International Women's Health Coalition - United Nations Population Fund Restoration Act (S. 2682)
Violence against Women - Gender Issues. Violence against women and girls is one of the most widespread violations of human rights. It can include physical, sexual, psychological and economic abuse, and it cuts across boundaries of age, race, culture, wealth and geography. It takes place in the home, on the streets, in schools, the workplace, in farm fields, refugee camps, during conflicts and crises. It has many manifestations — from the most universally prevalent forms of domestic and sexual violence, to harmful practices, abuse during pregnancy, so-called honour killings and other types of femicide. International and regional legal instruments have clarified obligations of States to prevent, eradicate and punish violence against women and girls.
The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) requires that countries party to the Convention take all appropriate steps to end violence. Violence against women and girls has far-reaching consequences, harming families and communities. Backs efforts against gender-based violence in southern Africa. 6 January 2011 – In an effort to help law enforcement agencies in southern Africa respond to gender-based violence effectively, the United Nations Office for Drugs and Crime (UNODC) said today that it has launched a handbook and a training curriculum to improve the capacity of national police forces in the region to combat the problem.
Through the UNODC-backed capacity-building initiative, the agency is working with officials and civil society in Botswana, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe to support law enforcement and national criminal justice systems in their efforts to tackle violence against women. The handbook is designed for first-responders, such as the police, and helps to define violence against women by providing an overview of relevant norms and standards, and giving guidance on how to intervene.
It focuses on how to investigate acts of violence against women, a process that requires sensitivity. Women protected under international humanitarian law. International humanitarian law aims to prevent and alleviate human suffering in war without discrimination based on sex. But it does recognize that women face specific problems in armed conflict, such as sexual violence and risks to their health. War is not just a man’s business. In today’s conflicts, the impact of fighting on women can be severe.
Humanitarian law recognizes this in the general protection it affords to both women and men, as well as in some specific provisions providing additional protection to women. In general, IHL requires humane treatment for the wounded and sick, prisoners and civilians caught up in a conflict, without any “adverse distinction” based on sex, race, nationality, religion, political opinions, or any similar criteria. The general provisions of IHL also forbid hostage taking and the use of human shields. In addition, women must be “especially protected” from sexual violence. After an armed conflict, women often play a key role in rebuilding communities.
UN-Resolution 1325 - UN-Resolutionen - Gunda-Werner-Institut. Mit der am 31. Oktober 2000 verabschiedeten Resolution 1325 zu „Frauen, Frieden und Sicherheit“ (Women, Peace and Security) des UN-Sicherheitsrates wird völkerrechtlich verbindlich geregelt, dass Frauen auf allen Ebenen von Friedensprozessen und Sicherheitspolitik angemessen zu beteiligen sind.
Die UN-Mitgliedsstaaten werden aufgerufen, die unterschiedlichen Lebensbedingungen von Frauen und Männern im Kontext von Krieg und Nachkriegssituationen, in der zivilen Krisenprävention und beim staatlichen Wiederaufbau zu berücksichtigen. Frauen und Mädchen sind vor sexualisierter Gewalt zu schützen. Der Inhalt der Resolution lässt sich also mit drei „P“s zusammenfassen: Partizipation, Prävention und Protektion. Die Resolution 1325 gilt als historischer Durchbruch für die Forderungen der internationalen Frauenfriedensbewegung. Die deutsche Bundesregierung hat bisher zwei Berichte zur Umsetzung von Resolution 1325 vorgelegt, den ersten im Jahre 2004, den zweiten 2007. Weitere Informationen: Zu wenig Friedensmangagerinnen: Krieg bleibt Männersache. Zu wenig Friedensmangagerinnen Vor zehn Jahren verabschiedete die UN die "Resolution 1325".
Mit ihr sollten Frauen in Krisengebieten "Friedensmanagerinnen" werden. Frauen sind meistens die Opfer bei kriegerischen Auseinandersetzungen. Bild: dpa BERLIN taz | Zehn Jahre nachdem der Sicherheitsrat der Vereinten Nationen beschlossen hat, Frauen stärker am globalen und regionalen Konfliktmanagement zu beteiligen, fällt die Bilanz eher düster aus. Nicht einmal acht Prozent der Verhandelnden in Krisengebieten weltweit sind Frauen, sagt eine Studie des Entwicklungsfonds der Vereinten Nationen für Frauen, Unifem. Bei den Vermittelnden sind es sogar nur knapp über drei Prozent.
Auch Deutschland leistet bislang wenig Unterstützung. So wurden beispielsweise Frauenorganisationen im bürgerkriegsgebeutelten Liberia gefördert, die sich mit Gruppen aus Sierra Leone und Guinea zusammenschlossen und sich 2003 vor dem Präsidentenpalast versammelten, um gegen den Krieg zu protestieren. Women and Post-Conflict Reconstruction: Issues and Sources | Publications. Women and Post-Conflict Reconstruction: Issues and Sources is a review of literature dealing with political, economic and social reconstruction from a gender perspective. One of its objectives is to go beyond conventional images of women as victims of war, and to document the many different ways in which women make a contribution to the rebuilding of countries emerging from armed conflicts.
Special attention is given to women's priority concerns, to their resources and capacities, and to structural and situational factors that may reduce their participation in reconstruction processes. A second aim is to shed light on how post-war reconstruction processes influence the reconfiguration of gender roles and positions in the wake of war, and how women's actions shape the construction of post-war social structures. Following the brief Introduction is a chapter on political reconstruction.
It raises questions concerning women's participation in peace-building and democratization.
Women's health. Women, War & Peace - Gender Issues. War has always impacted men and women in different ways, but possibly never more so than in contemporary conflicts. While women remain a minority of combatants and perpetrators of war, they increasingly suffer the greatest harm. In contemporary conflicts, as much as 90 percent of casualties are among civilians, most of whom are women and children. Women in war-torn societies can face specific and devastating forms of sexual violence, which are sometimes deployed systematically to achieve military or political objectives. Women are the first to be affected by infrastructure breakdown, as they struggle to keep families together and care for the wounded. Even after conflict has ended, the impacts of sexual violence persist, including unwanted pregnancies, sexually transmitted infections and stigmatization. Moreover, women continue to be poorly represented in formal peace processes, although they contribute in many informal ways to conflict resolution.
United Nations Resolutions. Commission on the Status of Women. The Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) is the principal global intergovernmental body exclusively dedicated to the promotion of gender equality and the empowerment of women. A functional commission of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), it was established by Council resolution 11(II) of 21 June 1946. The CSW is instrumental in promoting women’s rights, documenting the reality of women’s lives throughout the world, and shaping global standards on gender equality and the empowerment of women.
In 1996, ECOSOC in resolution 1996/6 expanded the Commission’s mandate and decided that it should take a leading role in monitoring and reviewing progress and problems in the implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, and in mainstreaming a gender perspective in UN activities. During the Commission’s annual two-week session, representatives of UN Member States, civil society organizations and UN entities gather at UN headquarters in New York. Methods of Work. Focus Areas. UN Women | UN Entity for Gender Equality and Empowerment of Women. Commission on the Status of Women-Follow-up to Beijing and Beijing + 5. Follow us on: The Commission's mandate was expanded in 1987 by ECOSOC resolution 1987/22 to include the functions of promoting the objectives of equality, development and peace, monitoring the implementation of measures for the advancement of women, and reviewing and appraising progress made at the national, subregional, regional and global levels.
Following the 1995 Fourth World Conference on Women, the General Assembly mandated the Commission to integrate into its programme a follow-up process to the Conference, regularly reviewing the critical areas of concern in the Beijing Platform for Action and to develop its catalytic role in mainstreaming a gender perspective in United Nations activities. The Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) again modified the Commission's terms of reference in 1996, in its resolution 1996/6, deciding that the Commission should: (e) Maintain and enhance public awareness and support for the implementation of the Platform for Action. Women's health. Being a man or a woman has a significant impact on health, as a result of both biological and gender-related differences.
The health of women and girls is of particular concern because, in many societies, they are disadvantaged by discrimination rooted in sociocultural factors. For example, women and girls face increased vulnerability to HIV/AIDS. Some of the sociocultural factors that prevent women and girls to benefit from quality health services and attaining the best possible level of health include: unequal power relationships between men and women; social norms that decrease education and paid employment opportunities; an exclusive focus on women’s reproductive roles; and potential or actual experience of physical, sexual and emotional violence.
WomenWatch: UN Information and Resources on Gender Equality and Empowerment of Women.