Working Paper on a Human Rights Based Approach to Implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action

Recommendations for Action: Violence Against Women & Women and the Economy

February 2000

(Spanish version)

INTRODUCTION

This review must affirm the Beijing Platform for Action as a human rights based document. The Platform is one of the most comprehensive expressions of governments' commitments to human rights for women and girls based on the understanding that women's rights are human rights. Its detailed proposals begin to give concrete shape to the human rights of women in all twelve critical areas of concern. When taken together with the human rights conventions ­ the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Political Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women, and others - as well as the documents of the other UN conferences of this decade ­ the World Conference on Human Rights, the International Conference on Population and Development, the World Summit for Social Development, the World Summit for Children, the Second United Nations Conference on Human Settlements, and the UN Conference on Environment and Development ­ it provides a substantial vision and strategies for the next decade.

The Beijing + 5 review is therefore not about abstract concepts. Discriminatory laws and other violations of women's human rights affect the lives and cause the deaths of women and girls every day. It is essential that this review seek ways to accelerate implementation of the Platform along with ways of measuring progress towards its stated goals. The Platform for Action notes that "unless the human rights of women, as defined by international human rights instruments, are fully recognized and effectively protected, applied, implemented and enforced in national law as well as national practice in family, civil, penal, labor and commercial codes and administrative rules and regulations, they will exist in name only" (Paragraph 218).

The question now is how best to use this Year 2000 review as a springboard to move forward and to get governments and the UN to take more concrete steps to advance the human rights of women. A feminist human rights based approach to implementing the Platform for Action and gaining women's rights more generally can be useful here. A feminist analysis places women ­ in all their diversity ­ at the center of the agenda. It evaluates all policies, practices and actions for their real or potential effect on women's lives, taking into account the multiple intersections of race, class, age, ethnicity, sexual orientation, religious affiliation, access to income, and types of physical and mental abilities.

Two of the most important aspects of a rights-based approach are standard setting and accountability. The human rights conventions provide an ethical perspective and set common standards for achievement that serve as yardsticks for all peoples and all nations to promote respect for the rights and freedoms of all. Accountability means that it is not merely a good idea, but that it is a duty of governments, the United Nations, and other inter-governmental bodies to make every effort to implement the human rights commitments they have made. Since governments are responsible for implementing human rights standards, they must live up to them themselves and they must implement them in relation to others: the private sector -- including corporations and other bodies for which governments hold regulatory responsibility -- and private individuals over whose conduct governments carry judicial responsibility.

Accountability to implementation can be more effectively determined by setting out goals and targets nationally, regionally, and internationally. While the Beijing Platform for Action is one of the most visionary of the 1990's World Conferences, it contains little in the way of specific targets and benchmarks, in contrast to some of the other world conferences. It is time to develop specific targets along with time lines and indicators by which progress can be measured.

An essential element in meeting targets for implementation of the Beijing Platform is the allocation of adequate resources. While the issue of resources presents difficulties for many governments, creative ways of reallocating existing resources as well as strategies for generating new ones must be found if the platform is to go beyond good rhetoric. Strategies for more effective ways that resources can be deployed for making women's human rights a reality include: using gender audits for budgets to make sure all programs are gender sensitive; making more effective use of existing resources to reflect gender-sensitive priorities; and ensuring that funds reach women at the grassroots. Unwillingness to address this question of resources reveals a lack of political will to work for gender equality and the promotion of women's human rights.

One of the minimum expressions of political will is legislation that makes the violation of women's human rights illegal, along with removing discriminatory laws from all national codes. Another expression of political will is the gathering of comprehensive data that is disaggregated by gender and that draws on the work of NGOs and grassroots women's groups. Such data can form the basis for more effective policies and can be used to formulate benchmarks and indicators of progress. The data which has been gathered by women for many years must be taken into account and utilized in this process.

This document was prepared for use during the preparatory meetings for the Beijing + 5 Review as part of the Center's efforts to promote a human rights based approach to all of the critical areas of concern.

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR ACTION: VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN

Violence against women is recognized in the World Conference on Human Rights Vienna Programme of Action and in the Beijing Platform for Action as a fundamental violation of human rights. Thus, governments have acknowledged that it is their duty to work for its elimination in all spheres of life. Violence is often an obstacle to women and girls' achievement of their human rights in all the other areas of the Platform as well. Yet, while there is considerable agreement on the goal of ending such violence, little progress has been made toward this end. In some cases, legislation is not commensurate with the seriousness of this crime, and in most cases, inadequate resources have been devoted to this problem.

The Beijing Platform sets out a significant number of specific steps that governments must take to end violence against women in the family, the community, and by the state. Further, efforts to end violence must be seen as interrelated with other areas of the Platform since a woman's economic, political and social situation as well as factors such as her race, class, age, sexual orientation, ethnicity, religion, physical or mental ability, status as a refugee or migrant, etc. often affect her experience of violence and her ability to escape it.

Actions to end violence against women need to be taken in many areas. Services that are comprehensive, readily available and responsive to all women in diverse settings are essential and Education/Prevention strategies are the only hope for change in the future. Actions must be taken in the areas of Legislation/Criminal Justice, Resource Allocation and the collection of Data/Research.

Legislation serves as one minimum standard of a government's commitment and political will to act against this crime. Yet, while a number of governments have adopted legislation that addresses violence against women, the crucial factor is effective enforcement of those laws, which is lagging far behind. Further, since all people are equal before the law, all forms of violence against women -- including those committed by partners or family members -- must be prosecuted.

It is difficult to establish benchmarks and measure progress made toward the goal of diminishing and eliminating violence against women because the data on the extent and nature of the different forms of violence is rudimentary, uneven, and not based upon uniform standards and indicators. Since accurate data is a fundamental tool for effective policy formulation and allocation of resources, there is an urgent need for greater international cooperation and national attention to this problem. An international, easily accessible and user friendly database on violence against women should be established by the United Nations.

Adequate resources must be deployed if we are to end violence against women. Governments must provide funding for direct services to violence survivors. Training on gender violence should be funded for those working in justice administration, law enforcement, health care, education and immigration.

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR ACTION: WOMEN AND THE ECONOMY

Women's labor, paid and unpaid, in the home, the community and the workplace, is central to the functioning of society and economy. Throughout the world, the strategic manipulation of flexible women's labor is being used to maximize economic competitiveness and to enhance profitability. The availability, quality, level of remuneration, and safety of their jobs is the central issue.

If governments are to fulfill their commitment to women's economic rights and economic empowerment, women's contributions must be recognized and acknowledged and the disproportionate and gender specific impacts of economic policies must be enumerated. Governments and the United Nations must take concrete actions to ensure women's economic rights and realization of full human dignity.

Governments should review employment trends to identify areas of growth of female employment (especially part time, temporary, home-based work, etc.) and the existing structures of social protection (unemployment compensation, health care, pension) to determine if women are receiving adequate and equal protection. Governments should take steps to correct shortfalls in social protection.

Governments, in consultation with women's organizations, should set goals for the eradication of poverty, including timelines for increases in minimum wage and public assistance programs to ensure wage levels and assistance are above the poverty line.

Governments should establish legal prohibitions of discriminatory treatment of women in cases of downsizing, plant closure, offshore industrial location, etc. The United Nations and the International Labour Organization (ILO) should take leadership in opening international dialogue among the private sector, governments and civil society -- especially women workers' organizations ­ with an aim of putting an end to the competitiveness of lowest wages and to promote acceptance of and compliance with the Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work. Bilateral and multilateral trade agreements must respect relevant international conventions and instruments that promote and protect gender equality.

Governments should advise women's organizations of their right to use the CEDAW Optional Protocol to seek redress for the discriminatory impact of corporate policies such as downsizing, plant closure and outsourcing.

National governments should organize consultations with disadvantaged women ­ women on welfare, grassroots and poor women, immigrant women, women with disabilities, racial and ethnic minorities, etc. ­ to hear their views on the impacts of globalization and possible alternative strategies. People and communities should not have to bear the cost of economic injustice that centers around corporate greed.