STATEMENT: 10 years of UN Security Council Resolution 1325: To Celebrate or Not To Celebrate?

October 2010 marks ten years of the existence of the UN Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 1325 on women, peace and security. A decade after the resolution was unanimously adopted women and women's rights activists across the globe are assessing the level of its implementation, celebrating successes, exchanging ideas and pointing out the challenges, gaps as well as the long road that still lies ahead. The August 2010 Isis-WICCE/WOREC Exchange Programme Institute that brings together women leaders from Africa and Asia is one of the forum for reflection and action of this nature.

The bulk of Isis-WICCE's work addressing the practical and strategic needs of women in conflict and post-conflict settings is also based on and supported by the spirit, intention and functional goals of UNSCR 1325. Therefore by commissioning 34 feminist researches in Burundi, DRC, Cote d'Ivoire, Senegal, Israel, India, Pakistan, Philippines, Nepal, Sierra Leone, Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda, Isis-WICCE sought to discover women's realities and assess issues or challenges still faced by women in conflict and post-conflict countries, 10 years later.

On Protection

In Bujumbura, it was found that Muslim girls and women were being trafficked for unpaid hard labour, sexual and physical abuse in Lebanon while community members looked the other way and the government paid lip service. While Burundi's Criminal Code (Article 242) enacted on April 22nd 2009 indicates a penalty of up to 20 years imprisonment for traffickers, interviewed police officers in charge of minors admitted that in the rare occasions that these cases are reported, justice is perverted. Women who report these cases of violence are mishandled by the judicial authorities and their concerns are often not taken into account during investigations or court processes. Finally, high ranking individuals, powerful businessmen and wealthy Lebanese often bribe their way out of any penalization.

As a result, girls and women aged between 14 and 20 remain vulnerable as there are no tangible or visible efforts by government to denounce or eradicate trafficking. In addition, this is trivialized by an uninformed society, quick to brush this off as something that “only happens to poorly behaved girls who expose themselves”. Nevertheless the affected girls and women suffer trauma, sexually transmitted diseases, unwanted pregnancies and risky abortions, divorce, physical disabilities, loss of self-esteem, low family reputation and in some cases, death.

The case of Nepal is not too far off, even as the nation transforms from civil war to peace and from monarchy to democracy. With an increasing number of NGOs and political parties representing the needs and voices of the marginalized, several gains have been made in terms of multiplying lobbying efforts and achieving success for women at the legislative and judicial level. Nevertheless, Nepali women belonging to sexual minorities continue to be underrepresented and lack protection from the commonplace false arrests, physical and verbal harassment by security officials of the police and army. This only perpetuates the occurrence of other violations also seen in Kigali, Rwanda and the DRC where there is limited legal protection of LGBTI. Instead, they continue to suffer sexual and physical violence, increased risk of HIV/AIDS infection, educational and employment discrimination, social exclusion and other human rights violations.

Conflict widows wrongfully accused of war crimes and female migrant workers in Nepal have also stood out as groups of women lacking protection and challenging the value of the peace process. ”When husbands die, women are ignored and accused of the death, victimized and extradited; fathers and brothers-in-law sexually exploit the widows”. In the case of Kaski district, women have resorted to sleeping with weapons under their pillows because the justice system does not serve them and they are not guaranteed security after they speak out about rape by their own in-laws and family. For women migrating for work, there is a lack of appropriate policies and efforts to reduce the risk of sexual exploitation and ensure women's safety as they go through the migratory process.

On Promotion

While the Nepali government can be lauded for the successes of the women's rights struggle after the peace agreement through a draft constitution that includes women's demands, not much can be said about the efforts to translate this into actual successes. 2010 was declared the ‘Year against Gender Based Violence' and a national programme was launched by the Prime Minister, however months later, its implementation is still very minimal. The trend continues in the government's strong policy commitments on women's post-conflict health needs such as ‘free treatment of uterine prolapse', ‘free maternal delivery services' and ‘free essential health services' which to a large extent appear rhetorical.

Across the board, current and former internally displaced women in both western Nepal and northern Uganda, face challenges of personal insecurity but remain most concerned about the absence of medical or psychological support. They expressed dissatisfaction with the government resettlement and recovery programmes that were meant to benefit them but did not address their main challenges such as lack of access and ownership of land or property, limited economic opportunities and the unmet need for psychosocial support.

In Kashmir, where the conflict and the disappearance of women's sons and husbands has rendered them ‘half widows', women's unaddressed concerns are related to the government's lack of accountability to women as well as the lack of responsiveness or proactive efforts to protect women and promote their rights. These women continue to suffer insecurity, the denial of their property rights, changes in residence and a seemingly endless wait for those missing with no response from the government to address these. As a result, a significant percentage of Kashmiri women experience psychological distress and have psychiatric and psychosomatic illnesses.

Girls and women in areas of Cote d'Ivoire formerly under siege also suffer the lack of medical support from the government. Having suffered sexual violence due to the conflict including rape, women continue to live with diseases such as HIV/AIDS and conditions like obstetric fistula for the circumcised women who were raped during the war. However, research found that these women now suffer a lack of access to basic services due to lack of public administration in the war affected areas. In addition, there is an absence of health centres to attend to them and difficulty in evacuation to areas under government control therefore victims of sexual violence lack adequate medical care.

In terms of legal response, there is a gap in punishing the acts of sexual violence as war crimes due to gaps in the country's Penal Code (Section 354). While it states that rape is punishable by 5 to twenty years or life imprisonment depending on the victim's age, the term ‘rape' is not defined and this affects girls and women's ability to get justice or redress for the crimes of sexual violence committed against them. The association of women lawyers in Cote d'Ivoire, AFJI is currently seeking to change this but in the meantime women do not have access to justice.

On Participation

Despite women comprising over half the total population and experiencing growing political space for marginalized groups, Nepalese women largely remain on the sidelines in the development processes following the peace agreement. In Kaski district, it was found that despite the existence of a district budget for women's development, they are not aware of or involved in determining how it is spent. As a result, officials use it for infrastructure and development activities not related to women or their priority needs. It is then claimed that women will eventually or indirectly benefit from this. In striving to actively participate and take part in the country's decision making processes, a significant portion of women have to work twice as hard to challenge discrimination against them based also on caste or sexual orientation which limits their access to resources, opportunities and a voice.

In Pikit, North Cotabato of the Philippines, women played a central role in forming the G7 Space for Peace that declared the community a peace zone and were able to spread the ideology to convert seven more villages into zones where the culture of peace is propagated and development occurs uninterrupted. Despite these women's contribution in spreading hope and complementing the peace process, leadership of the G7 has been dominated by male local government officials. Instead they have been asked to form their own organisations or contribute to consultations for women's policies but watch the ‘bigger business' from the sidelines.

These women's participation is stifled and their voice is muffled in various ways. Even when they are invited to consultations, their views are not solicited or adopted and women must continually assert their presence and ability to take part in decision making during these meetings. Despite women's significant contributions to peace, they are not acknowledged and this is also reflected in the absence of budget allotment to gender and development as well as the lack of funds to implement the National Action Plan for Women Peace and Security.

While significant leaps have definitely been made in participating at decision making levels, protection of girls and women from sexual violence, gender mainstreaming in peace efforts and promotion of women's rights, there is still a long way to go. This therefore begs the question, to celebrate or not to celebrate?

Sources:

1. Anitha Gateretse and Eleonore Nduwimana, A Case Study of Women Trafficking from Burundi to Lebanon
2. Durga Thapa, Social Exclusion of LGBT People in Kathmandu, Nepal
3. Ezabir Ali, Psychosocial Impact of Armed Conflict on Women whose Sons are Missing in Custody and those rendered ‘Half Widows' in Kashmir Valley
4. Lydia Cherop, Post Conflict Resettlement: Opportunities and Challenges of former IDP Women in Amuria District, Uganda
5. Marion Bernadette Cabrera, Women Community Leaders: Recognizing Strengths, Challenges and Contributions to Building Cultures of Peace. Stories and Narratives from the G7 Women of Pikit North, Cotabato
6. Monique Ntumba Tshala, The Protection of the Rights of Lesbians, Gays, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) in the Democratic Republic of Congo
7. Naome Ruzindana, Lived Realities of women in same sex relationships in Rwanda
8. Nisha Gurung, Post-conflict Social-Economic Situations of Single Women of Accham District
9. Pauline Affoue Yao, Physical, Psychological and Human Impact on Circumcised Women in Bandama Valley during the Conflict in North central Cote d'Ivoire
10. Pooja Bhattarai, No security without Food Security: The Impact of Food Insecurity on Women in Far Western Region of Nepal
11. Rupa Shrestha, Violence Faced by Female Migrant Workers of Sunsari District of Nepal
12. Sabnam Sharma, Effect Of Armed Conflict In Women in Kaski District, Nepal