Shyamala Gomez, APWLD, Co-Convenor, Violence against Women Task Force

Participants of the Asia Pacific NGO Consultation with the UN Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women

The Asia Pacific NGO Consultation with the UN Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women, Dr.Yakin Erturk, organised by the Violence against Women Task Force of APWLD was held in Bangkok, Thailand on October 5-6 2005. It was attended by over 30 NGOs from the region. The theme of the consultation was on ‘Access to Justice: Holding the State Accountable for Violence against Women by Non- State Actors’.  The Consultation was preceded by a one day study workshop under the same subject area.  APWLD has been holding these consultations with the UN Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women since 1995. The objectives of the consultation are to enable women’s groups to provide information on critical issues regarding violence against women in their countries for inclusion into the annual report of the Special Rapporteur, as a means of raising their advocacy issues internationally, as well as to provide an opportunity for NGOs and women’s groups from the Asia Pacific region to exchange information on emerging forms of violence against women, to identify strategies to address violence against women and to network.

Burmese activists with Yakin Erturk

The mandate of the Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women was presented to the participants during the study workshop by Jan Hessbruegge, the Assistant to the Special Rapporteur.  It was considered important that the participants had an overall knowledge of how the mandate of the Special Rapporteur could be used in their advocacy work.  The Study Workshop also examined the legal standard of ‘due diligence’ in relation to violence against women and the obligations this imposes on states at an international level as well as the mechanisms which exist to hold governments accountable to their obligations.

The consultation addressed several important issues such as the underlying causes of VAW, the applicability and limitations of the principle of due diligence in different contexts, the responsibility of non state actors for VAW and the discriminatory laws and cultural practices which oppress women particularly in situations where dual legal systems operate. The presentations from different countries and the open discussions during the consultations provided the participants with an overall picture of critical concerns and dilemmas facing women in the region relating to violence against women. 

An issue that kept being raised was that of cultural and religious practices that sanction violence against women.  What is a state’s obligation when it comes to dual legal systems in which such practices exist?  How does a state comply with its due diligence obligations in the light of such practices?  Where there is a failure by the state to replace traditional forms of dispute resolution, what steps can be taken to regulate such mechanisms?

It is important to ensure that justice mechanisms set up under customary law regimes do not sanction violence against women.  Participants discussed examples of how the legal profession and the judiciary interpret legal provisions so as to allow men who have committed violence against women to escape sanctions.  Customary practices that sanction such violence are not relegated to a particular geographical location, but are common throughout the region.  The argument of culture is used to justify inaction in bringing perpetrators to justice by the state and also used to justify the non provision of remedies and services to women survivors of violence.  The Consultation illustrated many instances in which the state is not complying with its due diligence obligations to prevent and prosecute in situations of violence.  Urgent responses by the state are necessary to ensure that training programmes and other initiatives are put in place to change cultural values and attitudes which discriminate against women.  A recommendation that came out of the consultation was the need to develop a feminist critique of culture, religion, tradition and fundamentalism and their role in compounding discrimination against women.        

Another issue that arose during the consultation was that of the particular challenges in ensuring states hold certain non-state actors accountable for violence against women. Under international law, states are responsible for human rights violations within its territory.  However, states tend to disclaim responsibility when such violations are committed by particular non state actors such as violence perpetrated by military personnel in situations of long term foreign military presence and violence caused to women particularly by multi national corporations (MNCs) and trans-national corporations (TNCs).  A participant gave the example of the US military bases in Okinawa, Japan and the difficulties faced by women who suffer violence against women at the hands of US military personnel as their government is reluctant to hold them accountable and the US disclaims responsibility for military personnel who are off duty. Strategies must also be developed to hold MNCs and TNCs accountable for violence perpetrated by them and their actors (such as the hiring of para-military forces to attack women protesting for their right to live without corporate control over their lives and livelihoods). 

The recommendations that came out of the consultation looked at different strategies to overcome these obstacles.  An interesting recommendation was that of campaigning states to remove the reservations to CEDAW and to ratify the Optional Protocol to CEDAW so that women can access the CEDAW committee to seek justice where the domestic courts have failed to provide a remedy.  Other recommendations included: the setting up of a permanent regional mechanism in the Asia Pacific to deal with the rights of women; lobbying for international standards and a mechanism that will hold military personnel liable for violence against women during military occupation; lobby for international mechanisms to hold MNCs and TNCs accountable; and lobbying for an ‘International Women’s Year’ to create awareness on women’s rights.