by Rebecca Gerome, IANSA Women's Network; Vanessa Farr, WILPF; with inputs from Maria Butler, PeaceWomen/WILPF
The
Holy See and a few other states have questioned the use of the terms “gender” and
“gender-based violence” and claimed that there is no agreed legal definition of
the term. However, as France stated on Friday, the terms “gender,”
“gender-based violence,” and “gender-based discrimination” have become very
well established within the UN and within national and international legal
instruments within the last decade. The examples are numerous. They include UN
Security Council resolutions and UN General Assembly resolutions, such as the 2008 General Assembly resolution (A/RES/62/134), which urges states
“to take special measures to protect women and girls from gender-based
violence, in particular rape and other forms of sexual violence.”
UN agreed definitions and references to gender and gender-based violence
The UN Secretary-General defined gender in his 2002 report Women, Peace and Security as: “the
socially constructed roles as ascribed to women and men, as opposed to
biological and physical characteristics. Gender roles vary according to
socio-economic, political and cultural contexts, and are affected by other
factors, including age, race, class and ethnicity. Gender roles are learned and
are changeable.”
The Human Rights Council and the Office of
the High Commissioner for Human Rights have also referred to gender-based
violence on numerous occasions. The United Nations Commission on Human Rights
in resolution 1994/45, adopted in 1994, called for the “elimination of all
forms of gender-based violence in the family, within the general community and
where perpetrated or condoned by the State”. In Paragraph 18 of the
Vienna Declaration of 1993, the World Conference on Human Rights stated that the
eradication of all forms of discrimination on grounds of sex is a priority
objective of the international community. Gender-based
violence and all forms of sexual harassment and exploitation, including those
resulting from cultural prejudice and international trafficking, are
incompatible with the dignity and worth of the human person, and must be
eliminated” (A/CONF.157/23).
As far back as the Beijing Declaration (1995), states
agreed to “adopt and commit ourselves as Governments to implement the following
Platform for Action, ensuring that a gender perspectives reflected in all our
policies and programmes.”
The UN Inter-Agency Steering Committee defined gender-based violence in 2005 in its
Guidelines for Gender-based violence interventions in humanitarian settings as
an umbrella term for any harmful act that is perpetrated against a person’s
will based on socially-ascribed (gender) differences between males and females.
Acts of GBV violate a number of human rights principles enshrined in
international instruments. Globally, GBV has a disproportionate impact on women
and girls, due to their subordinate status in society and their increased
vulnerability to violence. GBV varies across cultures, countries, and regions. This does not mean that
all victims of gender-based violence are female. The surrounding circumstances
where men are victims of sexual violence could be a man being harassed, beaten,
or killed because he does not conform to the mainstream view of masculinity
accepted by society. GBV includes violence against
individuals based on their sexual orientation and gender identity. Numerous
studies have shown how GBV is facilitated when the perpetrator is carrying a
small arm or light weapon: whether male or female, people are far less likely
to try to fight back when threatened with sexual violence at gunpoint than if
other weapons are used.
Why is it important to refer to
gender and gender-based violence?
The
term “gender-based violence” recognises the broader context and some of the
fundamental root causes of the violence. It allows us to offer a nuanced
assessment of the kinds of abuse of power that are perpetrated when SALW are
uncontrolled. This type of violence does not happen in a vacuum. The term “violence
against women and children” overlooks the realities of inequality, oppression,
and systematic violence. Moreover, it reinforces stereotypes of women as weak
and childlike rather than recognising their strength as activists against
personal and community-based violence. Most problematically, it prevents proper
analysis and response to the fact that the vast majority of victims and
perpetrators of gun violence in the world today are men. Because such language
subtly reinforces prejudices that are culturally and socially embedded,
manifestations of gendered violence continue to be accepted, tolerated, or
justified—with impunity as the norm. Such violence does not always serve
isolated or individual purposes. It originates in and sustains hierarchical
social relations of race, gender, sexuality, and class. Globally, men account for around 80-90% of homicide victims, while women
are affected in more invisible ways, which include rape, threats, intimidation
and domestic violence at gunpoint.
“Where
there is poverty there is armed violence. Where there are guns there is poverty,”
said Michèle Pepe, a member of the IANSA Women’s Network
from Côte d’Ivoire, to packed room at a side event on 20 July. Young men in Côte
d’Ivoire share common problems with young men in many parts of the world.
Disempowered in every way, they face high levels of unemployment, combined with
insufficient education resources, lack of investment, and easy availability of
guns. Their power resides in readily available small arms and the capacity for
lethality they confer. Guns have become the only way for them to subsist and
assert their manhood and the legal system in the country is overwhelmed and
unable to effectively sanction them. Their guns are increasingly being used to
exert power over women. Rapes of women in Côte d’Ivoire are increasing at an
alarming rate. The association of guns, masculinity, violence, and power
creates a deadly cocktail for both men and women.
What the ATT can do to help prevent gender-based
violence
For purposes of the Treaty preamble, goals
and objectives, and criteria, the broader language of gender-based violence should
be used. The term “gender-based
violence” acknowledges the gender dimensions of armed violence, from the
perspective of both perpetrators and victims.
At least 61 states have made
statements in favor of the inclusion of GBV in the ATT criteria so far this
month. These include Norway, Finland, Lithuania,
Ireland, Iceland, Samoa, Gabon, Zambia, Malawi, Kenya, Sweden, Spain, Italy,
Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Uruguay, Portugal, Mexico, Korea, UK, France,
Tanzania, Turkey, Peru, South Sudan, DRC, Djibouti, Somalia, Uganda,
Switzerland, as well as the countries of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and
the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). It is important
that the term remains “gender-based violence”.
The draft circulated on 24 July contains
gender-based violence in article 5, yet the language as it stands is too weak
to be acceptable. Either “gender-based violence” must be included in article 4,
or the language of Article 5 must be significantly strengthened so that it
contains a clear obligation not to transfer arms where there is a risk that the arms
under consideration are likely to be used to perpetrate or facilitate acts of
gender-based violence, including rape and other forms of sexual violence. It cannot simply be just an element to
“consider” without any obligations attached, as this weakens the human rights
provisions in article 4. Although we continue to believe “gender-based
violence” should be explicit in the criteria of the ATT, it would be preferable
to entirely delete the mention of “gender-based violence” in article 5, if the
language is to remain the same. Gender-based violence would be implicitly
covered under the criteria on international human rights law and international
humanitarian law. It would then be of utmost importance that the term
“gender-based violence” be included at the very least in the preamble, as well
as in the goals and objectives of the treaty.
The preamble now only refers
to “women and children” in paragraph 12. Not only is this formulation
unhelpful, it is also inaccurate, and it represents a clear step backwards.
Men, women, and children are all affected in situations of conflict and armed
violence. In fact, as mentioned previously, men are the primary victims of gun
homicide and serious injury. In the preamble, instead of emphasizing the vulnerability of women, it
would be more effective and more accurate to emphasize their key role in
conflict prevention and resolution, arms control, and peacebuilding.
Agreed language could be drawn from
UN General Assembly Resolution 66/130, 65/283 and 65/69 and UN Security Council
Resolutions on Women, Peace and Security (SCR 1325 (2000), 1820 (2008), 1888 (2009, 1889 (2009) and 1960
(2010)) such as: “Reaffirming the
important role of women in the prevention and resolution of conflicts and in
peacebuilding” and "Recognizing
the importance of the full and effective participation of women at all levels, at all stages and in all aspects
of the peaceful settlement of disputes, conflict
prevention and resolution" (A/RES/65/283 preamble text). Furthermore, UNGA resolution 65/69 on “Women,
disarmament, non-proliferation, and arms control” recognizes “the valuable contribution of women to
practical disarmament measures carried out at the local, national, regional and
subregional levels in the prevention and reduction of armed violence and armed
conflict, and in promoting disarmament, non-proliferation and arms control.” Any or
all of these texts could be referenced or drawn upon in the ATT preamble.
Finally, if the preamble of the ATT is to be
consistent and comprehensive, it should include language recognizing the gender
dimensions of the arms trade. For example, "recognizing the
gendered dimensions and impacts of the arms trade, particularly gender-based
violence, including rape and other forms of sexual violence, and further
emphasizing and reaffirming the important role of women in the
prevention and resolution of conflicts and in peacebuilding and arms control".
Member States must not take steps backward given the gravity and urgency of
preventing all forms of gender-based violence in the context of the
international arms trade.
For more
information, or to discuss the ideas presented in this paper in detail, please
see www.reachingcriticalwill.org; www.peacewomen.org; www.iansa-women.org
Draft treaty language prepared by IANSA Women's Network and WILPF
- The preamble of the ATT should include comprehensive language such as "recognizing the gendered dimensions and impacts of the arms trade, particularly gender-based violence including rape and other forms of sexual violence, and further emphasizing and reaffirming the important role of women in the prevention and resolution of conflicts and in peacebuilding and arms control".
- The criteria should require states not to allow an international transfer of conventional arms where there is a substantial risk that the arms under consideration are likely to be used to perpetrate or facilitate acts of gender-based violence, including rape and other forms of sexual violence.
- The goals and objectives of the ATT should ensure that the international arms trade does not contribute to and facilitate human suffering, including gender-based violence and all other serious violations of international human rights law and international humanitarian law.
