12 March 2008 - Child Rights at the Human Rights Council 39
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**Coming up**
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Children Have Rights Too!
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Child trafficking: "States slow to respond" [NGO briefing]
[12 March 2008] - An NGO briefing session on child trafficking in Asia threw the spotlight on efforts to combat the scourge.
The Special Rapporteur on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography, Juan Miguel Petit, was once again present, arguing that “States are slow to respond to the problem, and even slower to create policies to combat it.”
While cautioning that “it is a matter easily exaggerated”, Mr Petit called on civil society to plug the gaps by pressing States to enact policies and legislation, and guarantee their implementation.
He said: “There is also a lack of attention at the academic level. What we need is an exhaustive study.”
The lack of assistance programmes for victims can be cause for re-victimisation and increased vulnerability, he said.
While programmes make take many forms, he added, they should all be tailored to the needs of the victims.
Children especially vulnerable
Laurence Gray, of World Vision, reminded advocates that children are especially vulnerable since they are unable to resist exploitation and abuse.
The victims of trafficking in Asia, he said, are almost always from poor communities where there are scant employment opportunities, and where they may be forced by their domestic circumstances to accept exploitative treatment.
And they are also often from marginalised groups, such as Illegal immigrants or ethnic minorities, with low levels of education and inadequate government protection, he added.
Mr Gray said: “It is in the hands of governments to reduce trafficking, and many are not doing enough.”
He also emphasised the centrality of child participation in working towards effective programmes.
Further information
For more information, contact:
Child Rights Information Network
1 St John's Lane, London EC1M 4AR
Tel: + 44 20 7012 6866 or 67; Fax: + 44 020 7012 6899
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.crin.org
Visit: http://www.crin.org/resources/infoDetail.asp?ID=16643
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Strengthening the protection of women from torture [NGO briefing]
[12 March 2008] - Three Special Procedures gathered to discuss protecting women and girls from torture.
Prof. Manfred Nowak, Special Rapporteur (what is this?) on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, Ms. Yakin Ertürk, Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women and Ms. Hina Jilani, Special Representative of the Secretary-General on the situation of Human Rights Defenders spoke about female genital mutilation and trafficking, among other issues.
Prof. Nowak noted that the Convention Against Torture (CAT) defines torture under article 1 as (1) an infliction of severe physical or mental pain or suffering; (2) an infliction which is deliberate (with an intention to discriminate, intimidate etc.); (3) An act related to the government.
He suggests introducing “powerlessness” as an added element to this definition. He explained that torture is the most serious form of ill treatment; not because of its intensity, but because of its purpose, with one person exercising full and effective control over another.
With the addition of "powerlessness", the scope of torture extends beyond detention and into the private sphere. “Domestic violence for example is such a situation of powerlessness because one person exercises total control over another”, he said.
FGM link
In Prof. Nowak's report, he notes that powerlessness in respect of FGM is pertinent since “the cutting is usually carried out before a girl’s tenth birthday”.
In such circumstances, girls are clearly under the complete control of their parents and communities and are unable to resist. On the other hand, adolescent girls and women very often agree to undergo FGM because they fear the non-acceptance of their communities, families and peers, he said.
Prof. Nowak also pointed out that rape is always torture, and spoke of the nature of “due diligence” which means a state may be liable for the actions of, for example, a private individual.
With FGM, he said, due diligence obliges the State to take all necessary legislative action to prevent torture. However, he said, “this is not enough.” He said that in Togo, for example, there are very good laws prohibiting FGM but in practice no one is incriminated; only one case reached the courts during the first year following the adoption of the law. Failure to implement laws is also considered a State responsibility concluded Prof. Nowak.
One way to strengthen implementation, Prof. Nowak said, would be “naming particular forms of violence as torture”. He added that: “the creation and support to rehabilitation centres for girls is another way.”
Ertürk: Disempowerment, not powerlessness
Ms Ertürk disagreed to some extent with the term “powerlessness” that Prof. Nowak wants to add to the torture definition, as for her, when it comes to women, it stresses the disability and victimisation of women. She would suggest the use of the word “disempowerment”, because it goes beyond the victim and relates also to the question of who is causing the suffering.
The Special Rapporteur has used her report to make proposals, guided by human rights standards, for indicators to measure violence against women and girls.
Ms Ertürk proposed a new sub-category of grave violence against women, which would include any incident of rape/serious sexual assault/sexual coercion in childhood or adulthood, female genital mutilation, child/forced marriage, trafficking and sexual exploitation.
Ms. Hina Jilani, spoke of rape case against married girls, and said that it was not considered a crime by the court, but was classified as a “misuse of wife”. This illustrates how women and child’s rights are subordinate to the actual status of marriage, she said. She said that in her country, married children are considered adults. “This is totally unacceptable,” she said.
Ms. Franziska Greber, Co-Director, Intervention Unit against Domestic Violence, Canton of Zurich (Switzerland) and Ms. Leanne MacMillan, Director of the Medical Foundation for Torture (UK) also spoke at the event.
Further information
For more information, contact:
Child Rights Information Network
1 St John's Lane, London EC1M 4AR
Tel: + 44 20 7012 6866 or 67; Fax: + 44 020 7012 6899
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.crin.org
Visit: http://www.crin.org/resources/infoDetail.asp?ID=16640
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Marriage without Consent: "Be wary of culture", says Ertürk [NGO briefing]
[12 March 2008] - During an NGO side event on the spectre of forced marriage, Prof. Yakin Ertürk, Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women, said she was “wary of cultural discussions.”
“We are culture. Culture is ours. We shouldn't be so ready to attribute everything we are critical of to the sphere of culture, and we should not allow the holders of power to represent culture in oppressive ways” she said.
By uncritically accepting cultural arguments, we do not look at the issues behind it, she continued.
“Cultural diversity is our strength, not our weakness,” she added. Her 2007 report dealt with the issue of culture and violence against women.
Boys also vulnerable
Prof. Erturk, speaking at the event Women and Girls Human Rights: Marriage without Consent, organised by WURN, also warned against neglecting the experiences of boys.
“Forced marriage does not necessarily mean a forced marriage of the woman – it is also an imposition on the men. You have a hostile and unhappy man too. His target is then often his bride. Violence becomes a component of this,” she said.
Concluding, Prof. Ertürk emphasised the transnational dimension of forced marriages, noting that it was often used for migration purposes.
Marriage boycott
Krishna Ahoojapatel, President of the NGO Committee on the Status of Women, said a simple form of protest could be to turn down wedding invites where the bride is under 18.
Further information
For more information, contact:
Child Rights Information Network
1 St John's Lane, London EC1M 4AR
Tel: + 44 20 7012 6866 or 67; Fax: + 44 020 7012 6899
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.crin.org
Visit: http://www.crin.org/resources/infoDetail.asp?ID=16642
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News from the plenary
Interactive dialogues following the presentation of reports from the Special Rapporteurs on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health, on the right to food, and on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression. The Rapporteurs on housing and minority issues then presented their reports, followed by a further interactive dialogue.
The International Service for Human Rights produce comprehensive daily updates from the plenary throughout the session: http://www.ishr.ch/hrm/council/dailyupdates/index.html
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**Coming up**
Thursday 13 March 2008
10.00 Room XXVII: Informal meeting on the review of the mandate of the Special Rapporteur on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography
13.45 to 15.00 Room TBC: Intellectual Property v. Human Rights?
Plenary: 'Review, Rationalisation and Improvement' of mandates, including that of the Special Rapporteur on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography
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**With thanks to the assistance of Laure Abado and Judith Davila in the preparation of this CRINMAIL**
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This update has been produced by CRIN, in collaboration with the NGO Group Subgroup for the Human Rights Council. To subscribe, unsubscribe or view archives, visit http://www.crin.org/email.
Further information about child rights at the Human Rights Council is available on the CRIN website at: www.crin.org/hrc. To submit information, contact us on [email protected]. CRIN, c/o Save the Children, 1, St John's Lane, London EC1M 4AR, UK.
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