November 25th - International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women

Although there have been no new arrivals at Shamshatoo refugee camp since the start of military action, there are millions of people inside Afghanistan living on the edge of famine after years of drought and conflict. © WFP/Mike Huggins

November 25th was designated as an international day by the UN General Assembly in Resolution 54/134 in order to raise public awareness about the problem of violence against women.  Please visit UNIFEM’s website for more information about events and activities that have been planned to commemorate this day.

Violence is the defining characteristic of the forced migration experience, particularly for women, who make up the majority of forced migrants around the world.  Some form of violence is usually a root cause for a woman’s flight to begin with, and too often, violence continues to plague women even in the receiving countries or areas to which they have fled to seek safety and protection.  The resources listed under “Overviews” below  provide a useful introduction to the problem of violence against women in the forced migration context.  Additional resources are noted for specific issues of concern such as gender-based persecution and asylum, women and armed conflict, and human trafficking.

Overviews

• Benjamin, Judy and Khadija Fancy, “The gender dimensions of internal displacement: concept paper and annotated bibliography” (UNICEF, Nov. 1998)
• Bermúdez Torres, Anastasia, “FMO research guide: gender and forced migration” (FMO, Oct. 2002)
• Diaz, Mary, “Gender and forced migration discussion guide,” Refugee Experience (RSC, 2001)
• “Gender and displacement,” Forced Migration Review 9 (Dec. 2000) (PDF File 870 KB)
• Ferris, Elizabeth, “Refugee women and violence” (1990)
• Morrison, John, “FMO research guide: human smuggling and trafficking” (FMO, Oct. 2002)
• Ward, Jeanne, “If not now, when? Addressing gender-based violence in refugee, internally displaced, and post-conflict settings. A global overview” (Reproductive Health for Refugees Consortium, 2002)

Specific Issues:  Gender-based Persecution, Women Asylum-Seekers, the Impact of Armed Conflict on Women, Trafficking in Women

Key international instruments:

• 2001 United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime and its Protocols (Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime and Protocol against the Smuggling of Migrants by Land, Air and Sea, supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime) (in English, French, Spanish, Russian, Arabic, Chinese)
• See also The Annotated Guide to the Complete UN Trafficking Protocol (PDF File 316 KB)
• 1999 Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women -
• French
• Spanish
• 1995 Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action
• 1993 Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women
• French
• Spanish
• 1979 Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW)
• French
• Spanish
• 1974 Declaration on the Protection of Women and Children in Emergency and Armed Conflict
• French
• Spanish

Documents:

For more documents, search in the FMO Digital Library.
• Beyani, Chaloka, “The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). A reporting manual” (1992)
• International Organization for Migration, Trafficking in migrants: characteristics and trends in different regions of the world (1994)
• Lesley-Lloyd, Karen, “Recognizing asylum claims based on refugee women's human rights violations” (1995)
• Piniou-Kalli, Maria, “Sexual torture of women as a tool in armed conflicts: an address to the European Parliament” (2000)

Conference papers:

Papers from the following conferences are available, in the FMO Digital Library.
• International Conference on Uprooted Muslim Women, 12-15 November 1994, Sharjah, U.A.E.
• Regional Conference on the Legal Status of Refugee and Internally Displaced Women in Africa, Addis Ababa, 1-4 August 1995
• Regional Conference on Women and Children in Refugee and Refugee Like Situations in South Asia, Dhaka, 12-13 November 1999

Gender guidelines:

• Australian Department of Immigration and Multicultural Affairs, “Refugee and humanitarian visa applicants: guidelines on gender issues for decision-makers” (1996)
• Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, “Guideline 4: women refugee claimants fearing gender-related persecution” (1996) (in English and French)
• Irish Refugee Council, “Guiding principles on asylum-seeking and refugee women” (2001)
• National Consortium on Refugee Affairs, “Gender guidelines for asylum determination” (1999)
• Refugee Women's Legal Group, “The gender guidelines for the determination of asylum claims in the UK” (June 1998)
• Swedish Migration Board, “Gender-based persecution: guidelines for investigation and evaluation of the needs of women for protection” (2001)
• UK Immigration Appellate Authority, “Asylum gender guidelines” (2000)
• U.S. Immigration & Naturalization Service, “Considerations for asylum officers adjudicating asylum claims from women” (1995)

Operational materials/standards:

• ACORD, “Gender sensitive programme design and planning in conflict affected situations” (2001)
• Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ), “Gender-aware approaches to relief and rehabilitation: guidelines” (1996)
• Global Alliance against Traffic in Women et al., Human rights standards for the treatment of trafficked persons (1999)
• Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC), “Gender and humanitarian assistance resource kit” (2001)
• Sphere Project, The Humanitarian Charter and Minimum Standards in Disaster Response (2004)
• UNHCR, “Sexual and gender-based violence against refugees, returnees and internally displaced persons: guidelines for prevention and response” (May 2003)

Reference materials:

• Gender aspects of conflict and peace (INSTRAW) (in English, French and Spanish)
• Gender based violence bibliography (Reproductive Health Response in Conflict Consortium)
• A portal on women, peace and security (UNIFEM)
• Siyanda (BRIDGE)
• Women's human rights resources database (Bora Laskin Law Library)

Contacts:

For more, search in the FMO Organizations Directory.

NGOs/Research Institutes

• African Centre for Gender and Development
• Center for Gender and Refugee Studies (CGRS)
• Global Alliance against Traffic in Women (GAATW)
• Protection Project
• Women's Commission for Refugee Women and Children (WCRWC)
• Women's Human Rights Net (WHR)
• Women in Security, Conflict Management and Peace (WISCOMP)
• Women Living under Muslim Laws

United Nations

• Special Rapporteur of the Commission on Human Rights on violence against women, its causes and consequences
• United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM)
• United Nations Division for the Advancement of Women (DAW)