16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence

1. EDITORIAL
Sam Cook

The 16 Days Campaign, now in its 17th year, is the focus of this November edition of the 1325 PeaceWomen E-News. The campaign, coordinated by the Center for Women's Global Leadership (CWGL) is inspiring in its ability to galvanize actors around the globe to take action to end violence against women. This month's news (Item 2) certainly reflects that such violence is prevalent world-wide and that it is critical that we find ways to overcome the challenges and obstacles to ending it. This need is reflected in the theme of this year's campaign Demanding Implementation, Challenging Obstacles : End Violence Against Women. In the context of our work on Resolution 1325, one of the key challenges is the failure of the Security Council effectively to address sexual and gender-based violence in conflict. The PeaceWomen Project, as part of the 16 Days Campaign and ongoing advocacy efforts with NGO and UN colleagues, has decided to address Security Council members in this regard. Our letter addressed to one member per day can be seen below in our 16 Days section (Item 3) along with further information on the campaign and the exciting online 16 Days Blog run by opendemocracy. Another online initiative that will run during 16 days and beyond to International Women's Day on March 8 is the Say No to Violence campaign launched by UNIFEM and highlighted in their Update (Item 7). UN Action's campaign with V-Day in the Democratic Republic of Congo is also featured and is an important example of cross-sectoral action – this joint NGO, UN campaign appears to have gained the support of the government.

The violence which continues to be perpetrated against women in the Eastern DRC is particularly troubling as discussions continue on the future status of the UN peacekeeping mission there. There can be no peace for women if this violence is not brought to a halt and impunity addressed. The women of Sierra Leone know this well and our Feature Resources section (Item 6) highlights two reports on sexual violence in Sierra Leone as well as its impact in the post-conflict phase. As Amnesty International's rep0rt on reparations notes, for women and girls in Sierra Leone, ‘sexual violence was not a single event but a violation that has continued in the absence of comprehensive measures to deal with it.' The impact of sexual violence goes beyond individual survivors and, as International Alert points out, ‘can also feed into broader societal violence and can consequently compromise the country's transition to peace.'

While victimized by violence, women are also survivors and agents of change and, as our Feature Statement from WILPF (Item 4) notes, ‘Every day and everywhere women are working for respect of their rights and for better conditions. WILPF honours the courage and endurance of women and recommits itself to eliminating violence against women, achieving disarmament and an end to violent conflicts.' Programmes to empower and build the capacity of women as agents of change are important tools in eliminating violence against women and this month's Feature Initiative (Item 5) on a coaching programme for Haitian women in politics is illustrative of this approach. We would like to thank Nadine Puechguirbal, the Senior Gender Advisor at the UN's mission in Haiti for sharing this initiative with us. We look forward to hearing more about it in the coming months.

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

We continue to welcome contributions to the newsletter's content. Contributions for the December 2007 edition should be sent to enewssubmissions@peacewomen.org by Thursday 13 December 2007.

Back to Top
2. WOMEN, PEACE AND SECURITY NEWS

ZAMBIA: STATE TO ADDRESS GENDER VIOLENCE
November 27, 2007 – (AllAfrica) PRESIDENT Mwanawasa says the Government will enact laws and domesticate relevant international conventions to address gender-based violence.

HIDDEN STORIES START GENDER VIOLENCE CAMPAIGN
November 27, 2007 - (OneWorld) Domestic violence in the Russian Federation; sex slavery in India; self-immolation in Central Asian republics; gender-based violence and HIV, and 'compensation' marriages are the five underreported stories compiled by UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, for 2007.

ZIMBABWE: 1000 WOZA MEMBERS MARK 16 DAYS OF ACTIVISM AGAINST GENDER VIOLENCE
November 27, 2007 – (AllAfrica) In a surprise move that caught the police unaware, about 1,000 members of Women and Men of Zimbabwe Arise marched through the central district of Bulawayo on Tuesday to mark the beginning of '16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence.'

SIERRA LEONE: FOR WOMEN, WAR'S OVER BUT VIOLENCE GOES ON
November 26, 2007 - (IRIN) Musu, 23, does not want more children. She has trouble feeding the three she already has. She has paid for this decision with regular beatings and rape by her 45-year-old husband.

ANGOLA: SOCIETY MOBILISED AGAINST GENDER VIOLENCE
November 26, 2007 – (AllAfrica) The Angolan society has as of late getting more and more mobilised in the fight against gender violence, its social consequences in the country and in the defence of women's rights.

BAN KI-MOON PLEDGES SYSTEM-WIDE UN CAMPAIGN TO FIGHT VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN
November 25 2007 - (UN News Centre) Denouncing violence against women as “one of the most heinous, systematic and prevalent human rights abuses in the world,” United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has vowed to lead a campaign against the scourge.

IRAQ: EXTREMISTS FUEL ANTI-WOMEN VIOLENCE IN BASRA
November 20, 2007 - (IRIN) Anti-women violence in Basra, Iraq's second largest city, about 600 km south of the capital, Baghdad, has increased markedly in recent months and has forced women to stay indoors, police and local NGOs have said.

SOUTH AFRICA: MILLION MEN'S MARCH TO HIGHLIGHT 16 DAYS
November 19, 2007 – (AllAfrica) The planned Million Men marches scheduled to be held across the country during 16 Days of Activism for No Violence Against Women and Children, will be the highlight of the campaign.

WOMEN AND THE 2007 ELECTIONS IN KOSOVO
November 14, 2007 – (OneWorld) Kosovo is on the brink of a new era. Kosovo's upcoming elections on November 17th give us a chance to prove to ourselves, to women and men from our international coalitions for peace and justice and to the entire international community, our readiness to build a just and sustainable peace and inclusive democracy.

GREATER EFFORTS NEEDED TO ACHIEVE GENDER BALANCE WITHIN UN SYSTEM – MIGIRO
November 14, 2007 – (UN News Centre) Deputy Secretary-General Asha-Rose Migiro today called for greater efforts to achieve gender balance within the United Nations system, stating that statistics show an “unacceptable” lack of progress in this area despite the measures taken so far.

SOUTH AFRICA: MENTORSHIP PLAN TO EMPOWER WOMEN COUNCILLORS
November 11, 2007 – (AllAfrica) Gauteng's Mentorship programme is to empower women councillors to take their rightful place in the local government sphere and assert themselves. Gauteng Local Government MEC Qedani Dorothy Mahlangu will unveil the programme on Tuesday at Gallagher Estate in Midrand.

IRAN: SUSPEND HEAVY SENTENCE FOR WOMEN'S RIGHTS ACTIVIST
November 10, 2007 – (HRW) The head of Iran's Judiciary, Ayatollah Shahrudi, should suspend a two-and-a-half-year prison sentence upheld this week against women's rights activist Delaram Ali, Human Rights Watch said today. Such a step is permitted under Iranian law. The government should also release at least 10 other students and activists it has detained for their participation in peaceful demonstrations and campaigns.

NDP CALLS FOR AID TO WOMEN AND GIRLS IN CRISIS - $10 MILLION NEEDED AS FIRST STEP
November 8, 2007 - (UNDP) Conditions of women in crisis have reached a critical point said UNDP today. The organization's Bureau for Crisis Prevention and Recovery called for 10 million USD to help women and girls in crisis for the next two years.

AFRICA: INVOLVE WOMEN IN CONFLICT RESOLUTION, SAYS UN REPORT ON GENDER VIOLENCE
November 6, 2007 – (AllAfrica) Armed conflicts, sexual violence against women is often used as a weapon of war, both to dishonour the woman and the enemy, says a new report on armed conflict that was released in Nairobi last week.

NAMIBIA: WOMEN PLAN SPECIAL MARCH
November 5, 2007 – (AllAfrica) It will be all colour along independence avenue when hundreds of Namibian women from all walks of life for the first time ever stage a "Women's Celebratory March" in the capital.

ISRAELI WOMEN MONITOR HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS AT CHECKPOINTS
November 5, 2007 - (Women living under muslim laws) Yehudit Kirstein Keshet and other Israeli women like her have spent six years monitoring activities at Israeli checkpoints leading to the West Bank. What motivates these women to monitor the men who are supposed to be protecting them?

INDIAN TRIBUNAL PUSHES FOR SEXUAL-VIOLENCE INQUIRY
November 5, 2007 - (WOMENSENEWS) The testimony of 25-year-old Gouri Pradhan, a resident of the village Gokul Nagar, is typical in its description of the type of sexual assault that women say they suffered at the hands of police during violent land disputes that began last March in Nandigram, a rural area in the eastern state of West Bengal.

IRAQI REPORTERS RUN RISKS TO COVER WOMEN'S ANGLE
November 1, 2007 - (WOMENSENEWS) Six women from McClatchy's Baghdad bureau took on the high-risk assignment of covering the war. Sometimes working in secrecy, they reported the sweeping changes facing their homeland and worked to put women's stories on the record.

SIERRA LEONE: MASS RALLY IN SUPPORT OF SURVIVORS OF CONFLICT'S SEXUAL VIOLENCE
November 1, 2007 - (AllAfrica) At a mass rally held in Makeni in the Northern Province of Sierra Leone today, Amnesty International members and hundreds of other local activists called on the newly elected government of Sierra Leone to commit to ensuring justice and full reparations for the tens of thousands of Sierra Leonean women who have been the victims of sexual violence.

HAITI: TREATMENT CENTRE REPORTS RISING SEXUAL VIOLENCE AND HIV
November 1, 2007 - (IRIN) Apart from HIV, sexual violence against women in Haiti is another virus that has so far proved resistant to a cure. Activists say they are unsure whether the rise in cases over the last few years is due to violence becoming more widespread, or the result of campaigns calling on women to speak out.

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

For more regional women, peace and security news, CLICK HERE

For more international women, peace and security news, CLICK HERE

Back to Top
3. 16 days of activism against gender violence

Demanding Implementation, Challenging Obstacles: End Violence Against Women
Center for Women's Global Leadership

Since 1991, the 16 Days Campaign has helped to raise awareness about gender violence and has highlighted its effects on women globally. Each year, thousands of activists from all over the world utilize the campaign to further their work to end violence against women. The campaign has celebrated victories gained by women's rights movements, it has challenged policies and practices that allow women to be targeted for acts of violence, it has called for the protection of people who defend women's human rights and it has demanded accountability from states, including a commitment to recognize and act upon all forms of violence against women as human rights abuses.

In the last decade, activism related to and awareness about the impact and consequences of gender based violence has grown dramatically. A wide spectrum of organizations, networks, and individuals are focusing on gender based violence as a critical issue and are campaigning globally and locally for protection from and prevention of all forms of violence against women (VAW).

While there has been much progress made, challenges still persist that hinder the effectiveness of the work being done by anti-VAW activists and organizations. The 2007 16 Days Campaign dedicates this year's theme to overcoming those challenges and obstacles in order to gain long overdue results in the struggle to end VAW. In collaboration with others, the 16 Days Campaign seeks to help dismantle obstacles and overcome challenges posed by social attitudes and policies that continue to condone and perpetuate gender based violence.

Challenges and obstacles have been identified by activists in all regions of the world, and we have chosen to highlight a few of those here. These can be addressed both as demands to be made on the state or other institutions and as actions that we must take in our own work in order to achieve better results. A few suggestions for focusing advocacy in this year's campaign include:

- Demanding and securing adequate funding for work against VAW;
- Calling for greater accountability and political commitment from states to prevent and punish all forms of violence against women in practice, not just in words;
- Increasing awareness of the impact of violence against women, including engaging in measures to end it by men and boys;
- Evaluating the impact and effectiveness of work to prevent violence against women;
-Securing the space for advocacy and defending the defenders of women's human rights in their work to end gender based violence.

The 16 Days Campaign continues to highlight important issues raised in past years, including looking at VAW as a public health crisis, the intersection between HIV/AIDS and VAW, and the protection of women human rights defenders. The campaign will also promote valuable advocacy tools such as key recommendations from the 2006 Secretary General's study on VAW.

For more information, please visit the Center for Women's Global Leadership at: http://www.cwgl.rutgers.edu/16days/about.html

For the CWGL International Calendar of Campaign Activites, please visit: http://www.cwgl.rutgers.edu/16days/kit07/calendar.html

For the 2007 Take Action Kit, please visit: http://www.cwgl.rutgers.edu/16days/kit07/kit.html

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

PeaceWomen Project-WILPF 16 Days Campaign

This year, the PeaceWomen Project is participating in the 16 Days Campaign by sending an advocacy letter to one Security Council member each day for 15 days. This letter will call for the full implementation of Security Council Resolution on women, peace, and security. Each letter will include any commitmentsthat the Security Council member has made regarding 1325, as well as any previous statements on gender-based violence.

We will urge those countries that will be in the Presidency of the Security Council during the campaign (Indonesia and Italy) to use their unique status to bring attention to the issue of violence against women. Additionally, the letter will urge Security Council members to support efforts to eliminate violence against women in their country, and will direct them to the 16 Days International Calendar, where they can find information on 16 Days activities in their region. On the 16th day, a more general letter will goout to all members that will thank those members that have responded to our campaign, while restating our recommendations.

Sample Letter:

Dear Ambassador,

We at the PeaceWomen Project of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom are writing to you as part of the 17 annual 16 Days Against Gender Violence global initiative to end violence against women. The theme of this year's 16 Day's Campaign is “Demanding Implementation, Challenging Obstacles: End Violence Against Women''. The Security Council has a critical role to play in this in the context of sexual and gender-based violence in conflict.

Through Resolution 1325 and several Presidential Statements over the last 7 years, the Security Council has strongly condemned sexual and gender-based violence in conflict and has made commitments to addressing it. However, women and girls continue to be subjected to widespread and systematic sexual and gender-based violence and impunity reigns. One of the significant challenges is ensuring that the Security Council, in its day-to-day work and in making decisions on international peace and security matters, takes into account such violence.

On each of the 16 days of the Campaign from the International Day to End Violence Against Women on 25 November until International Human Rights Day on 10 December, we are addressing a member of the Security Council on this issue and call on you to ensure that the Security Council takes steps to fulfill its role and to turn commitments into reality.

We welcomed your statement during this year's Open Debate on women, peace and security and, in particular, ……

We look forward to you using opportunities for engagement on International Human Rights Day to make a statement that highlights this issue and calls for concrete and specific action. We also look forward to your ensuring the integration of these issues during the Council's consultations and decisions during November and December and throughout the year. In particular we call on you, as a member of the Security Council to:

- Support the establishment of a focal point or dedicated monitoring mechanism to increase the Council's contribution to preventing and redressing violence against women in armed conflict, as called for by the Secretary-General in his recent study on violence against women;

- Call for the Secretary-General to ensure that there is comprehensive country-specific reporting on sexual violence to the Council from peace-support operations and that such information is also included in regular country-specific reporting;

- Consider means by which the Council could more effectively end impunity and hold parties to account for these violations.

We also hope you will support local initiatives in your country and region that address sexual and gender-based violence. For more information on 16 Days Campaign initiatives in your country and region please visit : http://www.cwgl.rutgers.edu/16days/kit07/calendar.html

Please do not hesitate to contact us for further information and we look forward to following up with you on this in the near future.

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

16 days of Activism Against Gender Violence Blog

Over 16 days, between 25th November and 10th December, openDemocracy is running an editorial project in support of the annual activism against gender violence campaign. We are publishing articles and podcasts and running a dedicated blog on our front page. Guest blogger Zohra Moosa of the Fawcett Society is leading the dialogue. Themes we are addressing include: security masculinities and the state, rape and impunity, healthy bodies, coercion and control, and women as trade.

For more information, please see the blog at : http://opendemocracy.net/blog/5050/

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
Back to Top

4. FEATURE statement

WILPF Statement on the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women and the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence

The 25th of November is International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women. For the last 17 years, from this day until UN Human Rights Day (10 December) 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence are observed, recognized by the UN since 1999.

Protecting women's human rights and eliminating violence against women has advanced through the United Nations. Since 1995 substantial work has been done to implement the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action arising from the 4th UN World Conference on Women; 185 countries – more than 90 percent of the UN member states – have now ratified the 1979 Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW); and, United Nations Security Council adopted Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security in 2000.

Despite this recognition, violence against women is a reality that cuts across borders, wealth, race, religion and culture. Every day women experience extensive violence, particularly in countries at war, in crisis or conflict where women's rights deteriorate and are under pressure:

*One in three women has been beaten, raped, coerced into sex, or otherwise abused in her lifetime; (1)
*Every fifth woman is subjected to rape or attempt to rape; (1)
*70 percent of the casualties in recent conflicts have been non-combatants. 80 percent of these are women and children; (1)
*Systematic rape, sexual violence and abuse in Darfur, in Sudan, is used as a weapon in the war; (1)
*During the conflict between 1991 and 2002, it is estimated that a third of all women and girls in Sierra Leone were subjected to sexual violence; (1)
*Since the 1999 war Kosovo has become a major destination country for women and girls trafficked into forced prostitution. Around 15-20 percent of the women are allegedly under 14 years; (1)
*In Colombia 3.5-4 million people are displaced. The majority of these are women with many children. There are reports of increased violence against the women; (2)
*Every year 14,000 Russian women die as a result of violence in the home; (1)
*Every fifth day a Spanish woman is killed by her partner; (1)
*One in three Native American or Alaska Native women will be raped at some point in their lives;
*Every fourth minute a woman in the USA is raped; (1)
*In fourteen countries a man can get mitigation of his sentence or impunity if he perpetrates violence or kills a woman in order to protect the so-called honour; (1)
*According to law in nine countries a rapist gets impunity if he marries his victim. (1)

Violence against women in war areas has, according to UNDP, reached epidemic heights. The common denominator for the 1990's conflicts and the conflicts in this millennium has been comprehensive sexual abuse, forced pregnancy as a tool in ethnic genocide, kidnapping, intentional infection with HIV/AIDS and trafficking in women and children for sexual purposes. (3)

Changes in the pattern of gender roles are one of the consequences of conflict, war or occupation. Violence and aggression becomes integrated into everyday life. When killing becomes legitimate, it also becomes legitimate to rape or buy and sell human bodies; a systematic brutalization of the whole society occurs resulting in numerous and grave assaults on women who are abused by family members as well as by unknown men, civilians as well as soldiers.

Every day and everywhere women are working for respect of their rights and for better conditions. WILPF honours the courage and endurance of women and recommits itself to eliminating violence against women, achieving disarmament and an end to violent conflicts.

(1) Amnesty International, international and Danish websites; (2) Women Building Peace Around The World: The Case of Colombia in a 1325 perspective, WILPF Delegation to Colombia, July 12– 20, 2007; (3) UNDP, Newsletter from the Nordic Office, 23th of April 2003

For other WILPF statements, please visit: http://www.wilpf.int.ch/statements/sindex.htm

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Back to Top
5. FEATURE Initiative

Integration of a gender perspective into the Haitian post-electoral process: coaching in ‘Women and Leadership' for women in politics
Nadine Puechguirbal, Senior Gender Advisor, MINUSTAH

A group of twenty women in politics are building a city in the sand, as part of a Coaching program for the strengthening of their own capacities. First of all, they had to design the city and plan the construction according to a time frame given by the Trainers. In turn, they learn how to be a chief and delegate work to the team members, how to assist the Team Leader, as well as how to follow instructions for the construction, thus alternating in different functions. This Coaching program tries to break with the traditional pattern of passive learning. Thanks to the Coaching, the women will learn confidence in their own abilities as well as self-esteem, thus becoming inspired leaders within their own community.

The Gender Office for the UN Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) initiated training on capacity building for women in politics, including Coaching sessions, in June 2006. This program intends to provide support for the women who ran for office in the 2005/2006 presidential, legislative and local elections. It targets women who were elected at all levels of governance, e.g. Mayor, Senator or as Members of Parliament, as well as those who lost but want to remain involved in politics. The training is organized in six cycles for eighteen months and includes workshops and individual Coaching sessions for around twenty women coming from all over the country. Personal Coaching is a vehicle to transform problems into opportunities, develop constructive and dynamic behavior, identify clear priorities and establish creative ways of communication.

At the beginning of the individual Coaching sessions, the Trainers request that participants select one small project that they will design, implement and monitor at their constituency level. The idea is to have these women become responsible individuals who can take charge of their own lives, and feel confident enough to occupy a political space traditionally overwhelmingly male-dominated. Very few women in Haiti have previously been elected into politics, for traditional and cultural reasons. Consequently, women who are currently seeking office lack experience, expertise and the required skills in the political arena, as well as exposure to the management of power. Few of them have access to funding for their electoral campaign, and when money is available, it is mainly distributed amongst the most prominent male politicians. The idea behind the Coaching is to empower these women by teaching them that, although they have been raised as second-class citizens, they are capable individuals who can make a difference in their own community and develop a political vision for their society.

For this article including photographs, please click HERE

For more information, please directly contact
Nadine Puechguirbal, Senior Gender Advisor, MINUSTAH,
puechguirbal@un.org
Tel. (509) 476 59 88

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

For more Global & Regional Initiatives, click HERE

For more Country-specific Initiatives, click HERE

Back to Top
6. FEATURE RESOURCEs

Getting Reparations Right for Victims of Sexual Violence
Amnesty International, November 2007

Six years after the end of the conflict in Sierra Leone, little has been done to ensure that survivors of sexual violence receive justice, acknowledgement of their suffering, or full, meaningful and effective reparations. The unimaginable brutality of violations committed against up to a third of Sierra Leone's mostly rural women and girls has been well documented; however the government has failed to effectively address the physical, psychological and economic impact of these crimes on the survivors. Without justice, recognition of the crimes or effective programmes to ensure their rehabilitation, without help to rebuild their lives or steps being taken to ensure that they are protected from future crimes, the suffering of the women and girls continues.

Amnesty International interviewed women and girls who have employed many strategies to survive, both during the conflict and in its aftermath. For them, sexual violence was not a single event but a violation that has continued in the absence of comprehensive measures to deal with it. Along with the sexual violence, many identified themselves as former ‘rebel wives', which also contributed to isolation and exclusion. As a result, many have had difficultly accessing food, shelter, work and healthcare. The continuing discrimination they have faced has impeded their reintegration into the community.

All victims and survivors of crimes against humanity, war crimes and other serious violations of international human rights and humanitarian laws are entitled to justice and reparations. This report focuses specifically on reparations for survivors of sexual abuse, which mainly affects women and girls from rural areas in Sierra Leone. Amnesty International examines the social and individual effects of sexual violence, the failure of the government to provide measures to address its impact, including justice and reparations, and the need for the government to implement a comprehensive and effective reparations programme to get reparations right for victims of sexual violence.

To read the full report, please click HERE

For the Sierra Leonean Government's response to the report, plese click HERE

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Addressing gender-based violence in Sierra Leone: Mapping challenges, responses and future entry points
International Alert, August 2007

Historically, women have been discriminated against and are heavily under-represented in the traditionally male-dominated political and socioeconomic decision-making structures of Sierra Leone. Gender inequalities are prevalent throughout society, with women being more likely to be illiterate and suffer extreme poverty, their rights are frequently violated, and they have little access to resources or opportunities. This burden affects society as a whole, and can adversely affect the potential for sustainable peacebuilding and development by disempowering and marginalising more than half of the population(1). Despite this, gender-based violence (GBV), which can be loosely defined as violence that is directed against a person on the basis of gender or sex, has received relatively little attention in post-conflict reconstruction strategies. As this report illustrates, GBV is to be an endemic problem throughout Sierra Leone, and it prevents women from contributing to and participating fully in peacebuilding efforts.

The social costs of GBV are largely under-estimated and ignored, and it is not generally seen as a security issue that has broader economic or political consequences. It is surrounded by a culture of silence and impunity, and the range and complexity of the underlying causes make it a difficult issue to address. GBV not only manifests itself as physical violence such as sexual abuse of women and children, but also includes forms of structural violence such as discriminatory laws and practices that prevent women from owning property or holding positions of authority within their communities. In short, GBV is a security issue because it is a human rights violation and therefore impacts negatively on the ability of men and women to secure and enjoy their basic rights. It can also feed into broader societal violence and can consequently compromise the country's transition to peace.

From July 4th-14th 2006, International Alert conducted a mapping of the incidence of GBV and the programmes that are being implemented to address it in Sierra Leone on behalf of Irish Aid(2). In addition to identifying programming by the various local, national and international actors to address GBV and the challenges and opportunities that remain, this report also explores the links between GBV and insecurity in Sierra Leone. While much research has been done on sexual violence during conflict and humanitarian emergencies, there has been comparatively less focus on the dynamics of this form of violence in the post-conflict phase. One notable exception is the 2005 report by the Consortium of Irish Human Rights, Humanitarian and Development Agencies and Development Cooperation Ireland(3). The Consortium initially came together to identify ways of addressing the high levels of rape in Darfur, Sudan, and has continued to place an emphasis on the endemic nature of GBV in post-conflict environments and the need for more systematic, coordinated, and multi-sectoral approaches to the issue.

This report goes some of the way towards identifying possible strategies to enhance prevention and response to GBV in the case of Sierra Leone. It is important to note that although the research trip took place in July 2006, the broad context has remained unchanged and the findings are still largely relevant. Where possible, factual information has been updated to reflect changes in programming activities and in the national political context since July 2006. The report is also restricted to evidence gathered in Freetown, as the research team was unable to travel upcountry due to time limitations. The persistent urban/rural divide that exists in Sierra Leone means that the situation facing women in the provinces is often very different from that in Freetown and the Western Area, especially in terms of access to economic opportunities, education and the rule of law. This warrants a further, more detailed comparative study of the issues facing various communities upcountry to permit a more comprehensive analysis of the situation throughout the country.

To read the full report, CLICK HERE

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

For more women, peace and security resources, CLICK HERE

Back to Top
7. UNIfem Update

UNIFEM's 16 Days of Activism and International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women activities

UNIFEM launched a new internet campaign aimed at eliminating violence against women (visit http://www.saynotoviolence.org). The campaign will run through International Women's Day. UNIFEM also released a report, entitled No More! The right of Women to live a Life Free from Violence in Latin America and the Caribbean and highlighted the work of UN Trust Fund to End Violence Against Women grantees.

For the UNIFEM statement marking the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, visit : http://www.unifem.org/campaigns/vaw/docs/SayNo2VAW_25NovEDMessage_eng.pdf

In addition, UNIFEM has undertaken a number of 16 Days of Activism-related activities through the UN Action Against Sexual Violence in Conflict initiative.

• UN Action, under the leadership of UNICEF and with co-sponsor V-Day, launched the Stop Raping our Greatest Resource: Power to Women and Girls of the DRC campaign on 24 November 2007 in Bukavu, DRC. The event launch was organized in collaboration with V-Day, the Ministry for Women's and Family Affairs (CONDIFFA), the UN Mission for Congo (MONUC) and several other United Nations Agencies. Madam Olive Kabila, the First Lady of the DRC, actively participated in the launch. The president of the National Assembly, Vital Kamerhe, pledged to use his office to maintain the issue of sexual violence on the national agenda. The campaign calls attention to the wide-scale atrocities committed against women and girls in Eastern DRC and demands an end to the impunity with which these crimes are committed. See UNICEF's press release: http://www.peacewomen.org/campaigns/global/UNAction_DRC_07.pdf

• UN Action supported the secretariat of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) in the preparation of a letter to its members on the role of parliaments in ending sexual violence in conflict and implementing SCR 1325. In follow up to the IPU's resolution on the role of parliaments in combating violence against women (2006), parliaments were invited to raise awareness in their countries on the urgent need to tackle violence against women in armed conflict situations.

For more information on UNIFEM, please visit: http://www.unifem.org/

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Back to Top
8. WOMEN, PEACE AND SECURITY CALENDAR

Dynamic Cities Need Women: Actions and Policies for Gender
December 3-5, 2007, Brussels, Belgium
AWID

The main objectives of this international Forum are to promote a gender-sensitive approach and to present and discuss the best practices to empower women as citizens and decision-makers.

For more information, please click HERE

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Lecture: Women Waging Peace: Why Women Must Be Included as Leaders of Peace Processes
December 5, 2007, New York
The Jewish Theological Seminary, 3080 Broadway, New York, NY, 6:00 p.m.

Ambassador Swanee Hunt, a passionate advocate of the inclusion of women in global peace processes, will make her case as to the need for women of all ages, religions, and ethnic backgrounds to become leaders in peace efforts across the globe.

Free admission; advance reservations necessary.

Contact: Beth Lutzker
Phone: 212-280-6093
E-Mail: publicevents@jtsa.edu

For more information, please click HERE

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Second African Gender Forum and Award 2007
9th-12th December 2007, Dakar, Senegal
Femmes Africa Solidarité (FAS)

Building on the positive feedback of the first Edition on May 2005, which was a concentration with Arab women in partnership with the Arab Women's International Forum, the African Gender Forum 2007 will feature a dialogue between the African women on one side and the African Diaspora and the African descendants on the other side. The discussions will concentrate on the relationship between women and migration, and its socio-economic and political implications with a focus on migration's positive contributions to development.

For more information, please click HERE

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Human Rights Day
December 10, 2007, Worldwide
United Nations

The promotion and protection of human rights has been a major preoccupation for the United Nations since 1945, when the Organization's founding nations resolved that the horrors of The Second World War should never be allowed to recur. Respect for human rights and human dignity "is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world", the General Assembly declared three years later in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

For more information, please click HERE

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

International Migrants Day
December 18, 2007, Worldwide
United Nations

Today, women constitute almost half of all international migrants worldwide—95 million. Yet, despite contributions to poverty reduction and struggling economies, it is only recently that the international community has begun to grasp the significance of what migrant women have to offer. And it is only recently that policymakers are acknowledging the particular challenges and risks women confront when venturing into new lands.