Uphold Women’s Rights at the 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 for 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 League for Peace and Freedom
Women’s Media Center’s Women Under Siege Project
Women's Network Croatia
World Pulse
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