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Contributions from
the Column
Monitor
Peacekeeping: No reason to fear of civilian-military cooperation
BMZ budget increases
USA approves Indian three-in-one AIDS pill
D+C author under pressure in Togo
Genetic modifications: Uganda: in search of pest-resistent bananas
Liberia: timber embargo lifted
UN budget released
German government assesses crisis-prevention policy
Gender-related violence: Good governance includes protection for women
A single roof for GTZ and KfW
Poor countries lack tax revenues
8-9/2006
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[ Gender-related violence ]
Good governance includes
protection for women
Gender-related violence is not a fringe phenomenon of wars and armed conflicts; it is a widespread global practice. Action against this kind of crime needs to become a constituent element of security-sector and judicial reform. It must also figure in reconstruction, demobilisation and reintegration programmes in all affected countries. These messages were sent out from an international symposium hosted by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), the European Union and the Belgian government in Brussels in late June.
Participants also found that efforts to address sexualised violence in times of peace should be considered an indicator of the quality of governance and rule of law. The aim of the event was to create an action group of international organisations, governments and NGOs to draw public attention to the often-neglected, even downplayed issue, pushing it onto the political agenda.
Declared a war crime at the 1993 UN human rights conference in Vienna, gender-related violence was prosecuted for the first time ever at the international criminal tribunals for Rwanda and former Yugoslavia. In October 2000, the UN Security Council adopted Resolution 1325, which has since been acknowledged as an international instrument for preventing war-related violence against women and girls, protecting them in times of war and crisis and involving women in the peacebuilding process.
The fight against gender-related violence calls for practical help for the women affected as well as implementation of general standards of international and national criminal law. There is a wide gap between what is needed and what has been achieved so far. Nonetheless, there has been some progress. In the past ten years, for example, a holistic approach has been adopted. It includes medical services, psychosocial counselling, legal assistance and, in some cases, even material support. Moreover, jobs are being promised in some post-war countries and conflict regions. In 2005, Liberia adopted exemplary anti-rape legislation and approved a national action plan against gender-related violence. In Congo’s strife-torn Kivu province, twelve local women’s and farmers’ organisations have formed an alliance. Their volunteers sensitise local people at the village level and run drop-in centres for the women and girls affected by violence.
Women from Sarajevo informed the Brussels conference of one of the most impressive achievements. The Bosnian parliament recently passed a law awarding disability pensions of ¤ 70 to 200 a month to wartime rape victims. For years, a Bosnian network had campaigned for this to happen. This is the first such legislation anywhere in the world, proving that campaigns against gender-related violence can succeed even in the face of resistance.
Eva-Maria Bruchhaus
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