RE: Uphold Women's Rights at 57th Comission on the Status of Women

March
13,
2013


RE:
 Uphold 
Women's 
Rights 
at 
57th 
Commission 
on 
the 
Status 
of 
Women


Dear 
Delegate,



We,
 the 
International 
Campaign
 to 
Stop 
Rape 
& 
Gender 
Violence 
in 
Conflict,
call 
on 
you 
as 
a 
member
 state 
taking 
part 
in 
the 
57th 
United 
Nations 
Commission 
on 
the 
Status 
of 
Women, 
to 
uphold 
international 
obligations 
towards 
women's 
rights 
and 
conclude 
the 
session 
with 
a 
strong 
communiqué 
that 
will 
pave
 the 
way
for 
accelerated 
action 
to 
end
gender 
violence.



Members 
from 
the 
International 
Campaign 
to 
Stop 
Rape 
& 
Gender 
Violence 
in 
Conflict, 
including
 Nobel 
Peace 
Laureate 
and 
Campaign 
Co‐Chair 
Jody 
Williams,
joined
 allies 
in 
New
York last 
week 
to 
call 
on 
member
 states 
for 
strong 
action
 to 
stop 
rape 
in 
conflict. 
As 
negotiations 
towards 
a 
final 
outcome 
enter 
the 
second
and 
final 
week,
we 
are 
alarmed 
that 
a 
number
 of 
states 
are 
using 
the 
Commission 
to 
reverse 
hard‐won 
progress
 the 
global 
community 
has 
made 
in 
the 
past
couple
 of 
decades 
to 
eliminate 
violence 
against 
women.


At
 a
 very 
minimum, 
the 
Commission 
on 
the 
Status 
of 
Women 
must 
uphold 
the 
universally 
agreed‐upon 
language 
on 
women's 
rights 
including 
CEDAW, 
the
General 
Assembly's 
Declaration 
on 
the
 Elimination 
of 
Violence 
Against 
Women
 (1993), 
the 
Beijing 
Platform
 for 
Action 
(1995), 
and 
UN
 Security
Council
Resolution
1325 
(2000).


The 
Campaign 
is 
deeply 
concerned 
about 
efforts 
to 
remove 
reference 
to 
language 
specific 
to 
these 
international 
agreements 
on 
women's 
rights 
from
 the
Commission's 
final 
documents. 
In 
particular, 
certain 
states 
adamantly
 claim
 that 
religious 
or 
cultural 
traditions 
should 
take 
precedent 
over 
ending 
violence
against 
women.
As 
an 
international 
Campaign 
with 
members 
in 
more 
than
125
 countries,
we 
stress 
that 
religion 
or 
culture 
must 
never 
be 
used 
as 
an 
excuse
 to
perpetuate 
gender 
violence.


Furthermore, 
we 
are 
concerned 
that 
some
 states 
are 
again 
making 
sexual 
and 
reproductive 
rights 
a
 point 
of 
contention, 
and 
equally
 disturbing, 
are 
objecting
 to
language
 that 
will 
define 
rape 
to 
include 
forced
 sexual 
acts 
with 
a 
partner.


Gender 
violence 
is 
a
 global 
epidemic, 
ranging 
from
 domestic 
violence 
to 
systematic 
rape 
in 
conflict. 
To 
end 
a 
UN 
Commission
 intended 
to 
address 
gaps 
in
current 
responses 
to 
gender violence 
with 
weakened 
global
 cooperation 
to 
end
 violence 
against 
women, 
sends 
a 
message 
to 
perpetrators 
that 
they 
can 
continue
 their
  crimes 
with 
impunity. 
Survivors 
deserve 
more 
from
 the 
international 
community. 
It is 
imperative 
that 
the
 international 
community 
reaffirm 
its
commitment 
to 
women's 
rights.
 We 
remind 
you 
that 
current 
discussion
 of 
new 
targets 
for 
when 
the 
Millennium
 Development 
Goals 
expire 
in 
2015 
is 
ongoing,
and 
the
 statement 
from 
the 
Commission 
will 
impact 
this 
process.


We 
urgently 
call 
on 
member
 states 
of 
the 
Commission 
to 
show
 strong 
leadership 
to 
prevent
 violence 
against 
women
 and 
rape
 in
 conflict, 
to 
protect 
women 
and
girls 
from 
violence, 
including through 
provision 
of 
needed 
psychosocial 
and 
medical 
services,
and
 to 
provide 
survivors 
with 
access 
to 
comprehensive 
justice
mechanisms 
including 
prosecution 
of 
perpetrators.



In
 order
 to 
advance
 both 
national 
and 
international 
justice 
mechanisms 
to 
address
 serious 
crimes 
of 
gender 
violence, 
we
 call 
on 
you 
to
 support 
the 
adoption 
of
 an 
amendment
 proposed
 by 
Liechtenstein 
that 
would
 further 
justice 
for 
survivors 
by supporting
 the 
complementary
 and
 necessary
 work 
of 
the
 International
Criminal
 Court.



As
 thousands 
of 
women
 and
 survivors 
of 
gender 
violence
 have 
gathered
 in 
New 
York 
for 
this 
historic 
moment 
as 
the 
United
 Nations 
prioritizes 
ending 
violence
against 
women, 
and 
millions 
more 
around 
the 
globe 
watch 
intently, 
we 
hope 
you
 will 
listen 
to 
our 
collective
 call 
for 
action 
and 
emerge 
with 
a 
final 
statement 
that
provides
 a
 clear 
path
 of 
action
 to 
end 
the 
epidemic.


Sincerely,



Jody 
Williams

Nobel 
Peace
 Prize,
1997

Co‐Chair,
 International 
Campaign 
to
 Stop
 Rape 
&
 Gender
 Violence 
in 
Conflict

Chair,
 Nobel
 Women's 
Initiative

Autonomous
 Women's 
Center,
Serbia

Association 
for
 Women's 
Rights 
in 
Development

Catholics 
of
 Choice

Fonds 
pour 
les 
Femmes
 Congolaises,
Democratic 
Republic
 of 
Congo

Global 
Fund 
for 
Women,
 United
 States

Human
 Rights 
Watch,
 United
 States

Infoteka, 
Bosnia
 &
 Herzegovina

JASS
 Just Associates

Liga
de 
Mujeres 
Desplazadas, 
Colombia

Observatorio 
Genero 
Democracia
 y 
Derechos
 Humanos,
Colombia

Physicians 
for 
Human 
Rights, 
United
 States

Solidarité 
Féminine
 pour 
la
 Paix
et
le 
Développement 
Intégral, 
Democratic 
Republic 
of
 Congo

Sonke
 Gender
 Justice,
South 
Africa

V‐Day

Women's 
League
 of 
Burma

Women's 
International
 League 
for 
Peace
 and 
Freedom

Women's 
Media
 Center's
 Women
 Under
 Siege
 Project

Women's 
Network
 Croatia

World
 Pulse