Stop violence against women

Violence against women, one of the most insidious forms of torture around, is the focus of Amnesty International's new global campaign Stop Violence Against Women. It's In Our Hands.

Women are beaten, raped, mutilated and killed constantly, everywhere. And yet, such actions are swept under the carpet many a time, making it one of the hardest human rights infringements to battle.

"Violence against women is a cancer eating away at the core of every society," said Irene Khan, secretary general of Amnesty International, on March 5 when launching the campaign. This campaign calls on the state, the community and individuals to take action to end all violence against women.

At least one in three women in the world will suffer serious violence in their lifetime. "This is not something that just happens over there... to other people, it happens to you, your friends and your family," said Ms Khan.

Highlighting the global problem of violence in the home and community, Amnesty International (AI) points to every country in the world for failing to protect women in their own homes. "Behind closed doors and in secret, women are subjected to violence by their partners and close relatives, too ashamed and afraid to report it and so seldom taken seriously when they do," continues Ms Khan.

The Women's Institute of Spain reports that in 2002 a total of 1.88 million women were assaulted but only 43,000 reported the assault to the police. In 2000, Unicef found that two women per week were killed by their partner in the United Kingdom. "From the battlefield to the bedroom, women are at risk," Ms Khan said.

February 14 was the second anniversary of the abduction and murder of Lilia Alejandra Garcia Andrade, one of hundreds of women who have gone missing in Northern Mexico since 1993. AI's report, Intolerable Killings: 10 Years of Abductions and Murders of Women in Ciudad Ju·Rez And Chihuahua, published in August 2003, documents over 450 cases of murdered or missing females. Due to this report and international pressure, the Mexican federal government has finally acknow-ledged its responsibility to intervene in Ciudad Ju·rez.

However, public lighting has still not been installed in the area where Ms Garcia Andrade's body was discovered. Nor have they investigated why, two days after she was reported missing, an emergency call made by a witness claiming a young girl was being raped in the area went unheeded.

On January 29, this year Mexican star Salma Hayek unveiled a mural for AI which honours and draws attention to the plight of her fellow countrywomen.

According to AI research conducted in September 2003, sexual violence has been widely used during Burundi's 10-year civil war to terrorise and humiliate the population. Sources agree that rape has increased alarmingly during the past year. In Ruyigi province, between May and August 2003, 60 cases of rape were treated at hospital with doctors claiming many cases remain unexposed. The victims were aged between nine and 77. In September 2003, only one person, a government soldier, was in detention in Ruyigi prison on charges of rape.

Women refugees and asylum-seekers often find themselves caught in an inescapable cycle of violence. Many are abused during their flight to safety by border guards, smugglers, pirates, members of armed groups, even other refugees.

Women and girls are sometimes not even safe from sexual and other exploitation by humanitarian aid workers. In Nepal, UNHCR acknowledged that Bhutanese refugees in camps were, in at least 18 cases, sexually abused and exploited by refugee aid workers. The victims included a seven-year-old girl and a woman with disabilities.

Peace processes have routinely failed to include women and to deal with gender issues. An AI delegation which visited Sierra Leone in 2000 reported that many girls and women who had been abducted by armed opposition groups and forced to become their sexual partners were often not interviewed separately from their "husbands" and not offered a genuine opportunity to leave the armed forces.

AI has just published a book bearing the same title as the campaign which explores the problem of violence against women, tries to understand its roots and seeks to provide legal and social solutions. More information on this publication can be obtained from the contact details below.

In light of the tragic situations outlined above and several others, AI's campaign seeks to implement existing standards and set up declarations to eradicate violence against women. AI calls on all governments, private actors, institutions and individuals to take immediate steps to put a stop to violence against women and to redress the suffering it causes.

In the words of Ms Khan, Amnesty International holds that "Violence against women is not normal, legal nor acceptable and should never be tolerated or justified. It can and must be stopped. It is in our hands to make a difference and to bring human rights home".

Ms Schranz is media officer, Amnesty International (Malta Group).