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UN Human Rights Council – 23

“Violence against Women and the Human Right to Peace”

World YWCA

Marie-Claude Julsaint, Global Programme Manager VAW

 

31 May 2013

 

Occupation, armed conflict and war, including military abuse, are forms of violence that impact the lives of women, young women and girls, and exacerbate already existing genderbased violence and gender inequalities in society. According to a recent WHO study, close to 90% of current war casualties are civilians, the majority of whom are women and children, and rape is increasingly being used as a weapon of war. The proliferation of firearms, even in so called “peaceful” countries, has a direct impact on violence against women, young women and girls.

 

 

But peace is much more than the absence of wars and conflict, of fighting between nations or communities with guns and other weapons. Peace is also the harmonious relations between individuals in families, in communities, at the workplace and other social settings, as well as ensuring to present and future generations the possibility of living in harmony with nature.

 

 

Violence against women, young women and girls has grave consequences in communities including the impact on women’s physical and mental health, the destruction of family and social structures and the perpetuation of further violence. Violence against women, young women and girls has a significant social and economic cost on societies and places significant pressure on the sustainable development of countries.

 

 

In my home country, Haiti, women are referred to as the “poto mitan” of the society. The poto mitan is the central post in a voodoo temple that serves as the connection between the spiritual and the physical world; it is the conduit for the spirits to enter the physical world during a voodoo ceremony. Women are therefore the central beam that keeps everything in order and connected, in other words peaceful. This simple concept has clear resonance with UN Security Council Resolution 1325, affirming women's important role in peace building and conflict resolution. However, it also highlights the challenge that the struggle for peace in the home, in the community and in the world cannot be won until violence against women is eliminated in all of its forms.

 

 

The link between gender equality, women’s rights and peace

At the root of violence against women is gender inequality and the imbalance of power relations. Therefore, as long as these factors continue to exist, violence against women, young women and girls will prevail. Equality before the law and non-discrimination are principles of international human rights law, and a true partnership between men and women is needed for sustainable development and peace in the world. Women and girls have the right to live a life free of violence, a right to peace!

 

 

We are pleased to see this recognised in the report released yesterday by the High Level Panel on the post-MDGs, which has called for inclusion of a goal to empower girls and women and achieve gender equality. And put as the first priority to prevent and eliminate all forms of violence against girls and women. We encourage States to endorse this recommendation.

 

 

Indeed, peace, security, women’s human rights and development are all linked and mutually reinforcing. The UN Security Council Resolution 1325 and subsequent Security Council resolutions 1820, 1888, 1889 on women, peace and security, are a contribution to how gender equality and women's rights can be integrated into the right to peace. Women’s equal participation in conflict prevention, peace-building, and post-conflict reconstruction at all stages are essential for international peace and security.

 

 

After almost 3 decades of war in Sri Lanka, the YWCA of Sri Lanka has made peace with justice one of its priorities and has taken up the challenge of helping women to build peaceful and just communities which recognise and respect the identities and rights of all people, including women, of different ethnic backgrounds. One of the most significant peace initiatives of the YWCA was the “Peace and reconciliation programme for war affected women”. It was a residential programme to bring healing among women survivors of war and violence, including rape and other forms of sexual violence. Participants, representing all ethnicities, faiths and regions of the country, understood that all women face common challenges and the same impact of conflict, regardless of their ethnicity.  Many participants were moved by the stories of other women and their eyes were opened to the suffering felt on different sides. This built a spirit of concern among survivors of violence and a connection with other survivors of the conflict. This peace building programme shows that positive engagement with communities, including the participation of women, can result in transformation of attitudes and peace in communities. For many women, this was a life changing opportunity as it allowed them to engage several days with groups that had once been their enemies. It gave them new insights to realise that conflicts can be solved by working with one another and forgiveness. It helped realise that by getting involved, even in small ways, they can contribute to the overall national reconciliation process.

 

 

The Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action states that the “full participation of women in decision-making, conflict prevention and resolution and any other peace initiative are essential to the realisation of lasting peace”. But how can we maximise this potential - of half the world's population - while women continue to be subjected to violence in their daily lives - intimate partner violence, sexual violence and rape. UN Women estimates that in some countries, up to 70% of the female population will experience violence in their lifetime, which for many will have lasting emotional, physical and mental health consequences. So while violence continues to be part of the daily reality of women's lives, we are unable to maximize the potential to lead the world to peace and exercise the right to peace.

 

 

The right to peace must be recognised under international human rights law. The founding of the United Nations itself was premised on the need to find global peace, security and peaceful coexistence and collaboration of Nations. The purpose of the United Nations, as stated in the UN Charter, is “to maintain international peace and security, and to that end: to take effective collective measures for the prevention and removal of threats to the peace, and for the suppression of acts of aggression or other breaches of the peace, and to bring this) about by peaceful means, and in conformity with the principles of justice and international law…”

 

 

The concept of the right to peace itself has already been recognised in international and regional human rights instruments, such as the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (1982) and the Declaration on Human Rights adopted by the ASEAN countries (2012).

 

The GA Declaration on the Right to Development (1986) states that “the right to development is an inalienable human right”. If the right to development has been recognised as a human right, it can be argued that the right to peace is also a human right that deserves recognition.

 

 

Here, the mandate of the Open Ended Working Group on the right to peace to progressively negotiate a UN Declaration on the right to peace, or on the human right to peace, as well as further define the legal content of this emerging right, is critical.

 

 

The prevention of conflict is important as is advancing the international legal framework and mechanisms to support prevention. The UN system, including the Human Rights Council, should not be only reacting with urgent debates and resolutions, to conflict situations, which always exacerbate violence against women.

 

 

The recently adopted London Declaration on the Right to Peace on 23 May 2013, following the workshop of experts, calls on the President of the Human Rights Council to support the timely and fruitful conclusion of a UN Declaration on the Right to Peace.

 

 

In the meantime, we need to strengthen existing human rights mechanisms to make the link between violence against women and peace. Although the UPR process, for example, allows for States to look at a multiplicity of issues, and most UPR recommendations are around violence against women, very few recommendations make the link between violence against women or gender-based violence and peace, and hardly any address the root causes of violence, including patriarchy. At this stage, internationally we are still only treating the symptoms.

 

 

However it is a different story in local communities. On the ground through YWCAs in 22,000 communities, we are contributing to the actualisation of the right to peace and working to tackle the root causes. Reaching over 25 million women, young women and girls in 120 countries, the World YWCA movement has a clear focus on advancing gender equality and women’s human rights. Violence against women, young women and girls is one of the organisation’s global priorities, building on nearly 160 years of experience in community interventions on this issue. This includes providing support for survivors of violence to rebuild their lives and dignity, early intervention with those at risk of violence, including emergency accommodation, legal services, community education and advocacy for legal and policy reform in over 70 countries. Most importantly it also includes working to address the underlying gender inequalities that enable violence to continue by challenging harmful social and cultural norms and calling for greater accountability for global commitments such as the Beijing Platform for Action, CEDAW and UNSCR 1325. It also includes providing safe spaces for women, young women and girls experiencing violence and empowering women socially and economically to build the capacity to exercise their right to freedom from violence.

 

 

The YWCA’s work on violence against women seeks to ensure women, young women and girls are able to claim their rights, including the “inherent right to life in peace” (as enshrined in the General Assembly resolution on the Declaration on the Preparation of Societies for Life in Peace – 1978), as empowered leaders, decision makers and change agents in responding to issues affecting their lives and communities.

 

Thank you.