| Women:
Based on the inherent dignity of all of creation, the Franciscan family is committed to the full empowerment and development of both women and men. Women's rights are human rights and the fundamental dignity and equality of all women must be ensured.
Franciscans International specifically works at the international level to eliminate violence against women, one of the most pervasive and brutal forms of discrimination women experience.
Through the Commission on the Status of Women and other forums, Franciscans International supports the implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action.
Discrimination against women
Millions of girls and women throughout the world suffer from discrimination, deprivation, and the denial of their human rights based on their gender. Throughout the world, women and girls often face systematic discrimination in legal, political social, economic and cultural settings.
Discriminatory laws and cultural norms in Pakistan render women unequal before the law. In cases of rape for example, the Hudood Ordinance requires a confession or the testimony of witnesses other than the victim to secure a conviction for rape, and rape victims can find themselves being punished for fornication if rape is not proved. In India and throughout many poverty-stricken areas, male children often receive food, education and healthcare before female children. Throughout Europe and North America, women are grossly under-represented in decision-making and continue to face discrimination at home and in the workplace.
"I remember seeing a mother walking with two children. When her son asked her for a banana, she gave him one, and when her younger daughter did too - the mother slapped her and said no. I'll never forget this and how it motivated me to correct this deep problem in our culture".
- Sr Stella Baltazar, FMM - India |
Franciscans International calls for an end to discrimination at all levels, specifically using international tools such as the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW).
CEDAW is often described as an international bill of rights for women. It defines what constitutes discrimination against women and sets up an agenda for national action to end such discrimination. Despite some regrettable reservations to key treaty provisions, 180 States have ratified this Convention, committing them to undertaking a series of measures to end discrimination against women in all forms, including:
- incorporating the principle of equality of men and women in legal systems, abolishing all discriminatory laws and adopting appropriate ones prohibiting discrimination against women;
- establishing tribunals and other public institutions to ensure the effective protection of women against discrimination; and
- ensuring the elimination of all acts of discrimination against women by persons, organisations or enterprises.
Franciscans International encourages all Franciscans to work for the implementation of the Convention and to use it as a tool to hold their country accountable for achieving gender equality.
Violence against women
Violence against women is an extreme manifestation of gender inequality and ranges from honour-killings, to domestic abuse, female genital mutilation, stoning, forced sterilization, dowry-deaths and trafficking. In many societies violence against women is an everyday occurrence and sometimes even considered "normal."
The World Health Organization study on Violence against Women 2005 found that:
- Approximately one in three women experiences some form of violence during her life
- Between 4 and 12 per cent of pregnant women reported being beaten during pregnancy
- Most violence against women is committed by a husband or male partner. This type of violence is frequently invisible since it happens behind closed doors and is treated as a "
private" family matter. However, in this case efforts should not be spared to respond to domestic violence as a crime.
In 1993, the United Nations formally acknowledged violence against women as a public policy concern in the Declaration on Violence Against Women. The Declaration cites violence as, "one of the crucial mechanisms by which women are forced into a subordinate position compared with men."
The UN has designated 25 November as the International Day for the Eradication of Violence Against Women . On this day in 2005, Kofi Annan, Secretary General of the United Nations said, "Violence against women remains pervasive worldwide. It is the most atrocious manifestation of the systemic discrimination and inequality women continue to face, in law and in their everyday lives, around the world. It occurs in every region, country, and culture, regardless of income, class, race or ethnicity."
Franciscans International encourages Franciscans around the world to become a part of this global effort to eradicate violence against women year-round. Franciscans must work to change societal perceptions that uphold abuse, and move people from uncomfortable silence in the face of such violence to active condemnation.
Commission on the Status of Women
The Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) is the UN body that meets annually to promote equal rights for women and men. Member States interact with observers and non-governmental organisations. The CSW prepares recommendations and reports, promoting women's rights in political, economic, civil, social and educational fields.
In past years, the work of the CSW has focused on implementing the Beijing Declaration and Platform of Action , monitoring the implementation of agreements made by States in 1995 for an agenda to women's empowerment.
Franciscans International actively participates in the CSW with past statements on women and HIV and AIDS, women migrant workers, and through advocacy and training programs.
Case Studies
Sr Sheila Kinsey of Wheaton, Illinois works to end domestic violence in her local area, and in Africa. She has helped organise memorials for the victims of domestic violence in her local community, calling attention to the number of cases and working with local battered women's shelters and police to assist survivors. She has also worked in outreach ministries, partnering her community with Assumption Sister Florence Muia of Naivasha, Kenya. This partnership provides support to local programs in Kenya, including a safe-house for women experiencing domestic violence, while also fighting the HIV and AIDS pandemic. This program was organised through the DuPage Glocal AIDS Action Network, which is made up of 120 community associations.
Sr Alphonsa Fatima, FMM has worked to empower women in India for more than 20 years. Through organising women in small groups and beginning microcredit savings programs, hundreds of women have been given the economic and emotional support to take charge of their lives. Sr Alphonsa has seen women escape from their fears of dependence on men and of their own inadequacies, to become free to participate in social, economic and political life.
Special Projects
Participate in the annual Commission on the Status of Women. In February 2005, Franciscans International offered a training program prior to the CSW entitled, "Advocating for Women's Rights and Empowerment". For more information on this or future training programs contact women@fiop.org
16 Days of Activism to Stop Gender Violence.
Between 25 November and 10 December, join the 16-day international campaign to stop gender violence. This campaign focuses on raising awareness of gender violence, strengthening networks and organisations working for women's empowerment and providing tools to pressure governments to take stronger action to eliminate violence against women.
Resources
- UN Division for the Advancement of Women
The Division for the Advancement of Women is a central UN body that advocates for the improvement of the status of women worldwide. Located in New York, this office strives to mainstream a gender perspective both within and outside the UN system.
- Women Watch
Created as the first internet space for global gender equality issues and to support implementation of the 1995 Beijing Platform for Action, Women Watch is the central gateway to i nformation and resources on gender equity and the empowerment of women at the UN. This website compiles and integrates the work of many UN bodies involved in promoting women's rights.
- UNIFEM
The United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) provides technical assistance and innovative strategies to foster women's empowerment. UNIFEM focuses its activities on four strategic areas: reducing feminised poverty, ending violence against women, reversing the spread of HIV and AIDS among women and girls, and achieving gender equality in democratic governance in times of peace as well as war.
- Commission on Human Rights
Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences
- Stop Violence Against Women - Amnesty International
Join Amnesty International's international campaign to stop violence against women.
- Human Rights Watch - Women's Rights
Human Rights Watch works to fight the dehumanization and marginalisation of women. Resources include country studies and specific campaign focus pages.
- The World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT)
Programme on violence against women
How can I help?
- Take an interest : Monitor how your community, government, police, security forces and courts respond to violence against women and girls;
- Reflect on your attitude: Challenge prejudice and discriminatory attitudes toward women. Support the women around you to develop their full potential;
- Organize community events on 25 November, the International Day for the Eradication of Violence Against Women and 8 March, International Women's Day;
- Contact your local police authorities and government. Make sure they adequately train staff to include a gender perspective and to respond to domestic violence. If they do not, contact local groups who could provide training to police and other authorities;
- Use the media as an agent for education and social change. Write editorials or articles highlighting services in your community for women who are victims of violence or discuss a particularly prevalent violation of women's human rights in your country;
- Create a "violence-free space" in the community. Have a local battered women's shelter send representatives to spend the day in the public space (library, city government building, shops) to provide counseling, information on violence against women and options available to women who have been affected by violence;
- Distribute information that outlines the rights of women and provides contact information for organisations that provide services, empowerment or educational opportunities and tools to women in the area. Also provide information on men's roles in achieving gender equality;
- Hold public events that commemorate the women who have lost their lives to violence. Compile statistical data that reflects the number of women in your community who lost their lives to violence during the past year, or even longer. Display this information in a public space using creative methods i.e. artwork displayed in a local museum or store, a song which could be played on the local radio, a series of articles printed in the local newspaper etc. You could try modeling your event on the Silent Witness Exhibit, an initiative in the United States that creates a visual representation of women who have died due to violence by using life-size wooden cutouts of women's silhouettes;
- Learn more about CEDAW and find out if your government has ratified it. If they have not (for example: Somalia, United States, Iran), write a letter your government representatives urging them to ratify CEDAW.
- Respond to the questionnaire prepared by the Special Rapporteur documenting cases of violence against women. Send responses to Franciscans International.
FI Publications
Upcoming publication: Eliminating Discrimination Against Women will be a Franciscan resource for eliminating discrimination at the local, national and international level and include Franciscan testimonies and best practices. For submitting Franciscan case studies or for more information on this project, please contact women@fiop.org .
 FI
Statements on Women at the United Nations:
Franciscans International, as an NGO with General Consultative
Status with the Economic and Social Council, delivers
official written and oral interventions before United
Nations forums in New York and Geneva, Switzerland. Listed
below are Franciscans International statements on Violence
Against Women:
2004
"Indigenous Women." An oral statement presented at the
Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues. (2004-05-24)
"Domestic Women Migrant Workers (oral statement)." An oral statement presented at the
United Nations,
Commission on Human Rights,
60th Session, UN Geneva,
15 March – 23 April 2004, . (2004-04-22)
"Agenda item 12: Human rights of women." An oral statement presented at the
2002 Summary Reports. (2004-04-19)
"Legislative and administrative challenges in fighting human trafficking in Italy (written statement)." A written statement presented at the
United Nations,
Commission on Human Rights,
60th Session, UN Geneva,
15 March – 23 April 2004, . (2004-03-26)
"The Role of Men and Boys in Achieving Gender Equality (HIV/AIDS)." A written statement presented at the
Commission on the Status of Women
, Forty-eighth session. (2004-03-02)
2000
"Item 12: The Human Rights of Women and the Gender Perspective: Violence Against Women." An oral statement presented at the
UN Commission on Human Rights, Fifty-sixth session. (2000-03-20)
"Summary of Our Interventions Concerning the Rights of Women." A summary of our interventions at the
UN Commission on Human Rights, Fifty-sixth session. (2000-03-20)
1999
"Item 12: Integration of the human rights of women and the gender perspective.." An oral statement presented at the
UN Commission on Human Rights, Fifty-fifth session. (1999-03-22)
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FI News on Women:
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