PRESS CONFERENCE BY PARLIAMENTARY UNDER-SECRETARY OF STATE FOR WOMEN OF UNITED KINGDOM
Press Briefing
PRESS CONFERENCE BY PARLIAMENTARY UNDER-SECRETARY OF STATE FOR WOMEN OF UNITED KINGDOM
19980302
The human rights of women were not truly respected anywhere in the world, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Women of the United Kingdom, Joan Ruddock, told correspondents at a Headquarters press conference this afternoon.
As the first Minister for Women in her country, Ms. Ruddock said it was a great honour to be representing the Presidency of the European Union at the forty-second session of the Commission on the Status of Women. The issues before the Commission included: violence against women, women and armed conflict, human rights of women and the girl child. Those important subjects were also four of the 12 critical areas of concern highlighted in the Platform for Action of the Fourth World Conference on Women (Beijing, 1995). Violence against women was a particular priority for the United Kingdom, and it was a priority for the European Union as a whole. Violence against women was also one of six priorities identified by the United Kingdom Ministers for Women.
The European Union believed that the human rights of women were an inalienable, integral and indivisible part of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Ms. Ruddock said. The Union would take that position in all of its negotiations throughout the current session of the Commission on the Status of Women. There could be no separation between that Declaration and the human rights of women.
She went on to say that the European Union supported the efforts of the International Labour Organization (ILO) to combat child labour. It also welcomed the inclusion of child labour in the agenda of the ILO's 1998 Conference.
Regarding armed conflict, Ms. Ruddock said the European Union supported the creation of a permanent international criminal court as an essential tool to protect human rights and to bring perpetrators of war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity to justice. There were many gender issues associated with those crimes.
Ms. Ruddock said the European Union also supported the work of the Working Group elaborating an optional protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. In addition, the Union supported all efforts to conclude work on the optional protocol before the end of the Commission's session.
Non-governmental organizations had an important overall role to play alongside the Commission on the Status of Women, she continued. The United Kingdom, as well as most member States of the European Union, worked very closely with non-governmental organizations. In fact, one of the Ministers
Ruddock Press Conference - 2 - 2 March 1998
for Women's six priorities was opening up a new dialogue with women. That included establishing a dialogue with women who did not join women's organizations and who also needed to have their voices heard by the Government.
While progress of negotiations was often slow, painful and frustrating, she said the European Union supported the process. It hoped that by the end of the current session of the Commission some movement forward could be made to ensure that the status of women throughout the world has improved.
A correspondent asked what was the leading gender issue in the creation of an international criminal court? Ms. Ruddock said the women were often brutalized in times of conflict. The actions of armed forces against women frequently resulted in the crimes of rape and genocide. Conflict bore particularly hard on women, who were one of the most vulnerable groups, often refugees, and victimized because of their gender.
Where does the European Union stand on the issue of women's rights in Afghanistan? a correspondent asked. Ms. Ruddock said that was an enormously controversial issue and would continue to be so through the Commission's current session. The European Union supported the resolution drafted by the United States, which was designed to give a higher profile to violations of human rights of women and children in Afghanistan. The Union would work with the United States, and other delegations, to secure the adoption of that resolution. It would be advantageous for all sides to have that resolution adopted by consensus, because it would give an indication of the international community's concern.
The same correspondent said part of the problem seemed to be that the Afghan voices most often heard were those of women in exile or of supporters of the former government. Would there be an effort to establish a dialogue with the Taliban? she asked. The Deputy Permanent Representative of the United Kingdom, Stephen Gomersall, said the European Union's position was that all parties in Afghanistan needed to respect the rights of women and girl children.
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