1. Gender Mainstreaming
Violence Against Women
“State Responsibility in Promulgating
Promising Tools for
Fighting Violence Against Women”
Samia Raoof Ali
World in Consulting
NCRD 12. Feb. 2014

2. Gender Based Violence
• What is Gender Based Violence?

3. Gender Based Violence
• Violence is a technical term used to
collectively refer to violent acts that are
primarily or exclusively committed against
women.
• This type of violence is gender-based,
meaning that the acts of violence are
committed against women expressly because
they are women, or as a result of patriarchal
gender constructs.

4. Gender Based Violence
• The UN Declaration on the Elimination of
Violence Against Women states that "violence
against women is a manifestation of
historically unequal power relations between
men and women" and that "violence against
women is one of the crucial social mechanisms
by which women are forced into a subordinate
position compared with men“.

5. Categories of Gender Based Violence
• These include violence carried out by
‘individuals’ as well as ‘states.’
• These are further categorized into GBV
carried by ‘criminal networks’

6. Gender Based Violence
• The World Health Organization (WHO), in its
research on VAW, categorized it as occurring
through five stages of the life cycle:
• pre-birth
• infancy
• girlhood
• adolescence and adulthood and
• elderly

7. Gender Based Violence by Individuals
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Rape
domestic violence
Sexual harassment
Coercive use of contraceptives
Female infanticide
Prenatal sex selection
Obstetric violence
Mob violence
harmful customary or traditional practices such as
honor killing, dowry violence, marriage by abduction ,
forced marriage and, widowhood

8. Gender Based Violence by Individuals
• harmful customary or traditional practices
such as:
• honor killing
• dowry violence
• marriage by abduction
• forced marriage
• stove burning
• Acid burning

9. Gender Based Violence by organized
Criminal Networks
• Many forms of VAW are perpetrated by
organized criminal networks
• Trafficking in women and children
• Forced prostitution
• Slavery
• Trafficking in Human Organs

10. Gender Based Violence Approached at
International Level Instruments
• Through Conventions
• Directives

11. Gender Based Violence Approached at
International Level Instruments
• The 1979 Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination
against Women (CEDAW), which recognizes violence as a part of
discrimination against women in recommendations 12 & 19.
• The 1993 World congress on Human Rights, which recognized violence
against women as a human rights violation, and which contributed to the
following UN declaration.
• The 1993 UN Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women
was the first international instrument explicitly defining and addressing
violence against women. This document specifically refers to the
historically forever-present nature of gender inequalities in understanding
violence against women. (Include current 2nd paragraph here). This
Declaration, as well as the World Conference of the same year, is often
viewed as a "turning point" at which the consideration of violence against
women by the international community began to be taken much more
seriously, and after which more countries mobilized around this problem.

12. Gender Based Violence Approached at
International Level Effots
• The 1994 International Conference on Population and Development
linking violence against women to reproductive health & rights, and also
providing recommendations to governments on how to prevent & respond
to violence against women and girls.
• In 1996, the World Health assembly (WHA) declared violence a major
public health issue, and included in the subtypes recognized were intimate
partner violence and sexual violence, two kinds of violence which are
often perpetrated as violence against women. This was followed by a
WHO report in 2002 (see below)
• In 1999,the UN designated November 25 as the International Day for
Elimination of Violence against Women
• In 2002, as a follow-up of the WHA declaration in 1996 of violence as a
major public health issue, the World Health Organization published the
first World Report on Violence and Health, which addressed many types of
violence and their impact on public health, including forms of violence
affecting women particularly strongly. The report specifically noted the
sharp rise in civil society organizations and activities directed at
responding to gender-based violence against women from the 1970s to
the 1990s.

13. Gender Based Violence Approached at
International Level Instruments
• In 2004, the World health Organization published its "Multi-country study
on Women's Health and Domestic Violence against Women," a study of
women's health and domestic violence by surveying over 24,000 women
in 10 countries from all regions of the world, which assessed the
prevalence & extent of violence against women, particularly violence by
intimate partners, and linked this with health outcomes to women as well
as documenting strategies & services which women use to cope with
intimate-partner violence.
• The 2006 UN Secretary General's "In-depth study on all forms of violence
against women," the first comprehensive international document on the
issue.
• The 2011 Council of Europe Convention on Prevention and commbatting
violence against women and domestic violence, which is the second
regional legally-binding instrument on violence against women and girls
• In 2013, the United Nations Commission on Status of Women (CSW)
adopted, by consensus, Agreed Conclusions on the elimination and
prevention of all forms of violence against women and girls (formerly,
there were no agreed-upon conclusions).

14. Gender Based Violence Approached at
International Level Instruments
• Also in 2013, the UN General Assembly passed its first
resolution calling for the protection of defenders of
women's human rights. The resolution urges states to
put in place gender-specific laws and policies for the
protection of women's human rights defenders and to
ensure that defenders themselves are involved in the
design and implementation of these measures, and calls
on states to protect women's human rights defenders
from reprisals for cooperating with the UN and to ensure
their unhindered access to and communication with
international human rights

15. State Responsibility in Promulgating
Promising Tools for Fighting GBV
• In response to the International Conventions,
Declarations and Milestones, national
governments and individual countries have
also organized efforts (legally, politically,
socially) to prevent, reduce and punish
violence against women.

16. Gender Based Violence
• What Measures are important to address
GBV?
• Awareness
• Sensitization
• Legislation
• Prevention
• Protection
• Rehabilitation

17. Gender Based Violence
– Adoption of specific legislation
• Criminal sanctions
• Civil remedies including protection/restraining and/or expulsion
orders
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– Development of awareness-raising campaigns, including large-scale media
campaigns
• National days of action on gender violence
• “Zero tolerance” campaigns
• Efforts to involve men and boys in prevention activities
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– Provision of training for specified professional groups
• Including police, prosecutors, and members of judiciary
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• Development of national action plans to coordinate VAW activities

18. Gender Based Violence
• General methods of seeking to fulfil
protection obligations:
– Provision of services
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Telephone hotlines
Health care
Counseling centers
Legal assistance
Shelters
Restraining/Protection orders
Financial aid to victims

19. Gender Based Violence
– Address lack of enforcement of protective measures by the police or the judiciary
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– Address absence or inadequate provision of services
• Lack of shelters force women to continue living with abuser
• Focus on short-term emergency assistance neglects to provide victims with
means of avoiding re-victimization.
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– Provide effective and appropriate mechanisms to prevent further harm in
situations where women have already been victims or are at known risk of violence
•
– Provide a safe and conducive environment for reporting by establishing strong
victim/witness protection measures, such as restraining or expulsion orders, which
protect women from retaliation
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– Provide quality physical and psychological health services, and material assistance
such as shelter or child maintenance.

20. State Responsibility in Promulgating
Promising Tools for Fighting GBV
• Legislation
• Punishment

21. State Responsibility in Promulgating
Promising Tools for Fighting GBV
• In the Context of Pakistan
• Criminal Law (Crimes in the name of Honour)
Amendment Act, 2004
• The Protection of Women (Criminal Laws
Amendments) Act, 2006. July 7, 2006 more than 1300
women languishing in jails because of the
controvesrial Hadood Ordinance were released on
immediate bail
• Prevention of Harassment at Workplace Act, 2010
• Acid Control and Acid Crime Prevention Act, 2010

22. State Responsibility in Promulgating
Promising Tools for Fighting GBV
• In the Context of Pakistan
• Two additional bills were signed into law by the
President in December 2012 criminalizing the
primitive practices of Vani, watta-satta, swara and
marriage to Holy Quran which used women as
tradable commodities for settlement of disputes.
• Furthermore special task force was established in
the interior Sindh region for action against the
practice of Karo Kari
• Help lines and offices established in the districts
of Sukker, Jacobabad, Larkana and Khairpur

23. The Protection of Women (Criminal
Laws Amendments) Act, 2006
• This bill amended the Pakistan Penal Code, the Code of
Criminal Procedure and other laws to provide relief and
protection to women against misuse and abuse of law and
to prevent their exploitation. This law actually amended the
Zina Ordinance and the Qazaf Ordinance 1979. The
amendments of the Hudood Ordinances have broken the
“myth” that the Hudood Ordinances are God made laws
and should not be altered. The Hudood Laws which were
imposed on the people of Pakistan through an Ordinance
(undemocratically) were amended by a democratic process.
• These also gave relief to women who were unfairly
registered under Zina Ordinance when they complained of
Rape

24. Prevention of Harassment at
Workplace Act, 2010
• The purpose of this Bill is to ensure a work environment
where women and men can feel safe at work and to have
fair accountability system for any gender harassment or
abuse at the workplace.
• Whereas Islam and the Constitution of the Islamic Republic
of Pakistan aim at elimination of all forms of exploitation,
protection of body, liberty, reputation and dignity of men
and woman and safeguard against discrimination based on
gender.
• Further recognize the principles of equal opportunity and
right to earn a livelihood without fear of abuse and
harassment; it is, therefore, necessary and expedient to
provide a law for guaranteeing safe work environment and
eliminating discrimination.

25. Prevention Act, 2010 Acid Control
and Acid Crime
• This bill was introduced and was passed in
national assembly in 2010 in relation to
protection against acid crimes and rehabilitation
of and compensation for victims of acid crimes.
• Whereas constitution recognizes the fundamental
rights of women and children to security of life
and liberty and dignity of person;
• And whereas it is expedient to institutionalize
measures which prevent and protect women and
children from acid crimes and for matters
connected therewith or incidental thereto;

26. Role of State and Civil Society
• Collaboration of the two is important to
address GBV
• Activism
• Awareness
• Information
• Networks at all levels

27. • Thanks for your Patience