Women, Conflict and UN Resolution 1325

As research on armed conflict shows, women and girls suffer differently than men, and this gendered nature of war is not hidden from sight in Nepal

June 6, 2006 - (Nepalnews.com) Now that the process of resolving the protracted armed conflict and failed governance of the last ten years has started with the reinstated parliament and its historic proclamations, many long-suffering "people in the middle" are feeling some respite. With peace seemingly on the horizon, the constituency cannot tolerate any more forced extortions, recruiting of their children into the army or militia, extrajudicial killings of innocent civilians, and, above all, sexual violence against women and girls, which has been on the rise in the last decade of conflict despite Nepal's ratification of CEDAW, the convention that criminalizes discrimination and violence against women.

The recently proposed legislation for a 33 percent quota for women in the government and political sector has raised some eyebrows, but this legislation was overdue considering the historical oppression of women and their under-representation in every sector of governance. Structural re-adjustment of the social order is a must if Nepali society does not want to militarize its women and tell them that only through the embodiment of masculinist ideology and the "call to arms" will women be respected as equal subjects.

"Though violence against women is not exceptional to war times or contained in war spaces only, the degree of victimization of women is severe during crisis because traditional notions take women as embodiments of national or cultural spaces that could be violated through their bodies – thus the practice of rape in war."

While arguments about meritocracy are floating around, and class, ethnicity, and historical experience are invoked to give weight to the objections to this legislation, the argument that giving women protection will bar some bright men from imparting their contributions to society is half baked. If this were the case, 99% protection for men in the past should have led our society to any enlightened future. In terms of development indicators, women in Nepal come out at the worse end in almost every sector, whether it is health or education or politics. When it comes to labour extraction by the family and the state, women's productivity is not acknowledged. However, the mere passing of laws will not mitigate the suffering of rural and historically oppressed women if issues of diversity among women are not considered. Moreover, the need of the hour is also to enforce the already existing international laws that address the question of gender and other social justice issues.

Keeping in mind that the Maoists and the new government are seeking assistance from the United Nations to resolve the issue of arms management, among others, it is an opportune time for women's rights groups and human rights groups to implement UN Resolution 1325. The United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security was passed in the year 2000 to address the unique conditions women and girls face in times of armed conflicts and civil wars. It is a historic achievement for women and girls.

Since its inception, Resolution 1325 has been used by governmental and non-governmental organizations and rights activists in many countries that have gone through crises like Nepal's. The power of this resolution is such that pressure could be put on the working system of the UN itself, and recommendations could be made directly to the UN Secretary General, the Security Council, or any offices of the UN system at large. Among Resolution 1325's articles, there are at least three that are pertinent now in Nepal: Article 1 urges member states to ensure increased representation of women at all decision-making levels in national, regional and international institutions and mechanisms for the prevention, management, and resolution of conflict.

Article 11 emphasizes the responsibility of all states to put an end to impunity and to prosecute those responsible for genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes, including those relating to sexual and other violence against women and girls, and in this regard stresses the need to exclude these crimes, where feasible, from amnesty provisions. Article 13 encourages all those involved in the planning for disarmament, demobilization and reintegration to consider the different needs of female and male ex-combatants and to take into account the needs of their dependents.

As research on armed conflict shows, women and girls suffer differently than men, and this gendered nature of war is not hidden from sight in Nepal. During wars, female corporeality gets attacked as soldiers rape and murder women. The armed conflicts in the former Yugoslav region, Rwanda, Columbia, Sierra Leone, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, and Darfur provide recent examples of the gendered nature of conflict: while men are pushed to fight, women face economic hardships, must fend for their children and families, are trafficked to other countries for sex work, and fear bodily harm and sexual violence. This means that women and girls pay a different price.

More than two hundred thousand women were raped during the war between Bangladesh and Pakistan in 1971. Even in Nepal's case, more women have been trafficked across the border for sex than ever before, and rape and sexual violence have become daily occurrences. This is not to say that men have not suffered, but the nature of suffering that women go through is different. Though violence against women is not exceptional to war times or contained in war spaces only, the degree of victimization of women is severe during crisis because traditional notions take women as embodiments of national or cultural spaces that could be violated through their bodies – thus the practice of rape in war. In any resolution of conflict, mere political restructuring will not palliate the social and psychological pain of those impacted by the conflict.

As the outrages of war and armed conflict afflict women and girls, the implementation of Resolution 1325 will at least pave the way to healing women, and through them their family members and society. Resolution 1325 is not just a provisional outlet for managing crisis for a short time and protecting women and girls as victims. It is about teaching accountability and responsibility to parties in the conflict. Moreover, it is about making peace the rule and war an exception. As a member of the United Nations and a nation under armed conflict, Nepal has the responsibility to work towards activating and implementing this Resolution.

From: http://www.nepalnews.com/archive/2006/others/guestcolumn/june/guest_columns_jun06_04.php