The country’s newly elected Government has been urged by the Bishops’
Council for Justice and Peace to support calls for the better
protection of women from sexual violence during war and to use its
leverage internationally to prioritise the issue.
In a statement released on last Tuesday to mark the centenary of
International Women’s Day (1911-2011), the Council for Justice and Peace
(CJP) said Ireland’s commitment to protecting women from sexual
violence needed to be enshrined in a National Action Plan for Ireland on
UN Resolution 1325.
Calling for robust provisions for the monitoring and evaluation of
the full implementation of the UN resolution, the CJP also called on the
incoming Irish Government to give sustained financial, political and
moral support to UN Women – the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women.
Resolution 1325, which was unanimously adopted over a decade ago,
“calls on all parties to armed conflict to take special measures to
protect women and girls from gender-based violence” (Article 10) and
emphasises “the responsibility of all States” to prosecute those guilty
of war crimes “including those relating to sexual violence against women
and girls.” (Article 11).
The CJP in its statement referred to Pope Benedict’s comments on the
violence towards women in Angola in March 2009, where he said,
“Particularly disturbing is the crushing yoke of discrimination that
women and girls so often endure, not to mention the unspeakable practice
of sexual violence and exploitation which causes such humiliation and
trauma.”
Chair of the Council for Justice and Peace, Bishop Raymond Field,
warned that, though “great progress has been made in recent years in
recognising gender-based violence in armed conflict as a war crime,
little has been achieved in terms of the protection of women or bringing
the perpetrators to justice.”
Bishop Field added, “It needs to be recognised that the failure to
protect the right of women and girls to security seriously impedes their
ability to avail of their other rights: social, political and
economic.”
The CJP spokesman referred to concerns highlighted by the Irish
Commission for Justice and Social Affairs over the systematic rape and
sexual assault of women and girls in the Democratic Republic of Congo as
a means of instilling fear in the wider population.
Bishop Field
underlined that for women in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the
situation remained as dangerous today as it was in 2008.
He also noted that UN Special Representative on Sexual Violence in
Conflict, Margot Wallström, on a recent visit to Bosnia and Herzegovina,
reported that there had been, just 12 convictions for the 20,000 to
50,000 rapes committed during the 1992-1995.
“Victims described how the ‘climate of impunity’ has become a
‘climate of intimidation’ where ‘survivors are tormented by routine
encounters with former rapists, seeing them in the street, bank or
supermarket’,” Bishop Field said.
“From a Christian perspective, we
hold that responding to gender-based violence is a moral imperative,”
the Bishop added.
“We emphasise that the issue of sexual violence against women and
girls in zones of conflict must also be considered in the context of
wider manifestations of such violence throughout the world, including
domestic violence and human trafficking.”
Calling for robust measures to bring an end to impunity, the CJP said
full implementation of Resolution 1325 would ensure that the
perpetrators of sexual violence could not achieve positions of power in
the post-conflict society.
“UNSCR 1325 also clearly articulates the
need to ensure that women play an active role in peace-building and
post-conflict reconstruction. Full implementation of this resolution
would help to address the root causes of gender-based violence and
empower women to avail of their rights and make their contribution to
society,” the CJP said in its statement.
Bishop Field suggested that in marking the centenary of International
Women’s Day (1911-2011), the CJP was celebrating “the progress that has
been made in terms of women’s rights and the economic, social and
political achievements of women.”
He added, “The vital contribution
that women make to society must be adequately valued and protected.”
Referring to Trócaire’s work in the area of gender equality, Bishop
Field concluded by saying that “funding from Overseas Development
Assistance (ODA) is essential to this work and it is vital that Ireland
remains on course to achieve our commitment of allocating 0.7% of our
national income to ODA by 2015.”