Women's Rights are Human Rights: Ending Gender Violence Worldwide

Ending violence against women and girls worldwide is an imperative. On Human Rights Day, December 10, and at the close of the 16 Days of Activism against Gender Violence (see "Ending Violence Against Women," Peacework, March, 2006), MADRE, an international women's human rights organization, emphasizes the need to support grassroots programs which confront gender-based violence. In the midst of armed conflict, humanitarian disaster, and entrenched gender inequality, MADRE's sister organizations are on the front lines ending violence against women and girls.

In Iraq, the Organization of Women's Freedom in Iraq (OWFI) protects women from an epidemic of violence unleashed by the US invasion. Since 2004, OWFI has opened five women's shelters for women seeking refuge from rape, kidnappings, forced marriage and other forms of gender-based violence, and established the Underground Railroad for Iraqi Women, a network that enables women to escape "honor killings."

In Kenya, the Umoja Uaso Women's Group, an organization founded by Indigenous Samburu women, many of whom are survivors of gender-based violence, provides community-based education for young girls and boys as a means to promote human rights.

In Haiti, where incidents of rape and other human rights violations have escalated sharply in recent years, KOFAVIV meets rape survivors' immediate needs and helps bring perpetrators to justice. KOFAVIV provides survivors with counseling and free, high-quality medical care, including testing and treatment for HIV and other sexually transmitted infections, prenatal care for women who become pregnant as a result of rape, and medical certificates, which are important for prosecuting perpetrators in court.

In Colombia, a decades-long civil war has displaced millions, the vast majority of whom are women and their families. Over 11,000 children have been recruited by armed forces, and 25 percent of combatants are under the age of 18. Taller de Vida in Bogotá provides critical services for displaced Afro-Colombian and Indigenous women and youth, and offers peaceful, viable alternatives for young people who are at risk of being recruited as child-soldiers.

Vivian Stromberg, Executive Director of MADRE, said, "This Human Rights Day, through these and other programs, MADRE reaffirms our commitment to confronting gender-based violence -- a human rights crisis of epidemic proportions. MADRE understands that violence against women is not limited to physical aggression or sexual abuse; MADRE's partners know too well that it can also take the form of poverty-inducing economic or "development" policies, racism and social exclusion, and increasing militarism. As such, MADRE will continue our support for programs that operate within a human rights framework and acknowledge the myriad, reinforcing manifestations of violence in women's and girls' lives."

To help, in addition to joining MADRE, get involved with Amnesty International's women's human rights campaign, www.amnestyusa.org/women.

The landmark WHO Multi-country Study on Women's Health and Domestic Violence against Women collected data from over 24,000 women from 15 sites in 10 countries representing diverse cultural settings. The report concludes, "The results indicate that violence by a male intimate partner is widespread in all of the countries covered by the Study.... [T]he wide variation in prevalence rates signals that this violence is not inevitable." The full text is at www.who.int/gender/violence.