WUNRN
USA - Women's Collective Call to
Government for Ending VAW, International VAW Act, CEDAW Ratification
"Combating Violence and Discrimination Against Women: A Global Call
to Action" Senate
Foreign Relations Subcommittee on International Operations and Organizations,
Human Rights, Democracy, and Global Women’s Issues June 24, 2014
We, the 74 undersigned
organizations, wish to thank Chair Barbara Boxer and Ranking Member Rand Paul
of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on International Operations and
Organizations, Human Rights, Democracy, and Global Women’s Issues for convening
this hearing on "Combating Violence and Discrimination Against Women: A
Global Call to Action." We call on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee
and the U.S. Senate to move forward to pass the International Violence Against
Women Act (IVAWA) and to ratify the Convention on the Elimination of all forms
of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) in this Congress. These tools will give
the United States greater clout to urge other countries to take all necessary
steps to combat discrimination and violence against women and girls.
Gender-based violence (GBV)
is the most widespread human rights violation in every part of the world. The
well-documented cases of using rape as a weapon of war in the Congo, acid
attacks on the faces of girls going to school in Afghanistan, the 2012 shooting
of Pakistani education and women’s rights activist, Malala Yousafzai, by the Taliban,
and the recent horrific sexual assaults and hanging of girls and young women in
India are only the most visible evidence of pervasive violence against women
and girls. Unfortunately, intimate partner violence, often less visible, is
also an epidemic, affecting 35% of women globally every year.i Women have organized campaigns
calling on their governments not only to adopt laws to provide services and
safety for women and their children, bring perpetrators of violence to justice,
educate the public, and engage boys and men, but also to address the underlying
causes of discrimination and gender inequalities.
In addressing violence
against women, many countries have been aided by the Convention on the
Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), also known as
the women’s equality treaty. CEDAW considers gender-based violence – that is,
violence directed at women and girls just because they are female – to be a
form of discrimination under the Convention, because such violence impairs or
nullifies women’s full enjoyment of their basic human rights.ii
CEDAW offers countries a
practical blueprint to achieve progress for women and girls by calling on each
ratifying country to overcome barriers to discrimination. For example, when
activists in Afghanistan proposed the Law on the Elimination of Violence
Against Women, they looked to CEDAW as a model to guide their approach. The
South Korean Women’s Movements Against Gender Violence looked to CEDAW to
propose laws on domestic violence, which were then adopted by the government.
Mexico, in adopting its General Law on Women’s Access to a Life Free from
Violence, drew on CEDAW, among other international and regional treaties.
Following recommendations from the CEDAW Committee,
Mexico is now training its
federal judiciary in human rights, gender-based violence and non-discrimination
along with CEDAW to promote women’s access to justice. In line with
recommendations of the CEDAW Committee, Turkey enacted the Protection of the
Family and Prevention of Violence against Women Law in 2012. Other examples of
how CEDAW has been used to combat violence against women can be found in
Recognizing Rights, Promoting Progress: The Global Impact of the Convention on
the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women (www.icrw.org).
187 countries have ratified
CEDAW. The United States is one of only seven countries in the world that has
not ratified CEDAW, along with Iran, Somalia, Sudan, South Sudan, Palau, and
Tonga. The United States’ failure to ratify CEDAW undermines its leadership in
the global fight to combat discrimination and violence against women, calls
into question its credibility, and gives the appearance that the United States
does not believe that reducing discrimination and violence against women should
be a priority for governments around the world.
The scourge of violence
against women and girls, however, threatens the basic security of the United
States and the world. This epidemic not only affects women, their families and
communities, but it also undermines the stability and prosperity of whole
societies. This, in turn, has a direct impact upon U.S. foreign policy,
security interests, and democracy and peace-building efforts. Gender-based
violence against women does not stop at U.S. borders. Instead, it affects the
well-being of all people in the United States by contributing to global
instability. The Senate must ratify CEDAW to enhance U.S. leadership in this
area and support the important work to combat discrimination and violence against
women being done by the U.S. Department of State and other Departments and
agencies. CEDAW gives the United States another tool to advance the status of
women and increase opportunities for prosperity for everyone.
Another mechanism central
to the global prevention of and response to gender-based violence is the
bipartisan International Violence Against Women Act, H.R. 3571/S.2307, (IVAWA).
IVAWA makes ending violence against women and girls a top diplomatic and
foreign assistance priority by codifying, implementing, and giving
congressional oversight to the ongoing U.S. Strategy to Prevent and Respond
to Gender-Based Violence Globally (the Strategy). The Strategy,
created by Executive Order in August 2012, calls for a coordinated,
multi-sectoral response to gender-based violence – a process led by an
Interagency Working Group to ensure maximum efficiency. IVAWA also permanently
authorizes the State Department’s Office of Global Women’s Issues with the
position of Ambassador-at-Large, who coordinates policies, programs, and
funding relating to gender integration and women’s empowerment internationally,
including those intended to prevent and respond to gender-based violence (GBV).
In addition, IVAWA authorizes the position of USAID Senior Gender Coordinator,
who is responsible for working with senior leadership and mission staff to
fully integrate gender equality and female empowerment into USAID’s policies,
programs, and strategies. These entities exist within the current structures of
both agencies and would not add a new level of bureaucracy; rather, their
existence contributes to greater accountability of the gender-focused policies
and programming currently in place.
IVAWA would streamline and
better coordinate anti-GBV programming across various U.S. government agencies,
making addressing GBV a cornerstone of U.S. development and foreign policy.
Since this
legislation is aimed at
coordinating and integrating existing programs, it does not require the
appropriation of additional funding. The bill also focuses on preventing
violence by transforming social norms about the acceptability of it. IVAWA
recognizes that while women and girls disproportionately suffer from violence,
men and boys experience targeted violence too. The bill intentionally utilizes
the term GBV throughout, making it inclusive of all persons and not precluding
programs from supporting men and boys. IVAWA will support public awareness
programs to change attitudes that condone, and at times encourage, violence
against women and girls, as well as men and boys, and will emphasize
community-based solutions.
This integral piece of
legislation would also increase legal and judicial protection to address
gender-based violence; integrate programs to address gender-based violence into
already existing health programs focused on child survival, health, and
HIV/AIDS prevention, care, and treatment; reduce women and girls’ vulnerability
to violence by improving their economic status and educational opportunities;
and, promote women’s inclusion in civil and political life.
We believe the United
States can and should be a leader in ending one of the biggest obstacles not
only to U.S. national security but also global stability, development,
prosperity, and human rights for all. Ending violence against women and girls,
men and boys, and advancing women’s equality is fundamental to the United
States’ national security interests and today is a cornerstone of America’s
foreign policy. Countries are more peaceful and prosperous when women have full
and equal rights and opportunities. We acknowledge the leadership taken by the
United States to condemn gender-based violence wherever it occurs – from
Afghanistan and Guatemala, to Nigeria and the DRC, to the gender-based violence
women experience every day in the United States – and we applaud the adoption
of the Violence Against Women Act of 2013.
But today is a call to
action because more needs to be done to combat discrimination and gender-based
violence globally. There are two more tools in the United States’ toolbox that
are before this Committee right now.
We, 74 undersigned
organizations, call on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the U.S.
Senate to move forward to pass the International Violence Against Women Act
(IVAWA) and to ratify CEDAW in this Congress. These important tools will give
the United States greater ability to work with and support other countries to
take all necessary measures to prevent and one day end discrimination and
violence against women and girls. The time to act is now.
9to5
American Association of
University Women
American Civil Liberties
Union
American Jewish Committee
American Jewish World
Service
American Psychological
Association
Amnesty International USA
Anti-Defamation League
Baha'is of the United States
Better World Campaign
California Women's Agenda
Center for Gender &
Refugee Studies
The Center for Health and
Gender Equity
Center for Reproductive
Rights
Communications Workers of
America
Decisions In Democracy
International
Demos
Equality Now
Feminist Majority
Freedom House
Futures Without Violence
Gender Action
GlobalSolutions.org
Guatemala Human Rights
Commission
Hadassah, The Women’s
Zionist Organization of America, Inc.
Human Rights Advocates
Human Rights Watch
The Hunger Project
IMA World Health
Institute for Science and
Human Values, Inc.
The Interfaith Center of
New York
International
Psychoanalytical Association
Jacob Blaustein Institute
for the Advancement of Human Rights
Jewish Board of Family and
Children’s Services
Jewish Women International
Jewish World Watch
The Leadership Conference
on Civil and Human Rights
MomsRising
The National Conference of
Puerto Rican Women, Inc.
National Council of Jewish
Women
National Council of Women's
Organizations
National Education
Association
National Network to End
Domestic Violence
National Organization for
Women
National Women’s Law Center
Pathfinder International
Peaceful Families Project
Population Action
International
The Roosevelt Institute,
Women and Girls Rising Program
i World
Health Organization. Violence against women. 2013.
http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs239/en/.
ii U.N.
Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women, 11th Session,
General Recommendation No. 19: Violence Against Women. 1992.
Tahirih Justice Center
UJA-Federation of New York
United Methodist Women
United Nations Association
of the United States of America
US National Committee for
UN Women
US Women and Cuba
Collaboration
US Women Connect
Vital Voices Global
Partnership
Women Donors Network
Women Employed
Women Enabled
Women for Women
International
Women Graduates-USA
Women Legislators’ Lobby
WomenNC
Women Thrive Worldwide
Women Watch Afrika, Inc.
Women’s Action for New
Directions
Women’s Business
Development Center
Women's Campaign
International
Women's City Club of New
York
Women's Intercultural
Network
Women's UN Report Network
YWCA USA
Zonta International