Countries with serious gender inequalities

Countries with serious gender inequalities

182 Alert 2015

Guatemala Nicaragua

Panama

Jamaica

Haiti

Honduras

Dominican Republic

Venezuela Guyana Surinam

Colombia

Morocco

Syria Iraq Iran

Jordan

Egypt

Mauritania Mali Niger

Senegal The Gambia

Burkina Faso

Chad

Sudan

Yemen

Sierra Leone Ghana

CAR

Liberia

Cameroon

C?te d'Ivoire Benin

Togo Gabon

DRC

Ethiopia

Uganda Kenya

Afghanistan Pakistan

Bhutan Nepal

Qatar

Bangladesh India

Lao, PDR

Cambodia

Congo

Burundi Tanzania

Indonesia

Bolivia Paraguay

Zambia

Malawi

Mozambique

Namibia

Zimbabwe

Swaziland Lesotho South Africa

Papua New Guinea Tonga

4. The gender dimension in peacebuilding

? 65 countries experienced serious gender inequalities, with 48 cases outstanding, focusing mainly in Africa and Asia. 61% of armed conflicts for which there are data on gender equality took place in contexts with severe inequalities.

? During 2014 the use of sexual violence was witnessed in contexts of armed conflict and tension in places such as Syria, CAR, Egypt or Myanmar, among others.

? A high-level summit took place in London on sexual violence in armed conflicts, with a mixed outcome because civil society was excluded and because of the ambiguity regarding the commitments taken on by Governments.

? Women participated actively in the formal peace negotiations in the Philippines and Colombia, with a gender equality agenda. In Colombia, a sub-commission on gender was established for the negotiating table.

This chapter provides an analysis of the various initiatives being implemented in peacebuilding processes from a gender perspective by the United Nations and by other local and international organisations and movements. An analysis through this perspective makes it possible to highlight the specific impacts of armed conflict on men and women, as well as the extent to which and the way in which they participate in peacebuilding, in particular the contributions being made by women in this respect. The chapter is structured into three main sections: the first assesses the global gender inequality situation through an analysis of the Gender Inequality Index; the second section analyses the gender dimension in the impact of armed conflicts and socio-political crises; and the final section is devoted to peacebuilding from a gender perspective. A map is included at the start of each chapter that highlights the countries with serious gender inequalities according to the Gender Inequality Index.

4.1. Gender inequalities

The Gender Inequality Index (GII)2 reflects women's disadvantage in relation to the situation of men by analysing three dimensions: reproductive health (maternal mortality rate and adolescent fertility rate3 ), empowerment (women and men with at least secondary education and the share of parliamentary seats held by each sex), and the labour market (participation rate of women and men in the workforce). The GII shows the loss in human development due to inequality when comparing the achievements of women and men in the said dimensions. It ranges from zero, where there is a situation of full equality between men and women, to one, when one gender presents the worst performance possible in all the measured dimensions. The importance of this index lies in the fact that it does not merely break down information according to sex but rather analyses this information on the basis of the relations of inequality established between men and women. In other words, it is a gender-sensitive index.4

1. As an analytical category, gender makes it clear that inequalities between men and women are the product of social norms rather than a result of nature, and sets out to underline this social and cultural construction to distinguish it from the biological differences of the sexes. The gender perspective aims to highlight the social construction of sexual difference and the sexual division of work and power. It also attempts to show that the differences between men and women are a social construction resulting from unequal power relations that have been historically established in the patriarchal system. The goal of gender as an analytical category is to demonstrate the historical and situated nature of sexual differences.

2. UNDP, "Gender Inequality Index", Human Development Report 2014 Sustaining Human Progress: Reducing Vulnerabilities and Building Resilience, New York: UNDP, 2014.

3. The reproductive health indicators used in the GII do not have equivalent indicators for men, which means that in this dimension, the reproductive health of girls and women is compared with what should be social objectives, i.e. for there to be no maternal deaths or adolescent pregnancies. UNDP, Human Development Report 2014 Sustaining Human Progress: Reducing Vulnerabilities and Building Resilience, New York: UNDP, 2014.

4. While statistics broken down according to sex provide factual information on the situation regarding women, a gender-sensitive indicator provides direct evidence of women's status in respect of a certain standard or reference group, in this case men. Susan Schmeidl and Eugenia Piza-Lopez. Gender and Conflict Early Warning: A Framework for Action, International Alert and Swiss Peace Foundation, 2002, . int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/D2489588422D1A37C1256C3000383049-fewer-gender-jun02.pdf.

The gender dimension in peacebuilding 183

GII was higher than 0.5.7 This reality would coincide with the thesis defended by some authors who point out that gender inequality in a country rises the changes of that country experiencing an internal armed conflict.8 Also, in 34 of the countries with serious inequalities, there were one or more situations of tension. This means that at least 45 of the 95 active social-political crises during 2014 happened in countries where there were serious gender inequalities, representing 56% of the tensions for which data exists.

4.2. The impact of violence and conflicts from a gender perspective

This section focuses on the gender dimension in the cycle of conflict, particularly regarding violence against women. Armed conflicts and socio-political crises are phenomena with a significant gender dimension. A gender-based analysis dismantles the traditional view of armed conflicts as neutral situations and questions the belief that the origins of armed conflict are independent of the gender power structures in place in certain societies. From this perspective, serious doubts are also raised about statements that attempt to generalise the consequences of conflict without taking the gender dimension and gender inequalities into account.

According to the GII, the situation of women was severe in 65 countries, especially severe in 48 cases, mainly in Africa and Asia5 The analysis obtained from crossing this indicator with the indicator of countries in a situation of armed conflict reveals that 12 out of the 65 countries where a situation of serious gender inequality is seen were experiencing one or several armed conflicts in 2014. We must highlight that there are no data on gender equality for four of the countries with one or more armed countries ?Nigeria, Palestine, Somalia and South Sudan. This means that 22 out of the 36 armed conflicts during 2014 were in countries with serious gender inequalities and that six of these conflicts were in countries with no data available on this matter.6 Thus, 61% of the armed conflicts for which there is data on gender equality occurred in contexts with serious gender inequalities. In ten countries with one or more armed conflicts, the figures on gender equality did not fall into the gravity threshold established in this report: Algeria, China, Israel, Libya, Myanmar, Philippines, Russia, Thailand, Turkey and Ukraine. It is worth mentioning that the situation of inequality was extremely serious in the abovementioned countries experiencing armed conflict that were the scene of gender inequalities, since in all these countries, except for Colombia, the

4.2.1. Sexual violence in armed conflicts

During 2014, sexual violence in contexts of armed conflicts continued to be one of the central issues on the international agenda on women, peace and security. The international summit held in London in June to deal with this issue was of a special relevance and attracted media and political notoriety to the issue, although there was no significant impact in terms of the real commitments taken on by Governments vis-?-vis the fight against impunity and the real and effective protection of the population against this form of violence in armed conflicts. The use of sexual violence was witnessed in many armed conflict and social-political crises active during the year, with a serious impact on victims, especially civilian women. Besides, in the institutional sphere, as well as the summit in London, several initiatives were launched to try and increase the visibility of this serious human rights violation and reduce its impact and the impunity surrounding these cases.

In March, the UN Secretary-General presented his annual report on sexual violence in armed conflicts, complying with UN Council resolutions 1820 (2008), 1888 (2009), and 1960 (2010). This report gathers information on

5. This classification has been prepared by the author of this study, not the UNDP. Here, a serious situtation in terms of gender equality is that when countries show values between 0.4 and 0.5; the situation is especially serious in countries with values higher than 0.5.

6. The armed conflict called Central Africa (LRA) takes place in DRC, the CAR, and South Sudan. 7. Colombia (0.460), Afghanistan (0.705), DRC (0.669), Egypt (0.580), Ethiopia (0.547), India (0.563), Iraq (0.542), Mali (0.673), Pakistan

(0.563), CAR (0.654), Syria (0.556), Sudan (0.628), Uganda (0.529) and Yemen (0.733). 8. Mary Caprioli, "Gender equality and state aggression: the impact of domestic gender equality on state first use of force", International

Interactions 29, no. 3, 2003: 195-214.

184 Alert 2015

Table 4.2. Sexual violence in contexts of armed conflict9

Afghanistan CAR Colombia C?te d'Ivoire DRC Mali Myanmar Somalia

South Sudan Sudan (Darfur) Syria Yemen

The Independent Human Rights Commission noted a rise in the reported cases of sexual violence and forced marriage of women and girls, and an increase of reports relating to sexual violence against men and boys by police and military officials, tribal leaders and members of non-state opposition armed groups.

Sexual violence was part of the attack that were carried out within the framework of the armed conflict and also as part of the sectarian violence carried out by anti-balaka groups, former members of S?l?ka and other armed groups. Women holding political posts or the family of civil officials were raped. There are many difficulties to report violence, especially because of the permanent presence of the perpetrators.

Afro-Colombian women were affected by sexual violence in a disproportionate way. Around 90% of sexual violence victims were women. Especially poignant is the violence perpetrated by armed groups that emerged from the demobilisation of paramilitary groups.

High levels of sexual violence were seen, especially affecting minors. Also, many gang rapes were reported. Impunity and the lack of access to justice for victims are hampering all progress.

More than 15,000 incidents of sexual violence were registered in this country, mostly carried out by non-state armed groups, although the Armed Forces and the National Police were also involved. Half of the victims were girls.

Sexual violence linked to conflict was used by state and non-state actors, and particularly affected displaced women in the regions of Mopti, Timbuktu, Gao and Kidal. 25% of victims were minors. Armed actors used sexual violence as a form of retaliation for supposed collaboration with enemy actors.

Sexual violence was reported linked to the armed conflict and also to inter-community violence in the state of Rakhine. The lack of access to justice and the difficulties for humanitarian actors to access the population restricted the reports and their verification.

Sexual violence was a recurrent practice in the armed conflict, and the main persons responsible for this were members of the Army, al-Shabaab, and other militias, as well as members of the units to fight against crime. Women from minority clans and internally displaced women were especially vulnerable to this violence. The lack of guarantees from the justice system was a cause of special concern.

The UNMISS highlighted that sexual violence was a recurring feature of the armed conflict and noted ethnic motives behind many cases. The Army (SPLA), the Police, as well as oppositions groups were mainly responsible, and most sexual attacks happened within the cross-border incursions and military operations in the State of Jonglei.

Reports on sexual violence increased, but the number of reported cases continued to be much lower than the number of real cases. Most of the victims were displaced women, and the perpetrators were unidentified armed men, Army members and also displaced civilians. There are severe restrictions to access justice.

Sexual violence has been an ongoing practice in the armed conflict and the fear of sexual violence has been a major reason behind forced displacement. Both the State security forces and the opposition groups have used sexual violence. Women, men, boys and girls have been the victims of sexual violence in detention centres.

A link was seen between the presence of armed groups and the increase of early and forced marriages, as well as cases of sexual slavery and sexual abuse against girls living in greater poverty.

cases of sexual violence occurred in 2013, as detailed published by the United Nations in the first quarter of

in the table below, where some aspects mentioned in the 2014 denounced the brutal impact of this violence on

report are highlighted.

minors, identifying various contexts in which the abuse

took place and the types of aggression to

Throughout the year many cases of sexual violence were registered in different placed affected by armed conflicts, social-political tensions or in

22 out of the 36 armed conflicts during 2014 were

which the girls and boys were subjected.10 Government detention centres have been one of the main settings of sexual violence (as well as threats that it will

post-war situations. Syria was one of in countries with be used) against children, including

the scenarios where sexual violence was

serious gender

rape, in order to humiliate them, extract

reported related to the conflict dinamics that affect this country. Despite the

inequalities

confessions or pressure them to turn in a relative. There have also been reports

difficulties in documenting the use of

of pregnant women that lost their babies

sexual violence in Syria, the evidence suggests it is due to the unhealthy conditions in the detention

an extensive phenomenon that is affecting women centres and the lack of medical attention for prisoners.

and men, but also girls and boys. A series of reports Many other forms of abuse against women and girls

9. UN Security Council, Conflict-related sexual violence. Report of the Secretary-General, S/2014/181, 13th March 2014, comun/docs/?symbol=S/2014/181.

10. Human Rights Council, Oral Update of the independent international commission of inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic, HRC Twenty-fifth session, 18th March 2014, 2014.pdf; Reuters, "UN aided 38,000 victims of Syrian gender-based violence in 2013", Reuters, 8th January 2014, ; UNSC, Report of the Secretary-General on children and armed conflict in the Syrian Arab Republic, 27th January 2014, .

The gender dimension in peacebuilding 185

have been reported at road checkpoints and during search operations in places considered close to the opposition. In many cases, gang rapes in the presence of family members were reported. The social stigma attached to rape has led some girls to be subsequently killed by their families (honour killing). Although information mainly indicates that pro-government forces are responsible for these crimes, the UN has also received reports of the use of sexual violence by armed opposition groups, among them ISIS. The UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry reported acts of sexual violence by ISIS that could constitute crimes against humanity, in addition to

Box 4.1. ISIS: Sexual abuse and violence in Iraq

multiple women killings. The fear of sexual violence has been identified as one of the main causes of forced civilian displacement. However, various reports have highlighted that internally displaced of refugee girls and boys are especially vulnerable to situations of exploitation, sexual abuse and domestic violence. Preliminary studies have also confirmed a rise in the forced marriage of Syrian refugee girls, pressured by their families for economic reasons or because they think it is a way to ensure them greater security. Among Syrian refugee girls in Jordan alone, early marriages have risen from 12% in 2011 to 18% in 2013, according to research conducted by UNICEF.11

After leading attacks in Syria, the armed jihadist group Islamic State (better known as ISIS or IS) has captured international attention in recent months for its bloody offensive and rapid rise in northern Iraq. One of the features of its modus operandi has been the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war, which has been widely denounced by the UN, human rights organisations and local women's groups. ISIS has been accused of perpetrating savage acts of sexual violence against thousands of people, the vast majority of them women and adolescents of both sexes, including mass kidnappings and rape, the forced marriage of women and girls to the group's combatants, situations of sexual slavery and the sale and purchase of women considered war trophies, among other practices.

The minorities of Iraq have been the main victims of this violence. According to a joint statement by the UN SecretaryGeneral's special representative on sexual violence in conflict, Zainab Hawa Bangura, and the special envoy for Iraq, Nickolay Mladenov, since January and until mid-August around 1,500 people from Yazidi and Christian communities had been forced into sexual slavery.12 A recent report by Amnesty International detailing the persecution of the minorities of Iraq by ISIS described some forms of abuse to which the group is subjecting women and girls, noting that some of its victims that have been raped or forced to marry their captors have committed suicide.13 According to various analysts, the group is deliberately using sexual violence as a strategy to instil terror, strengthen its control, destabilise conquered communities and stigmatise the female victims of abuse in a context where women are considered the repository of collective honour.14

In addition to sexual violence, the women of Iraq have suffered (and in many cases continue to suffer) from other effects of the advance of ISIS. Thousands have been forced to flee their homes in search of shelter, exposing themselves to situations of extreme vulnerability and even dying of hunger and thirst, as happened to the Yazidi population that fled to Sinjar Mountain in August. In the territory where the armed jihadist group has established control, it has imposed a strict code of behaviour and dress that does not allow women to leave home unaccompanied by a man from their family and forces them to fully cover themselves in public places. Those that do not comply with these restrictions risk being publicly beaten. Cases have also been reported of women forced to convert to Islam. In addition, evidence suggests that ISIS has executed many women, including one accused of adultery, two others that had been candidates in the recent elections in Iraq and the lawyer and women's rights activist Sameera Salih al-Nuaimi, who was tortured and executed in public after criticising ISIS for destroying heritage in Mosul. The United Nations has received information on the summary trials and executions of women and has warned that educated and professional women are especially likely to suffer violence at the hands of the group.15

Given this situation, Iraqi women's organisations have called on the international community to take action against ISIS. The Iraqi Women Network (IWN), which brings together 90 women's groups, made a special appeal to the UN Security

11. UNICEF, Under Siege: The devastating impact on children of three years of conflict in Syria, March 2014, index_72815.html.

12. UN News, "'Barbaric' sexual violence perpetrated by Islamic State in Iraq", UN News, 13th August 2014, . asp?NewsID=48477.

13. Amnesty International, Ethnic Cleansing on a Historic Scale: Islamic State's Systematic Targeting of Minorities in Northern Iraq, London: Amnesty International, September 2014, .

14. Beghikhani, Nazand, "Iraq: Sexual Violence as a War Strategy in Iraq", Your Middle East, 11th August 2014, . com/columns/article/sexual-violence-as-a-war-strategy-in-iraq_25812; Susskind, Yifat, "Under ISIS, Iraqi women again face an old nightmare: violence and repression", The Guardian, 3rd July 2014, ; Al-Ali, Nadje, "Sexualized violence in Iraq: How to understand and fight it", Open Democracy, 29th September 2014, .

15. Cumming-Bruce, Nick, "Women's Rights Activist Executed by ISIS in Iraq", New York Times, 25th September 2014, . com/2014/09/26/world/middleeast/womens-rights-activist-executed-by-islamic-state-in-iraq.html?_r=0.

186 Alert 2015

 ................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download