[women-rights] Amnesty International launches global campaign to stop violence against women

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL
PRESS RELEASE
AI Index: ACT 77/021/2004 (Public)

Violence against women is a cancer eating away the core of every society,
in every country of the world, Irene Khan, Secretary General of Amnesty
International, said today at the launch of the organisation's global
campaign to stop violence against women.

Whether in times of peace or war, women are subjected to atrocities simply
because they are women. Millions of women are beaten, raped, murdered,
assaulted, mutilated and even denied the right to ever exist. At least one
in three women in the world will suffer serious violence in their
lifetime.

Unveiling its worldwide Stop Violence Against Women Campaign, Amnesty
International called for urgent action by every man and woman to end this
outrageous scandal.

"This is not something that just happens over there, it happens here. It
is not something that only happens to other people, it happens to you,
your friends and your family. Until all of us, men as well as women, say
'no, I will not let this happen', it will not stop," said Irene Khan.

"Violence against women is a human rights atrocity. Human rights are more
than sets of laws and obligations, they embody a promise that, in
equality, we are all entitled to the same rights. Violence against women
is the cavernous rift between that promise and the will of governments,
local authorities, religious, business and community leaders to fulfil
it."

Amnesty International's report It's in our hands - Stop Violence against
Women reveals the multiple causes of violence from armed conflict to
family violence and harmful traditional practices that seek to control
women's sexuality.

"Violence threatens women in multiple forms during conflict. From the
female child soldiers who are routinely raped by their own troops and the
civilian women and girls who are mutilated, raped and murdered as a weapon
of war, to the escalation in violence within the family as troops return
home - armed conflict is having a devastating and desperate impact on
women that goes far beyond the inherent violence of war."

Also highlighting the global problem of violence in the home and
community, Amnesty International points to every country in the world for
failing to protect women in their own homes.

"Behind closed doors and in secret, women are subjected to violence by
their partners and close relatives, too ashamed and afraid to report it
and so seldom taken seriously when they do."

Even where legislation exists to prevent and punish such violence, the
authorities routinely fail to implement it and in some areas, parallel
systems of authority such as community and religious leaders actually
allow it to persist, Amnesty International added.

"From the battlefield to the bedroom, women are at risk," Irene Khan said.
"They are the first to feel the lack of poor social services, the first to
be denied education and health care. The effects of economic globalization
are leaving more and more women trapped in poverty on the margins of
society. Poverty leaves women more exposed to violence, less able to
escape it. It severely restricts women's ability to organize and fight for
change. In this, as in so many other ways, governments are failing to
address the real 'terror' of our world that millions of women face every
day."

Amnesty International paid tribute to women's organisations around the
world for the enormous strides that have been made to counter violence and
achieve justice and equality over the last few decades.

"There is much to be optimistic about the future as real solutions to the
problem do exist and have been demonstrated to work. We will join with
women's organizations to lobby for change," said Irene Khan.

"As a human rights organisation we will mobilise our members and
supporters around the world. We will engage men as well as women. Men must
play a crucial part if we are to end violence against women."

During the campaign, Amnesty International will:

-Call on all people, men and women, to raise their hands to end violence
against women.
- Work for a world in which all cultures, traditions, political and
judicial systems regard violence against women as abhorrent.
- Demand accountability and fight impunity for violence against women
whether in peace time or during conflict.
- Seek the abolition of laws that discriminate against women, and the
enactment and effective implementation of laws and other measures to
protect women from violence.
- Hold states individually and collectively accountable under
international and domestic laws to prevent, investigate, punish and
redress all acts of violence against women whether in peacetime or during
conflict.
- Secure effective action to stop violence against women at the community
level from local government or religious, traditional and informal
authorities.
- Campaign to end impunity for combatants who commit violence against
women.

"Violence against women is not normal, legal nor acceptable and should
never be tolerated or justified. It can and must be stopped," Irene Khan
concluded.

"It is in our hands to make a difference and to bring human rights home."



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