Baby Steps and Huge Leaps Toward Human Rights for Women

Posted by KSM on 04/05/2010 @ 10:28 PM

Hillary Clinton shook up the world in 1995 when she went to China and declared that women’s rights are human rights, and human rights are women’s rights. Since then we’ve seen slow progress toward making that declaration a reality for over half the people of this world. Year after year we’d hear of annual meetings, reports, commissions, working groups, conferences, studies and U.N. resolutions decrying sexual violence against women, with little or no action to stop that violence.

Talk is only the beginning of what’s needed and up until recently, it’s all we’ve seen on the world stage. Baby steps seem to be all that we can manage when it comes to making basic human rights for women and girls a reality.

Until recently that is.

In January, 2009 Hillary Clinton was confirmed as our Secretary of State, and she’s making this one of her top priorities in her new post. Melanne Verveer joined Hillary in her work and has been traveling the globe as our nation’s first Ambassador at Large for Global Women’s Issues. Now the United Nations has appointed Margot Wallstrom to a two-year assignment in which she’ll work to implement U.N. Resolution 1888, which mandates peace keeping missions to protect women and girls from sexual violence in conflict zones.

Three U.N Resolutions: 1325, which maps out the effects of war on women; 1820, which recognizes sexual violence as a war crime; and 1888, which mandates peace keeping missions to protect women and girls from that sexual violence, are coming together to end this violence. This is the first time someone’s been appointed to put these nice words into action - Wallstrom’s recent appointment represents a huge leap toward ending this violence.

U.N. Envoy Paves Diplomatic History for Women

In September 2009, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton presided over the Security Council's passing of 1888, the agreement that Wallstrom is now charged with implementing. …

Wallstrom has said she will focus immediately on conflict and post-conflict situations in three African countries: the Democratic Republic of Congo, Liberia and Sierra Leone.

Sexual violence in conflict zones, however, isn't an "African issue," Wallstrom is quick to point out, describing gender-based violence as a global "human rights issue, a security issue."

Human rights advocates are encouraged by Wallstrom’s appointment and list goals such as ending the legal impunity of the men of violence; looking at how the UN responds to sexual violence; documenting what’s happening; and strengthening health care services for survivors.

Corinne Dufka, a senior researcher for Human Rights Watch, now based in Dakar, Senegal, emphasizes the need to end sex violators' legal impunity.

"We need more naming and shaming," she said. "In the Democratic Republic of Congo, we've tried everything: public education, reports, humanizing the problem. But what we need to do is engage more with men, at all levels, to really understand this problem from the perpetrators' narrative."

The writer of the linked article provides the following links for more information…

Working Group on Women, Peace and Security
U.N. Conduct and Discipline Unit

I would add one more - The United Nations Development Fund for Women - UNIFEM.

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