Purpose:
Looking at the specific security needs of women human rights defenders.
The following attempts to cover some basic points about the specific needs of women human rights defenders. This is a topic which requires more in-depth analysis based on the practical experiences of women human rights defenders. It is intended that more detailed materials on this topic will be produced in the context of the International Consultation on Women Human Rights defenders in 2005.
Women have always been important actors in the promotion and protection of human rights however, their role has not always been positively acknowledged. Women work on their own and alongside men in the defence of human rights . Many women belong to organisations working on behalf of disappeared people and prisoners. Others defend the rights of minority groups or victims of sexual violence, and others are trade unionists, lawyers and campaigners for land rights.
A very useful guide on women human rights defenders UNHCHR website at http://www.unhchr.ch/defenders/tiwomen.htm.
To download full guide click here
Also see Report: Consultation on Women HRDs with the UN Special Representative of the Secretary General on Human Rights Defenders, April 4-6 2003, Published by Asia Pacific Forum on Women, Law and Development, and Essential actors of our time. Human rights defenders in the Americas, by Amnesty International.
In her 2002 annual report to the Commission on Human Rights Hina Jilani, UN Secretary General's Special Representative on Human Rights Defenders states:
Women human rights defenders are on a par with their male colleagues in putting themselves on the front line in the promotion and protection of human rights. In doing so, however, as women, they face risks that are specific to their gender and additional to those faced by men.
In the first instance, as women, they become more visible. That is, women defenders may arouse more hostility than their male colleagues because as women human rights defenders they may defy cultural, religious or social norms about femininity and the role of women in a particular country or society. In this context, not only may they face human rights violations for their work as human rights defenders, but even more so because of their gender and the fact that their work may run counter to societal stereotypes about women’s submissive nature, or challenge notions of the society about the status of women.
Secondly, it is not unlikely that the hostility, harassment and repression women defenders face may themselves take a gender specific form, ranging from, for example, verbal abuse directed exclusively at women because of their gender to sexual harassment and rape.
In this connection, women’s professional integrity and standing in society can be threatened and discredited in ways that are specific to them, such as the all too familiar pretextual calling into question of their probity when - for example - women assert their right to sexual and reproductive health, or to equality with men, including to a life free from discrimination and violence. In this context, for example, women human rights defenders have been tried using laws criminalizing conduct amounting to the legitimate enjoyment and exercise of rights protected under international law on spurious charges brought against them simply because of their views and advocacy work in defence of women’s rights.
Thirdly, human rights abuses perpetrated against women human rights defenders can, in turn, have repercussions that are, in and of themselves, gender-specific. For example, the sexual abuse of a woman human rights defender in custody and her rape can result in pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV/AIDS.
Certain women-specific rights are almost exclusively promoted and protected by women human rights defenders. Promoting and protecting women’s rights can be an additional risk factor, as the assertion of some such rights is seen as a threat to patriarchy and as disruptive of cultural, religious and societal mores. Defending women’s right to life and liberty in some countries has resulted in the life and liberty of women defenders themselves being violated. Similarly, protesting against discriminatory practices has led to the prosecution of a prominent women’s rights defender on charges of apostasy.
Factors such as age, ethnicity, educational background, sexual orientation and marital status must also be taken into consideration, as different groups of women defenders face different challenges and therefore have different protection and security needs.
The assessment of protection needs of women defenders will help to clarify the specific and often different needs, vulnerabilities and coping strategies of women defenders. This way, their situations can be more adequately addressed in emergency and day to day situations.
Women human rights defenders are paying a heavy price for their work in protecting and promoting other people’s human rights. Women defenders have to confront risks which are specific to their gender, and their security therefore requires a specific approach. Here’s a list of causes for this:
Women may attract unwanted attention:
Women defenders may provoke hostility because being both a woman and a human rights defender could defy local cultural, religious or social norms about femininity and women’s role. Women defenders could therefore face human rights violations not just because of their work, but simply because being a working woman, or a defender, can challenge a society’s stereotypes about women’s submissive nature and ideas about their status.
Women defenders may have to break patriarchal laws and social taboos:
In some countries, defending women’s right to life and liberty has resulted in the life and liberty of women defenders themselves being violated. Similarly, protesting against discriminatory practices has led to a prominent women’s rights defender being prosecuted on charges of apostasy. In many cultures, the requirement that women should defer to men in public can be an obstacle to women publicly questioning human rights violations carried out by men. Certain discriminatory or sexist interpretations of religious texts are also often used to maintain or establish laws or practices which have a major influence on women’s rights.
There are specific forms of attack against women defenders:
The hostility, harassment and repression women defenders face may be gender specific, ranging from verbal abuse directed exclusively at them to sexual harassment and rape. The consequences of such attacks can also be gender-specific, such as pregnancy and social rejection.
Women defenders may come under pressure to “prove” their integrity:
Women’s professionalism and standing in society can be threatened and discredited in ways that are specific to them, such as their integrity being called into question.
Male colleagues may not understand, or could even reject, women defenders’ work:
Male colleagues of women human rights defenders can have the same social prejudices as outsiders who attack women defenders. Men could also feel threatened by professional competition from a woman. This can result in attempts to marginalise or undermine women human rights defenders and can sometimes result in harassment and violence against women defenders by their colleagues.
Women defenders could experience domestic violence:
Domestic violence can result from changing power structures within a family. A woman defender’s growing professional role and empowerment could make her husband, partner or other family members feel threatened and lead him/her to try to stop her activities or become violent. Domestic violence against women includes all physical, sexual and psychological harm which occurs within the family, such as battering, marital rape, female genital mutilation and other traditional practices which are harmful to women (see below).
Additional family obligations:
Many women defenders have to take care of children and other relatives, in addition to their other work. Such responsibilities, especially if involving young children, will influence many of the security decisions a woman defender may have to make in a high risk situation.
All these pressures place an additional burden of work and stress on women defenders.
It is important to recognise that women defenders constitute a wide range of individuals who face different problems, have different backgrounds and require different solutions. The most important point to remember is that, in any given security situation, women are human rights defenders who can identify problems and find appropriate solutions. In order to do this, a combination of mainstreaming women’s participation, ensuring gender specific security issues are addressed and providing training is necessary:
Mainstreaming women’s participation:
In a nutshell, this means ensuring full participation by women alongside men in decision-making; putting women’s security issues on the agenda, and placing women on a par with men in the process of taking security precautions. It is important to include women’s experiences and perceptions and to ensure that women are defining security rules and procedures, as well as monitoring and evaluating them.
Ensuring gender specific security and protection needs are addressed:
As with other security needs, assigning responsibilities for addressing gender-based violence and security risks of women defenders is very important within any defender organisation or group. Ideally the individuals responsible for security will have a good understanding of the specific needs of wome n defenders. It may sometimes be necessary to identify someone else who can bring in specific knowledge and understanding to the issue. For example, one person might be in charge of security, but the organisation later decides to appoint a person with the training and skills to be a focal point for gender-based violence. In such cases, both people must work closely together to ensure that all security procedures run smoothly and respond to people’s different needs.
Training
Training for all those working together in a human rights organization is key to improving security and protection and should include developing awareness about the specific needs of women defenders.
In Summary:
Differences in women’s security needs are linked to their different roles, to different kinds of threats, and to differences between specific situations (such as detention, field work, etc.) The aim is to develop gender-sensitive responses to violence against women and other defenders.
Gender-based violence is always underreported. A general awareness about gender-based violence within the organisation or group can make it easier for people to talk about gender specific threats or incidents. Willing staff members can also serve as “entry-points” for women and men defenders who want to find solutions to gender-based threats or violence against them or others in the organisation or community.
The Declaration on the Elimination of Violence Against Women (1993) defines violence against women as:
Any act of gender-based violence that results in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual or psychological harm or suffering to women, including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or in private life. (Article 1)
Violence against women shall be understood to encompass, but not be limited to, the following:
The prevention of a sexual assault can be similar to that of other attacks, especially those associated with common crime. Sexual assaults can take the form of repression of defenders’ work, and victims can either be pre-selected or opportunistic targets.
Everyone - male and female - is a potential victim of sexual assault, but women are more frequent targets. Sexual assault is a crime of power and violence, and sexual contact is just another way for the attacker to demonstrate his or her power over the victim.
Remember that in many cases women taken to a different location with a potential attacker are raped (and beaten or even killed): Thus women should always make a strong and definite decision not to go with a potential attacker to another location (probably unless such a refusal would severely endanger her life or the life of others)
Reacting to a sexual assault:
The options for response to a sexual assault are limited and strictly up to the victim. There is no right or wrong way to react. In all cases, the primary objective is to survive. The options available to the victim of a sexual assault can include doing the following:
1. Submit. If the victim fears for his or her life, they may choose to submit to the crime.
2. Passive resistance. Do or say anything distasteful or disgusting to ruin the attacker’s desire for sexual contact. Tell him you have AIDS, diarrhea, make yourself vomit, etc.
3. Active resistance. Try any type of physical force you can muster to fight off the attacker, such as striking, kicking, biting, scratching, shouting and running away.
In all cases, do whatever you must to survive. Go with your instincts. No one knows how they will react in such a situation and your way to react will be right for you and the given situation.
After a sexual assault:
All human rights defender organisations and groups should have preventive and reactive plans in place to deal with sexual assaults. The reactive plan should include, at the very least, providing the victim with effective healthcare, including psychological care, (check immediately and regularly for sexually-transmitted diseases, day-after pill, etc) and legal care.
A careful balance must be struck between ensuring the victim has access to the relevant specialist support and ensuring the organization reacts in an appropriately supportive way.
Most of this information has been adapted from Van Brabant’s book Operational Security in Violent Environments and from World Vision’s and the World Council of Churches’ Security Manuals.
Please also see Preventing and reacting to attacks in Chapter 5.