Sexual Violence

Welcome to “Women Around the World: This Week,” a series that highlights noteworthy news related to women and U.S. foreign policy. This week’s post, covering from April 1 to April 8, was compiled with support from Anne Connell, and Alyssa Dougherty. UK addresses the gender pay gap Beginning this week, UK companies with more than 250 employees will be compelled by law to review gender pay gaps and make findings public. The new statute—which reaches an estimated 9,000 employers and 15 million employees—requires public, private, and non-governmental sector organizations to disclose average pay for men and women in all positions, as well as the proportion of men and women holding positions within each quartile of the organization’s pay structure. The law is part of a broader government move to address pay equity and advance women’s economic inclusion: the government is also investing £5 million in efforts to encourage women’s return to work after the birth of a child, supporting initiatives to provide 30 hours of free childcare, and promoting flexible leave policies. Justine Greening, Secretary of State for Education and Minister for Women and Equalities, stressed that “helping women to reach their full potential isn’t only the right thing to do, it makes good economic sense and is good for British business.” Boko Haram kidnaps girls in Nigeria Over the past two weeks, Boko Haram has kidnapped twenty-two girls--all aged seventeen or younger—in two separate raids in northern Nigeria. The girls will likely join the thousands of girls and young women who have been forced into slavery, compelled to become brides or fighters, and even carry out suicide attacks, since the insurgency began in 2009. The attackers allegedly belong to a Boko Haram faction led by Abu Musab Al-Barnawi, who replaced former leader Abubakar Shekau.  The recent attack follows the abduction of more than 270 schoolgirls in 2014, which captured international attention and sparked the Bring Back Our Girls campaign. While many girls remain missing, those who have been released or escaped reportedly face significant stigma in their communities upon return, especially if they had children in captivity. Lebanon and Jordan strengthen anti-rape legislation Two Middle Eastern nations have taken steps to toughen laws against rape: in Jordan, following months of deliberation, the Royal Committee for Developing the Judiciary and Enhancing the Rule of Law recommended the elimination of a law allowing perpetrators to escape punishment for rape if they marry their victims. With the approval of Jordanian King Abdullah, the recommendations will move to a vote in parliament in 2017. In neighboring Lebanon, officials moved to abolish a similar loophole in its penal code, following a public campaign launched by Lebanese organization Abaad MENA, to eliminate laws that permit pardons for rape perpetrators who provide a valid marriage contract.

Welcome to “Women Around the World: This Week,” a series that highlights noteworthy news related to women and U.S. foreign policy. This week’s post, covering from March 4 to March 10, was compiled with support from Becky Allen, Anne Connell, and Alyssa Dougherty. International Women’s Day On Wednesday, March 8, the world marked International Women’s Day, an internationally-celebrated holiday dedicated to recognizing the social, political, economic, and cultural contributions women have made globally and highlighting the inequalities that remain. This year’s celebration was marked by an historic number of events, marches, and protests.  In Paris, unions, student organizations, and women’s associations held a women’s strike starting at 3:40 p.m., a reduction in hours meant to symbolize the 26 percent gender pay gap in France. In Buenos Aires, tens of thousands marched to combat the scourge of violence against women, which kills one woman every thirty hours in that country. In Montenegro, hundreds of women rallied for better state aid for mothers. And in the United States, rallies and events were held in conjunction with the "Day Without a Woman" strike, meant to highlight women’s crucial contributions to the U.S. economy.  In a positive trend, some governments chose to mark International Women’s Day by announcing plans to improve conditions for women: in Iceland, for example, the  government announced a strategy to eliminate workplace inequalities by 2022, and in India, Prime Minister Narendra Modi appeared with local women’s activists in support of a national campaign to improve rural sanitation. Women’s parliamentary participation inches up This week, the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) issued a report finding that women’s participation increased incrementally in recent years, rising from 22.6 percent in 2015 to 23.3 percent in 2016. Regionally, the greatest gains occurred in the Pacific, but moderate progress in recent years across Asia was undercut by the slowing pace of change in India. The report highlights gender quotas as an effective tool to increase women’s political representation, but notes that gaps remain: last year, Liberia was the only country in the world to pass new quota legislation at the parliament level, and implementation has been inconsistent in many countries. IPU Secretary General Martin Chungong underscored the importance of inclusive national politics, arguing that “parliaments are crucial to…strengthening the policies and legislation needed to meet the goal of gender equality and women’s full and equal participation at all levels by 2030.” Global legislation on sexual assault A new study of eighty-two legal systems around the world reveals significant gaps in policies to prevent and respond to sexual violence. The report outlines seven trends that are pervasive around the globe, including laws that permit marital rape, provide loopholes, or require inordinately cumbersome evidence for prosecution. In eight countries surveyed, for example, perpetrators of rape may be exonerated if they marry the survivor, even in cases of rape of a minor. In five countries, a settlement may be agreed upon by families in place of punishment, and in nine countries, verbal forgiveness by a victim will terminate a case and prevent penalty. Sexual violence around the world has been correlated with risk of HIV, increased rates and infant and child mortality, and economic loss.

Yesterday, I sat down with my colleague Stewart Patrick, the James H. Binger Senior Fellow and Director of the International Institutions and Global Governance Program, to commemorate International Women’s Day and discuss the work of CFR’s Women and Foreign Policy program. Our conversation reviewed the considerable progress made in the two decades since the landmark 1995 UN Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing and the unfinished business that still remains. We discussed the future of the global women’s movement, the effect of women’s participation in peace and security efforts, and women’s economic participation as a driver of global growth. We also fielded questions from participants around the world in our live, interactive discussion, including those that addressed the pressing and topical issues of the day: the future of women’s political leadership, the U.S. role in ending child marriage around the world, and the status of women and children in the global refugee crisis. You can view the video of our discussion below or on Facebook.

Welcome to “Women Around the World: This Week,” a series that highlights noteworthy news related to women and U.S. foreign policy. This week’s post, covering from February 20 to February 27, was compiled with support from Becky Allen, Anne Connell, and Alyssa Dougherty. Female vice president named in Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan has selected his wife, Mehriban Aliyeva, as the country’s first vice president, following a 2016 constitutional referendum that created the position and extended his own term. Aliyeva, who has served as the deputy chair of Azerbaijan’s ruling party since 2013, heads the Azerbaijan Culture Foundation and serves as a UNESCO goodwill ambassador. Although the responsibilities of her newly-created role have yet to be defined, the position sets Aliyeva up as the lawful successor to her husband should he be unable to rule. Critics argue that the president’s appointment of his wife undermines the nation’s fledgling electoral processes and promotes dynastic rule, with opposition leader Isa Gambar asserting that “family rule has no place in the 21st century.” The appointment—which comes amidst intra-government cleavages, dropping energy revenues, and allegations of human rights violations against activists and journalists—is seen by many as an attempt to consolidate power within the ruling regime. May addresses violence against women in the UK Last week, British Prime Minister Theresa May urged parliament to ratify the Istanbul Convention, an international legal framework that outlines minimum standards for a country’s response to violence against women and girls. The UK government aided development of the Istanbul Convention and signed the pan-European treaty in 2012, but had never ratified it. Friday’s successful vote for ratification requires the British government to guarantee funding for shelters, crisis centers, helplines, and violence-prevention training and education in schools, which would help to combat rising rates of violent gender-based crimes in England and Scotland. The bill proposing ratification of the convention faced opposition in two previous readings on the floor of the Commons, with an MP staging a 77-minute speech against its adoption. Prime Minister May called ratification of the convention a personal priority and an integral part of a broad nationwide plan to transform the way the UK prevents and addresses violence against women. Women’s political participation in India In India, despite progress in women’s political representation in village councils, female representation in parliament remains low—in part because so few women seek parliamentary office. In populous Uttar Pradesh, for example, fewer than 10 percent of the candidates in last week’s legislative assembly elections were female. Today, Indian women hold only 12 percent of seats in the lower and upper houses of parliament in the world’s largest democracy—a disparity that  some experts link to low historical female voter turnout, among other factors. At the local level, women have made significantly greater gains in political representation due to a 2009 constitutional reform that approved a 50 percent seat reservation for women—thirteen states have successfully adopted the quota. Studies analyzing increased female participation in India’s panchayats find that it has led to greater investment in public institutions, with women leaders more likely to direct resources to safe drinking water, infrastructure, and childhood immunization programs.

Welcome to “Women Around the World: This Week,” a series that highlights noteworthy news related to women and U.S. foreign policy. This week’s post, covering from February 6 to February 10, was compiled with support from Anne Connell, Alyssa Dougherty, and Loren Grier. Russia reduces punishment for domestic abuse Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a law this week decriminalizing many forms of domestic abuse and making penalties more difficult to enforce. Acts of domestic violence that result in “minor harm,” including lacerations or bruising, will be classified as misdemeanors punishable by only a $500 fine or up to fifteen days in jail. Conservative champions of the so-called “slapping law” celebrated its near unanimous adoption; critics, however, cite the legislation as a clear sign of backslide on civil and human rights. Anna Kirey, deputy director for Russia and Eurasia with Amnesty International, contends that “while the Russian government claims this reform will ‘protect family values,’ in reality it rides roughshod over women’s rights.” Independent reports suggest that 36,000 women in Russia are beaten daily by their husbands, and Russian government statistics confirm that thousands of women die as a result of domestic violence each year, with 91 percent of reported incidents perpetrated by spouses. Domestic violence not only results in emotional and physical injury, but also is correlated with low rates of women’s economic participation and reduced GDP: studies show that billions of dollars are lost in global economic productivity, and millions more spent on medical and mental healthcare, because of domestic abuse. Nearly 300,000 Russians have signed a petition to protest the new amendment. Rates of FGM decline globally New data show that rates of female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM) are on the decline in twelve countries that have historically faced high prevalence of this harmful practice, which can cause injury and bleeding, increase complications in childbirth, and lead to life-threatening infections. The Population Reference Bureau published survey results to coincide with the observation of the International Day of Zero Tolerance for FGM this week, which aims to bring attention to the estimated 200 million women subjected to this practice worldwide—primarily in Africa, Asia, and the Middle East. The new surveys found that twelve of sixteen countries reporting new data since 2014 experienced declines in the percentage of women and girls between the ages of 15 and 49 forced to undergo the procedure. Elizabeth Leahy Madsen, a co-author of the study, said that “the fact that we’re seeing declines in prevalence in three-quarters of the countries where we have updated data available is [a] promising sign.” Experts suggest that declining rates are an indication that years of advocacy work—and recent legal reforms to limit or ban FGM, including in Egypt, the Gambia, and Nigeria—are paying off. China struggles to address violence against women Recent reports suggest that ineffective implementation of China’s first nationwide domestic violence law, enacted in December 2015, has limited its ability to address the high prevalence of violence against women. Today, one in four married women in China are reportedly victims of domestic abuse, and tens of millions remain at risk. In 2015, domestic violence was acknowledged as a public health crisis and included in President Xi Jinping’s social platform, in large part due to decades of advocacy by Chinese activists, many of whom faced potential jail time. The subsequent enactment of an anti-domestic violence law—a milestone in the advancement of women’s rights in China—classified domestic violence a legitimate offense, increased sentencing for perpetrators, and permitted citation of domestic violence in divorce proceedings. However, qualitative research and interviews with survivors and lawyers highlight significant loopholes: reports show that women requesting restraining orders or reporting abuse are often turned away by police officers and local officials, making it extremely difficult for Chinese women to make use of the law’s protections.    

In the midst of the uproar over President Trump’s executive order (EO), entitled “Protecting the Nation From Foreign Terrorist Entry Into the United States,” an important element missing from the debate is the disproportionate impact it will have on women. While the federal government provides limited data on women refugees, the State Department reported that in fiscal year 2016, over 72 percent of refugees resettled in the U.S. were women and children. The executive order, signed on January 27, 2017, suspends the Refugee Admissions Program for 120 days and bans all citizens from seven “countries of concern”—Iraq, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen—from entering the United States for ninety days. The order also indefinitely suspends entry of Syrian refugees into the United States. Other observers have persuasively outlined the legal and ethical limitations of the EO and lawyers have successfully challenged aspects of the order in court. Lost in the kerfuffle is the particularly adverse impact of the ban on women. A recently released Women’s Refugee Commission report notes that preventing refugee resettlement punishes women who are fleeing persecution and violence from some of the worst conflicts in the world, including in Syria and Iraq, where, as I’ve written before, the self-proclaimed Islamic State uses rape and other forms of sexual violence against women as weapons of war. For many women refugees, who have already gone through the refugee vetting process, the executive order means they will be forced to remain in refugee or temporary settlement camps, which present a host of dangers in addition to the ones they have already faced. Women and girls in refugee camps are at heightened risk of both sexual and physical violence, exploitation, sexual harassment, trafficking, and forced marriage. Since the United States is the largest refugee resettlement country in the world, the executive order also has destabilizing effects globally, as it affects not just the U.S. resettlement infrastructure, but the refugee resettlement landscape worldwide. The United States has for decades run an extensive refugee resettlement program—also known as third-country resettlement—to provide people fleeing humanitarian disaster and persecution with legal and physical protections, and the same rights and privileges enjoyed by all U.S. citizens. The strict parameters that regulate resettlement programs around the world mean that only 1 percent of refugees have the opportunity to find permanent refuge in a third country—the vast majority of the world’s 65.3 million people displaced from their homes reside in crowded urban centers and sprawling refugee camps in host countries like Jordan, Turkey, and Kenya. In most of these countries, temporary protection systems prohibit refugees from accessing more permanent forms of residency or citizenship—this limits access to education, employment, and healthcare, which has particularly detrimental effects on female refugees. This is one reason why the U.S. resettlement program has historically accepted such a high proportion of women and children. Additionally, U.S. actions may create a precedent that other nations follow. If other countries follow suit in closing the door to refugees, women refugees who are already at risk may well become even more vulnerable. And as the Women’s Refugee Commission report points out, “The EO forces refugees, asylum seekers and women and children desperately seeking safety and protection into the shadows, making them extremely vulnerable to traffickers, smugglers, and criminal organizations.” For decades, U.S. administrations on both sides of the aisle have ensured that the United States act as a global leader in refugee protection. The negative impact of Trump’s EO has been staggering. As the government concedes that already 60,000 visas have been revoked—and the ban has only been in place one week. A policy that fuels uncertainty and indefinitely bans the entry of the world’s most vulnerable refugees, including women and children fleeing war-torn Syria, is counter to these values.

Welcome to “Women Around the World: This Week,” a series that highlights noteworthy news related to women and U.S. foreign policy. This week’s post, covering from January 6 to January 15, was compiled with support from Anne Connell. Sweden prioritizes women in peace processes This month, Sweden begins a two-year term on the United Nations Security Council and a month-long tenure as the body’s president. Upon assuming the Security Council presidency, Margot Wallström, Sweden’s Minister for Foreign Affairs, promised to lead the body using a “feminist foreign policy” that  emphasizes equal rights, women’s full participation in decision-making roles, and a fair allocation of aid and investment to women around the world. Of top concern to top Swedish diplomats is the dearth of women in peace processes: Wallström cited the lack of women’s involvement in efforts to transfer power in the Democratic Republic of Congo, comparing ongoing challenges in that country to the recent successful outcome of the gender-inclusive peace talks in Colombia that ended a 52-year civil war. Swedish officials cite women’s inclusion as an integral part of the broader imperative for Security Council member states to “find common ground and produce results in 2017” that improve peace and security around the globe. UN forms task force to combat peacekeeper abuse The United Nations (UN) announced new plans last week to strengthen its efforts to prevent and respond to sexual exploitation and abuse perpetrated by peacekeepers in its operations around the world. Heavy criticism has been leveled at the UN over the past year for its slow and insufficient response to reports of sexual abuse committed by blue helmets, particularly in the Central African Republic (CAR) mission.  At the request of newly sworn-in Secretary-General António Guterres, a high-level task force will develop a “clear, game-changing strategy” to achieve “visible and measurable further improvement” in peacekeeper training and accountability. The announcement of the task force to curb peacekeeper abuse of civilians coincides with the decision by a panel of French judges’ not to bring charges against several UN peacekeepers accused of sexually abusing women and children in CAR. Sexual harassment in India and Pakistan India’s Department of Personnel and Training recently released guidelines on workplace sexual harassment to promote fair and equal treatment of government employees, including a mandate for investigation of cases within three months of a complaint and protection for complainants. The government expressed hope that the guidelines will shift industry practice on the widespread problem of sexual harassment in the labor force, which affects a reported 38 percent of working women in India. In Punjab, regional government officials are also turning to technology to tackle high rates of harassment by deploying a new smartphone app that crowdsources data to mark unsafe places for women and features a panic button to alert law enforcement. While this technology is promising, its reach may be limited by the persistent gender gap in smartphone penetration in South Asia, where far fewer women than men own and use smartphones.

Welcome to “Women Around the World: This Week,” a series that highlights noteworthy news related to women and U.S. foreign policy. This week’s post, covering from October 30 to November 6, was compiled with support from Becky Allen, Anne Connell, and Lauren Hoffman. Women’s political leadership in Iceland Iceland’s recent elections resulted in women capturing a record-breaking thirty of the sixty-three seats in parliament. The result makes Iceland’s one of the most equal parliaments in the world without a quota system: unlike in countries such as Bolivia and Rwanda, where women represent 53 percent and 64 percent of the lower houses of parliament respectively, candidates in Iceland are chosen independent of any gender quota for party lists or seats. Prime Minister Sigurdur Ingi Johannsson announced his resignation shortly after his Progressive Party suffered significant losses in the election and the four-year-old anti-establishment Pirate Party, founded by Wikileaks activist Birgitta Jónsdóttir, increased its share of seats from three to ten. Jónsdóttir will likely assume a prominent position in the new government if the Pirate Party forms a coalition with other left-wing parties. But while advocates for gender equality in Iceland welcome the landmark election results, disparities persist for women: thousands of Icelandic women staged a public protest last week against the thirty percent gender pay gap, leaving work at 2:38 p.m. to draw attention to the time at which, relative to men’s earnings, women begin to work without pay. Iceland’s government has committed to improving policies for women in the workforce and closing the pay gap by 2022. Women call for renewed Israeli-Palestinian peace talks Thousands of female demonstrators concluded a two-week march for peace last week, ending their trek in downtown Jerusalem with a massive public gathering outside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s residence. Marchers called for an immediate reopening of Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations, establishment of an Israeli government office dedicated to peace and reconciliation, and increased inclusion of women on negotiating teams. Participants from a range of secular and religious Jewish and Arab communities walked 150 miles from Rosh HaNikra, near the Israel-Lebanon border, to Jerusalem, crossing into the West Bank city of Jericho to be joined briefly by one thousand Palestinians. Renowned Liberian peace activist and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Leymah Gbowee also joined participants for two days, highlighting parallels between women’s roles in the Israeli-Palestinian peace process and the women’s movement in Liberia that brought an end to civil war in 2003. Violence against civilians in South Sudan  UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon dismissed the commander of the peacekeeping force in South Sudan this week after the release of a damning report about the UN mission’s failure to respond to violence against civilians in Juba over the summer. The report assessed the mission’s response to clashes between forces loyal to President Salva Kiir and rebel leader Riek Machar in which 73 people were killed, 182 buildings were damaged, and the UN compound housing more than 27,000 displaced people was struck by mortars and grenades. In one attack on Terrain Camp, UN staff, aid workers, and civilians were robbed, beaten, raped, and killed by government soldiers. Witnesses shared harrowing accounts of sexual violence, including gang rape, perpetrated by armed forces on both sides. UN investigators initially were unable to verify allegations that peacekeepers failed to respond to abuses, but witness testimony indicated “poor performance by peacekeepers in protecting civilians from sexual violence.” An account of one September incident found that a woman was violently assaulted at the entrance to a UN facility “in plain sight” of peacekeepers. The report ultimately faulted senior leadership of the mission for ineffectiveness and failure to “operate under a unified command,” which resulted in conflicting orders to troop contingents from China, Ethiopia, India, and Nepal.

Welcome to “Women Around the World: This Week,” a series that highlights noteworthy news related to women and U.S. foreign policy. This week’s post, covering from October 2 to October 8, was compiled with support from Becky Allen, Anne Connell, and Lauren Hoffman. Women’s leadership at the United Nations The United Nations (UN) Security Council formally agreed this week that Antonio Guterres should succeed outgoing Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, after the final straw poll of the year-long appointment process revealed that no council member would veto the choice. A former prime minister of Portugal, Guterres also led the UN’s refugee agency for ten years, making him a highly-qualified and timely choice in light of the ongoing migration crisis. The race for the next secretary-general, however, also highlighted the challenges women face in breaking into the upper echelons of political leadership at the UN. Earlier in the year, there was widespread anticipation that the Security Council would put a woman in the world’s top diplomatic post for the first time in the UN’s seventy-one year history. Seven women were among the thirteen candidates vying for the position, including Irina Bokova, director-general of UNESCO, Susana Malcorra, foreign minister of Argentina, and Helen Clark, former prime minister of New Zealand and administrator of UNDP. But none of the female candidates were ever seriously considered, as indicated by the straw polls. Despite the UN’s commitment to gender parity in managerial and decision-making roles—a pledge made twenty years ago—only 22 percent of UN leadership positions were held by women in 2015. Safety measures for refugee women and girls The German government, in partnership with UNICEF and the German Red Cross, launched a pilot program to improve safety for women and children in twenty-five refugee shelters across the country. The effort is spearheaded by Germany’s Minister of Family Affairs Manuela Schwesig, and took shape in light of reports of high levels of assault, exploitation, and trafficking of vulnerable groups—particularly women and children—among the more than one million asylum-seekers who have arrived in the country over the past two years. Only this year has UNICEF placed a coordinator in Germany to advise federal and state governments on children’s protection. Under the new initiative, social workers who are trained to identity abuse within the shelter offer counseling services to all women and children. And unlike in the vast majority of other camps and shelters in Germany—as well as across Europe and the Middle East—all accommodations in the pilot program have sex-segregated spaces, private bathrooms, and locking doors. Research has shown that these relatively simple, low-cost interventions can significantly reduce levels of violence and sexual assault—and many German officials hope the program can be brought to scale across the country. Women’s political leadership in Liberia Following a series of UN Women-supported consultations and public hearings held since 2009, the Liberian House of Representatives passed the landmark Equal Representation and Participation Act last week. The act, unprecedented in Liberia’s history, establishes five reserved seats for women in the country’s lower house of parliament. While Liberia elected President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf in 2006, making her the first female head of state in Africa, the nation ranks amongst the lowest on the continent—fortieth out of fifty-four measured countries—in terms of women’s representation in parliament. In fact, according to the Interparliamentary Union, as of August, women only held 11 percent of parliamentary seats in Liberia’s lower house of parliament, in contrast to nearly 64 percent in Rwanda’s lower house (consistently one of the world’s highest ratios) and 43 percent in Senegal’s single house parliament. With Liberia’s 2017 presidential and legislative elections approaching, the act lays the groundwork for a new era of increased women’s political participation and leadership, which evidence suggests will contribute to the sustainability of the country’s thirteen years of peace post-civil war.  

Welcome to “Women Around the World: This Week,” a series that highlights noteworthy news related to women and U.S. foreign policy. This week’s post, covering from August 6 to August 12, was compiled with support from Becky Allen, Anne Connell, and Lucy Leban. Women’s leadership at the United Nations                                              Two recent UN Security Council straw polls meant to winnow the field of twelve candidates for the position of UN Secretary General have raised questions about whether a woman will finally break the diplomatic glass ceiling in Turtle Bay. Earlier this year, a group of fifty-six nations and several civil society groups launched a public campaign in support of the election of the first-ever female UN chief. Despite this effort, in the first straw poll held July 21, male candidates fared far better than female: only one woman was represented in the top five, and four of the five bottom scorers were women. The fifteen members of the Security Council opted not to reveal the results of straw poll voting, though tallies quickly leaked. Vesna Pusić, Croatia’s former minister of foreign affairs, dropped out of the race after receiving high numbers of “discourage” votes in the first poll. Irina Bokova, the only woman to break into the top five spots in the first poll, slipped down in rankings by the second, as Argentina’s Foreign Minister Susana Malcorra jumped from eighth place—threatening her candidacy—to a more promising third. Helen Clark, considered by many to be an early favorite, is reportedly reconsidering her bid after obtaining a second poor poll result. Saudi women compete in the Olympics                                                                                Saudi Arabia sent a record number of female athletes to the Rio Olympics, doubling the number competing in the last summer games to a total of four. The strictly gender-segregated Gulf kingdom first permitted female athletes to compete in the Olympics in 2012 after the International Olympic Committee threatened full exclusion from the games because of the Riyadh’s refusal to allow women to attend or participate in international sporting events. Notwithstanding these changes, domestic bans continue to bar women from participating in state-organized sports or attending national games and tournaments as onlookers. And while physical education is integrated into curricula at boys’ schools, it is absent from the vast majority of girls’ schools. Some women’s exercise clubs have appeared in large Saudi cities, but female-only facilities are reportedly often denied licenses or shut down, and high fees make them inaccessible to many women. These policies leave women and girls little access to the training necessary to become elite athletes: notably, all four of Saudi Arabia’s female Olympians trained abroad. Researchers also suggest that limitations on women’s athletics lead to public health problems, including higher rates of obesity and diabetes among Saudi women. Child marriage in Afghanistan                                                                                               A six-year-old girl in a remote area of Afghanistan’s Ghowr province was reportedly sold into marriage to a middle-aged Muslim cleric. Despite a 2009 Afghan presidential decree that requires girls to be sixteen to marry and institutes punishment for men who wed underage girls, an estimated 46 percent of Afghan girls are married by age eighteen, with 15 percent married before age fifteen. According to a 2010 report, 2,400 Afghan women die of self-immolation each year as a result of child marriage and abuse. Last week, in a rare instance of local enforcement of Afghanistan’s child marriage ban, the perpetrator was arrested and jailed and the provincial police chief spoke out publicly against him. The arrest in Ghowr follows several widely publicized cases of violence against young brides, including the fatal burning of a pregnant fourteen-year-old by her husband’s family and the brutal rape of a fifteen-year-old girl by an older man who claimed to be her husband. These reports suggest that women and girls face amplified threats as the influence of the Taliban rises in several districts.    

Breanna Wilkerson is an intern for the Council on Foreign Relations. She graduated from Spelman College with a degree in Women’s Studies and is the founder of GlobeMed at Spelman. Ghana gained independence from Britain in 1957, making it the first nation in sub-Saharan Africa to shatter the chains of colonialism, and it is now considered a success story of African development. It has been named the seventh most prosperous and second safest nation in Africa. However, Ghana is not exempt from the global problem of widespread domestic and sexual violence. Ghanaian women face barriers in reporting violence. These obstacles are rooted in a cultural belief that domestic and sexual violence is a private matter that should be addressed outside of the criminal justice system. A public health report shows that 33 to 37 percent of women in Ghana have experienced intimate partner violence in the course of their relationship (this includes physical, sexual, and emotional violence). In Ghanaian schools, studies found that 14 percent of girls are victims of sexual abuse and 52 percent have experienced gender-based violence. These numbers are likely understated, as girls tend not to report crimes for fear of reprisal. Under the international human rights law, the Ghanaian government is obligated to address, prevent, investigate, and punish domestic violence perpetrators. It has taken critical first steps, one of which is the establishment of the Domestic Violence and Victim Support Unit (DOVVSU). DOVVSU is a department within the Ghana police service established to protect the rights and promote the welfare of women and children by preventing and prosecuting crimes committed against them. The unit has been instrumental in bringing a once private matter into the public sphere. Today, DOVVSU has eighty-seven offices across the country and plans for continued growth. The unit provides the main entry point into the justice system but recognizes that its efforts are more effective when it works in partnership with other ministries and non-governmental organizations (NGOs). DOVVSU and NGOs at the grassroots level have created culturally sensitive workshop curriculums directed at sexual assault against women and children. They have been taught in over 150 primary schools across the country since 2010. These dynamic curriculums work toward deconstructing cultural victim blaming stigmas by defining domestic and sexual violence, educating pupils on the warning signs, and directing them toward safe avenues of counseling if assaulted. Although grassroots level organizing has been initiated to reduce stigma around gender based violence, there is still more work to be done. For instance: Ghana should improve the guidelines and procedures used in handling reported cases to promote the best interest of victims; More in-depth sensitivity training of DOVVSU staff should be implemented; Greater evidence-based research and advocacy needs to be conducted; and, The implementation of alternative dispute resolutions should be established, coupled with in-camera hearings for sensitive cases to reduce stigma. Sexual and gender based violence isn’t just a problem for women, but the entire community at large. It will take a collective effort to ensure a large-scale prevention of its occurrence, but Ghana’s DOVVSU is a good start.

I hosted United Nations (UN) Under-Secretary-General Zainab Hawa Bangura, the special representative of the secretary-general on sexual violence in conflict, at CFR last week to discuss her work combating the use of sexual violence, not only as a weapon of war, but also as a tactic of terror. Rape in combat has now been well-established as a weapon of war. Earlier this year, for example, the International Criminal Court (ICC) convicted Jean-Pierre Bemba of war crimes and crimes against humanity for the mass rapes committed under his command, marking the first time that the ICC convicted a defendant of rape as a war crime or crime against humanity. The next challenge will be establishing rape (and other forms of sexual violence) as a tactic of terror used by extremism groups like Boko Haram and the self-proclaimed Islamic State. As I have written before, extremist groups use sexual violence as part of their political economy. While not a new phenomenon, with growing attention to terrorism since the September 11 attacks, increasing reports are emerging of terrorist groups using rape, sexual slavery, forced pregnancy and other forms of sexual violence to consolidate power, spread fear, foster their ideology, generate revenue, create a new generation of fighters, and destroy existing community structures. During our conversation, Bangura described her mandate, which was established by UN Security Council Resolution 1888, and discussed the variety of tools she uses to address sexual violence in conflict, in coordination with survivors, military and civilian leaders, and nontraditional allies, including religious leaders and men. She noted that her job is like peeling an onion, because with each layer of the onion that is revealed through her work, there are various levels of pain and tears. In addition to establishing sexual violence as a tactic of terror, Bangura’s work is aimed at ending rape in war by strengthening prevention, protection, and punishment. Beyond these “3Ps,” she acknowledged that the fight against rape in war must focus on a fourth P—namely peace. During our discussion Bangura noted that “We cannot stop sexual violence unless we stop the wars,” and emphasized that countries and international institutions need to do a better job of promoting peace. Bangura also pointed out that preventing war should include preventing the spread of conflicts to neighboring countries. She gave the example of the civil war in Liberia in the 1980s that spread to the surrounding countries, including her home country of Sierra Leone and then Cote d’Ivoire. Illustrating this point, she warned, “[W]hen you see your neighbor’s house on fire, you don’t have to wait because at the end of the day your house will be next.” International institutions, including the UN, should focus on preventing internal conflicts before they spread to neighboring countries. Promoting peace would not only help prevent sexual violence as a weapon of war, but also create circumstances for greater prosperity and well-being.

  

Voices from the Field features contributions from scholars and practitioners highlighting new research, thinking, and approaches to development challenges. This article is authored by Gary Barker, president and CEO of Promundo and member of the UN Secretary-General’s Network of Men Leaders. This month, more than thirty men allegedly gang-raped a sixteen-year-old girl in Brazil because of her supposed infidelity to her boyfriend. A few months before that, my organization, Promundo, carried out a study finding that nearly half of girls interviewed at a school in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo reported having traded sex for money. In both cases, the response was, appropriately: let’s find the men who did this and hold them accountable. We must hold those men responsible who commit acts of sexual and domestic violence. One of the major advances in women’s rights of the past thirty years has been rolling out laws making it illegal men for to use violence against women and girls, whether in their homes or outside. We know, however, from household surveys we have conducted, that between 20 and 50 percent of men report having used physical violence against a female partner. In some countries, up to one in five men report having forced a woman, including a partner, to have sex against her will. And while we must push for accountability, if we believe that sexual violence and other forms of gender-based violence can be stopped, we must focus on prevention. And that means starting with boys and young men. Whether in conflict or in peacetime, the drivers of men’s use of violence against women are fairly universal. Data from our multi-country study, the International Men and Gender Equality Survey (IMAGES) find that men who witness violence against their mothers growing up are 2.5 times more likely to repeat it later on. Men who experience childhood violence and witness violence against their mothers are four times more likely to report using violence against women. Men who have a sense of entitlement to sex, who hold inequitable values, who think they can get away with it and who have hostile attitudes toward women, are all more likely to use violence against women. Add to that a general lack of accountability of men who use violence, women’s limited economic and social status in many settings, and we have a perfect storm for reproducing violence against women. What works to stop it? A growing body of evidence finds that targeted, well-designed primary prevention can work to change violence-supportive attitudes and reduce men’s use of violence against women. Structured group education with boys in schools, sports settings and communities has been shown to work. Supporting women with economic empowerment and social networks –combined with reaching male partners or husbands with messages about ending violence—show promise. Multi-pronged community mobilization strategies that engage community leaders, the health sector, local business owners, transportation workers, and others in creating an environment of zero tolerance also work. Batterer intervention programs, when connected to communities, can also work to prevent re-incidence. Parent training programs can also prove effective. Emerging data from a randomized control trial that Promundo is carrying out with fathers and mothers in Rwanda finds significantly lower rates of violence by men against women (reported by women) in the intervention group as compared to the control group. Our intervention, and others like it, also find reductions in violence against children, thus preventing future cycles of couple-based violence. With the growing evidence base that primary prevention can work, why are such programs not yet taken to scale? With evidence suggesting that gender-based violence (GBV) can cost 1 to 2 percent of the GDP of some countries, due in large part to women’s lost wages, it is time to think about prevention at a macro-level. Countries should be pushed, as Sonke Gender Justice is doing in South Africa, to create national, costed plans for scaling up GBV prevention and mitigation. Engaging fathers in the process is also critical. Last year we launched the first ever State of the World’s Fathers report to call attention to engaging men in equitable and non-violent caregiving. This year for Father’s Day we are launching the first ever State of America’s Fathers, to focus on leave policies, sharing caregiving equality and the importance of parent training to break cycles of violence. Evidence affirms that providing clear messages to boys and men on how to speak out about violence, reaching them early with messages and discussions about equality and respect, and holding men who use violence accountable can work to break the cycle of violence. That, perhaps, is the key message for Father’s Day: we know that about one in three men worldwide have used physical or sexual violence against a woman or girl. The majority of the world’s men and fathers don’t use such violence. But they also don’t speak out about the violence that other men use. A global prevention movement means that all men and fathers become part of a cycle of change—questioning other men’s violence, speaking out about it, talking to our sons and daughters about it. That is when the cycle of violence, in Brazil, DRC, the U.S., and globally, will end.