UWE and Bristol Fawcett with Saturday January 17

UWE and Bristol Fawcett with Saturday, January 17 2009 Annette Lawson info@nawo. org. uk; www. nawo. org. uk

What’s the Problem? ‘an undeclared war against women’ Trevor Phillips, Chair EHRC • The Home Office estimates that there are between 6, 000 and 18, 000 trafficked women and girls being forced to work as prostitutes in the UK. • 1, 000 -10, 00 women and girls trafficked into UK each year for sex • 45% of women in England Wales experience domestic violence (DV), sexual assault or stalking in their lifetime; one in five women in N. I. experience DV • 922 rapes reported to Police in Scotland in 2006/7 • c. 1, 000 British Asian girls forced into marriage each year [EVAW, Realising Rights, Fulfilling Obligations]

Globally…… • Every year 2 million girls aged between 5 and 15 are coerced, abducted, sold or trafficked into the illegal sex market. • UN figures suggest that between 200 -300, 000 women are trafficked to Europe every year. • Well over $7 billion a year is generated from sex trade trafficking. • Two million children every year become victims of paedophiles and their networks as global demand for child pornography and child prostitution escalates. Women. Aid International 2002

Amnesty’s figures 2007 Trafficking • Of the 2 million people trafficked every year – the majority are women and girls • 137 countries receive them, mostly in Western Europe, Asia and Northern America • 127 countries send them, mostly in Central and Eastern Europe, Asia, West Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean

And in Europe? • In the European Union, at least 1 in 5 women experience violence committed by their intimate male partner. • Ninety five per cent of all acts of Violence Against Women take place within the home. • Male domestic violence tends to be the norm and not the exception. • Every week in Hungary a woman is killed as a result of domestic violence.

Trafficking together with other forms of gender based violence? • It is essential to understand as part of gender inequality – • Violence against women and girls arises from inequality and • Constructs and maintains gender inequality

UNSRVAW Consultation United Nations appoints Special Rapporteurs under Human Rights e. g. on: • Torture • Housing • Racism and Xenophobia • Minority Issues • Trafficking in persons and… • Violence Against Women

UN Special Rapporteurs • • Are people of high integrity Receive no payment Supported by Human Rights Office in Geneva Conduct special investigations of countries but must be invited • Consult with e. g. NGOs See her Mandate at: www 2. ohchr. org/english/issues/women/rapporteur/

What can they achieve? • Reports are public documents – countries have invited them. Praise and shame but also learning • Consulting with NGOs – experts – learn first hand evidence. Use this information. • Have ‘special procedures’ including taking up individual cases • No ‘teeth’

NAWO decided to invite UNSRVAW for Consultation • NAWO with Women’s Voice (Wales) Engender (Scotland); NIWEP (NI) forms the UK Joint Committee on Women • UKJCW is member of European Women’s Lobby • Lobby has European Policy Centre on VAW – observatory at EU level • For ALL women’s organisations VAW is a major issue – many focus on this – consultation valuable for policy change and implementation through lobbying and influence • In the UK, we are working to establish a UK-wide national observatory to monitor government actions

Yakin Ertürk, UN Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women with two delegates to Consultation with European NGOs, January 2007

Countries and Organisations • More than 100 representatives of NGOs attended in the UK and from EU member states and beyond to further ECE region – Eastern Europe • Three days • Evening speeches at London School of Economics and London House, Goodenough College

NAWO plus • European Women’s Lobby • Womankind Worldwide • Women’s Refugee Resource Project of Asylum Aid • Southall Black Sisters • EVAW – End Violence Against Women Campaign at Amnesty International

Themes selected by Steering Group • Infrastructure – legislation, implementation: police, provision for victims, cross-border • Prevention – gender stereotyping, education, media • ‘Moving Women’ – asylum seekers; refugees; migrants

Major Issues from the outset • Violence Against Women stems from inequalities between women and transformative change is required to stop the cycle of violence. • Language: The word “gender” may be used to mask real issues and avoid a focus on men’s Violence Against Women. • Governments pass legislation that is gender neutral and implement policies as if there were no inequality in the perpetration of violence • Such policies are too inclined to lose focus on views, experiences, concerns of women.

Major Outcomes 1 • Agreed definitions internationally were imperative – use the UN definition • Reliable Data to be collected to measure with agreed indicators; not only incidence and numbers of victims of violence but perpetrators in order to understand who they were and what kind of violence they used • Strategies needed for eradicating Violence Against Women – e. g. a European Directive and action plan for the EU; National Action Plans (NAPs) for every state in the development of which women’s NGOs participate.

Major Outcomes - 2 • NGOs to seek to establish a unified voice despite conflicts of opinion, be recognised for their expertise and financed well • That European-wide NGO consultations be held regularly

and they said…. . • Quote: “International institutions must oblige countries to put the conventions they have signed and ratified into practice” Shpresa Banja, Albania • Quote: “Where is the example to be led by? ” Renee Laviera, Malta Confederation of Women’s Organisations

And you? • Decide what the priorities are for you – here in the University? In your home community? • Examine the evidence for the problem • Find allies and ‘victims’ • Make your case for change/for good practice/for implementation of existing laws • Work at multiple levels

• Report on web: What practical steps need to be implemented to achieve an equitable world for women and girls? • www. nawo. org. uk; info@nawo. org. uk