THE WOMEN'S WATCH
Volume 10, No. 1
June 1996
MAKING THE HUMAN RIGHTS SYSTEM WORK FOR WOMEN
WOMEN'S RIGHTS ARE HUMAN RIGHTS. Every time we say this,
we make it true again. The success of the international women's
community at Vienna in 1993, at Cairo in 1994, at Beijing
in 1995 can be measured largely by the global acceptance of
the phrase and by the movement in various international fora
to acknowledge women's stake in the human rights enterprise.
All this is no small accomplishment. But the international
community, including governments, NGOs, and international
bodies, still struggles to give substance to the promise.
And the problem lies not in the idea, but in the framework
of human rights as it has traditionally been practiced.
Although the Universal Declaration of Human Rights-the grandmother
document, adopted in 1948 by most of the member states of
the newly formed United Nations-includes a comprehensive list
of basic human rights, most human rights work on both national
and international levels has focused on civil and political
rights. "Human rights work" has been defined by the methodologies
that are used to deal with civil and political rights. Freedom
of speech and assembly, freedom to vote according to conscience
in fair elections, fair trials and freedom from arbitrary
detention, are matters that can be addressed by documenting
events and cases. Individual and collective examples of violations
of these rights can be described, the perpetrators usually
can be identified fairly readily as agents of the state, and
the remedies are clear if not always available. International
action alerts and campaigns, investigation and documentation,
the basic tools of international human rights work, can be
focused readily on these individual cases and events. In short,
while no human rights work can ever be said to be easy, civil
and political rights lend themselves more readily to case-based
analysis and action than other human rights.
Women's civil and political rights are overtly violated
at least as frequently as those of men. But the "violation"
framework does not address the ways in which women are prevented
by social, cultural, and economic obstacles from exercising
their civil and political rights even in apparently open societies
that claim democratic values. Are they told by family members
how to vote and punished if they disagree with family authority
figures? Are they prohibited by custom from meeting in public?
Are qualified women discouraged by family and community from
running for office? Do family responsibilities or subsistence
work take up so much time and energy that they cannot conceive
of caring about who governs? These questions are rarely if
ever asked by human rights experts in any context.
Economic, social, and cultural rights-outlined in the Universal
Declaration and further articulated in the International Covenant
on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights and the Women's Convention-are
critical to women's exercise of civil and political rights
as well as to women's survival. These rights include access
to economic opportunity, health care, education, and social
security. They are more difficult to analyze and implement
in terms of violations, because, while the level of employment
or health care or education may be statistically measurable,
the statistics generally evidence systemic problems, including
maldistribution of resources. In recognition of these issues,
the Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights provides
for "progressive realization" of rights rather than remedy
of violations, and the Women's Convention states an obligation
to "take all appropriate measures." Nowhere does either treaty
indicate that these rights cannot be realized, only that the
remedies are complex.
Women have a special stake in framing the issues and suggesting
solutions to the systemic obstacles that prevent them from
exercising all of their human rights. The treaty bodies that
monitor implementation of human rights have a mandate to pay
attention to the human rights of women in dealing with all
the issues before them. We in the NGO community have an opportunity
to tell them what is missing and suggest what can be done.
If we do not tell them, nobody will.
IWRAW recently began to monitor and work with the Committee
on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and to provide that
Committee with material relating to the human rights of women
in countries under review. IWRAW also has supported other
NGOs in their efforts to provide relevant information to other
treaty bodies. The process is similar to production of the
IWRAW to CEDAW Reports, but focused on a limited list of countries
that recently were or are about to be reviewed by CEDAW. The
Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights has welcomed
IWRAW's presence in the process.
The information IWRAW receives from NGOs throughout the
world is critical to making governments accountable at the
international level-to making the human rights process work
for women. Governments must know that they are accountable
in all contexts, not only in CEDAW, for their treatment of
women. They must be reminded that systemic oppression of women
must be addressed as a basic human rights issue across all
areas of concern.
HUMAN RIGHTS AND DISCRIMINATION - Convention Articles 2
and 3
On May 8, 1996,
South Africa adopted a new Constitution, completing its transition
to a nonracial democracy with an historically broad bill of
rights. The new constitution renounces the racism of the
past and guarantees all South Africans freedoms of speech,
movement and political activity. The bill of rights devotes
two pages to the rights of arrested, detained and accused
persons. It specifically states that "everyone has the rights
to enter, to remain in, and to reside anywhere in the republic."
Scholars note that the privacy protection enshrined in the
constitution provides a foundation for protection of reproductive
choice, including abortion. The constitution not only bars
discrimination on the bases of race, gender, age, sexual orientation,
pregnancy and marital status, but also extends to guarantee
social and economic rights such as rights to housing, health
care, water, food and education. Although practical implementation
of such rights will be difficult because of social and economic
conditions, the inclusion of such rights in the Constitution
mandates consistent government efforts to eliminate social
injustice.
The government
made a special effort to make writing of the Constitution
a public process. Four million draft copies of the document
were distributed, and 2 million citizens contributed their
views, sending in letters or E-mail. Women's organizations
actively participated in the process. The Women and Rights
Project of the Community Law Centre, University of the Western
Cape, held a conference, "Towards the Final Constitution:
A critique of the Interim Constitution from a Gender Perspective
- The Way Forward," in January 1995, attended by 150 delegates
from NGOs, academic institutions, political parties and parliament.
The papers represented at the Conference are now available
in a book, The Constitution of South Africa From a Gender
Perspective, edited by Sandra Liebenberg. The papers explore
various constitutional themes affecting women, and raise questions
of the relation between legal rights and social change for
women. For further information, contact: David Philip Publishers,
P.O.Box 23408, Claremont, 7735, South Africa, Phone: 021 64
4136.
Just to the
north, in the country that had given refuge to the ANC government
in exile, Zambian President F.T.J. Chiluba signed a constitutional
amendment act that fails to protect women from discrimination-contrary
to the recommendations of a national constitutional commission.
Zambian NGOs protested and plan a campaign for further amendments
to bring the government's commitments into line with its ratification
of the Women's Convention, the Convention on the Rights of
the Child, and the Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
Information: Sara Longwe, FEMNET-Zambia, PO. Box 37879, Lusaka
Zambia; tel (260-1) 223834; email: zard@zamnet.zm
The Malaysian
government arrested a woman activist for "false reporting"
of abuses against migrant workers at the immigration detention
centers, preventing her planned attendance at the UN Commission
on Human Rights. On March 18, Irene Fernandez, director
of Tenaganita, a women's rights organization in Kuala Lumpur,
was arrested for July 27, 1995 press release entitled "Abuse
Torture and Dehumanized Treatment of Migrant Workers at Detention
Camps." It reported poor health and sanitary conditions as
well as abusive and corrupt practices of camp officials at
immigration detention camps. Concerned organizations such
as Human Rights Watch claim that use of criminal charges in
such cases is unwarranted and only leaves an impression of
the government attempting to restrict freedom of expression.
Fernandez' trial began on June 10 and is being watched by
international observers.
POLITICAL AND
PUBLIC LIFE - Convention Article 7
Palestinian
women's organizations struggle against the exclusion of women
from the transitional process to self-rule. During the
intifada, the uprising against Israeli military occupation,
women took part in advocating self-rule and maintaining the
economy in the absence of male wage earners who were jailed
or exiled. Encouraged by their gaining status during the intifada,
organizations such as the Women's Affairs Technical Committee
(WATC) saw an opportunity to seek full representation and
equal status of women in the process of building a new nation.
WATC includes women representatives from three political groups,
members of women study centers and women activists. It successfully
lobbied against the law which required women to have a male
relative's permission in order to travel. However, women have
generally found themselves excluded from the transitional
process to self-rule. Women who held leadership positions
in political parties during the intifada were compelled to
step aside when the men returned from jail or exile. President
Arafat's cabinet is composed entirely of men except the wife
of Abu Jihad, a Palestinian Liberation Organization leader
who was murdered. Only five women gained seats in the newly
created 88 member Palestinian Assembly.
A network of
women's groups protests the war in the former Yugoslavia by
building inter-ethnic solidarity. For the last five years,
in every Wednesday afternoon, the pacifist group Women in
Black gathers at Belgrade's Republic Square and marches in
protest of the Milosevic regime. The protest has developed
into a network of women's groups including shelters for battered
women and feminist reading groups. They share the conviction
that the sources of the war in Yugoslavia are also the sources
of their own oppression. One member says the war magnifies
male violence, often manifested as rape and prostitution.
Since 1993, Belgrade's first rape crisis center has treated
thousands of the more than 40,000 women raped during the Balkan
war. A member says the war, in fact, pushed them to develop
their ideas and actions, such as establishment of inter-ethnic
solidarity. They maintain close contact with their Croatian
and Bosnian counterparts, sending food and medical supplies
as well as messages of support via the Internet.
Women's groups
in Sierra Leone are credited with a significant impact on
the establishment of democratic process. According to
the New York Times, in Februrary and March 1996 the country
held a round of elections against a background of an authoritarian
military government installed by coup, rebel intransigence,
and South African mercenaries prosecuting the government's
war against the guerillas. The elections were peaceful, with
a 75% turnout, largely because the surviving elements of civil
society-women's groups at the forefront-defied attempts to
intimidate voters. According to the Times, the military leaders
have quietly left the country and democracy now stands a chance.
South Africa
is establishing an Office on the Status of Women to ensure
that a gender perspective be integrated at all levels of public
programs and policies. The Office on Status of Women's
plan was announced in January by Geraldine Fraser Moleketi,
the Deputy Minister for Welfare and Population Development,
after a group of officials visited Uganda and Australia to
observe their approaches to dealing with gender issues in
policymaking. In addition to establishng the Office on the
Status of Women, the government is urged to begin training
of officials to analyze policies and programs from gender
perspectives and to disaggregate data and expenditure by sex.
VIOLENCE AGAINST
WOMEN - Convention Articles, 3,5,6,12,15 and 16
The US Board
of Immigration Appeals has granted political asylum on the
ground that genital mutiliation constitutes persecution.
Fauziya Kasinga of Togo was threatened with forced marriage
and genital mutilation and sought political asylum in December
1994. Denied by a Philadelphia immigration judge in 1995,
her claim was reviewed on May 3 by the Board of Immigration
Appeals. Karen Musalo, George Washington University law professor
who represents Kasinga's case, argued that she qualifies as
a refugee, under the Refugee Act definition of facing "persecution
or a well-founded fear of persecution on account of race,
religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group
or political opinion." Musalo said that there is little doubt
that if Kasinga returns to a patriarchal society where she
does not have anyone to protect her, she would face persecution
through the "deadly practice" of genital mutilation. Lawyers
for the US Immigration and Naturalization Service argued that
Kasinga's story was dubious and asked that the case be sent
back to the lower court. The appeals board found "no meaningful
inconsistencies" in Kasinga's testimony.
The INS guidelines
published in May 1995 include a reference to genital mutilation
as evidence of past persecution but are not binding on immigration
judges. Lower level immigration judges have made different
rulings in cases involving genital mutilation. Kasinga's appeal
is the first case in which the Board of Immigration Appeals
considered whether FGM constitutes persecution for the purposes
of refugee status. The ruling is narrow, deciding only on
this case and not issuing a guideline for all FGM cases. However,
the Board's opinion as stated is binding on all 179 immigration
judges, and the opinion quotes an INS report stating that
women who refuse to undergo the practice or attempt to protect
their daughters "face threats to their freedom, threats or
acts of physical violence, or social ostracization."
Upon the celebration
of 25 years of Bangladesh independence, the Pakistani NGO
Women's Action Forum issued a statement apologizing to the
women of Bangladesh for the military violence in 1971.
It states "continued silence on our part makes a mockery not
only of the principles of democracy, human rights, and self
determination which we lay claim to, but also makes a mockery
of our own history." It recognizes that "even in cases of
war, ... there are certain parameters beyond which violence
cannot and must not be condoned..." and states that "...those
perpetrating and responsible for such violence should be held
responsible." The statement closes with an apology to the
women of Bangladesh who "became the symbols and the targets
in the process of dishonoring and humiliating people."
A domestic
violence survey conducted by the first women's shelter in
Kenya reveals high awareness of wife-beating but little resolve
to deal with the problem. The Women's Rights Awareness
Program (WRAP) opened the first women's shelter in Kenya and
has conduced a survey on domestic violence. Seventy percent
of respondents, both women and men, were aware of wife-beating
in their neighborhood yet 60 percent said women were always
or sometimes responsible. Fifty-one percent of respondents
said that men who batter women should not be punished. The
survey also indicates that battered women rarely seek help
from law enforcement authorities. Even when they did, assailants
only receive a small fine. According to Janet Kabeberi-Macharia,
regional coordinator for the Women and Law in East Africa
research group, most men do not regard wife-beating as a crime.
Thus a specific law to punish assailants is required to change
people's perception, she says. Some progress has been made,
with women's organizations sponsoring workshops and requesting
churches to open more shelters. The International Federation
of Women Lawyers has launched a public campaign and an effort
to sensitize police, judges and law makers to domestic violence.
Women in Kosova
face more severe domestic violence as unemployment among men
heightens, the Center for Protection of Women and Children
reports. The Center was opened in Prishtina in July 1995
in order to meet basic needs for women including women's health
services and assistance for battered women. One of the Center
leaders, Sevdije Ahmeti, says the Center's difficulties include
reluctance to be involved in the problems of of women until
the political future of Kosova is resolved as well as a lack
of confidence that women's groups can accomplish more than
discussion of issues.
EMPLOYMENT - Convention
Article 11
Eritrean women
veterans face difficulties in the unchanged patriarchal society
that would deny them the equal status they gained on the battlefield.
During the independent struggle that ended in 1991, thousands
of women fought against Ethiopian rule side by side with men
in the Eritrean People's Liberation Front. Marxist rebel commanders
treated women as equals and trained them to drive tanks, fight
and handle big guns. A few rose to a higher command positions.
Even outside the battlefield, women broke out of traditional
roles, taking over conventionally male dominated work as dentists,
medical technicians, mechanics, and teachers. Eritrean women
have traditionally had a little power; they are not allowed
to own livestock in much of Eritrea, and genital mutilation
is still in practice in many areas. Since independence, traditional
attitudes have been reasserted. Employers are reluctant to
hire women for skilled jobs. The majority of women fighters,
some of whom spent entire adulthood in the front without education,
were discharged from the army and cannot find work. The new
government has tried to maintain some of the gains women made
during the war through equal public hiring. It has also mandated
that one-third of all village council members be women. President
Isaias Afwerki supports the idea noting that "it is not a
matter of guarantees but it is the attitudes in the society
that always become an obstacle. "
The biggest
sexual harassment suit in the history of the US Equal Employment
Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has been filed against the Mitsubishi
Motor Manufacturing of America Inc. The EEOC alleged that
the company condoned a workplace environment "characterized
by continuous physical and verbal abuse against 300 to 500
women" since the opening of plant in 1988. In interviews,
worker after worker described incidents of sexual harassment,
from adolescent pranks to verbal abuse to physical attacks.
Mitsubishi now employs about 4,000 workers, about 700 of whom
are women. Union officials acknowledged that they have tried
to informally resolve complaints in an effort to avoid formal
complaints. Unlike union contracts at other US auto makers,
the United Auto Workers' contract with Mitsubishi does not
have a provision that requires management to take action within
48 hours after receiving a complaint of sexual harassment.
Several women confessed that they did not go through the formal
complaint system, believing that they would face retaliation
by their coworkers and the company. Many workers expressed
concern that a consumer backlash could cost their jobs, adding
another obstacle for women seeking justice. Concerned about
regaining trust among employees and customers, Mitsubishi
stated that it would conduct a fair and independent review
of its sexual harassment policies.
According to
China Women's News, 27 out of 42 Chinese government agencies
admitted to having limited or avoided hiring female university
graduates despite a policy requirement of equal treatment
between men and women. Claimed reasons include inconvenience
of sending women on business trips, lack of physical strength,
and effects of pregnancy.
HEALTH CARE AND
FAMILY PLANNING - Convention Articles, 10, 12, 14 and 16
A women's group
in Croatia seeks support for securing access to safe and legal
abortion. The Croatian government has proposed a law which
obliges women to consult either a priest, doctor or social
worker before they can obtain an abortion. A women's rights
group, "Be Active, Be Emancipated" (B.a.B.e.) warns that consultation
would be biased in the present conservative climate in Croatia.
The Government Program for Demographic Development was passed
by the Parliament in January 1996, in order to increase the
national birth rate. The program mentions that " human life
should be protected from the moment of conception to natural
birth." Anti-abortion organizations have been pressuring the
Government to repeal the abortion law passed in 1978, which
made abortion legal and accessible in Croatia. B.a.B.e. fears
that the conservative majority in the Parliament will seek
more restrictions. B.a.B.e is requesting to write protest
letters to Mr. Franjo Tudjman, President of Croatia. Send
letters to; B.a.B.e. Petreticev trg 3, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia.
Fax: 385-1 41 93 02.
MARRIAGE AND FAMILY
LAW - Convention Articles, 5, 15, and 16
Tomama Constance
Yai, a leader of the Ivorian Association for the Defense of
Women's Rights, has begun a campaign against a proposed bill
on adultery that sets different penalties for women and men.
The bill, proposed by Justice Minister Faustin Kouame, states
a woman who has an extramarital relation will be liable to
up to one year imprisonment or a fine of the US$630 to US$2,100.
However, "men shall be allowed to have sexual relations with
other women ...provided they have the consent of their spouses
and pay them compensation of one million CFA frances... (US$2,100)."
Furthermore, the bill would grant a man the right to divorce
on grounds of adultery with little more provocation than finding
his wife engaged in seemingly intimate conversation with another
man. For women to obtain divorce on grounds of adultery, their
husbands would have to be caught in a sexual act at the couple's
home with the same woman more than once. According to Ms Yai,
such a legal change would further push women into a vulnerable
position in society where the common practice of polygamy
continues to perpetuates sexual privileges of men. Ms Yai
and other women's rights advocates are the see the debate
as an opportunity to bring attentions to the broader question
of inequalities maintained by the legal system and traditions.
They continue to seek mobilization of a mostly indifferent
public.
RESOURCES
ASSESSING THE
STATUS OF WOMEN: A Guide to Reporting Under the Convention
on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against
Women, is now available from IWRAW. Intended for use by
governments as well as NGOs, the 90-page Guide was produced
in collaboration with the Commonwealth Secretariat. Annexes
include CEDAW general recommendations, the official guidelines
for reporting under the Convention, and the Declaration on
the Elimination of Violence Against Women. Price: US$15, payable
in US dollars only; bulk rates available.
IMPORTANT:
ADDENDUM TO ASSESSING THE STATUS OF WOMEN. The UN Division
for the Advancement of Women has issued revised guidelines
for reporting to the CEDAW Committee under Article 18 of the
Women's Convention. The revision reflects the relationship
between the Beijing Platform for Action and reporting under
the Convention. A new guideline provision is to be inserted
after paragraph 7 of the Guidelines Regarding the Form and
Content of Initial Reports of States Parties (Annex C in Assessing
the Status of Women). It will be included in second and subsequent
printings of Assessing the Status of Women. The new guideline
reads as follows:
8. It should be
noted that, according to paragraph 323 of the Beijing Declaration
and Platform for Action adopted at the Fourth World Conference
on Women in September 1995:
"States parties
to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination
against Women are invited, when reporting under Article 18
of the Convention, to include information on measures taken
to implement the Platform for Action in order to facilitate
the work of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination
against Women in monitoring effectively women's ability to
enjoy the rights guaranteed by the Convention."
In preparing their
initial and subsequent reports under the articles of the Convention
or in supplementary oral and/or written materials supplied
in connection with reports already submitted, States parties
are therefore invited to take into account the 12 critical
areas of concern in Chapter III of the Platform for Action.
It should also be noted that those concerns are compatible
with the articles of the Convention and therefore within the
mandate of the Committee.
Centro de Estudios
De La Mujer (CEM) of Argentina announced Nuevas Fronteras,
a new program in association with UNICEF. CEM holds a national
competition of innovative educational projects directed to
empower girls, promote the idea of citizenship and stimulate
social participation. CEM is also planning to develop a Network
of Non Discriminatory Teachers. Contact: Centro De Estudios
De la Mujer, AvSanta Fe 5380 (1425) Buenos Aires. Tel/Fax:
541 772 5837.
The International
Human Rights Law Institute has published Sexual Violence:
An Invisible Weapon of War in the Former Yugoslavia, on
the establishment of the Commission of Experts and the International
Criminal Tribunal for the Fomer Yugoslavia. The publication
includes a summary of findings from the Final Report to the
Commission. From: International Human Rights Law Institute,
DePaul University College of Law, Chicago, IL.
Women Living Under
Muslim Laws has published Feminism in Turkey in the 1980's:
An Interview with Ayse Duzkan, written by Meltem Ahiska, recounting
the trajectory of the Feminist movement in Turkey throughout
the 1980s. Contact: Women Living Under Muslim Laws, BP 23,
34790 Grabels, France.
Minnesota Advocates
for Human Rights'"Domestic Violence in Albania," criticizes
the Albanian government's silence and inaction in the face
of high rates of domestic violence, as violating its international
legal obligations. The report includes findings of a survey
conducted by Minnesota Advocates, analysis of Albanian laws,
and recommendations. Contact; Minnesota Advocates for Human
Rights, 400 Second Avenue South, Suite 1050, Minneapolis MN55401-2408
USA. Tel: 612 341 3302, Fax: 612 341 2971, E-mail: mnadvocates@igc.apc.org
WOMEN'S WATCH
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METRAC, 158 Spadina Road, Toronto, Ontario M5R 2T8. In Japan,
Japanese Ass'n of International Women's Rights, Bunkyo Women's
College, 1196 Kamekubo, Ohi-machi, Iruma, Saitama 354 Japan.
WOMEN'S WATCH
is published by the IWRAW project, Humphrey Institute of Public
Affairs at the University of Minnesota, USA. Editors: Marsha
Freeman and Sharon Ladin. This issue was written with the
help of Akemi Kinukawa, IWRAW Cram-Dalton Fellow. IWRAW is
a global network of individuals and organizations that monitors
implementation of the Convention on the Elimination of all
Forms of Discrimination Against Women, an international treaty
ratified by over 150 countries.
The University
of Minnesota is an equal opportunity educator and employer.
The Humphrey Institute is hospitable to a diversity of opinions
and aspirations. The Institute does not itself take positions
on public policy issues. The contents of this report are the
responsibility of the editors. IWRAW is grateful to the Ford
Foundation, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation,
the Carnegie Corporation, Mertz-Gilmore Foundation, Shaler
Adams Foundation, the Netherlands Foreign Ministry, SIDA and
numerous other individuals and foundations for financial support.
Contributions to the project are welcomed and are tax deductible
for U.S. taxpayers.