Asia-Pacific Women call for justice for sexual violence

Asia Pacific Forum on Women, Law and Development (APWLD), Forum Asia and Komnas Perempuan organised a four-day consultation with the UN Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women from 25-28 July 2004 in Jakarta , Indonesia .
 
Women from around 18 different countries in Asia Pacific attended the consultation.
 
More than 40 women human rights activists voiced their concern regarding the lack of access to justice for violence relating to women's sexuality. Despite advances in recognising violence against women as a violation of women's human rights at the international level, violence against Asia Pacific women continues unabated.
 
The situation becomes particularly grim when women's sexuality is targeted since sexuality is at the core of our beings. Targeting women's sexuality is done by both state and non state actors. Representatives from Burma , East Timor , Aceh, and the North Eastern States of India shared continuing perpetration of violence including sexual violence by state actors. In their recent report, the Karen Women's Organisation, an ethnic group from Burma , has documented 125 cases of sexual violence by the military regime in Karen State of Burma from 1998 to 2004. As shared by the representative from Burma "this is just the tip of the iceberg. Use of rape as a weapon on war by the military dictatorship continues in conflict areas throughout Burma ."
 
Isha Hamdani, from Pakistan said that "Women also face violence in their homes and communities and often by intimate partners. Since most of these crimes are committed in the name of 'honour’, the perpetrator almost always goes unpunished." As sexuality is one of the most basic tools for controlling women issues like acid throwing, honour crimes, stoning, abductions of wives or female family members by armed conflict groups, female genital mutilation, marital rape were identified by the participants as critical emerging concerns in the region. The growing militarization and "war on terror", rising power of neo-conservative right wing forces and globalisation worsen the situation.
 
The UN Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women, Dr. Yakin Erturk, said that "There has been references made to "Asian values" and I want to understand this more. Cultural or religious practices that violate women's rights should not be allowed and perpetrators given preferential treatment on the grounds of respecting culture or religion."
 
Asia Pacific women call for justice, including adequate legal redress, effective judicial processes to bring perpetrators of sexual violence to justice and end the culture of impunity in the region. The urgent call for the states is not just immediate implementation of laws but also ensuring that these acts of violence stop.
 
The UN Special Rapporteur also supported the call of the Asia Pacific for states in the region to create a regional human right mechanism and more effective national human rights system for state accountability.

for more information:
Yamini – APWLD at yamini@apwld.org
tel no: 66-53-404614
3 rd floor, YMCA Building
Sermsuk road, Santitham
Chiangmai , Thailand