WUNRN
POLITICAL TRANSITION FROM A HUMAN
RIGHTS PERSPECTIVE - WOMEN, DRIVERS OF TRANSITIONS
Direct Link to Full 32-Page 2013
FIDH Report:
CHAPTER II - WOMEN, DRIVERS OF
TRANSITIONS
II. Women, Drivers of Transitions
If women played a key role in revolutions or the Arab Spring, the degree of public recognition of this role varied largely according to the conservatism of the societies of the countries of the region. Steadily, the demands of women in these revolutions were expressed in two ways: equality for all and the development of their own rights to full citizenship. If the claims of women in the development of their own rights have mostly not been completed, so far there is an undeniable historical movement: the issue of women’s rights is now central in each society of the countries marked by these revolutions.
In
Generally, participation
of women in the peace negotiations and the transition processes remain limited.
Thus, for example, women have a reduced role in the peace negotiations in
In
Women’s representation in political bodies of their country is essential to allow a democratic transition, taking into account the protection of women’s rights. The threshold of 30% generally proposed as the minimum cannot be considered as sufficient. Some so-called democratic countries unfortunately have little lessons to give on the subject. How to confront attempts led by conservative forces to limit women’s rights?
In
Thus, FIDH should:
Continue to
call on states to take the necessary institutional, political and cultural
measures to promote the participation of women in public life in general, and,
in particular, in the processes and institutions of transition.
Continue to
call on states in transition to take constitutional and legislative measures to
guarantee equality between men and women and the protection of their rights
under international and regional human rights instruments.
Contribute
to the participation of women in the processes of prevention and settlement of
conflicts and the implementation of the entire Resolution 1325 of the UN
Security Council and subsequent follow-up resolutions.
Strengthen
its activities concerning the access of women to justice and the use of
judicial and quasi-judicial redress mechanisms so as to enforce women’s rights.
Strengthen its action in the fight against impunity of the perpetrators of sexual crimes.
The organisations defending human
rights, and in particular FIDH and its members, should ensure equal
representation between men and women in their decision making bodies.
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At
a time when the rights of women are being threatened by regression in many
countries, FIDH recalls the universality and indivisibility of human rights.
Women have equal rights in all domains, including the right to participate in
the social, cultural, economic and political life of their country, as well as
in peace and reconciliation processes. FIDH calls on States to take all
necessary institutional, political and cultural reforms and measures to promote
equal participation of women in public life and to abolish restrictive family
law. FIDH recalls women have the right to access to all services and means
enabling to control their own fertility.
Freedom
of expression is a fundamental right guaranteed by all the international and
regional instruments on the protection of human rights. It can only be
restricted by law, under explicitly stipulated conditions, and interpreted in a
controlled manner. In this vein, FIDH notes that inciting hatred, in certain
circumstances, may constitute an international crime, as set out in the Statute
of the International Criminal Court (ICC). New Information and Communication
technologies are important means that should be protected from abusive
restrictions.