STATUS OF WOMEN COMMISSION HEARS CALLS FOR ELABORATION OF LEGALLY BINDING INTERNATIONAL INSTRUMENT ON VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN
Press Release
WOM/1040
STATUS OF WOMEN COMMISSION HEARS CALLS FOR ELABORATION OF LEGALLY BINDING INTERNATIONAL INSTRUMENT ON VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN
19980305 The Special Rapporteur on violence against women of the Commission on Human Rights proposed that a new optional protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women should be elaborated as a means to effectively combat violence against women, as she addressed the Commission on the Status of Women this afternoon.Speaking as an expert member of the panel on violence against women, Radhika Coomaraswamy said an international legal regime for addressing the problem of violence against women would enable women to seek remedies at the international level, would require that governments submit progress reports on policy development and would also allow for accountability and transparency.
The panel on violence against women was the last to be held on the four critical areas of concern of the Beijing Platform for Action that are under consideration by the current session of the Commission.
Barbara Prammer, Federal Minister for Women's Affairs and Consumer Protection of Austria, said it was high time for Member States to consider the elaboration of a legally binding international instrument on violence against women. An international database should be introduced to serve as a formidable tool for informed decision-making. An enhanced exchange of best practices and lessons learned was also of paramount importance. National action plans on the elimination of violence against women should be drawn up by Member States.
Bonnie Campbell, Head of the United States Justice Department's Violence against Women Office, stressed the importance of witness protection programmes for victims of domestic violence. She said men battered women because there were no consequences for such actions. A system to correct that must be put in place.
Another expert, Lisbeth Guevara, Professor of Law and member of the Commission against Domestic Violence of the National Women's Council in Venezuela, said that in addition to legislation, there was need for education to promote respect for laws to prevent violence against women. There should be increased access to the law for women and the poor sectors of society.
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Also this afternoon, Esmaeil Afshari (Iran) was appointed a member of the Commission's Working Group on Communications on the Status of Women. The four other appointees were announced at this morning's meeting. The working group considers confidential and non-confidential information on issues related to the status of women sent to the Commission.
The Commission will meet again at 10 a.m. tomorrow, 6 March, to resume its general discussion on implementation of strategic objectives and action in the critical areas of concern in the Beijing Platform for Action. Following that, the Commission will meet as the Preparatory Committee for the General Assembly's high-level review in the year 2000 of the implementation of the Nairobi Forward-looking Strategies and the Beijing Platform for Action. It began discussion on the subject on Wednesday evening.
Commission Work Programme
The Commission on the Status of Women met this afternoon to conclude its series of panel discussions on the critical areas of concern of the Beijing Platform for Action that it is focusing on during its current forty-second session. The theme of this afternoon's panel is "violence against women".
Panel Discussion
BARBARA PRAMMER, Federal Minister for Women's Affairs and Consumer Protection of Austria, said her country had successfully introduced measures and adopted legislation to support women victims of violence. It would be morally justifiable to provide funds for programmes for offenders only when assistance to victims had been given priority and everything was done to prevent violence against women. By involving occupational and professional groups into the discussion, the issue of violence against women had been put into centre stage, where it belonged. Training and educational materials had been developed and updated, and were being widely used by professionals and non-governmental organizations in Austria. Training of police officers had been mandatory for the past three years and was an integral part of the basic training programme for law enforcement personnel in the country.
The impact of a law, "Protection against Violence Act", which became effective last May, had been enormous, she said. Restraining orders on violent men had granted victims the right to stay in their homes while the perpetrator was made to leave and to stay away. The procedure had proved to be viable and a practical way to give victims the protection, sympathy, security and help which they were entitled to.
She said a national action plan on the elimination of violence should be drawn up in each United Nations Member State. An international database should be introduced to serve as a formidable tool for informed decision- making. An enhanced exchange of best practices and lessons learned was of paramount importance. It was high time for Member States to consider the elaboration of a legally-binding international instrument on violence against women.
BONNIE CAMPBELL, Head of the United States Justice Department's Violence against Women Office, said a large part of her job was implementing laws on violence against women and trafficking in women. In the United States, women were all united on the issue of violence against women, while they might disagree on a number of other issues. The federal authorities were now emphasizing public education in the campaign on violence against women. Discretion had been taken out of the criminal justice system on the issue of violence against women, and many communities and states had adopted a mandatory arrest system.
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Prosecutors were taking up cases even when the victim was unwilling to press charges, she said. The federal government had allocated $2 billion for the states for prosecution, law enforcement and victim assistance programmes. Special units on violence against women were being established in police departments across the country. The Violence against Women's Act had provisions for spending on public policy issues relating to violence against women. Under federal criminal felony law, any person subject to a protective order could not purchase arms. Those convicted in domestic violence cases could also not carry arms, she added.
LISBETH GUEVARA, Professor of Law and member of the Commission against Domestic Violence of the National Women's Council in Venezuela, elaborated on a new national plan in her country, covering the period 1998-2003, to prevent, punish and eradicate violence against women. It was multidisciplinary and would be implemented by government ministries. Programmes had been developed to increase awareness of the social problem of violence against women and the family and to sensitize specific groups such as State officials and other target groups. The Ministry of Justice had started to implement aspects of the plan, for example, by creating a court to try crimes of violence against women. However, a number of obstacles remained, such as the inadequacy of the existing legislation, the lack of information for citizens and the difficulty of access to the legal system.
Although laws had been developed to address the problem of violence, two essential aspects were still missing, she said. If those aspects were not dealt with, everything else would fail. One aspect was the need for education to ensure that young people were aware of the law and to orient them towards defending values underlying the law. There was need to build a society that respected laws and the values underpinning the law. The other aspect that needed to be taken into account was increased access to the legal system for women, particularly the poorer sector of the population. That lack of access weakened respect for the system. She recommended that the Commission demand that States pay special attention to those fundamental aspects of the protection of women against violence.
RADHIKA COOMARASWAMY, Special Rapporteur on violence against women of the Commission on Human Rights, highlighted four areas of future action for the Commission in the area of violence against women. Based on her assessment of the gaps that existed regarding the formulation of policies and strategies with regard to violence against women, she said the four areas that needed immediate attention were: either a new convention on the elimination of violence against women or a new protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women on the issue; the need to request governments to formulate national plans of action to combat violence against women in a holistic, multidisciplinary manner; the need for the Commission to set up mechanisms for the collection of data and statistics on the causes and consequences of violence as well as the impact of specific government
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programmes that attempt to deal with issues of violence against women; and the need to develop strategies of international and regional cooperation to combat violence against women and across national boundaries.
Regarding the protocol, she said violence against women went beyond equality, peace and development, which were the animating principles of the Women's Anti-Discrimination Convention. It had strong links to other human rights provisions, such as the right to life, freedom of torture, the Geneva Conventions, and freedom from detention and arbitrary arrest. If there was an international regime to address the problem of violence against women, women would have the right to seek remedies at the international level. Government would also have an obligation to submit reports on their progress in policy development on the matter. A protocol would also allow for accountability and transparency for a large number of nation States.
On the issue of national plans of action to combat violence against women, she said that should focus first on law reforms, so that the regulatory framework would be gender sensitive. Such reform would include laws against incest in countries that did not have such laws; special legislation on domestic violence; and laws which defined rape in broader terms than sexual intercourse and which did not allow the victim's character to be placed on trial by bringing evidence of past sexual history. Law reform should also involve stringent measures with regard to trafficking and new areas such as those that have surfaced in the context of armed conflict -- sexual slavery, forced impregnation, forced deportations, forced sterilization, forced abortion, coercive use of contraceptives, female infanticide and prenatal sex selection. Legal reform should also sensitize personnel in the criminal justice system. Education awareness programmes should also be considered in national plans.
Comments and Observations
In comments and observations, speakers underlined the importance of awareness-raising about the issue of violence against women. Educational efforts should begin within the family unit, in the community and in schools, and particularly education of men. The role of non-governmental organizations in such campaigns should be made more transparent, one speaker said. Others said the emphasis should be shifted from the victim of violence to the perpetrators. Also, training programmes should be organized for the police and members of the judiciary to be sensitive to the problem and women should be encouraged to become police officers, prosecutors and judges. Information exchange on data on violence against women and on best practices in addressing the problem was urged by a number of speakers. One wondered whether the panellists had any information on the best means of making such data available worldwide.
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Raising the issue of the economic consequences of violence against women, including effects on national economies and corporations and small companies, a speaker asked whether the panellists had some observations on the subject.
Another speaker called for the exploration of the root causes of violence against women and the need for coordinated government response to the problem. The Commission should pronounce itself on the issue, he said. Panellists were asked to comment on the risk of trivializing the issue through its categorization as domestic violence.
A non-governmental representative called on governments to allocate and increase resources to women to enable them and their children to combat violence. Governments should recognize violence against women and female genital mutilation as crimes and prosecute offenders. Rape crisis centres and help-lines for women should be set up for women traumatized and overwhelmed by obstacles facing them.
Responses by Panellists
Replying to the comments and observations, Ms. CAMPBELL, Head of the United States Justice Department's Violence against Women's Office, requested States to focus on the problems of the disabled, whose specific problems should be recognized. She said the costs of violence against women were very high. Most violence against women occurred in the workplace and had their origins at home. It also endangered others. Violence against women was a bottom-line economic problem. She also called for information exchange on data collection.
Ms. COOMARASWAMY, Special Rapporteur on violence against women, said she favoured the use of an optional protocol-type of international instrument to deal with problems of domestic and other violence against women. She encouraged delegations to work towards the completion of work on an optional protocol.
Ms. GUEVARA, Member of the Commission against Domestic Violence of the National Women's Council in Venezuela, said the term "domestic violence" created awareness about the problems of violence perpetrated against women.
Ms. PRAMMER, Federal Minister for Women's Affairs and Consumer Protection of Austria, said she believed the use of an optional protocol was one way to deal with the problem of violence against women. Also, it was important to use the term "domestic violence" to bring the problem out into the open.
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Comments and Observations
In further comments and observations, some speakers referred to efforts being made in their countries to combat that problem. A speaker drew attention to the domestic violence summit convened by the Prime Minister of Australia in 1997. A speaker from Mauritius said domestic violence awareness week had been marked in her country last August.
Others stressed the importance of prevention, investigation and appropriate assistance to victims. The idea of witness protection was also urged. A speaker called for the appointment of national rapporteurs on the phenomenon of trafficking in women, adding that violence against women should be treated in a multi-disciplinary way.
Other speakers again urged the promotion of public information campaigns, creation of support centres and the use of hotlines, and proper training of police. The Commission should promote the study of socio-cultural perception of victims, it was suggested. Information was also sought on the role the United Nations could play in gathering information on best practices in dealing with the problem. A speaker drew attention to the influence of films in the perpetuation of violence against women.
Speakers supported the proposals of the Special Rapporteur on violence against women. One representative said the proposals should be applied to women migrant workers, and asked the Special Rapporteur to comment on regional and international action for protecting those women. On the issue of a new optional protocol on violence against women, another speaker asked to what extent, and how, would it be possible to contemplate the new protocol in view of the difficulties encountered by human rights monitoring bodies. On the data bank on violence against women, she said research could be carried out by groups across countries, including research on sexual violence between partners.
Another speaker took up the issue of action to address the problems of prostitutes. She stressed the importance of the education of men and boys on the impact of violence. She asked if the cycle of violence could be broken without involving the violators and the family as a whole, in the case of domestic violence.
A number of speakers elaborated on national strategies and action plans for the elimination of violence against women. Public awareness programmes and training programmes for perpetrators of domestic violence were also proposed. One speaker stressed the need to invite men to women's forums as a means of sensitizing them to the gender issues.
Many speakers also raised the issue of genital mutilation as a violation of the rights of young girls. One speaker asked whether women who mutilated
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girls were not violators of the rights of women. He challenged the Commission to make women desist from violating young girls' rights, stressing it was not men who committed those acts of violence. The church should be the centre of any strategy to eradicate the evil. The role of non-governmental organizations in addressing violence against women was also stressed.
Further Responses by Panellists
Ms. GUEVARA said it was important to concentrate on men in addressing the problem of violence against women. Cultural traditions and hierarchical relationships influenced violence. It was, therefore, indispensable to bring men into the process because they still controlled power in societies. She again elaborated on the Venezuelan national plan of action on violence against women.
Ms. PRAMMER said violence against women was the result of power and the lack of power in economic and political spheres as well as in the home. Men also had to play a role in preventing violence against women. She said she was once asked the question -- where the offenders of violent acts should go? She said her response was that it was of utmost importance to respond to victims and to provide them with all the support and assistance possible. Only then was it morally justifiable to create programmes and funds for offenders.
Ms. COOMARASWAMY, responding to the comment on migrant workers, elaborated on the regional and international efforts to deal with the problems faced by migrant workers. An International Labour Organization (ILO) convention for the protection of migrant workers already existed. The problems faced by those workers would have already been addressed effectively if the convention had been implemented. On her proposal for a new protocol, she said the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women had already evolved practices that were becoming more effective in monitoring such a protocol. It was, therefore, worth pursuing.
Ms. CAMPBELL said she could not point to any successful treatment for victims of violence. No programme worked all that well. She said she was frequently asked why men battered women. Her response was that "they battered because they can and there are no consequences". It was important to put in place a system of consequences such as prison and/or probation. In the United States there was need for reform of the criminal and civil justice systems to include civil liability for failure to protect women and children.
Comments and Observations
One speaker said women had put the issue of violence on the political agenda, adding that "homophobic violence" against women who had chosen partners of the same sex should also be addressed. The lack of women's
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participation in sports was also a form of violence. Sexual mutilation was also becoming a practice in France by women who were indigenous to other countries. France, however, condemned the practice; the laws were having a positive effect.
Another speaker commented on the need to improve the dissemination of information on violence against women and the need for training professionals who worked with victims. He asked the Special Rapporteur what she would suggest to make the efforts of the Commission on the Status of Women and the Human Rights Commission more compatible? Another representative said if the cost of domestic violence was calculated, it would make people look up and take notice.
In further observations, speakers urged the development of guidelines for combating violence against women, while others supported legislative action. One spoke of how legislation had been effectively used to protect battered women. Another speaker referred to the inclusion of a provision in a labour protection act to prohibit sexual harassment against women and children.
Panellist Comments
Ms. CAMPBELL said perpetrators should be held accountable.
Ms. COOMARASWAMY said she was encouraged to hear that many countries had formulated national plans of action on violence against women since the Beijing Conference.
Ms. GUEVARA said countries without laws on violence against women should begin to enact them.
Ms. PRAMMER urged a comprehensive global effort to combat illegal trafficking in migrant workers. Austria had made a proposal on the subject during the fifty-second session of the General Assembly and a draft convention would be formally presented at the session of the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice next April in Vienna. More resources were needed to combat violence against women. Perpetrators should be told that their behaviour was unacceptable. Women's economic and social empowerment should be employed to combat violence.
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