women's human rights, Appunti di Diritto

Scarica women's human rights e più Appunti in PDF di Diritto solo su Docsity! 01.03.2021 WOMEN’S HUMAN RIGHTS Women are half of humanity and they experience widespread discrimination. Two main focuses:  Male violence against women;  Trafficking of human beings.  Books: Women's Human Rights; The Legal Protection of Women from Violence Normative Gaps in International Law. It’s important to understand the difference between promotion and protection. Promotion  political dimension Protection  law dimension The system of HR is made of binding rules and less binding rules that involve the public dimension. All the rights belong to the public dimension, it means that they are influenced by the relation between national states and people and between the international community and single states. When we approach the area of women’s rights, the first dimension involves the private dimension, not the public one: family, job, healthcare. Women issues are strongly related to the personal dimension in particular to family as a social institution. The last contribution to women’s rights have been trying to overcome the division btw private and public in order to involve society and with it, the state responsibility.  importance of the feminist movements contribution to the HR discourse. The HR of women are the most political in the system of HR international law. The agenda of WHR is focused on many topics. The feminist movements and HR activities involved in feminist advocacy are very down-to-earth, putting forward concrete policies to improve women’s rights. The discrimination against women is structural, it is rooted in our society and this discrimination should be understood in a gender dimension that counterpoise femininity to masculinity. MODERN PROTECTION OF INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS The original denomination of HR was “Rights of Men”. The idea of HR is part of a modern perspective, that belongs to the last historical phase. When the contemporary human rights international system was realised after the WWII, the idea of equality btw men and women was considered as a fundamental aspect of human rights, but the idea that women could contribute to the public dimension of society was not so universally accepted. The perspective of the individual was represented by a neutral individual, not an individual with a specific gender. The first definition was “Droits de l’homme”, “Diritti dell’Uomo”. The non-discrimination clause became necessary for every instrument on HR. UDHR Art. 1: All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. No mention of specific conditions of people (marriage status, work…)  they make a concrete aspect of discrimination. The concept of DISCRIMINATION is based on three aspects:  Difference in treatment;  It produces negative effects;  It is based on a prohibited ground.  the neutral measure is discriminatory. Different treatment is described by distinction, exclusion, restriction, preference. The HR system started to include women’s rights as human rights from 1993, during the World Conference on HR held in Vienna. The HR discourse formally recognised that women rights have become a section of the HR concept only from 1993. The UN has drafted and promulgated over 80 HR instruments against genocide, racial discrimination, discrimination against women, rights of child.  These conventions aim to protect humans in relation to the status (child, woman, disabled). All these conventions have been created to address specific issues related to the human condition and HR. Discrimination is a fundamental part of this evolution, because it is one of the core elements at the basis of HR  the aim is to promote equality and to protect people.  to protect women from discrimination based on sex and gender.  it means to protect women through law from discriminatory situation. Equality of opportunity, of access and of results. Equality de jure is different from equality de facto  substantive equality Characteristics of discrimination:  Direct discrimination: explicit difference in treatment.  Indirect discrimination: something that does not appear to be discriminatory, but it produces discriminatory effects when implemented. This can occur when: 1. women are disadvantaged in enjoying a particular opportunity of benefit due to pre- existing inequality; 2. a gender-neutral law or policy do not tackle existing inequality. 02.03.2021 Equality can be considered in various ways. Political agenda on women’s rights: together with a better representation of the multi-faceted reality lived by women around the world, the contribution that the International Conference on Women’s Rights gave to women was the progressive inclusion of the civil society, whose opinions were systematically included in the political agenda. States and IGOs started to work together with NGOs, feminists, academies in many areas of HR. The aim to achieve feminist goals for IGOs became fundamental thanks to the recognition of NGOs. Women became part of a positive constructive process, a constructive dialogue with all the members of the civil society and NGOs. Institutional discourse and feminist discourse  an overlapping is not always possible At the beginning, the equal access to political institutions was not the main goal for the feminist movements. Feminist movements wanted to reach women’s liberation, not women’s emancipation. Women’s liberation didn’t find space in the political institutions that only accepted the goal of women’s emancipation, empowerment, equal opportunities. Women’s liberation means liberation of women from the patriarchy  political institutions were seen as a representation of the patriarchy Feminist-approach:  Self-determination of the body;  The personal is political;  Reading reality starting from ourselves (women are a collective identity), from the intersection of our differences A new multi-year programme for CSW 2021-2024 Commitments of the CSW, objectives for every year:  2021  Idea that women’s effective participation in decision-making in public life, would lead to the elimination of violence;  2022  achieving gender equality in the context of climate change;  2023  achieving gender equality of rural women and girls;  2024  access to public services and infrastructures. In the feminist theory, the dynamic of power is very important. The feminist theories are defined around the idea of power at different levels and the imbalance of power btw men and women. Feminism is a general attempt to realise a different distribution of power among everybody in the society in order to deconstruct the patriarchal system. The patriarchy is violent: it is the way our society is structured. It is resilient, it is difficult to demolish  deconstruction of the stereotypes of the representation of women in society (women are mothers, daughters…). Mother  confined in the private sphere. Patriarchy: a form of social organisation in which a male is the head of the family, of the descent, kinship, and where the titles are inherited through the male line. Every society is governed by this system. BUT the personal is political FEMINISM (5 points to discuss): 1. Common elements at global level: division of domestic labour: care duties (reproductive activities) are on the shoulders of women only in most of the countries; 2. Stereotypes: perpetuation of a sexist idea of women and men (such as in media advertisements)  distorted role models, objectification of women bodies that deny women identities and their needs and choices; 3. Glass ceiling and gender pay gap: it looks like a default situation; 4. Discrimination because of sexual orientation: LGBTQI people are precarious citizens in many democracies, difficulty in recognising intersectional discriminations 5. Domestic violence: it happens in the domestic context with former or current partners  there’s a difference btw violence against women and domestic violence 08.03.2021 Liberal feminism  socialist feminism Liberal feminism: feminism of equality Socialist feminism: feminism of difference, it includes radical feminism Radical feminism: it includes the perspective of the radical feminism, it is very different compared to liberal and socialist feminism. It recognises the violence of the patriarchal regime as a system based on systematic oppression. Intersectionality: updated way to analyse and report on discrimination in a relevant and innovative way. Intersectional analysis: analysis focused on intersections among different power structures, how different categories interact and how different people and groups are assigned superiority and inferiority  hierarchies among women based on race, class, nationality, age, sexuality, disability and religion. Gender intersects with these social divisions and inequalities to create specific positions in society. Principles of intersectionality:  Intersecting categories,  Multi-level analysis;  Power;  Reflexivity;  Time and space;  Diverse knowledge;  Social justice;  Equity There are different categories: class, sexuality, race… these are differences that construct our identity and shape the social processes and the structures of power. Intersectionality is a great perspective that could potentially give us a new idea of humanity, it puts at the centre the problem of power. In human rights political discourse, we witness the marginalisation of women. The public sphere is as important as the private sphere: if we don’t overcome this opposition btw private and public we won’t be able to recognise their importance. This division is connected to liberalism. It is important to get rid of this difference, if not women will be confined to private life which is often not regulated by law, which is not neutral. It’s necessary to design policies that are more inclusive of people’s concern  the personal is political Feminism implies activism: a commitment to change relations based on the male supremacy over women and to promote gender equality. Gender refers to socially constructed roles ascribed to women and men on the basis of their sex, whereas the term sex refers to biological and physical characteristics. Gender roles depend on a particular socio-economic, political and cultural context, and are affected by other factors, including age, race, class and ethnicity.  Many gender issues are not defined as gendered issues, even if they are gender issues. It is important to address gender issues as such and to solve them. Gender is related to power. Gender mainstreaming Gender-mainstreaming is part of the concept of equality and non-discrimination “it is the process of assessing the implications for women and men of any planned action, including legislation, policies or programmes in all areas and at all levels” It is also a strategy to operate concretely to meet the needs of people.  normally absent from decision-making process at institutional level.  the gender perspective is an instrument to address the power relationship, establishing equal conditions btw men and women at the social level.  it implies a systematic consideration of the differences among the conditions, situations and needs of women and men in all policies and actions. A gender perspective allows to approach reality by questioning the power relationships btw men and women and the social relationships in general. Nairobi Forward-Looking Strategies for the Advancement of Women (NFLS)  this document includes a perspective on the division btw private and public  new themes part of the debate: wages for housework; male work in production; female work in production and reproduction  the aspects of care/reproduction are a form of unpaid work in every country which receive no recognition and protection  feminists started to demand recognition for the work women do inside their houses  increasing attention since the 60s and the 70s to unpaid work  time: less time to work, less importance of work in women’s lives  money: less money earned because of less time invested in work  services: lack of institutionalised services  if I do not want to handle these aspects alone I have to pay sb (economic differences)  unpaid world is the most important perspective to understand issues related to women  role of women in the housework Both paid and unpaid work contribute to the realisation of human potential  the quality of reproduction affects also life in general. The discussion on reproduction rights and on unpaid work during the World Summit for Social Development and on Women was very important  the different systems of welfare have an impact on unpaid work.  welfare is political, it is an idea of society, based on the contribution of people to society  it is a system based on different level of power among women belonging to different areas of the world, who do different work. 10.03.2021 Most important binding document in the history of Women’s HR: the CEDAW Convention (Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women). The treaty was adopted in 1979 and it entered into force in 1981. It is the treaty with the highest number of reservations and its goals are far from being reached.  the widespread approach of the UN when adopting instruments to address issues affecting women was to protect them rather than to empower them. The CEDAW tried to overcome this approach moving the economic, cultural, social, political and civil rights into a female framework, trying to achieve de facto equality.  many measures to overcome the idea that equality could be reached only through a de jure approach. This treaty tried to solve some issues affecting women in the moment of its adoption, but the added value of this treaty is more visible and concrete today. CEDAW is not based on women’s HR, it is based on the struggle against discrimination by UN btw 1965 and 1985. The most similar Convention to the CEDAW is the Convention against Racial Discrimination  in this period of time these issues were very important for the UN The CEDAW is called the International Bill of Rights for Women, to reach the adoption of the CEDAW, the Commission on the Status of Women and the GA worked for 30 years  it was very difficult to get to this final result. The rights recognised in this Convention are also present in other general treaties/conventions on HR: in the Covenant on Civil and Political HR and in the Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural rights… But the need to develop a specific Convention on women’s rights depended on the widespread discrimination against women  there was the need to reaffirm the principle of equality. The CEDAW Convention tries to highlight the specifity of the women experience of discrimination. The preamble is an important section of this Convention, because there is a difference btw the preamble and the contents of the Convention. It introduces issues related to women and it strongly underlines the conditions and context in which the agreement was negotiated  it refers to apartheid, colonialism, racial discrimination, foreign occupation, it talks about the issue of self- determination of peoples, independence of territories… It opens to a larger perspective than that addressed in the Convention. The preamble gives back the composition of the GA, made up by former colonial countries that had just obtained independence. It often recalls to international agreements including relevant principles or concepts, but it was too controversial to be included as a binding obligation in the operative test.  Part I (art. 1-6)  Advancement of women;  Part II (art. 7-9)  Women’s rights in political and public life;  Part III (art. 10-14) Elimination of discrimination against women in education, employment, health, economic and social rights;  Part IV (art. 15-16)  Women equality before the law and in marriage and family law  Characteristics of the Committee;  Operational articles. The preamble refers to issues of great importance in the political agenda, such as poverty, access to food, education, healthcare, the need of a new international economic order based on equity, but it also addresses racial discrimination. It also underlines the great contribution of women to the welfare of the family, the role of both parents in the family, the unpaid work of women and their contribution to informal economy, to the development of society, the social role of maternity. It stresses also the need for a change in the traditional role of men and women in society and in the family in order to achieve full equality btw men and women.  struggle to tackle and eliminate discrimination to achieve full enjoyment of rights of men and women  VAW is part of the struggle against discrimination, because there is a connection btw the fight against discrimination and that against violence. The CEDAW framework is rooted in the goals of the UN:  Dignity;  Worth of the human person;  Equal rights of men and women, diversity  intersectionality This Committee has been able to adopt a correct approach to fight against discrimination and to consider measures to achieve equality. The CEDAW Convention also establishes an agenda for action, this is one of the reasons behind the high number of reservations. The CEDAW also puts forward policies, politics and polity to achieve equality not only through laws. CEDAW articles Articles 1-5 are the core articles of the Convention. The structure of the CEDAW is common to other conventions on discrimination.  Article 1  definition of discrimination;  Article 2  policy measures for state;  Article 3  guarantee of equality;  Article 4  temporary special measures (combination of the first three articles);  Article 5  sex roles and stereotyping. Article 1  discrimination against women Potentially this treaty can be extended to include more aspects than those already mentioned in the Covenant. Discrimination has the effect to impair, nullify the recognition, enjoyment or exercise of women’s HR  if there are differences that do not result in a discriminatory condition, these are not considered discriminatory Non-discrimination perspective: basis for realising equality btw men and women ensuring women’s equal access to, and equal opportunities in, political and public life, education, health and employment. Equality of opportunity (de jure) and equality of results (de facto) Equality de facto  considers the realisation of women’s HR, to guarantee that women can enjoy their HR CEDAW is the only UN treaty that:  Affirms the reproductive rights of women;  Suggests that culture and tradition affect negatively gender roles in societies. The principle of equality is based on de facto equality. Article 2  obligations to eliminate discrimination States’ duty to do/not to do something States’ obligation: condemn discrimination and work at all levels to eliminate discrimination against women adopting measures criminalising discrimination, offering legal protection to women, etc. “take all appropriate measures”  states are free to choose the most appropriate measures to eliminate discrimination  political necessity of the GA to achieve the greatest number of ratifications Direct and indirect discrimination  Direct discrimination  occurs when a difference in treatment is based on distinctions based on sex;  Indirect discrimination  occurs when a law, policy or programme does not appear to be discriminatory, but has discriminatory effects when implemented. Indirect discrimination is caused by the fact that policy-makers are unable to design policies and measures through the gender-mainstreaming approach  we lack a gender-sensitive approach In the HRC General Comment no. 28 (2000) the HR Committee integrated the principle of equality underlining that SP must not only to remove obstacles to equality but they must also adopt positive measures to ensure equality. Steps towards advancing women’s substantive equality: The definition addresses:  Discriminatory treatment (direct discrimination);  Discriminatory outcome (indirect discrimination);  Intended (purposive discrimination);  Intended discrimination (discrimination in effect);  Discrimination on the ground of pregnancy and maternity;  Discrimination on the field of employment;  Both sex and marital status are specified as prohibited grounds of discrimination;  It requires that women must be able to enjoy and exercise their HR and freedoms both in the public and private sphere. HRC General Comment no.28 (2000) integrates the CEDAW Convention and it affirms that: “States parties should ensure that traditional, historical, religious or cultural attitudes are not used to justify violations of women’s right to equality before the law and to equal enjoyment of all Covenant rights”  when we face multiculturalism, we have to bear in mind that it does not justify any violation of women’s HR Article 2  types of obligations: to respect, protect and fulfil. Obligation:  Not to cause discrimination through acts or omissions;  To condemn discrimination in all its forms and eliminate discrimination by any public or private actors;  To provide legal protection and abolish discriminatory law/rules;  To adopt laws providing appropriate remedies for women discriminated;  To bind courts to apply the principle of equality; equality de jure. In article 4 the Convention explicitly mention measures aimed at protecting maternity, underlining that women’s experience is different from men’s  dynamic perspective on equality CEDAW avoids the identical treatment approach btw men and women, underlining the idea that there are discriminatory situations in the structure of our society. It recognises that there are biological differences. The treaty bodies documents adopted to offer a correct interpretation of the measures for the single convention are very important  GR (general recommendations) no. 25: on how to implement special measures in order to help women who suffer multiple forms of discrimination.  GR no.28: the CEDAW committee only protects sex-based discrimination, but also gender-based discrimination. Flexibility of “temporary” special measures  States have to avoid to implement fixed measure differentiated on the basis of sex, these measures have to be temporary to justify the suspension of equality de jure.  The amount of time is variable and it depends on the resources  Final aim: establishment of de facto equality Examples of special measures:  allocation of increased resources to women and girls’ education;  establishment of special training programmes to promote women’s economic well-being;  quotas or reserved seats;  targeting health issues that affect women’s productive and reproductive life. Basic principles of state obligation:  obligation of means: through laws and policies  ensuring the realization of rights;  obligation of results: states are obliged to control and regulate the actions of privates and institutions. Article 5  sex roles and stereotyping: SP shall take appropriate measures  to modify the social and cultural patterns of conduct of men and women (specific to every country)  to achieve elimination of prejudices and customary;  to ensure that family education includes a proper understanding of maternity and the recognition of the common responsibilities of men and women in the upbringing of children. Article 6  trafficking and exploitation of prostitution: SP shall take all measures to suppress all forms of traffic in women and exploitation of prostitution  this approach provides for the possibility that member states suppress exploitation of prostitution, not prostitution itself.  it is difficult to find binding definitions of prostitution, normally prostitution is defined by the interpretation of a state depending on its political debate.  art. 6 represents a liberal approach to prostitution, it shows the political need of states to remove the state role in managing prostitution, solving this problem through “tolerance”  states have to tolerate prostitution, but they must also protect sex workers. 16.03.2021 Article 5 of the CEDAW has an attitude to address structural inequality  it requires to provide alternative opportunities for self-expression and participation in cultural development  it recognises the social function of maternity. Part II and Part III of the CEDAW Convention  on women’s rights in political and public life Part II (articles 7-9); Part III (articles 10-14). CEDAW is the only Convention that deal specifically with rural women. Part IV (articles 15-16) on equality before the law and in marriage  fundamental principles International Committee for the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women It is made of independent experts who have the fundamental task to monitor the implementation of the CEDAW Convention by state parties at national level. It is composed by 23 women, they cover the mandate for four years and are elected on the basis of an equitable geographic distribution. They serve the CEDAW in personal capacity as independent experts. CEDAW normally holds three sessions per year. The Secretariat of CEDAW is located in Geneva. Special features of the Convention:  it requires the states to be responsible;  it works to achieve substantive equality and non-discrimination;  it is considered “the bill of rights of women” because it is a manifesto, used as a tool of legitimation by feminist movements, advocacy, to support women’s HR;  it addresses individual violations and the weaknesses in the system and institutions;  it obliges states to break stereotypes and cultural values and practices that deny women to enjoy their rights;  it demands equality in the private and public sphere;  it demands the states to be responsible to fill the gap among law, policy and practice. State parties have a legal obligation to respect, protect, promote and fulfil a non-discriminatory condition for women. SP normally have two kinds of duties: the duty of results and the duty of means. The idea of neglecting equality de jure to achieve a position of equality de facto is coherent with the principle of non-discrimination, equality with men means equal opportunities, resources, something that recognises women specificity. The CEDAW Committee composition is established in the convention, it is based on the minimum level of the intervention recognised for the treaty body in the period of adoption of this convention. The committees have normally four tasks: 1. the report procedure; 2. the control of territories; 3. the denunciation of states; 4. the individual or groups complaints. These tasks are the result of years of work of the UN GA in order to improve the role of the committees. The CEDAW Convention was adopted in 1969 and the only mechanism of the Convention is the report procedure  the political will of international decision-makers at the moment of adoption was to try to limit the political space given to women around the world. Art. 17 states the composition of the committee; Art. 18 states the examination procedure; Art. 19 states the rules of the procedure; Art. 20 states that 4 years must pass btw the reports; Art. 21 states other functions of the Committee, in particular it specifies that the committee can make general recommendations. The reporting procedure The CEDAW committee uses the collaboration with NGOs to improve its efficacy  the positive contribution of single women and NGOs is recognised  a bottom-up approach is used. The adoption of general recommendations is based on a public call to collect opinions of NGOs, women academics, and the civil society to include them the general recommendation. General reporting procedure: 1. preparation of the report; 2. preparation for review; 3. consideration of the report; 4. concluding observations; 5. implementation and follow-up (civil society’s opinions). Reporting session of the CEDAW committee: 1. First day: adoption of the agenda, introduction of the analytical reporting procedure of the states under report, the reports can be initial or periodic. The report procedure is aimed at creating a constructive dialogue with the state. 2. Second day: informal meeting with UN bodies and specialized agencies and with NGOs  concluding observations  monitor of the implementation of the member states in the following years Materials used by the Committee for the review:  Report of the Secretary General about the status of the CEDAW Convention;  Provisional agenda;  Ways and means of expediting the work of the Committee;  Rules of procedures;  States parties reports and responses to list of issues… The Committee also prepares the General Recommendations: it plays an important role because it is part of the updating process of HR, using the interpretation to keep up pace with the development of the world. The CEDAW Committee started to work with this approach from the beginning. GR are documents that offer to member states an authentic interpretation on articles, themes, issues coherent to the text of the Convention. The CEDAW GR are an authoritative interpretation of the Convention, through them member states receive specific support in implementing correctly the text of the Convention, but at the same time the Committee can take advantage of these guidelines to frame correctly all the documents it adopts during its mandate. The most important thing that the CEDAW has been doing is the expansion of its original scope. For example, GR no. 19 establishes that all types of violence against women are prohibited, it talks about gender-based violence, and also about equality with men. Discrimination includes gender-  Campo Algodonero v Mexico (2009), Inter-American Court of HR  the state knew of the existence of a pattern of violence that had killed hundreds of women and girls, the State did not act with the required due diligence.  Jessica Lanahan v United States (2011), Inter-American Commission  it is not the formal existence of remedies that demonstrate due diligence but the availability and effectivity of the remedies; when the state leaves HR violation unpunished and the victim’s full enjoyment of HR is not promptly restored, it fails to comply with its positive duties  a state allows privates to act freely on the basis of a condition of impunity. 22.03.2021 Principle of due diligence  a state may incur international responsibility if it fails to act to prevent, investigate, sanction and offer reparation for acts of violence against women, a duty that may apply to actions committed by private actors  the state has to modify the social and cultural conduct of men and women, eliminate prejudices, customary practices and other practices based on the idea of inferiority or superiority of either sex. Today states have to respond also for private actions. The principle of compensation can be implemented in many ways, not only through money, but also through other forms of support.  the due diligence is the result of the efforts made by feminist movements, NGOs CEDAW Optional Protocol (October 1999) The CEDAW Optional Protocol was adopted only 25 years after the adoption of the Convention, which is the international treaty with the greatest number of ratifications, but also with the greatest number of reservations (?). The fact that the CEDAW Optional Protocol came so many years after the CEDAW convention, gives an idea of how difficult it was to find a common perspective on women’s HR and redress for the violation suffered. The OP can be useful:  to seek redress from HR violations;  to hold a SP accountable for its actions;  to draw international attention;  to bring about structural change;  to prevent similar violations;  to strengthen jurisprudence;  to establish an international legal precedent that would compel state actions;  to provide a focus for national advocacy on women’s right issues. The CEDAW OP is very important because this procedure can be considered as a forum to debate about HR during the monitoring process, the reporting procedure of SP… These documents are the most important to support HR in general. The CEDAW Committee wasn’t allowed to receive individual complaints, or to visit countries to investigate serious violations against women  these limits are politically very important. The fact that only in 1999 the international community decided to overcome this situation, gives us an insight on the approach of the international community on women’s issues. The CEDAW OP was adopted to strengthen the protection of the CEDAW rights, to empower the Committee. Principal aspects:  communications (art.2)  the Committee can receive and examine complaints brought against SPs by individuals or groups of individuals alleging violation of their rights under the Convention  it provides views and recommendations;  inquiries (art.8)  the CEDAW Committee may conduct an inquiry if it has received reliable information containing well-founded indications of serious, grave or systemic violations of the Convention in a SP. Communication procedure should be (admissibility criteria):  written;  not anonymous;  concerning a SP. Standing (art.2): Communications may be submitted by or on behalf of:  individual victims;  groups of individual victims  if acting on behalf of victims, their consent is necessary;  if the victim does not give consent, the authors have to justify the communication. Exhaustion of domestic remedies (art. 4(1)) the Committee considers the communication: if judicial remedies but also administrative remedies or extraordinary procedures have been tempted. Inquiry procedure The Committee needs:  reliable information  indicating serious or systematic violations;  by a SP of CEDAW on rights set for this treaty  it can be organised through a visit to the country in object. Reliable information:  Is the information consistent?  Is there corroborating evidence?  Are the sources of the information reliable? CEDAW serious violations:  Severe abuse of fundamental HR (femicide, torture, disappearances, trafficking) CEDAW systematic violations:  Widespread abuse of HR (vaw, discrimination in law). 23.03.2021 Inquiry procedure It is very important in practical and symbolic terms, because the role of networking, advocacy and the work of the feminist movements were recognised in the adoption of this act that helps women and it improves the international political agenda, integrating specific aspects of women’s HR. The CEDAW produced a high number of legal documents on gender-based violence. VAW is an example of the open approach of this body considering women’s HR violations. The high number of complaints on gender-based violence shows the severity of the situation, but also the sensitivity of the political dimension. Ciudad Juárez: the capital of femicide Ciudad Juárez is one of the most dangerous cities in the world because of the widespread organised crime. It is also the object of the first inquiry procedure that the CEDAW Committee received and also the worst. Femicide: murder of a woman because she is a woman; Feminicide: a series of acts of violence, directed at a woman because of her sex that can result in her death. The CEDAW Committee started to look into the situation of Ciudad Juárez many years after a lot of information had been collected by NGOs working in this specific area. These NGOs after a long time of monitoring and observing this situation, collected information on it and sent them to the Committee to allow them to start the procedure of inquiry. This collection of information regarded the murders of a high number of young women, most of whom worked in the field of manufacture in Ciudad Juárez, with many aspects in common, a high number of disappearances and also a widespread impunity for the perpetrators  btw 1993 and 2000, 6 women were killed every day. Most of the bodies of these women were found in similar conditions (signs of sexual assault, mutilation, …). 98% of these murders went unpunished. Ciudad Juárez is an industrial city, it is on the border with the USA  drug dealing There is a high presence of maquilas, a system of production in the field of manufacturing employing many young women who offer their work for a low salary. This system gives them the possibility to earn some money and to move from the rural areas to the cities. This situation undermined the power relation btw men and women due to the fact that women started to earn money and moved away from rural areas. Men continued to work in rural areas and it led to the need of men to gain again their power on women perpetrating violence against them. This change of role together with a law enforcement system ruled by men, led to these widespread acts of violence. Impunity is possible when law enforcement agencies and the judiciary system do not comply with their duty to punish and prosecute. In this case the state is also responsible for impunity. There may have been a case of interference of organised crime in institutions. The CEDAW Committee received very detailed complaints on the situation of Ciudad Juárez. The CEDAW Committee referred immediately to Article 1 of the CEDAW Convention and to the right to equality before the law. Mexico ratified the Optional Protocol in 2002 After its ratification, two NGOs, Casa Amiga and Equality Now contacted the CEDAW Committee showing data on the murders and disappearances of hundreds of women and denounced the failure of the Mexico government to investigate on these cases putting forward this inquiry. Before the start of this inquiry, Mexico law enforcement agencies failed to prosecute the perpetrators. All these aspects created the conditions to consider the facts of Ciudad Juárez as an example of systematic abuse. The complaints were so detailed that in January 2003, the CEDAW Committee agreed to investigate opening an enquiry procedure against Mexico. Mexico accepted to be inquired under the mechanism of the Optional Protocol of the CEDAW Convention, also because Casa Amiga collected evidence of the complicity of Mexico authorities. During the inquiry procedure, some members of the Committee can visit the territory of the country concerned by the inquiry. During the visit, the members of the Committee can meet both representatives of the institutions of the country and members of the civil society, organisations…  importance of economic aspect of VAW Definition of gender-based violence: “violence that is directed against a woman because she is a woman or that affects women disproportionately” Various forms of violence considered in this Convention, happen in private life, at work, in the community or in public space. All of them can be addressed through laws and public policies. 30.03.2021 Council of Europe Convention on Violence against Women and Domestic Violence – Istanbul Convention This Convention introduces the aspects of violence against women and it is a binding document. This Convention is very important because it includes all aspects of violence, discrimination, the fight to equality, the role of the stereotypes. It represents an attempt to address the multiple aspects of women’s discrimination, it is important to consider the aspects of discrimination, inequality, imbalance of power as the root of the problem. Culture and stereotypes result from inequality. The CEDAW adopted the GA no. 35 which addresses more in depth the issue of violence against women. The Istanbul Convention is important for many aspects. It underlines that VAW and domestic violence are a violation of women’s HR, it underlines that there is no distinction btw public and private. It can be updated with new aspects of VAW not yet considered in the Convention. It can be considered a manifesto also because many members of feminist movements, NGOs on women’s HR, academics refer to it. The Convention on Violence against Women and Domestic Violence is made by many articles and it includes under the umbrella term of VAW:  psychological violence;  stalking;  physical violence;  sexual violence, including rape;  forced marriage;  FGM;  forced abortion and forced sterilisation;  sexual harassment. It is very important because it provides a definition of sexual harassment that goes further than that suffered in the place of employment (the ILO as well made a Convention on this matter). This Convention is characterised by the fact that it considers different kinds of intervention: prevention, protection, prosecution, policies. The approach of criminalisation of VAW is widespread and used by many countries but the others, such as prevention and protection are often overlooked. Prevention What does this mean for state parties?  Preventing VAW and domestic violence to save lives and reduce human suffering;  Change attitudes, gender roles and stereotypes that make VAW acceptable;  Train professionals working with victims;  Raise awareness on the different forms of violence and their traumatizing nature;  Co-operate with NGOs, the media and the private sector to reach out to the public;  Set up treatment programs for perpetrators of domestic violence and sex offenders,  Work closely with NGOs. Protection How does the Convention improve life of victims?  Removing a perpetrator of domestic violence from home: the police need to be able to guarantee the safety of the victim  meaning ordering the perpetrator to leave the family and stay away from the victim;  Guaranteeing access to information on available services to victims;  Setting up easily accessible shelters in sufficient numbers and in an adequate geographical distribution;  Making available 24/7 helplines for victims with referral mechanism to the services they need;  Informing victims of their rights and where and how to get help.  this aspect is very difficult because not all women have the resources to respond to violence, some of them may not want to press charges against the perpetrator, they may not want to be sheltered because of logistic aspects. Prosecution: How does the Convention ensure the prosecution of perpetrators?  It defines and criminalizes various forms of VAW as well as domestic violence;  It gives effect to the Convention; state parties will have to introduce a number of new offenses where they do not exist  which may include psychological, physical and sexual violence, stalking, female genital mutilation, forced marriage, forced abortion and sterilisation;  SP will have to ensure that culture, tradition or “honour” are not considered as justification for acts of VAW;  SP have to ensure effective investigation of any allegation of VAW and domestic violence;  Law enforcement will have to respond to calls for help, collect evidence and assess the risk of further violence to adequately protect the victim;  SP will have to carry out judicial proceedings in a manner that respects the rights of victims and that avoid secondary victimization.  all these actions are part of integrated policies that imply that SP should adopt a plan of action to identify the main areas of concern, the subjects involved, they should collect data on the problem of VAW and so on in order to tackle this problem effectively. The National Action Plan is a document that defines the way to address the issue, people responsible for the different aspects and so on. It also legitimises the multi-agency perspective. How is the implementation of the Convention monitored? The Istanbul Convention sets up monitoring mechanism to assess how the provisions are put into practice. It consists of two pillars:  The Group of Experts on Action against Violence against Women and Domestic Violence (GREVIO), an independent expert body;  The Committee of the Parties, a political body composed of official representatives of the state parties.  double mechanism (one part belongs to independent experts, and the other to official representatives of SP) The GREVIO is an independent expert body that monitors the single member states of the Convention, through a system of visits and of reporting. It is involved in the evaluation procedure, which is oriented to observe the quality of the implementation of the single articles of the Convention and of the effectiveness of the implementation. The law and policy system are at the basis of the evaluation procedure of the group of experts. But they consider also other things, such as the level of engagement of NGOs, the quality of the debate on VAW, the shadow reports produced by anti-violence centres, by feminists… Apart from the information collected through institutional channels, there is also a parallel work with subjects not institutionally involved in VAW. 31.03.21 The Istanbul Convention is based on four pillars: Prevention:  Training of professionals;  Participation of media and private sector;  Awareness-raising campaigns;  Education in non-violence and equality btw men and women;  Challenging gender stereotypes;  Promoting women’s empowerment;  Programs for perpetrators;  Role of men and boys; Protection:  Information on their rights;  Support services;  Regional and international complaint mechanisms;  Shelters;  Rape crisis or sexual violence centers;  Reporting violence to authorities;  Emergency barring orders;  Protection or restraining orders;  Safe custody and visitation rights for children;  Free telephone helplines 24/7;  Rights and need of child witnesses. Prosecution (law enforcement and judicial proceedings/ victims’ rights):  Dissuasive sanctions for perpetrators;  Effective public prosecution;  Consideration of aggravating circumstances;  Protection of child victims and witnesses; Article 3 (use of terms)  what is trafficking, exploitation… Open formula: exploitation includes at a minimum. Elements of human trafficking:  Acts: recruitment, transport, transfer, harbouring, receipt of persons;  Means: threat or use of force, coercion, abduction, fraud, deception, abuse of power or vulnerability, paying of benefits;  Purpose: exploitation includes prostitution of others, sexual exploitation, forced labour, slavery or similar practices, removal of organs and other types of exploitation.  victims of human trafficking can come from any city or country in the world. The trafficking process:  Recruitment;  Transfer;  Destination Exploitation can start during the transfer or in the place of destination. Researchers recognized that the concept of exercising power and control have been changing a lot in the last decades. The most violent manifestation of trafficking in human beings started after the 90s with the Albanian girls who were coercively deported from their country with a lot of violence involved. Thousands of women were killed after the collapse of the previous regime. Those who were responsible for it were strongly punished. After that, the Romanian and Nigerian crime organizations understood that it was better to reduce the violence involved in order to obtain the consent of the victims without the need to abuse them  intimidation, psychological pressure became more important than violence. The victims became more diverse victims, with different backgrounds. The stakeholders such as police, judiciaries, etc. understood that the control of migrants had started to change in order to minimise the punishment received during trials  redefinition of the phenomenon The smuggling process The main difference between smuggling and trafficking in human beings, is the absence of the purpose of exploitation  smugglers sell trips to other countries. In the destination country the relationship with the smuggler ends. The migrants aren’t able to evaluate the actual sum of money needed for their trip, so they give more money than needed. Why preventing irregular migration:  To avoid exploitation of irregular migrants;  To prevent the existence of marginalized groups in society thus contributing to social cohesion and stability;  To ensure that migration is managed and regulated by public policies;  To ensure satisfactory salary levels and working conditions for national workers and lawfully resident migrant workers, which are undermined by the employment of irregular migrants;  To avoid the existence of whole sectors/businesses dependent on irregular migrant labour. 17.04.21 Mixed migration flows  the migration process changes because of the difficulties to get to the country. Causes of smuggling (very similar to the causes of human trafficking):  Poverty, unemployment;  Political and humanitarian crises;  Restrictive immigration policies in traditional countries;  Criminal networks and transnational organized crime;  Environmental crisis;  Cultural reasons;  Appeal of western countries. Differences btw smuggling and trafficking:  Geographical: smuggling involves crossing borders, trafficking may occur within a single country;  Purpose: trafficking  exploitation, smuggling  profit;  Consent: irrelevant in trafficking, but it is at the basis of smuggling;  Exploitation: it is related to trafficking, but also to smuggling because migrants have to pay more than they should;  Profit: basic element of both;  Victimhood: the crime against the victims of trafficking is a crime against the person (the victims of trafficking are often women), while in the case of smuggling it is a crime against the sovereignty of state;  Perpetrator: traffickers can be family members or members of organised crime, smugglers can be members of organised crime groups but they are considered so when they act for their own profit. Slavery, trafficking and forced labour Many documents, recommendations, conventions, declarations on these issues  many of them started at the beginning of the 20th century.  Slavery Convention 1926  Convention Concerning Forced or Compulsory Labour 1930  Convention for the Suppression of Trafficking in Persons and the Exploitation of the Prostitution of Others 1949  start of abolitionism of western countries shifting to tolerance of prostitution  Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention 1999  wider concept of slavery together with  UN Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime + Protocols 2003  Domestic Workers Convention 2011  Protocol of 2014 to the Forced Labour Convention 1930 and the Forced Labour Recommendation 2014;  Migration for Employment Convention 1949;  Migrant Workers Convention 1949  great numbers of instruments similar among each other. In the last decades the international community has tried to reproduce some basic duties and HR elements in order to tackle severe forms of exploitation, but it hasn’t reached the aim because criminal law is not enough to protect exploited people and crimes related to poverty, exploitation, discrimination… Exploitation  The ILO defines forced labour for the first time Sexual exploitation  the majority of victims are young women and children, while the majority of people exploited for labour are adult men, but the process of identification of male victims of trafficking is more difficult, because in the public discourse the attention on sexual exploitation of women makes it easier to identify female victims. It is easier for women to get international protection because there is more sensitivity towards female victims. Victim-centred criminal law approach The victim-centred criminal law approach is based on a non-discriminatory approach to victims. It is important not to criminalize victims going through exploitation or smuggling. If they are misidentified they will be penalized and their HR will not be protected. HR Law:  No criminalizing of victims;  Identification of victims and of their condition of victimization;  Choosing to believe the victims;  Going beyond simplistic statements  many migrants arrive with made-up stories;  Try to read the body language of victims;  Putting the migration project at the centre  listen to stories;  Adopt a GB approach.  HR of migrants could be violated if these aspects are not respected. Palermo Protocol The Convention on Organised Crime and the Protocols are difficult to consider as an HR instrument  first attempt to create a mix btw a tension to rule in terms of criminal law against these behaviours (smuggling, trafficking…) with a perspective of HR devoted to consider people as victims. Political need to fight against illegal migration, exploitation related to migration processes. Protocol gaps:  Identification;  Non-punishment of victims for their illegal activity;  Residence/ reflection period.  for a person who is illegal in a country needs the residence permit. 19.04.21 On Women Peace and Security The area of security belongs to the Security Council, which has a patriarchal attitude and a male- oriented approach to security. It is difficult to imagine a gender-based approach to security. Starting from 2000, the Security Council started to consider why there is a link btw women and peace and how this connection involves the topics related to security. It is important to underline that btw the end of the 20th century and the beginning of the 21st century, in many bodies of the UN there was a new attention to implement the principle of equality balancing the participation of women and men in the different institutions of UN  attempt to give effectiveness to gender- mainstreaming. There are many ways to apply the principle of equality. Intersectionality supplies us with a new way to look at and to tackle discrimination: to respect and consider the differences among people. In 2000, many bodies of the UN started to increase the institutional participation of women through gender-mainstreaming, which influences every aspect of the policy-making: design of the policy, access to resources, procedures… They observed that there was an area that had not been included into the area of intervention of gender-mainstreaming: security and peace. The UN bodies started to include many women in high positions: to support this decision they referred to the gender-mainstreaming perspective and tried to comply with many binding measures  it was necessary to recognize more visibility to women to give effectiveness to the principle of non- discrimination. It was adopted unanimously  it is a document framing in the gender equality construction of the UN the critical area of concern identified in the Beijing declaration (women at war). Th SC gave effectiveness to one of the twelve areas of concern. Double perspective: this SCR is based on an attempt to empower women in condition of conflict and to work with them; and to recognize the strong victimization experienced by women in these situations.  it is important to work for women’s participation in peace agreements, but it is also very important to protect women’s HR. Three topics: participation, protection and gender perspective. Four pillars: prevention of sexualized and GBV; protection of women against violence in conflict and post-conflict situations; participation of women in peace and security governance, relief and recovery. The SCR recognizes the importance to approach these issues through a gender-sensitive perspective and adopting gender-sensitive measures. Peace-keeping is often a military operation but what about women’s role in peace keeping and peace enforcement? The security sector includes:  Armed forces;  Police;  Intelligence, border management and custom services;  Justice and penal institutions;  Non-statutory and traditional justice and security providers;  Actors that play a role in managing and implementing institutions responsible for security, such as ministries, parliaments, ombudsmen, HR commissions  And civil society organizations. In western countries, there is a strong presence of women in peace and security institutions. Starting from the adoption of the 1325 SCR, there has been a general reconsideration by feminisms in militarism and peace keeping operations. Women have had some opportunities to participate at official level to many important diplomatic arenas. There are many situations in which women have had the opportunity to play a role at a diplomatic level, but for some reasons, they lost these occasions  because they were isolated, because their candidature were proposed to represent women at a political level, but they didn’t have enough power. The number of women has been often limited to few women and they didn’t have the opportunity to offer a different perspective on peace agreements. The only great result that the international community has achieved from this political operation of women in the security section is a different image of international police operations and the role of women in these armed and civil operations, but also a new awareness on VAW. This new perspective is helping considering VAW as a public matter and not as a private matter. There is a polarization of gender roles during conflicts. Strong violence as a result of conflicts Women and girls are particularly vulnerable in conflict and displacement situations  Rape is used a weapon of genocide;  Unaccompanied women or children;  Children in foster care arrangements;  Lone single female e heads of households;  Elderly women and those with physical or mental disabilities;  Women held in detention/concentration camps. The attention to conflict belonged traditionally to humanitarian law, which used an approach of protection in internal and international conflict that is different from HR. The CEDAW Convention on the basis of the HR perspective on this matter, adopted a specific recommendation, on how to use the instruments adopted by the Security Council. The feminist perspective on security denied the concept of human as something different from women, as something gender neutral. The term “human” does not include an intersectional perspective. Women are not neutral and nobody is neutral. It is dangerous to use the idea of universalism without considering the specificity of the human experience.  women are different from men and their contribution to political and security thinking is also different. Critical security studies and critical human security  the perspective of human security adopted by the UN development program at the beginning of the 90s didn’t pay attention to women and it didn’t have a gender perspective. After the Nairobi conference in 1985, where the economic value of women’s reproduction role was recognized, the UN development program tried to consider in depth these fundamental aspects of women’s issue, publishing the annual report on reproductive rights of women. The perspective on human security has changed integrating the concept of human security. 22.04.21 Women’s peace movements The implication of conflict for women can be very different. Women’s peace movements have struggled to change the general assumption of militarism and to construct a criticism against militarism, women’s movements underlined the precarious security condition caused by the military thinking and militarization in general. After the adoption of the SCR no.1352, the SC created a solid connection among peace, security, gender equality and development.  SCR no.1325: “inextricable link btw peace and gender equality” Peacekeeping mandates fail to mention social and economic rights, they are external to many rights that are at the basis of the transformation women’s condition. Without economic resources and cultural recognition of women’s role, it is impossible to work in the field of equality  criticality The approach to women peace and security started with a bottom-up approach, but with the institutionalization the effectiveness of the political potential of the SCR no.1325 was reduced. The anti-violence commitment is threatened by the necessity to offer services to women, which have to be supported through funds, cultural recognition. When these topics become part of the political agenda the original interpretation must be redefined and the outcome can be less effective. Before the adoption of the political agenda on women peace and security, the UN Secretary- General Boutros Boutros-Ghali adopted the Agenda for Peace and Security which redefined the characters of police intervention in international operations. Four types of activities:  Preventive diplomacy and peace-making;  Expanding the possibilities for the prevention of conflict and the making of peace;  Implementation and feasibility of negotiated peace settlements;  Assisting post-conflict micro-disarmament.  in it we have to distinguish btw peace enforcement and peace building.  Peace enforcement: robust peace keeping, which refers to the SC’s authorization to use of force within a peace-keeping mandate;  Peace building: expansion of peacekeeping operations to provide assistance in the implementation of negotiated peace settlements, establishment of legal institutions, monitor elections, train local police and military personnel to build democratic governmental structures and capacities.  in these areas of practical work is very important to consider the specificity of women, they can represent a threat to women’s freedom. Women have to be able to contribute to peace building with a bottom-up approach to it. SCR no.1820 Most important resolution with no.1325 because it underlines the issue of sexual violence in humanitarian emergencies and conflicts. It touches various aspects of these forms of abuse. It calls for a greater participation of women in peace-building operations, for an effective preparation of troops to respond to this kind of violence. It recognizes that sexual violence is a weapon and a tactic of war and it results in stigmatization of women that have suffered these HR violations. In this resolution, the main topic is the creation of a connection btw VAW and situations of conflict  gender-based approach to peace and security SCR no.1888 First attempt to recombine the participation of women in peacebuilding and post-conflict with the need to monitor and to report on sexual violence. SCR no.1889 On women participation in peacebuilding  call to develop indicators to measure the implementation of SCR no.1325. It focuses on post-conflict peacebuilding and women’s participation in all stages of peace processes. SCR no.1960 Call for an end to sexual violence in armed conflicts. It sets up “naming and shaming” listing mechanism, sending a direct political message that there are consequences for sexual violence. SCR no. 2106 It focuses on accountability for perpetrators of sexual violence in conflict. It stresses women’s political and economic and empowerment. SCR no.2122 It refers to gender equality, it recognizes the different impact of violations in conflicts on women and girls and calls for multisectoral services to women affected by conflicts. SCR no.2242 The SC is responsible for maintaining peace and security in accordance with the principles of the UN including women’s HR and prevention of war  SC responsibility to maintain international peace. On Women in Prostitution and HR Amnesty International Policy on State Obligations to Respect, Protect and Fulfil the HR of Sex Workers It is a policy document, so a series of documents created by an NGO. Sex workers are recognized as people working. The UN Convention for the Suppression of the Traffic in Persons and of the Exploitation of the Prostitution of Others (1949) aimed at prevent, protect and punish. It is identified a link btw traffic in persons and the prostitution (traffic in persons for the purpose of prostitution), but the purpose of this treaty is to combat exploitation of prostitution. Criminalization and penalization Today there are some policies that regulate prostitutions. They have two tendencies: