CRINMAIL 68

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Observing the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women

The 25th of November of each year marks the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women. On this international observance today, governments, international organisations and NGOs are invited to organise activities to raise public awareness of the problem in all its forms and settings. This month's CRINMAIL is our contribution to the Day.

Rise in reports of domestic abuse

In the Philippines, reports of domestic violence increased by 60 per cent in 2011 from the previous year, with one out of five women and girls aged 15-49 suffering physical violence, according to government statistics. Full story.

Meanwhile in Ireland, the number of women seeking help from domestic violence charities, often in the company of their children, rose by 55 per cent over the last five years. The extent of the problem is such that on some 2,500 occasions, women, many with children, were turned away from a refuge because emergency accommodation was full.

The more the issue is talked about "beyond the privacy of close calls, the more it will be exposed, challenged and changed,” said Sharon O'Halloran of Safe Ireland, which represents frontline domestic violence services. Full story. 

Courts failing to spot domestic abuse risk

An aspect of gender violence which has been gaining more attention in recent years is children's exposure to the abuse, especially in cases of domestic violence. Children are not only witnesses to the violence; they can even be targeted in retaliation. Police in Portugal, for example, received almost 30,000 reports of domestic abuse in 2011, with children witnessing the violence in four out of ten cases.

Despite this concern, family courts in Spain are failing to systematically take children's best interests into account during court proceedings on domestic abuse, concluded a recent report by Save the Children, which reveals that judges are often found to prioritise re-establishing a relationship between a child and an allegedly abusive parent, over ensuring a child's protection from further abuse. Decisions on custody and visiting rights, for example, are made even if a criminal proceeding against a parent for alleged abuse is open, thus ignoring the risk of further violence. More on the story (in Spanish).

Similarly in the United Kingdom, female victims of domestic violence are frequently put in unsafe and intimidating positions during family court proceedings, while children's safety is also compromised by rulings that do not fully appreciate potential risks, according to a new report by legal rights charity, Rights of Women. The report finds that there is a lack of understanding of domestic violence among judges, in some cases with women advised “to be seen as being reasonable and not obstructive” about custody, with one domestic violence victim saying: “[t]hey [judges] think the offender is only a risk to the mother – but that's entirely misguided.”

In response to the findings, Rights of Women issued a series of recommendations including:

• the provision of better special facilities such as screens in court and separate waiting rooms;

• more data recording on instances of domestic violence in the family courts;

• the flagging of domestic abuse on family court databases; and

• domestic violence training for all legal professionals including judges.

Further Information:

• CRIN's page on Child-Friendly Justice
• Council of Europe's Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence

Deficiencies in health care and justice systems

Although approximately two million internally displaced women and girls face high rates of rape and domestic violence in Colombia, they face daunting obstacles to access health care, justice, and protection services, says a new publication by Human Rights Watch. Reports of denial of care, mistreatment by health care professionals and failure to screen for signs of abuse abound. The report also found that health workers are sometimes found to lack basic knowledge regarding handling rape and domestic violence cases, as well as receiving scant training on how to deal with displaced victims.

Another problem that permeates security and justice institutions is the misguided belief that victims of sexual violence are somehow to blame, with officials sometimes asking rape victims humiliating questions about their sexual history, what clothes the victim was wearing at the time of the abuse, and what she did provoke the attack. Download the report.

Why impunity follows sex abuse

In Uganda, most survivors of sexual violence, especially those in rural areas, "avoid reporting the abuse as they cannot afford to meet the cost of medical examinations... [But] without this medical report, how do you expect [the] court to pass its verdict?”, said the head of the national police force's medical serivces. As a result, most abuse crimes remain in impunity. But to tackle this problem is a new initiative in which qualified village nurses and clinical officers provide free medical examinations and counselling services to survivors.

But poverty and lack of awareness also increase rural women's vulnerability, with many patients arriving at clinics weeks after being raped, which increases their risk of secondary infections and pregnancies, as well as reducing the chance of documenting physical evidence of the abuse before it fades. In view of this, NGOs are calling for sensitisation and awareness raising programmes so that women and girls are aware of the free medical service available. Full story.

Meanwhile in Kenya, one in three girls under the age of 18 experienced sexual violence, with rape rarely reported due to stigma and a lack of faith in the police and criminal justice system, despite strong laws against abuse, the country's first nationwide household survey has revealed. Shockingly, only three per cent of sexually abused girls received professional help.

The survey also found that almost six out of ten children have suffered physical violence – defined as punching, kicking, whipping or being threatened with a weapon – by an authority figure, most commonly teachers and relatives. The survey also reveals there is a higher rate of acceptance of violence among adults who experienced abuse as children. For example, 56 per cent of young women and 65 per cent of young men appear to condone violence by a husband towards his wife. More on this story.

Education towards prevention

As regards child sex abuse, activists agree that a fundamental way of mitigating its risk is to talk to children about the issue in age-appropriate terms. An innovative campaign that does exactly this is the Council of Europe's One in Five campaign, launched in 2010, which seeks to raise public awareness about the scale of the sex abuse through educational materials that are aimed at all people who have regular contact with children, including parents, teachers and staff at children's homes, as well as children themselves.

The heart of the campaign is a simple rule: the Underwear Rule, whose purpose is to help adults explain to children where others should not try to touch them, as well as their rights to set limits, and the need to express feelings and speak out against abuse. The Underwear Rule is explained in a TV spot suitable for children of all ages, a children's book, a website and other support materials featuring a character called Kiko!

Even though the One in Five campaign was designed initially for a European audience, the Council of Europe welcomes non-member States to make full use of the campaign materials. Mexico's Senate, for instance, supports the campaign and has set up a dedicated page in Spanish on the issue, in which it promotes the Lanzarote Convention as a progressive piece of legislation.

UPCOMING EVENTS

Violence: Call for Applications for the Children and Violence Evaluation Challenge Fund
Organiser: Children and Violence Evaluation Challenge Fund Application deadline: 17 December 2012
More details here.

Latin America: Children & Violence in Juvenile Justice - the current situation, prevention & response mechanisms Organisation: Defence for Children International et al.
Date: 5–7 December 2012
Location: Asunción, Paraguay
More details here.

Juvenile justice: Policing and children
Organisation: Howard League for Penal Reform
Date: 6 December 2012
Location: Birmingham, United Kingdom
More details here.

Maltreatment: International Conference on Child and Family Maltreatment
Organisation: Chadwick Center for Children & Families
Date: 26–31 January 2013
Location: San Diego, California, United States
More details here. 

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