience
displacement and dispossession related to economic crises, migration, war,
foreign occupation or other situations where masculinities compete and power
relations are altered in society. This makes it crucial to challenge norms of
masculinity in times of global economic and financial crisis” continues Ms.
Erturk.
If women are to live a life free of violence, efforts to change attitudes must
include strategies to challenge notions of masculinity based on policing
women’s sexuality and /or on sustaining male supremacy in public and private
life. Violence is not only an act of individual men but is embedded in the way
manhood is constructed, reinforced and challenged under societal pressures,
social approval mechanisms and crisis situations. The struggle for gender
equality is not about a battle of the sexes but rather a battle against
oppression, which men also have a stake in. Therefore, men and women working
together to end violence against women can be a step forward for greater
emancipation for all.
“After six years of extraordinary endeavours which took me to some 18 countries
and afforded me the privilege of meeting many remarkable women of great courage
and resilience, I will be submitting my final report to the 11th session of the
Human Rights Council (HRC) in June this year”, states the Special Rapporteur.
Appointed by the HRC in August 2003, Ms. Erturk will be completing her term
with the submission of her country mission and thematic reports to the HRC in
June 2009.
This year the thematic report will focus on the political economy of women’s
rights and its implications for violence against women. The report discusses
the current limitations of human rights discourse and practice in responding to
the socioeconomic conditions that produce and sustain gender-based violence. “I
believe this report will prove particularly relevant in the current economic
and financial crisis that is affecting people worldwide”, states Ms. Erturk.
On the occasion of International Women’s Day and in anticipation of the
upcoming 30th anniversary of CEDAW, the women’s bill of rights, the Special
Rapporteur takes this opportunity to call on States Parties to ensure full
compliance with its provisions.
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