Guest post by Kerry Crawford 

‘Gender’ is not a synonym for ‘women’. Gender violence is not a ‘women’s issue’.

The efforts of pioneering and courageous women brought gender-based violence and sexual violence out of the shadows, challenged society to think about bodily integrity, and established that women’s rights are human rights. In the fight against gender violence we owe so much to women’s leadership, but men should not excuse themselves (and women should not excuse men) from the conversation on gender violence.

It is time to foster an inconclusive dialogue examining the roots of gender violence. It is time to find effective ways to prevent gender violence and men and women can make equally valuable contributions to this effort.

Jackson Katz, Ph.D., Founder and Director of Mentors in Violence Prevention (MVP) Strategies gave a TED talk on gender violence prevention that has recently generated a lot of interest on social media. You can (and should!) watch it here.

He urges us to ask different questions about gender violence. We need to stop engaging in victim blaming and focus the conversation on perpetrators of domestic violence, sexual violence, and the spectrum of abuses encompassed by gender violence.  Men and women alike need to stand up and speak out against gender violence.

After you watch the talk, check out Dr. Katz’s website on the MVP Model and take a look at his list of Ten Things Men Can Do to Prevent Gender Violence.

Do you have a reaction to the talk? Post a response in the comments section below!

By staff contributor Milad Pournik

Percentage of women reporting first sexual experience as forced/Data courtesy of IPAS

We know what we measure. But sometimes we just know that something is wrong without being able to precisely measure it. Gender-based violence (GBV) is not new but attempts to measure it are. The classic problem analysts face is to distinguish between rises in actual GBV and an increase in reported levels. Improved data collection capabilities certainly account for the rise in reported levels but it may also be the case that the prevalence of GBV continues to grow. The Irish Joint Consortium on GBV suggests that successful prevention activities can also have the effect of drawing more victims of GBV to report their situation, in seeking help to get out of it. The danger they identify, however, is that donors may understand an increased in reporting cases of GBV to be a sign of failure rather than success.

Dinys Luciano, Ipas Consultant, presented what she identified to be the main challenges to data collection and analysis at the an event in conjunction with the 57th session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW 57) . Luciano highlights four key challenge areas: conceptual issues, data collection and quality, analytical issues, and ethical considerations. She identifies the main actors involved in data collection and analysis as: law enforcement agencies, health care providers, and service providers (including NGOs). What is of particular importance is that the organizations and individuals collecting and analyzing GBV are adequately trained.  This will require adequate financial commitment from donors and national governments alike. Moreover, the data is not only important for identifying the problem and key concentrations of GBV, but also for assessing the effectiveness of GBV programming through monitoring and evaluation. (more…)

SIPRI North America is a branch office of the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. SIPRI North America is non-profit organization located in Washington, D.C. The organization seeks to increase transatlantic and global interaction on vital public policy issues regarding conflict and cooperation and peace and security; and to promote peaceful solutions to international conflicts through the study of conditions necessary to sustain peace.

Duties and Responsibilities

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From the Commission on the Status of Women meetings in New York City, Margaret Owen, founder and president of Widows for Peace through Democracy, writes:

There is anger amongst the women’s NGO’s, talking mostly to each other in the “ghetto” of the Church Centre, that lies across the road from the UN building. Here we tell the truth. Of the appalling, life-shattering tortures inflicted on women and girls of all ages, of the gang rapes of young girls, even babies, by criminal traffickers; of FGM, dowry-related acid-burning; stoning of older women accused of witchcraft. We women want to see Governments made responsible and accountable for the rights, the very lives of their female citizens. We want to see the perpetrators of these acts punished. And we want to know that real actions are being taken to change the attitudes and the behaviour of men and boys. We demand that the stigma associated with the rape victim be transferred to the rapist, the perpetrator. We want zero tolerance of violence against women and now.

The global•gender•current thanks Sanam Anderlini for bringing this statement to our attention.

Guest post by Kerry Crawford

To view videos from Global Gender Program’s celebration of International Women’s Day, see here.

Jody Williams at International Women’s Day event on March 4, 2013. Photo by Milad Pournik.

On March 4th the Global Gender Program and Gender at Work co-sponsored a day-long series of panels and talks honoring International Women’s Day 2013 at the Elliott School of International Affairs. Jody Williams gave the morning’s keynote lecture, focusing on her work with the International Campaign to Stop Rape and Gender Violence in Conflict.

Jody Williams is a tireless advocate for human rights and gender equality. In 1997 she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for her successful work toward banning and clearing anti-personnel landmines through the International Campaign to Ban Land mines. Williams was the 10th woman and the 3rd American to receive the Nobel Peace Prize.

The International Campaign to Stop Rape and Gender Violence in Conflict, steered by the Nobel Women’s Initiative, is – as the name implies – a global coalition of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and individuals working toward an end to rape and gender violence in conflict. Williams emphasized the importance of coming together and forming a coalition to create change, as individuals and organizations are far more influential when they work as a whole.

The campaign is based on three core approaches: prevention of rape and gender violence in conflict; protection of civilians and survivors of sexual violence; and effective prosecution of perpetrators and those responsible for rape and gender violence in conflict.

So why focus on rape and gender violence in conflict when violence against women happens every day in alarming numbers? Williams- and many of the members of the campaign- are quick to remind us that sexual violence in conflict is part of a broader continuum of violence against women. Rape and gender violence do not spring up suddenly at the onset of political or military aggression; rather, a larger and more insidious system of gender inequality breeds sexual and gender violence long before, during, and long after conflict. Focusing on rape and gender violence in conflict provides a valuable entry point through which NGOs and individuals can work to shed light on the continuum of violence against women and create broader and changes in gender relations.

Many creative and inspiring tactics have arisen from the International Campaign to Ban Rape and Gender Violence in Conflict. One Billion Rising united individuals in mass global action to speak out against violence against women and girls. The Stephen Lewis Foundation unites grassroots efforts to combat HIV/AIDS in Africa by supporting women, orphaned children, grandmothers, and people living with HIV/AIDS.

Jody Williams is a captivating speaker, in no small part because of her astounding humility. Selecting one key takeaway point from her lecture is a difficult task. Yet, the most essential lesson that should stay with all of us at all times is that violence is always a choice. Always.

Williams underscored the fact that we need to abandon our entrenched belief that there is something about the human condition that makes us inherently violent. Once we do that ending impunity for atrocities, especially rape and gender violence, may come more easily and the world may be safer for all of us.

If you would like to learn more about Jody Williams, you can read her new book: My Name is Jody Williams.

Women Under Siege

Women Under Siege aims to expose sexual violence against women in conflict-ridden situations now and in the late 20th century. As an initiative of the Women’s Media Center, director and award-winning jounalist Lauren Wolfe works with a team of journalists and activists to document the silent atrocities that occur everyday without voices to shine a lot on the casualties of war that affect not only women, but their partners, children, and communities. Their latest project includes a live crowd map of sexualized violence in Syria.

Guest post by Kerry Crawford

You may have heard or read that the 112^th Congress failed to reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA). If you are confused about what this means, you are certainly not alone.

This post offers readers a brief introduction to VAWA, the implications of the failed reauthorization, the next steps for VAWA, and a list of helpful links for those interested in learning more.

What is the Violence Against Women Act?

VAWA first became law in 1994. The bill was drafted by then-Senator Joe Biden and signed into law by President Clinton in September 1994 after years of Congressional investigations and hearings on domestic violence, sexual assault, and stalking. The 1994 VAWA created new and strengthened existing state and federal protections for women victimized by domestic violence, stalking, and sexual violence.

Perhaps the most important legal provision in VAWA is the federal rape shield law, which keeps a sexual violence survivor’s sexual history off-limits in the courtroom. The legislative package also created the National Domestic Violence Hotline and established legal assistance for immigrant women affected by violence. VAWA authorized funding for rape crisis centers, women’s shelters, domestic violence intervention and prevention programs, rape prevention programs, and enhanced law enforcement and judicial capacity to respond to violence against women.

In essence, VAWA strives to improve criminal justice system responses to violence against women—specifically domestic violence, sexual assault, and stalking—by enhancing the capacity of law enforcement, health care systems, and the judicial system as well as providing services to women and girls affected by these crimes.

About every five years, VAWA is reauthorized. This means that Congress reassesses the law and can incorporate new provisions into VAWA based on improved knowledge of violence against women gathered since the previous VAWA was enacted. At this time, Congress also reauthorizes the funding required to support VAWA’s existing programs and any new ones attached to the reauthorization.  Congress generally passes VAWA with strong bipartisan support, as it did in 2000 and 2005. (more…)

Guest post by Kerry Crawford

United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325(Resolution 1325), adopted 31 October 2000, calls on the international community of states and organizations to ensure that women are fully involved in decision-making and processes related to peace and security. Unprecedented in its nature, United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 marks the first time the United Nations Security Council recognized war’s disproportionate burden on women and girls and linked ‘women’s issues’ to the international peace and security agenda.

The consistent refrain on Resolution 1325 is that much progress has been made but much work remains to be done. UN Women Executive Director Michelle Bachelet reiterated this observation on 30 November 2012 during the UN Security Council Open Debate to mark the 12^th anniversary of Resolution 1325.

Ms. Bachelet also commended the civil society organizations and women’s groups that introduced and championed Resolution 1325 in 2000 and that have fought to keep it alive over the past 12 years: “The very origin of this historic resolution is the courage, leadership, and the extraordinary accomplishments of women’s civil society organizations that promote peace and build women’s protection under unimaginably difficult circumstances.” (For more on the Open Debate, see UN Women’s press release here.)

Civil society monitoring and reporting has been essential to progress on Resolution 1325. Earlier this month the Global Network of Women Peacebuilders (GNWP) released its third report monitoring the implementation of Resolution 1325, entitled “Women Count” Security Council Resolution 1325: Civil Society Monitoring Report 2012. (Access the full report here.)

The Global Network of Women Peacebuilders (GNWP) is comprised of 67 women’s organizations and networks. Its central goal is to bridge the gap between policy rhetoric and action on the Women, Peace, and Security agenda through monitoring and reporting on progress. GNWP released its first monitoring report around the 10^th anniversary of Resolution 1325.
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By student contributor Delaney Allan, GGP Intern

On October 25, the Elliott School’s Global Gender Program hosted an international panel entitled Migrant Women Workers in Southeast Asia: Challenges, Programs, and Best Practices.  Melanne Verveer,  Ambassador-at-Large for  Global Women’s Issues in the  U.S. Department of State, delivered a powerful  keynote address.

Ambassador-at-Large Melanne Verveer delivers her keynote address

She began by framing  the importance of migration, identifying the roles women in particular.  She offered some powerful statistics, documenting the feminization of migration:  Forty-nine percent of the world’s migrant populations and three quarters of the world’s refugee populations are women. Regionally, the countries of Southeast Asia supply a substantial amount of the global migrant labor force, but there is also substantial intra-regional migration, with Thailand and Malaysia identified as major recipients of migrant workers.

Ambassador Verveer emphasized the positive and negative effects that labor migration has on women. The economic opportunity provided by labor migration increases women’s confidence, economic independence, empowerment, and reduces inequality between men and women. Yet labor migration often increases women’s vulnerability, including discrimination and abuse, both  in transit and in the destination area. Jobs for migrant women are often found in sectors lacking government and community oversight, thus leaving open the possibility of women’s exploitation in the workplace. The additional income women receive by entering the migrant labor force  may come at a high price, and hopes for gender quality in the destination country are often “somewhat elusive.”
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Guest post by Kerry Crawford

On October 10^th the Human Security Research Group, an affiliate of Simon Fraser University, released their 2012 Human Security Report, entitled Sexual Violence, Education, and War: Beyond the Mainstream Narrative.  The report focuses on wartime sexual violence and the impact of war on education, arguing that conventional wisdom on both issues may be misleading.

The full report is accessible via the Human Security Research Group’s website. For readers interested in a more compact version of the findings, an overview is also available here.

Part I of Sexual Violence, Education, and War: Beyond the Mainstream Narrative examines the mainstream narrative on wartime sexual violence, which portrays sexual violence as an increasingly prevalent weapon of war deployed in similar ways across conflicts. The authors argue that this narrative does not paint a full and accurate picture of sexualized violence.

The report highlights the prevalence of domestic sexual violence and notes that the mainstream narrative ignores the fact that sexual assault by partners and acquaintances is more common than sexualized violence committed by combatants. The report also notes that the mainstream narrative on wartime sexual violence ignores male victims and female perpetrators.

So what do these findings mean for scholars and practitioners addressing wartime sexual violence? They should certainly not give up and start from square one. Lauren Wolfe of the Women under Siege Project contacted numerous scholars and the report’s editor-in-chief to get a more nuanced view of the state of the field, which she presents here.

The 2012 Human Security Report provides helpful insight into a complex issue that affects women, men, and children in war and in peace. Although the Report challenges the conventional wisdom on wartime sexual violence,  scholars and practitioners should not be discouraged but should seek to  fine-tune their approach and strive for even greater understanding of sexualized violence  and how to  end it.