since 2002

In order to combat the trafficking in women, governments and the United Nations must address sex discrimination and put into place and adequately fund measures that ameliorate the socio-economic, political and legal conditions of women and girls. States must also exhibit the political will to develop effective tools to prosecute traffickers, protect trafficking victims, and fully address the demand for women and children for sexual exploitation. We urge the UNODC to ensure that the meeting in Vienna will present concrete plans to address all these issues.

Grassroots women’s groups around the world have been at the forefront of the fight against trafficking in women, with little financial support. While reports indicate that the Vienna Forum is costing over $4 million, very little, if any, consideration is given to survivors of sex trafficking or to the groups on the frontlines who advocate for, rescue and assist these women to rebuild their lives. Governments should take into consideration the expertise of grassroots groups while planning their measures. We have keen knowledge and insight about ground realities, which is vital to creating effective and appropriate policies. Yet there is little or no room for these groups at the table in Vienna, a lost opportunity for governments to learn from those on the ground working to end sex trafficking. We are particularly concerned that requests for a panel of sex trafficking survivors at the Vienna Forum were rejected by the UNODC organizers. Governments have consequently been denied an important opportunity to hear their voices.

The Palermo Protocol recognizes as traffickers those who prey on the vulnerability of women and children.  In the past decade, a significant body of legal and policy work on human trafficking has been developed and many governments have initiated measures and programs to address this international crime.  We call on governments and the UNODC to use the Vienna Forum as an opportunity to display their political will and begin actually implementing plans of action to end human trafficking, in particular the trade in women for sexual exploitation.  There has been enough talk and too little action, and the millions of dollars used to organize the Vienna Forum should be matched by the channeling of desperately needed and strategically placed resources to grassroots organizations working on the front lines.

For further information please contact:
Gunilla Ekberg, CATW International, +32 473 17 6569
Taina Bien-Aimé, Equality Now, +1 917 650 0247
Colette de Troy, European Women’s Lobby, +32 473 86 9777

Joint NGO Statement/Call as a >> PDF Download
 

Call for action on girls' rights abuses

In an era that coined the term 'girl power' millions of girls are being condemned to a life of inequality and poverty.

It is a situation that cannot be allowed to continue and today Plan UK is launching a massive worldwide campaign, "Because I am a Girl", which aims to transform their lives.

The campaign starts with the publication of a report on the disturbing situation, pulling together global statistics highlighting the extent of female foeticide, early marriage, abuse and violence and the lack of education given to girls in the world's poorer countries.

Because I am a Girl: The State of the World's Girls, is the first in a series of global reports on girls to be published over the next nine years by Plan. Timed to be released on the United Nation's International Day of the Family, it warns that the Millennium Development Goals agreed by world leaders are likely to fail girls living in poverty.

Global statistics highlighted in the report paint a bleak picture of some of the challenges facing girls and young women growing up in the world's most impoverished regions:

• Girls aged 15-19 account for 50% of victims of sexual assault worldwide
• Birth complications and unsafe abortions are the leading cause of death for young women aged 15-19
• Seventy per cent of the 1.5billion people living on less than a dollar a day are female
• Stunted growth in estimated 450million women as a result of childhood malnutrition
• Approximately 7.3million young women are living with HIV/AIDS, in comparison to 4.3million men
• Two thirds of 15-19-year-olds newly infected with HIV in sub-Saharan Africa are female
• Sixty two million girls are out of primary school

“To stop this inhuman attitude towards girls, there should be stringent laws against the practice of child marriages, and both the governments and the civil societies should initiate campaigns in every community on the evil consequences of child marriages.”
Savitha, aged 14, from India

In August 2007 Plan UK announced its intention to mount an eight-year drive to tackle discrimination against girls. As part of its push the agency will follow the lives of 125 baby girls living in nine developing countries as part of a cohort study on girl's rights and gender discrimination.

Find out more on the website of [PLAN] 

The 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence is an international campaign originating from the first Women's Global Leadership Institute sponsored by the Center for Women's Global Leadership in 1991. Participants chose the dates, November 25, International Day Against Violence Against Women and December 10, International Human Rights Day, in order to symbolically link violence against women and human rights and to emphasize that such violence is a violation of human rights. This 16-day period also highlights other significant dates including November 29, International Women Human Rights Defenders Day, December 1, World AIDS Day, and December 6, which marks the Anniversary of the Montreal Massacre.

The 16 Days Campaign has been used as an organizing strategy by individuals and groups around the world to call for the elimination of all forms of violence against women by:

• raising awareness about gender-based violence as a human rights issue at the local, national, regional and international levels
• strengthening local work around violence against women
• establishing a clear link between local and international work to end violence against women
• providing a forum in which organizers can develop and share new and effective strategies
• demonstrating the solidarity of women around the world organizing against violence against women
• creating tools to pressure governments to implement promises made to eliminate violence against women

Find out more on the website of [Center for Women's Global Leadership]

This campaign, along with active humanitarian assistance can make a difference. By increasing awareness of the horrible atrocities which are taking place in Bangladesh, it will become more and more difficult for the government of Bangladesh to keep denying the facts. In the process, GHRD also aims to provide a basic level of security and stability for the victims of abuse with the goal of reintegrating them into their communities.

To find out more, visit the website of [Global Human Rights Defence]

A campaign by the Working Group Women in the Forum for Environment and Development
in cooperation with genanet – Focal Point Gender, Environment, Sustainability

The threat of climate change and its effects all over the world were presented dramatically before our eyes in the last couple of weeks by reports from the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change). If we do not act immediately, it will be too late and the consequences irrevocable – this, in essence, is the message.

From June 6 to 8, 2007 the G8 Summit will be taking place in Germany, and climate protection will be at the top of the agenda. This is a good thing, but we fear that the results of the summit will not be enough to meet the demands of the situation.

Of the heads of the G8 (+5) states, only one is a woman. We believe, however, that effective climate control is possible only with the widespread involvement of women. Climate protection and climate change are not just matters of technology and economics. Rather, they are closely tied to justice: justice between rich and poor countries, between those living today and future generations, but also within generations and nations. And gender equality plays a role in each of these aspects.

It is women and their will for change that will make a difference!

In order to make women’s voices heard at the G8 Summit, we call upon women all over the world to declare their messages to the heads of the G8 (+5) states:

·         Send us your message. (It can be in any language, but should also have an English translation attached if it is not in English, Spanish, or French.) Please add your name, age and country.

·         If possible, send us a photograph of yourself as well (at least 300 dpi resolution).

·         Or take a piece of paper, write your message down, take a photograph from you with the message and send us the photo.

With your messages and photos, we plan to create an exhibit at the Alternative Summit of the Civil Society, which will take place in parallel to the official G8 Summit. And of course we will also forward them to the heads of state and call upon them for a response.

For International Women’s Day, genanet carried out a similar campaign whose results can be seen at (www.genanet.de/fotoaktion.html) and serve as an inspiration to us. The campaign was a great success. We hope that for the G-8 Summit even more women will raise their voices, make themselves visible, and exert their influence on politics. 

Send us your message by May 16, 2007, to women-climate@genanet.de

The project is funded by the EU under the 6th Framework Programme and coordinated by the Arena Centre for European Studies at the University of Oslo. Within this project, the Centre for the Advancement of Women in Politics, led by Dr Yvonne Galligan at Queen?s University Belfast, will coordinate a work package entitled Justice, Democracy and Gender. Other participants of this study include the ARENA Centre at the University of Oslo (Dr. Cathrine Holst), Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest (Dr. Maria Heller) and Riga Graduate School of Law (Kristine Kruma and Tatjana Evas)

The core objective of the study is three-fold:

• To explore the status of gender equality within the enlarged EU;
• To analyse what kind of gender policies can be justified with regard to three alternative models for reconstituting democracy in Europe.
• To arrive at specific recommendations for how gender equality can best be fostered within Europe.

For more information, please visit: [RECON]

December 10, 2006 - March 8, 2007

Campaign 88 Days is a worldwide effort to raise awareness, take action and mobilize resources for women’s rights. In the 88 days between International Human Rights Day (December 10th 2006), and International Women’s Day (March 8th 2007), women from around the world are banding together to make a difference for women’s rights. Mama Cash is a women's fund which finances projects conceived by women; strong women who set an example for others, who know first-hand experience that it is possible to turn the tide if women know their rights and claim them.

8 Projects Supported by Mama Cash

South Africa: education on AIDS by comic book
The Transformative Human Rights Unit (THRU), uses comic books to fight social prejudice on hiv infected women. THRU also uses comic books to inform women about the Equality Courts. Women that need legal advice because of gender related discrimination they face, can turn to these easily accessible ‘courts’, where they get assistance at very low cost.

Israel: a voice for lesbian women
Aswat, which means voice in Arabic, was formed in 2003 by a group of women who wanted to add a Palestinian lesbian voice to the Israeli gay movement. They are a dynamic and brave group of women who want to break with the taboo around homosexuality. Aswat members fight for the rights of lesbian women who face triple discrimination in a country where they’re discriminated against as Palestinians living under Israeli rule, as women in a male-dominated society, and as lesbians in an Arab community where there’s no official word for ‘gay’.

Thailand/Buma: refugee camps along the border
Karen Women's Organisation (KWO) in Thailand, with membership of more than 30,000 women from Karen, a district in Burma, supports and organises Burmese women in the struggle for democracy and equality in Burma. The country's civil war has led to overflowing refugee camps along the Thai-Burma border. This is where KWO is active. KWO Women's Protection Programme empowers refugee women, raises awareness of their rights, and supports victims of violence through education and facilitating the exchange of experiences. KWO's Safe House Project provides a temporary refuge for victims of domestic violence, rape and trafficking.

Ecuador: struggle for sexual rights
Although over the last years access to information about contraceptives has grown in Latin America, many women, particularly young women, lack knowledge and access to contraceptive methods. Many conservative groups in society inhibit awareness raising efforts to reach women, particularly young women, although the use of (emergency) contraception is legal in Ecuador. Fundacion Desafio (meaning Challenge) is a courageous group which promotes and protects the right to access emergency contraception. Their health centre provides services for a minimal, or no, charge and treats all women regardless of their age, economic means or marital status.

Poland: education on sexual behaviour for high school students
Volunteers of the Ponton organization teach high school students on sexual behaviour and birth control.
Ponton works in the Warschau region, where the lessons are given at school to students between 14 and 20 years old. ‘We get questions like “I took one of my mother’s birth control pills and then had sex. Is this bad for my health?”, says Anka Grzywacz of Ponton. The questions from young people illustrate how poorly informed they are about sexuality. As a result teenage pregnancy in Poland is a serious problem.

Azerbeidzjan: Femina: monthly supplement to the newspaper
Former Soviet Union (FSU) women appear in the press mostly as fashion or entertainment figures and rarely as professionals, experts in their fields or as participants in political and social processes. The image of a woman as mother and keeper of the hearth prevails. Nothing is said about women’s unemployment, domestic violence, problems of women’s entrepreneurs or self-realisation. The Azeri organisation, Azerbaijan Young Lawyers’ Union (AYLU), published a monthly supplement to the Russian-Azeri newspaper Zerkalo. This supplement is called Femina and is devoted to gender equality in society: equal rights and opportunities.

Bolivia: Campana 28 de Septiembre
Campana 28 de Septiembre por la despenalizacion del Aborto en Bolivia aims to reanimate the somewhat dormant Bolivian women’s movement. Campana 28 de Septiembre organised a national congress around the theme of legalizing abortion. The event lasted from the 15th through the 17th of June 2006, and one of its accomplishments was the creation of a ‘platform of demands’ for women’s reproductive rights.
The goal of the platform is to influence the Morales government which is in the process of drafting a new constitution. The Bolivian women’s rights activists argue in the platform of demands not only for a constitutional right to reproductive freedom, but also for the separation of church and state and for broadening the definition of the family beyond the traditional family. Women held a demonstration and presented the document on September 28th to the government in front of the national parliament.

Central Europe: fighting trafficking
The Anti Trafficking Centre is a feminist non-governmental organization working to eradicate trafficking in human beings, with the special emphasis on women and girls. The work of ATC focuses on the causes of the problem of trafficking, such as gender-based violence, poverty, unemployment, and the lack of safe migration. ATC organises public advocacy, media campaigns, provides information to women and girls, and includes men as allies in the struggle for stopping violence against women, which is one of the root causes of trafficking in human beings.

For more information, please visit: [88 days]

In 1993 the Vienna Conference asserted that Women's Rights are universal, inalienable and indivisible rights and an integral part of fundamental Human Rights.

Our association SOS SEXISM demands that the millennial oppression women have suffered throughout the world under patriarchy form the object of official denunciation and financial compensation by all governments, in order to put an absolute end to the many discriminations and crimes committed against women.

We ask you to circulate our petition to the women's groups of your country and to send the signatures back before the end of December 2009 :

          - by mail
                   (SOS SEXISME - 2 rue du Bel Air – 92190 – Meudon - France)

          - by fax (33 – 1 – 46261482)

          - by E-Mail sexisme@sos-sexisme.org

          - or directly on the Internet                    
                    - French text [Francais]
                    - English text [English] 
                    - Spanish text [Espanol] 

The signatures will then be sent to :

             - The European Parliament Petition Commission
             - The United Nations' Women's Status Commission
             - The United Nations' Secretary-General
             - The 5th Women's International Conference

SOS SEXISM will support the causes of women who decide to file a lawsuit in their own names or in the names of their ancestors, in order to obtain apologies and the recognition of the crimes committed against them as CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY.

Visit website for further information [SOS Sexisme]

The "One Million Signatures" campaign, which is designed to help reform discriminatory laws, resulted from and is a continuation of the women's peaceful gatherings on the 12th of June in 2005 and 2006 that ended by violent attacks of the police and security forces. From both tactical and strategic points of view, this latest campaign is in line with an envisioned future where powers, opportunities and social goods are not divided based on gender differences or sexual orientation. Primarily initiated by the younger generation of women's rights activists, this campaign seems to be turning into a point of convergence among many groups and individual activists in different parts of Iran. This campaign seems to have surpassed ideological, sectarian and religious boundaries and limitations. Instead of seeking grand ideals and abstract solutions to women's problems, it is struggling on to achieve defined and tangible goals through practical means and methods. This movement has distanced itself from the more prevalent masculine and elitist perceptions that assume only a handful of avant-garde intellectuals, having discovered the "Whole Truth" are the sole proprietors of solutions, who through personal sacrifice would impart the knowledge, bring freedom and 'save the souls of the ignorant and oppressed masses.'

The aim and strategy of this campaign rests on direct contact between the activists and ordinary women that would involve two-way conversation, dialogue, understanding, negotiation and education. In this model, the activist or the intellectual moves beyond the concept and framework of the one who knows it all and does it all expert and becomes one of the many thousands of active participants, involved in the process of change. The final achievement of this movement results directly from this process of dialectical interaction. Here the civil society activist does not bear all the costs associated with the effort, and ordinary people are no longer passive or silent spectators.

By employing door-to-door and face-to-face educational strategy, the One Million Signatures Campaign will teach our activists a lot about social realities on the ground. In light of these teachings, instead of throwing themselves in the harms way and carrying the brunt of reform costs, separate from people, the women's movement's activists will be able to have a wider and more practical impact in unison with people, one that is accompanied by pressure from people and their full participation. In return more will share the cost, and more people and forces will have a stake in the outcome. This wise and creative move will finally add to the depth and breadth of the reforms.

As evident from the writings of the activists in this campaign, unlike political parties, the women's movement has neither the intention of over-throwing the government, nor of seizing the state power. They reach beyond governments and aim at transforming the dominant cultural, social, economical, and political relations to achieve greater equality. Women's struggle in today's Iran is primarily a cultural and legal one, which is fought in a historical context rather than a battlefield. This struggle starts inside the homes (in the kitchens, bedrooms, and living rooms) and flows and spreads through workplaces (factories, workshops and offices), schools and universities, mosques, synagogues, and churches, streets and alleys, taxis and buses, stores and restaurants, parks, stadiums and recreation sites, parliaments and courtrooms, and reaches the general public through educational texts, books, newspapers and magazines, games and toys, poems, stories and lyrics, movies, radio and television programs, the internet, and everywhere and anywhere that gender dynamics are present and social relations between men and women exist.

Our skilled and well-informed women have learned from experience that male-domination is a multi-layered system, a deep-rooted and complex establishment, which will not fundamentally change through simply change in the state. This realization should however not serve to underestimate the critical role of the state in affecting women's status within society. A simple comparison of facts and figures related to human development indicators (and empowerment indicators) in different countries, gives us credible documentation that in societies where political and governmental structures are democratic, non-ideological and non-religious, where economy experiences healthy growth and material resources and social goods are fairly distributed, where national resources are used to create strong social welfare support systems, provide education and healthcare instead of spending much on militarism, women enjoy a longer lifespan, and better physical and emotional health. Further, women in these societies benefit from greater equality and equal rights, a higher social status, higher education levels, greater economic power, widespread social and political participation and enjoy greater safety and security from domestic violence.

For Dignity of the Survivors

For the first time in history raping of women, executed during the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina in a planned and organized way, was declared a war crime and a crime against humanity.  But even 10 years after the war has been finished in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the destinies of women who survived war rape did not initiate the state institutions to adjust legal frameworks to the needs of these women.  There is no law that treats status of women who survived crime of war rape which, commonly, was done repeatedly.  Nobody still knows precisely how many women survived war rape. Only the fact that there were thousands is for sure. It is also unknown how many children have been born out of those horror crimes.
These women, with exception of rare cases, are generally without the financial support; unemployed, and with significantly decreased labour capacities as a consequence of the survived trauma.  They are not enabled for additional professional training or changing the working qualification.  For all these facts they are economically dependant.  Most survivors of war rape do not have adequate health protection or the access to psychosocial support.  The issue of their accommodation is unresolved.  They did not receive support for education of their children. 
They live with their traumas kept inside.  The burden of silenced trauma is often a boundary for return of these women to pre-war places of residence and they do not file applications for return of the property. Only the rare ones have had gathered the strength to apply for civil victim of war status recognition and achieved minimum financial amends set by such status.
They do not have possibilities to receive any other indemnity for the consequences of the torture they survived.
These women live in silence, at margins of our society, surrounded by their painful memories.  They don’t speak at all, or speak very rarely, about their hard experiences. Those that can not be forgotten.
Their memories should be our memories too; their sacrifices do not concern them only, but should concern all of us; and not only here-at these territories.
Women who survived war rapes must not be neglected and forgotten. That lesson is for all to be learned; so it would not repeat.

For these reasons, this campaign advocates for:
- Adoption of amendments to current law that would enable women survivors of war trauma to exercise the rights set for civil victims of war.
- Passing the law on state level that would unify regulations of rights of war torture survivors, including women war rape survivors, and ensure means for implementation of the law. 

You can give your support by posting support message to [za_dostojanstvo_prezivjelih@yahoogroups.com]
by using message subject "FOR Dignity of The Survivors" or posting online by using the [Yahoogroup Dignity of The Survivors] (if you are registered yahoo user).

The Campaign is now working in more than 35 countries in Africa, Asia and the Arab region and involves a range of partners. In each country, it focuses on three key areas:

• Prevention
• Treatment
• Rehabilitation

In just three years, the Campaign has brought fistula to the attention of a wide audience, including the general public, policymakers, health officials and affected communities. More than US $20 million has been mobilized from a variety of donors.

The Campaign has made remarkable progress with relatively modest funding. But the needs are great. Ending fistula worldwide will demand political will, additional resources, and strengthened collaboration between governments, community groups, NGOs and health professionals.

For more information visit the [Campaign Website]

To:  United Nations Security Council, NGOs, & Select U.N. delegations
Preamble: Women suffer inordinately in times of armed conflict. They are stakeholders in the search for sustainable peace. Their involvement in the peace processes is not a luxury, it is an absolute necessity.

Women's views and strategies must be sought after- from the grassroots up to the top. This should be accompanied by capacity building. Women's involvement should not only be based on their training but also on their experiences in conflicts.

Women call upon governments to invest in programs that deal with the roots causes of armed conflicts in order to secure a just and sustainable peace. These include dealing with prejudices and stereotyping, genuinely tackling poverty and inequitable development, investing in democratic governance that prevents war, promoting coexistence and the right to be different. Governments should also show restraint and stop employing militarism against innocent civilians.

We urge the United Nations to implement their own Resolutions, including the recently adopted SC Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security, in order to lead the way.

The conveners of Women's Worlds 8th International Congress held in Kampala, Uganda, July 2002, adopted the following Resolution:

1. Create an Observatory on Gender, Peace and Security that will be based in Europe. The Observatory will engage in research and documentation, trainings, the creation of a database of women, peace and security experts and organisations. This Observatory must be financially supported by the international donor community and will be responsible for funding women's peace-building activities.

2. Disseminate information on women, peace and security activities, processes and best practices, through the internet and other communication medium; this includes making accessible a database of women leaders and professionals in conflict, peace and security issues.

3. Develop and provide training to women for them to effectively participate in peace, security and reconstruction processes; including mandatory gender awareness, human rights and humanitarian law training for all staff involved in peace keeping missions.

4. Encourage national governments, international organisations and civil society to achieve gender balance in peace-keeping, peace negotiations, reconstruction and early warning especially at decision making levels; by requiring national governments -as member countries of international organisations- to provide an annual gender audit detailing the numbers of women sent or seconded to international peace processes and missions and the professional capacity and level of these women.

5. Create and effectively implement mechanisms that ensure the security of women and children in conflict areas.

6. National governments and international organisations must commit themselves to holding accountable national troops and staff involved in peacekeeping missions who commit human rights violations against the local population or against other international staff.

7. National governments, international organisations and civil society, must integrate programs on gender awareness and peace education at all levels of the educational system, contributing to the organisation of the youth and building their capacity to participate effectively in peace building.

8. UNHCR, the UN system and other international organisations responsible for refugees and others conflict affected populations must provide effective programmes including income generation, training and education for these populations in order to contribute to their peace and security needs. Women refugees must be included in the decision-making mechanisms of the camps in order to ensure the equitable distribution of relief aid and other types of assistance.

9. Women's reproductive health needs as a direct result of sexual violence and rape in war, resulting in STD's, HIV/AIDs and other reproductive health problems should be recognised as a human rights issue and specialised treatment should be provided.

10. War affected women should be included in international peace missions and peace exchanges. Women themselves should be instruments of peace, building on the wealth of their experiences in the community and at the grassroots level.

11. Traditional mechanisms used by women for conflict resolution and peace building should be supported and institutionalised.

12. Countries, groups and individuals responsible for manufacturing and peddling arms must be held accountable to existing international standards and mechanisms, and required to commit themselves instead to investment in development.

13. United Nations must appoint a Special Rapporteur to oversee and produce a report on media depictions of women, particularly in conflict situations.

14. The international donor community must provide sustained and adequate funding for activities related to women, peace and security issues. The funds will be held in trust by the Observatory as elaborated in point 1.

15. Women and men must advocate for the adoption of this resolution by their respective governments and engage in advocacy and lobbying at the national, regional and international levels.

**The Kampala Resolution was drafted 27 July 2002 by Ancil Adrian-Paul, Eva Dalak, Marian Douglas, Patrick Mbuthia, and Gina Van Schalk. Reverend Grace Ndyabahika coordinated the Women, Peace and Conflict track and convened the drafting group.

Sincerely,

The Undersigned 


Visit the website for more information [Kampala Resolution]

CODEPINK

CODEPINK is a women-initiated grassroots peace and social justice movement working to end the war in Iraq, stop new wars, and redirect our resources into healthcare, education and other life-affirming activities. CODEPINK rejects the Bush administration's fear-based politics that justify violence, and instead calls for policies based on compassion, kindness and a commitment to international law. With an emphasis on joy and humor, CODEPINK women and men seek to activate, amplify and inspire a community of peacemakers through creative campaigns and a commitment to non-violence.

On March 8th, 2006 CODEPINK met their most recent goal: to deliver the petition, "Women's Call for Peace," to the US White House with atleast 10,000 signatures. Photos of the event are available on CODEPINK's Homepage. CODEPINK organizes events across the world including regularly vigils, demonstrations, seminars and discussions.

For further information visit [CODEPINK - Women Say No To War]