WUNRN
LEBANON RELIGIOUS LEADERS & CIVIL SOCIETY JOIN TO ADDRESS VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN & GIRLS
UN Human Rights
Council Session 26 Panel - June 17, 2014 - Geneva
Statement by Prof.
Rashida Manjoo - UN Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women, Its Causes
and Consequences
Dear Friends and colleagues,
I would like to thank the
organizers for inviting me to participate in this panel on addressing gender
violence in Lebanon. I would also like to commend the initiatives of the ABAAD
Resource Center for Gender Equality for bringing together religious leaders and
other civil society participants in an international platform to discuss the
problem of violence against women in Lebanon. I regret, however, I am unable to
attend in person and hereby provide a short message to be read out on my
behalf.
Globally, violence against
women is a widespread and pervasive problem. Such violence is underpinned by
inequality and discrimination, including intersecting forms of discrimination,
which are both a cause and a consequence of violence against women. Violence
cuts across sex, gender, race, class, geographical location, religion or
belief, educational attainment, ability and sexuality, among others. Inequality
and discrimination is also rooted in patriarchy and ideologies of male
supremacy and female subordination.1 It
is argued that discrimination is rooted in the dominant culture of some
countries, and is largely based on or imputed to religion in such contexts.2
1 See
A/HRC/17/26
2 Study on
freedom of religion or belief and the status of women in light of religion and
traditions.
Report
submitted by Mr. Abdelfattah Amor, Special Rapporteur E/CN.4/2002/73/Add.2,
para.
3 Government of
Lebanon’s response
to due diligence questionnaire 2012
Under international law, States
have a duty to act with due diligence to eliminate violence against women.
Protection and prevention measures can include the adoption of specific laws,
policies and programmes; the development of awareness-raising campaigns; and
the provision of training for professional groups including the police,
prosecutors and members of the judiciary.
In the case of Lebanon, there
have been several normative and institutional measures adopted to address
violence against women in the past few years, including among others, the
passing of the domestic violence law in 2014, the establishment of a national
technical working group on ending violence against women in 2012, and the
repeal of article 562 of the Lebanese Criminal Code of 2011. The effect of the
repeal is that a person who without premeditation kills or harms a
"spouse, ancestor, descendant or sibling" whom he catches in the act
of adultery or fornication, or a partner to the act, no longer benefits from
mitigating circumstances.3
This is an important
development to address the impunity that surrounds gender-related killings of
women. 2
While these are indeed positive
steps toward the elimination of violence against women, I have repeatedly
argued that any measures adopted will not bring about substantive change if not
implemented within a holistic approach that simultaneously targets the
empowerment of women, social transformation to address structural and systemic
gender inequality, the continuum of discrimination and violence, and the
culture of impunity. Although the State is the ultimate duty bearer to ensure
appropriate responses and also accountability for violations of women’s human
rights, the role of civil society in this regard is also of importance. For
example, it appears that in Lebanon, religious leaders have a significant
influence, and their role in bringing about societal transformation broadly,
and on women’s human rights in particular, is a positive practice.
As stated by the Special
Rapporteur in the field of cultural rights in her first report to the Human
Rights Council in 2010, policy measures that allow for a participatory dialogue
to take place within the community, and encourage a modification of cultural
patterns or practices that are detrimental to the enjoyment of human rights are
also necessary. There is indeed a need to reinforce positive elements of
culture at the community level while raising awareness of the oppressive nature
of certain practices pursued in the name of culture through a multi-stakeholder
process of "cultural negotiation" involving families, intellectuals
and community leaders.4
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