Dear Delegates,
It is my pleasure to welcome you to UN Women at YMUN Taiwan. My name is Genna Abele and I am a sophomore in Berkeley College at Yale University. I am originally from Palos Verdes, California, and I am a Global Affairs major. On campus, in addition to YMUN Taiwan, I am a member of the Women’s Club Water Polo team, Yale UNICEF, and Net Impact. During my free time, I love swimming, reading, music, and spending time with family and friends.
I am looking forward to working with you during the conference! I am excited to listen to you engage in discussing the challenges facing women today and coming up with creative solutions on how to best move forward and overcome the obstacles currently hindering progress. By focusing on both economic empowerment and gender-based domestic violence, we will work together to improve the lives of women around the world.
My goal is to ensure that YMUN Taiwan is a memorable experience for every delegate, and I want to be responsive to the committee’s needs. During the conference, I would be happy to meet with you to discuss your ideas for the committee. If you have any questions prior to the conference, please reach out to me by emailing me at genevieve.abele@yale.edu.
I hope that you will take the time to read this topic guide and properly prepare for committee. Please research your country’s policy in depth in order to have a solid understanding of the issues at hand because this guide is only a starting point.
Best of luck in your preparation for committee,
Genna Abele
Director, UN Women
genevieve.abele@yale.edu
Committee History
The United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and Empowerment of Women, more commonly know as UN Women, was created in July 2010 by United Nations General Assembly resolution 64 /289, and became operational in January 2011—amalgamating the work of four previously distinct UN bodies, the Division for the Advancement of Women (DAW), the International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women (INSTRAW), the Office of the Special Adviser on Gender Issues and Advancement of Women (OSAGI), and the United Nations Fund for Women (UNIFEM). The body draws upon four key governing documents: the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) (1979), the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (PFA), the UN Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace, and Security (2000), and Millennium Declaration and Millennium Development Goals.
UN Women is headed by an Under Secretary- General, and includes a board of 41 members who are elected by the Economic and Social Council for terms of three years. UN Women does not seek to replace, but to enhance efforts of other UN organs such as UNICEF and UNDP to formulate new policies that promote gender equality and provide support to women globally. Accordingly, the function of UN Women is to provide policy guidance to other UN bodies. Most recently, UN Women has worked with the UNDP in order to help meet Millennium Development Goal 3a.:the elimination of gender disparity in all levels of education by 2015. Another notable contribution of UN Women is the creation of a constitutional database that examines various state constitutions to evaluate their capabilities to uphold gender equality.
Topic History
Gender-based violence (GBV) manifests itself in no specific economic, social, or political environment—instead, it is a systemic and heinous violation of basic human rights that undermines the autonomy of women, and the integrity of the female gender everywhere. Part of what has made the issue so difficult to tackle (and even to some degree, to identify) is the wide array of meanings and types of GBV, which may even vary from region to region. Specific forms of GBV will be discussed in the “Current Situation” section.
Violence against women (VAW) is defined by the UN General Assembly Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women (1993) as “any act of gender-based violence that results in, physical, sexual, or mental harm or suffering to women, including threats of such acts, coercion, or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or private life.” While frequently used interchangeably, it is worth noting the difference between “gender-based violence” and “violence against women.” While the latter refers to violence affecting the female gender, the former refers to any act of violence that occurs with gender as the basis or motivation—meaning that men and boys, as well as transgender individuals, may also be the victims of gender-based violence. Men are also sexually harassed, abused, exploited, and trafficked, although it is generally accepted that the vast majority of gender-based violence occurs to women and transgender individuals.
One of the seminal documents concerning this issue is the 1993 Declaration on the Elimination of Violence Against Women, which was created to supplement the rights of women that were spelled out in what is now one of UN Women’s governing documents, the 1979 Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women. After adopting the 1993 Declaration, a Special Rapporteur was created for the purpose of learning the causes and consequences of violence against women, and mandated to gather relevant information from governments, special agencies, and other organizations, and subsequently recommend local, national, and regional preventative and remedying measures. A key provision of the 1993 Declaration is Article 4, which declares, “States should condemn violence against women and should not invoke any custom, tradition, or religious consideration to avoid their obligations with respect to its elimination.” This clause is significant, as many forms of violence against women, such as intimate partner violence, child marriage, and female honor killings have historically been enshrined in cultural practices, and thus, permitted and even endorsed by government actors.
In many cases, political and cultural regimes have been both implicitly and explicitly obstinate to this language. Even as recently as 2003, while writing a report, the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women was met with controversy when the Iranian delegation objected to specific language denouncing religion and custom as excuses for violence against women. Egyptian, Pakistani, Sudanese, and even US delegations also raised objections to some language in the document. State recognition of gender-based violence as illegal is essential to its elimination.
Case Study: Ethiopia
Ethiopia is an African country particularly affected by the issue of violence against women and girls. According to the World Health Organization, in their lifetime, 55.9% of women suffer of physical and/or sexual intimate partner violence and/or non-partner violence. This represents more than half of women in Ethiopia. For this reason, UN Women has worked to improve the situation in Ethiopia and to provide support to victims of violence.
UN Women has helped in the creation of safe houses, especially in the cities of Adama and Addis Ababa. These secure spaces are implemented in order to offer women and girls health services, legal help, job-training and diverse assistance to the “survivors” of violence such as psychological support. These safe houses are created in targeted spaces or areas, for instance police stations, to make easier the process of reporting a crime. Some others were created in camps of Somali refugees, in order to provide safety and support to the most vulnerable women and girls. The work of UN Women in the creation of such centers is fundamental and tends to assist with institutional capacity-building to ensure essential services for women and girls in the best possible and most adapted way.
In addition, the Ethiopian police forces responded positively to the needs in the country and improved the criminal justice responses by revising its training program to comprehensively integrate women’s rights and gender equality. Trainings for members of law enforcement are being implemented to equip them with the skills and techniques to handle cases of violence against women. Gender-sensitive proceedings in the prosecution of violence against women cases have also been instituted in all the regional towns. In addition to the law enforcement bodies, the Women, Children and Youth Affairs offices at various levels are equipped with legal officers that provide advice to women on several rights related issues including violence against women. Finally, in 2009, the Ministry of Justice established a special unit for the investigation and prosecution of violence, with emphasis on gender-based and sexual violence. With the help of UN Women and other bodies of the United Nations, progress has been realized in Ethiopia to reduce violence against women and girls and provide support to the victims.
Summary & Questions to Consider
Gender-based violence violates the basic human rights and independence of women around the world.
Two important UN documents concerning gender-based violence are the UN General Assembly Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women (1993) and the 1979 Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women.
Cultural, political, and religious considerations have been used to justify violence against women in many countries.
How can violence against women that is codified in culture be phased out?
What types of campaigns have been successful in reducing gender-based violence?
Current Situation
This video provides important statistics and background information on the extent and effects of gender-based violence. Knowledge of the current state of violence against women is necessary to understand the best ways to address and resolve this pressing issue.
Defining Gender-Based Violence
It is impossible to comprehensively describe the current happenings regarding GBV without first framing the discourse around key types of gendered violence that are generally accepted. This section aims to highlight the main forms of gender-based violence around the world—providing definitions, estimation of overall and regional trends, case studies, and potential causes and solutions.
Intimate partner violence (IPV)
IPV is behavior by an intimate partner or ex-partner that causes physical, sexual, or psychological harm, including physical aggression, sexual coercion (marital rape), psychological abuse, and controlling behaviors. It takes place all over the world, with an estimated prevalence of roughly one in three women—with uneducated, younger, and lower-income women being more at risk. Many women will not leave violent partners due to factors such as fear of retaliation, concern for their children, economic dependence, and social stigma. Strategies to combat IPV include implementation of laws defining and punishing marital rape and assault, better enforcement of such laws, women's economic empowerment, and community education and mobilization.
Case Study: Vietnam
The National Study on Domestic Violence against Women in Vietnam found that 34 percent of married women reported that they had suffered physical or sexual violence from their husbands at some time in their lives. Married women who were currently experiencing either of these two types of violence amounted to nine percent at the time of the survey. When all three main types of partner violence—physical, sexual and emotional—were considered, more than half (58 percent) of Vietnamese women reported experiencing at least one type of domestic violence in their lifetime. The study findings also showed that women were three times more likely to be abused by their husband than by any other person.
Vietnam currently has two major laws governing intimate partner violence: the Law on Gender Equality and the Law on Domestic Violence Prevention and Control. Despite these important legislative advances, there is a gap between the theory and the practical implementation at all levels. Major contributing factors include intimate partner violence being considered a private family matter, in which government should not interfere, violence being accepted as normal behavior, and limited knowledge about domestic violence among both the population and the duty bearers. There is also a lack of reliable data on this issue due to privacy concerns and the difficulty of procuring large-scale, accurate information. With limited data on and understanding of domestic violence, there have been insufficient responses to address gender-based intimate partner violence in Vietnam.
Sexual Harassment/Violence/Assault
Sexual harassment includes unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature. Another form of sexual harassment is stalking, which can be defined as a pattern of unwanted attention or following that results in emotional violence or fear. Sexual violence and assault include “any sexual act, attempt to obtain a sexual act, or other act directed against a person’s sexuality using coercion, by any person regardless of their relationship to the victim, in any setting. It includes rape, deemed as the physically forced or otherwise coerced penetration of the vulva or anus with a penis, other body part, or object.” The proportion of women experiencing sexual violence at sometime during their life ranges greatly, with some estimates reach up to 50 percent of all women. Sexual harassment, violence, and assault take place globally, in households, schools, and places of work, and can be combatted by initiative such as enforceable anti- discrimination laws, more women in leadership and security positions, and promoting positive social attitudes regarding sexual relationships.
Sexual Exploitation/Trafficking/Slavery
Sexual exploitation is “any actual or attempted abuse of a position of vulnerability, differential power, or trust, for sexual purposes, including, but not limited to, profiting monetarily, socially, or politically from the sexual exploitation of another”, while sexual trafficking/slavery is “the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring or receipt of persons, by means of the threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, of deception, of the abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability or of the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person, for the purpose of exploitation.” Lower-income, uneducated, and younger women are more vulnerable. It is estimated that 20.9 million people are trafficked annually.
Case Study: Argentina
Argentina, a wealthy neighbor to poorer countries like Bolivia and Paraguay, has become a regional trafficking hub in the last few years. While it is clearly making important strides in tackling the crime, it still has a long way to go. Argentina is a source, transit, and destination country for sex trafficking. Around 70 percent of Argentine trafficking cases are linked to drug trafficking, according to figures reported by the newspaper La Nación. As a means of preventing trafficking, in July 2011 the government issued an order that banned the publication of explicit advertisements of sexual solicitation in the newspapers. However, a 2012 study showed that trafficking for sexual exploitation in Argentina is changing to evade the law, by allowing exploited women to keep their identification documents or allowing them to leave the location of exploitation, to make the trafficking more difficult to prove.
In the last six months there have been various arrests of trafficking rings, including one estimated to have exploited thousands of Colombians since 2009. While recent Argentine statistics highlight the number of cases investigated, the corresponding number of convictions is far lower -- only 19 convictions in 2011 out of 237 cases investigated, for example -- an indicator of the serious challenges in obtaining successful prosecutions. The country continues to fail to meet the minimum standards for the elimination of human trafficking, according to the US State Department.
Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting (FGM/C)
Defined by UN Women as “all procedures that involve partial or total removal of the external female genitalia or other injury to the female organs for non-medical reasons, often resulting in severe bleedings, infections, infertility, or childbirth complications.” It is estimated that 130 million women alive today have been victims of FGM, mainly in Africa and some Middle Eastern countries, and 2 million girls are still at risk of FGM/C every year. As of 2006, only 15 of 26 African states where FGM is prevalent had made it a punishable crime under law.
Female Infanticide
Defined by UN Women as “sexual selection in which either a fetus is aborted, or an infant is murdered after the discovery that its gender is female.” Such practices have led to gender imbalances of almost 130 men per 100 women in South Asian countries, and are fueled by inheritance, divorce, and dowry laws which give strong preference to the male gender. While both practices are outlawed in most countries, de facto clandestine practices perpetuate the practices. Suggestions to combat female infanticide have included efforts to remove economic discrimination against women, increase standardization and accountability of medical professional practices, and initiate media campaigns promoting gender equality.
Summary & Questions to Consider
There are several forms of gender-based violence, all of which have extremely detrimental effects on women’s health and well-being.
Intimate-partner violence is an especially difficult form of gender-based violence to solve because of the stigmas attached to it in many countries.
Despite new laws and regulations, many countries struggle to address issues such as human trafficking and female infanticide that are associated with gender-based violence.
In what ways do violence against women and violence against transgender individuals overlap?
What are the exact acts can be categorized as violence against women?
How do geographic factors (rural versus urban) determine gender-based violence aid and prevention?
How is gender-based violence identified?
What responsibility and authority should governments have, if any, in seeking out violence practices that take place outside of the public sphere?
Bloc Positions
Arab States & Asia
In 2011, Ghida Anani of Lebanon founded the ABAAD Resource Center for Gender Equality in order to support the “equality, protection, and empowerment of marginalized groups, especially women”. Anani is also responsible for drafting domestic violence laws for the country. Other countries in the Middle East are blockaded by internal and foreign conflicts, wars, and civil unrest that prevent definitive measures to be taken. Collisions between law, state, and religion also lead to greater vulnerability in women’s safety at home.
Central & Eastern Europe
A lot of work has been done in Turkey to address gender-based violence. Nevertheless, studies show that the problem continues to remain widespread. A recent study, Domestic Violence against Women in Turkey, (published in 2009) states that, “rate of physical violence against women is 38 per cent in cities and 43 per cent in rural areas. The problem is compounded by a lack of education and opportunity. About 56 per cent of the women who reported abuse have no education.” In eastern Europe, countries like Romania and other in the region which have been hit by significant economic and political changes since the second World War still grapple with gender-based violence due to economic constraints, lack of housing, and persisting narrow-minded beliefs about gender equality.
Africa
To address gender-based violence in Africa, many initiatives have been taken by activist organizations to carry out research and deliberate on effective methods of prevention and relief. Both PATH and WHO helped to produce a manual on this multi-country study: Researching Violence against Women: A Practical Guide for Researchers and Activists. PATH also worked with South African Medical Research Council (MRC) to develop a training course for researchers, activists, and policymakers - offered in collaboration with local groups such as GBV Prevention Network in Africa. More than 120 representatives from over 60 organizations have been trained to date. Other important groups in the continent include Action for Development (Uganda), Resources Aimed at the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect (South Africa), and Rwanda Women’s Network (Rwanda). The diversity of the continent, ranging from its cities to villages, as well as the developing nature of many of its countries makes tackling gender-based violence difficult and yet all the more imperative.
North America & Western Europe
The United States takes a multidimensional approach to gender-based violence by incorporating by short and long-term goals in order to provide adequate care for survivors and women that may be in harm. It offers protection of women in both legal and physical measures and encourages persecution in order to redress sins of impunity. The Secretary’s Office of Global Women’s Issues works with other agencies and bureaus and issues a yearly remembrance of these problems through the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women and the “16 Days of Activism.” In the United Kingdom, ministers have been discussing progress made on the subject of female genital mutilation and forced marriage since the Girl Summit 2014 and maintaining the government’s commitment in providing aid. The UK government in partnership with UNICEF has been creating movements to draw more awareness to these concerns.
Central America
The study Opening Spaces for Citizen Security and Human Development found that two out of three women murdered in Central America are killed for gender-related reasons (known as femicide). Most cases of violence against women occur in the family and the perpetrator is usually the husband, partner or ex of the abused woman. Unfortunately, one of the largest issues is lack of exposure or reports to these crimes. The study notes that continuous verbal violence in Central America is “as commonplace as it is underreported” but that physical harm is likewise kept quiet and therefore hidden away from the public eye.
South America & The Caribbean
Brazil recently passed its first law criminalizing femicide, becoming the first Latin American nation to being integrating the Latin American Model Protocol for the Investigation of Gender-related Violent Deaths. Cuba as well has included gender equality provisions in its laws and statutes for fifty years. Other Latin American countries, however, are still relatively far behind. Argentina, for example, has a serious problem with domestic violence, and Amnesty International has put pressure on Haiti and countries like it to resolve its issues with widespread sexual assault.
Suggestions for Further Research
To start your research, first look at this comprehensive Health and Human Rights Info resource. This resource serves as a database with links to numerous documents on all aspects of gender-based violence, from statistics and definitions to prevention and treatment methods.
For further background information, the following resources are helpful:
http://endviolence.un.org/index.shtml, the official website of the UN Secretary General’s campaign UNiTE to end violence against women
http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs239/en/, a detailed view of health consequences of violence against women and girls made by the World Health Organization (WHO)
http://www.unwomen.org/en/what-we-do/leadership-and-political-participation/facts-and-figures, UN Women’s information on ending violence against women, centered on facts, figures and action led by the entity
http://endviolence.un.org/pdf/factsheets/unite_network_men_leaders.pdf, a brief note from the UNiTE campaign regarding the action of men leaders in the fight against gender-based violence
For country-specific information, the following resources are helpful:
http://endvawnow.org, a relevant database regarding violence against women and girls for most countries
http://www.endvawnow.org/en/leading-initiatives, a comprehensive website affiliated to the UN Women entity regarding leading initiatives, which can be very useful to research case studies and their efficacy
For information on actions already being taken and to gather ideas for possible solutions, the following resources are helpful:
http://endviolence.un.org/pdf/unite_framework_en.pdf, the UNiTE Campaign Framework for Action: Program of United Nations Activities and Expected Outcomes, 2008 – 2015
http://www.un.org/en/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=A/RES/61/143&Lang=E, a resolution adopted by the General Assembly (2006) to intensify the efforts to eliminate all forms of violence against women
http://www.unwomen.org/en/digital-library/publications/2016/11/essentials-for-addressing-violence-against-women, a resource with several key documents recommending prevention measures and methods of providing services to victims of violence
