Jyothi Kanics---Global Survival Network (jkanics@igc.apc.org)
Mon, 25 May 1998 12:25:30 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: Women's Human Rights Conference
The Women's Rights Center is planning a conference on women's human =
rights this coming fall of which a Tribunal on the Abuses of Women's =
Human Rights will be the integral part. At the WRC we have had =
experience organizing Tribunals on Violence Against Women on the =
national level. The Tribunals we organized in 1995 an 1997 turned out =
to be a big success and contributed significantly to publicly highlight =
the issue of violence against women. This year, because of the 50th =
anniversary of the UNDHR and our role in the capacity of the regional =
coordinator of the East - East Legal Coalition initiated by NEWW, we =
would like to organize a regional event which will be composed of the =
conference and the Tribunal. We would like to receive your comments and =
suggestions on the draft proposal of the conference presented below, and =
to know whether you and/or your organization would like to take part =
in this project. In order to determine the feasibility and success of =
our plans for the Tribunal, we need to find partners in the region who =
will cooperate with us. Please let us know whether you and your =
organizations could provide any examples of real cases of women whose =
human rights were seriously abused, and who did not find adequate =
remedies under the domestic law for example due to its limitations. We =
would welcome cases which you think may be argued under international =
human rights law and/or the cases you have already dealt with using =
international human rights laws.=20
Please provide us with your ideas and feedback as soon as possible, as =
in order to be successful we are relying on your experiences and =
cooperation. =20
Thank you,=20
Urszula Nowakowska
Director of the Women's Rights Center and the Regional Coordinator of =
the East - East Legal Coalition
CELEBRATING AND DEMANDING WOMEN'S HUMAN RIGHTS
This year the world is celebrating the 50th anniversary of the UNDHR and =
the 5th anniversary of the Vienna Plan of Action. The Vienna UN =
Conference on Human Rights brought revolutionary changes concerning =
women's rights. It was not until 1993 at the UN World Conference on =
Human Rights, after much lobbying by women's and human rights =
organizations, that the UN made a stronger commitment to women's human =
rights. It affirmed that the human rights of women are an "inalienable, =
integral and indivisible part of the universal human rights," and urged =
the full and equal enjoyment by women of all human rights.=20
The 50th anniversary of the UN Declaration of Human Rights and the 5th =
anniversary of the Vienna Conference give us an opportunity to remind =
the world of the commitments to realize the equal rights of women and =
men made in the UNDHR and other UN charters and treaties. The Fourth UN =
Conference on Women in Beijing adopted strong and detailed =
recommendations for the promotion and protection of women's human =
rights. These were not only words, but a platform for action which =
depends largely on us to hold governments accountable.=20
In order to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the UNDHR and to demand =
governments' accountability, the WRC is planning to organize a two day =
event this fall. =20
GOALS:=20
1/ to promote the concept of women's rights as an integral, inalienable =
and indivisible part of human rights
2/ to point out specific abuses of women's human rights regardless of =
who the perpetrators are=20
3/ to call for the respect and the recognition of women's human rights.=20
4/ to show the interdependence of political, socio-economic and cultural =
rights
5/ to present the status of women's human rights in specific countries =
in the region
6/ to demand the government to introduce adequate measures to ensure =
full enjoyment of human rights=20
7/ to strengthen the East - East Legal Coalition and WAVE networks=20
PROJECT ACTIVITIES:
We plan to organize a two day event which will be composed of three =
sessions. Firstly we would like to hold a theoretical session during =
which the concept of women's human rights and the international =
machinery in place to protect women's human rights will be presented. =
The concept of women's rights as an integral part of human rights is not =
widely spread in our countries. Women's rights are still perceived as =
separate from human rights work by both women's rights and human rights =
activists. On the one hand this is because of the lack of knowledge =
about the recent developments in human rights. On the other hand, it is =
also due to an unwillingness to deal with abuses specific to women.=20
We see the human rights concept as an empowering and promising approach =
to advance women's rights, and we hope that this conference will =
contribute significantly to its promotion and use by women's rights and =
human rights organizations.=20
We would like the general session on women's human rights to include =
presentations of specific women's human rights status reports from =
countries from which testimonies will be presented later during the =
Tribunal. It will be ideal if we succeed to find women who will be =
willing to testify from countries where the legal status reports were =
prepared by national legal coalitions (including Poland, Serbia, =
Croatia, Czech Republic, Lithuania, Bulgaria, Russia, Ukraine).
The initial session will be followed by a Tribunal in which women from =
different countries will testify on abuses of their human rights. =
During the Tribunal we would like to focus on different types of abuses =
of women's human rights, but with an emphasis on various forms of =
violence against women, including domestic violence, sexual harassment, =
rape, and trafficking in women. If possible, we would like to include =
other abuses of women's human rights (in the labor market, reproductive =
rights etc.) and pay attention to abuses and inaction by state actors =
which result in serious abuses of women's human rights. One of the =
issues which may be highlighted is discrimination in the labor market, =
including sexual harassment. We would like to stress the responsibility =
of the employer, including large international corporations operating in =
Eastern and Central Europe. The phenomenon of double standards used by =
big international corporations in Western countries and in Eastern and =
Central Europe needs to be addressed. We believe that it will help us =
to raise standards in our countries by promoting internal regulations =
which are used abroad.=20
Depending on the selection of candidates, we will plan the number of =
clusters in a variety of subject areas. Presentations of testimonies =
will be followed by a remarks by a panel of expert ?judges" and the =
gathering of recommendations to governments and international human =
rights bodies such as a UN Commission on the Status of Women, European =
Human Rights Commission and Court, the Council of Europe, and so on.=20
The final session will be comprised of specific workshops which will =
allow participants to work out specific strategies on national and =
international levels to advance human rights in the cases presented =
during the Tribunal. Participation of UN and European experts during =
those workshops will provide the opportunity to deepen knowledge of =
international mechanisms and standards related to women's human rights =
which could be applicable in the presented cases. =20
Participants will work on specific cases presented during the Tribunal =
using UN and the European human rights laws and systems. We are =
considering coordinating our event with the two week women's human =
rights workshops organized by the Soros Regional Women's Rights Project =
and based and coordinated by Margaret Schuler from Women, Law and =
Development International.=20
RESULTS:
We hope that this project will contribute significantly to strengthen =
the women's human rights network in the region and to make women's human =
rights and the feminist perspective better known in women's rights and =
human rights communities as well as in society at large. We believe =
that the presentation of specific cases during the Tribunal will allow =
us to mobilize around women's groups at the national level and allow us =
to plan some actions at the regional and international level. Our aim =
also is to provide women's rights activists and lawyers with specific =
knowledge about the use of international mechanisms to protect women's =
rights at the national level. International mechanisms are rarely used =
by women's groups in the region to advance women's rights and we think =
that there is a desperate need to teach women's rights activists and =
lawyers how to use them. =20
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Centrum Praw Kobiet / Women's Rights Center
mailto:temida@medianet.com.pl
00-679 Warszawa Wilcza 60/19
tel/fax 0048-22-6520117
http://free.ngo.pl/temida
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