Political Transitions and Women’s Rights: Views from the Ground

During the 23rd session, the Chair-Rapporteur of the Working Group on discrimination against women in law and in practice presented the first thematic report of the Working Group. It records current achievements in women’s political representation and articulates the further challenges to women’s equal, full and effective participation in political and public life in the context of democracy and human rights, including in times of political transition. The Working Group identifies critical issues to address in eliminating the structural and social underpinnings of gender discrimination in political and public life and presents a framework to eliminate discrimination in law, with some examples of good practices. The recommendations of the Working Group outline a road map for next generation efforts to achieve substantive gender equality in political and public life.

On 4 June, the Working Group on discrimination against women in law and in practice and DAWN,Development Alternatives with Women for a New Era, organized a side event that brought together a panel of leading women’s rights and human rights advocates, who have lived through or are living through political transitions.
The discussion was moderated by Kamala Chandrakirana, Chair-Rapporteur of the Working Group on discrimination against women in law and in practice. Panellists included: Pregalxmi Govender, Deputy Chairperson, South African Human Rights Commission; Fatma Kafagy, Ombudsperson of Gender Equality, Egypt; Ivana Radačić, Legal Academic, Croatia; Carolina Davila, Program Officer of Corporación de Investigación y Acción Social y Económica (CIASE), Colombia; and Kumudini Samuel, Executive Committee Member, DAWN, Sri Lanka.

Ms. Chandrakirana opened the discussion, noting that Working Group had been established in 2010 and began its work in 2011. Its first thematic report had been delivered to the Council just a few days before on 31 May. Providing a brief overview of progress made since the Beijing Platform for Action in 1995, she noted that progress has been “excruciatingly slow” after 18 years, and there has been “stagnation” in participation. In addition, the Working Group’s report recognizes the important role of political parties but they are often exclusionary towards women and the democratic deficit undermines women’s participation in public and political life.
When women’s civil society organizations were active they were often targeted with harassment, she stressed. National human rights institutions played a crucial role in supporting women but as yet there were no international norms for including women’s interests in national human rights institutions. Constitutional, legislative and judicial remedies were needed to address this issue. Furthermore, data gathering on women’s roles as distinct from other discriminating factors was scant.

In her remarks, Ms. Govender outlined South Africa’s experience with transition and drew a number of lessons learned. She acknowledged the women’s national coalition in her country – a strong alliance of rural, urban women of all social, religious, professional, political parties and from all levels – and their role in shaping the constitution. The coalition had labored to ensure that women’s voices were heard and taken into consideration. Fifteen percent of the negotiating teams were women and the result was a constitution that provides substantive equality with no discrimination and no sexism. She also noted that in South Africa, significant legislative change came about and institutional mechanisms were established. One challenge was to ensure the power and authority of these institutions.

Turning her focus to the global economic level, she pointed to the critical impact of macroeconomic policy choices and their significance as a determining factor of women’s power or powerlessness, or of human rights violations. Women’s work is not counted, and decisions made at the global economic level impact negatively on women. The national budget, she continued, is a statement of values and priorities, and women’s work is not taken into consideration in the national budget. In South Africa, she said, the work of women in subsistence farming is not counted or measured as it is not something sold on the market. For women, poverty, inequality and gender-based violence have increased, and this has resulted in higher rates of HIV and AIDS infections for women and girls, she concluded.

Ms. Kafagy described the role of Egyptian women in revolution and transition, and the obstacles they face and how they are overcoming them. Since the revolution, women NGOs are “in the streets day and night trying to change Egypt into a democracy,” she said. This has created unease for the military regime and the Islamic regime and there is a growing push to keep women out of public space and out of decision-making processes. The gender quota has been suppressed. Currently in the national parliament, there are 13 women and 264 men. Women ministers have dropped to two.

She indicated that the tactics used by the current regime exclude women and relegate them to a “reproductive” role where women are confined to home and are distanced from the political arena and public space; this has led to a growing private/public dichotomy. Women in public are increasingly targeted and suffer physical and sexual violence, and impunity for the perpetrators is being exercised. However, women are showing themselves in large numbers and are working together to build consensus to define what they want. NGO coalitions, which include some men, are protesting together and writing statements. “They are forming power in numbers and being organized,” Ms. Kafagy said, and they are creating a social movement against the harassment of women in public space. She concluded by referring to women in Egypt as “active agents” and contributing to the future of Egypt.

Ms. Radačić described the situation for women in Croatia in two phases. The first phase was immediately after the war ended in 1999, which was an extremely difficult period for women and children as women were refugees, there were many displaced people, there was much sexual violence and impunity, which continues today. Within the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), there were few prosecutions, and data on violence against women was not reliable as there was widespread fear of stigmatization. In addition, there was no form of reparation. Post-war challenges include the influence of religion and women’s exclusion from political participation, which now stands at 4.6%, as opposed to 10% prior to the war.

The second phase she described, after 2000, saw Croatia’s accession to the European Union, with some economic and political gains for women. In 2003 a gender equality law was passed, in 2009 an anti-discrimination law was passed. However, many of these laws are defective; for example, domestic violence is seen as a “minor” offence. Twenty years after independence, there is still widespread corruption, insecurity, and sexual and gender-based violence. The 2009 economic and financial crisis has also had a negative impact on women. EU accession has not meant that political elites have real commitment to gender equality. She suggested that while women’s political participation has increased, it has not been effective, and there is a lack of gender-sensitive training for officials. Another challenge for women was the loss of Croatian identity. She indicated that the way forward included women’s involvement in political parties, mobilization of women’s movements, data collection and media campaigning to raise awareness around these issues.

Ms. Davila outlined a number of the challenges facing Colombia in the aftermath of the long conflict which had involved many different militant groups. Among these challenges were drug trafficking, corruption and land ownership issues. Women were not included in the peace negotiations, and victims’ rights have not been addressed. Armed conflict has violated women’s rights in terms of displacement, land grabs, lack of reparation and justice. In addition, structural discrimination increased in conflict settings.

Women remain in a vulnerable situation, she stressed. They cannot own land and they are marginalized from decision-making processes. However, women and civil society are working together to participate in political processes and democratic decision-making in order to overcome obstacles in building long-term peace. Ms. Davila further highlighted the important role of women in caring for the environment and achieving sustainable peace. They are also fundamental in building trust and shaping common proposals, she concluded.

Ms. Samuel provided observations on her country, Sri Lanka, indicating that she was not sure the country was in “transition.” She noted that the military is playing a key role in civil administration in this time of “transition,” which has resulted in the suspension of democratic process in some instances. There is also a strong sense of impunity that the State has imposed, which has impacted family and society. This highly militarized society is becoming more entrenched and for women, particularly those directly affected by the conflict, this is a difficult situation as they have long played a role in the public sphere, engaged in political life and as head of household – but today this is mediated by the military. New types of nationalism have emerged, based on religion and minority that are further fragmenting society, and there have been attacks against the Muslim community.

Ms. Samuel further noted that in a seemingly democratic country, in the Sri Lankan experience, all transitions are not democratic. There have been many problems in terms of human rights vis-à-vis militarization, including violence and intimidation. In a post-war situation, where the root causes of conflict have not been resolved, women combatants from the LTTE parallel regime have not been involved in the demobilization or reintegration process, and they are stigmatized in their communities and looked at with suspicion. The gender roles of women have substantively changed, with the State determining an identity for women, particularly for former combatants. Increasingly, women’s work is represented as secondary to their home and they are often compelled to work in the informal sector or live in extreme poverty. Another major issue is sexual violence in relation to conflict and militarization. In the context of militarization, there is a general fear of women to talk about such violence, meaning due process is not possible. In a post-war setting, the fear of sexual violence has not decreased. Concluding, Ms. Samuel stressed that social transformation is imperative, and an attitudinal change towards gender relations must start pre-conflict or in conflict; in the post-conflict setting this is very difficult to achieve.
A number of key points were raised in the discussion that followed.

Ms. Samuel noted that in Sri Lanka, the end of war does not mean political transformation to democracy: society is now more militarized and new types of nationalism are further fragmenting society. It is important to keep the international community’s attention on Sri Lanka and there is a strong experience, from the past, of women lobbying the international community in order to get involved at a higher level in peace processes. Sri Lanka should report to CEDAW within two years and these recommendations can be used to improve the lives of women.

In Croatia, a Women’s Court is to be established in 2014. Ms. Radačić noted that challenge will be to identify what the barriers are in halting violence against women in conflict and militarized communities; and ending impunity.

Ms. Davila noted that in Colombia, women were not invited to the peace table. However, the international community has a role to play in Colombia and could help women bring their agenda to the table. National mechanisms are also important.

Ms. Kafagy indicated that the role of the international community is to listen to human rights defenders and women’s and social movements. In addition, the international community can facilitate exchanges between countries in similar situations. Many of the human rights violations are in violation of international human rights instruments, therefore the international community should have a strong voice in telling these governments to uphold these mechanisms.

Ms. Govender suggested there was a need to look at UN structures, treaties and the role of human rights commissions. The International Criminal Court, for example, should make the linkages between acts of gender-based violence and the factors driving them (economic, political, and social).
The second thematic report the Working Group will be submitted to the 26th session of the Human Rights Council in June 2014.

Article Excerpted from UN-NGLS website: http://www.un-ngls.org/spip.php?article4314