Beijing Platform for Action. Chapter IV. D. Violence Against Women Paragraph 124(o)-(q)
Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Publication (Outlet/Website): The Good Men Project
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2019/01/26
Strategic objective D.1.
Take integrated measures to prevent and eliminate violence against women
Actions to be taken
124. By Governments:
o. Adopt laws, where necessary, and reinforce existing laws that punish police, security forces or any other agents of the State who engage in acts of violence against women in the course of the performance of their duties; review existing legislation and take effective measures against the perpetrators of such violence;
p. Allocate adequate resources within the government budget and mobilize community resources for activities related to the elimination of violence against women, including resources for the implementation of plans of action at all appropriate levels;
q. Include in reports submitted in accordance with the provisions of relevant United Nations human rights instruments, information pertaining to violence against women and measures taken to implement the Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women;
Beijing Declaration (1995)
Inasmuch as there are rights, then there are rights violations, as the idealized notion of every human being as fundamentally deserving of the same rights and freedoms will become violated to some extent, in different ways and to various degrees; this leads, in some small ways, to profound derivations, from purely rationalistic concerns, about the nature of the treatment of other human beings with an idealized set of abstract ethical nails-in-wood, human rights, in the real world: different nails will be hammered softly for some, hard for others, and still not at all for even another set of people.
Rights for women are new. Women, for much of the historical record, can, insofar as we can tell and broadly speaking, be considered property – of men, of the family, of the state, of He on High, or even they on the mountain – and, thus, be seen in principle and in fact as lesser than the men around them.
We find ourselves in a peculiar position with the terrible rights situations for women, and girls. Violence against women violating their human rights in child marriage, female genital mutilation, intimate partner violence, humanitarian crises, human trafficking, economic inequalities, and others, not to mention preceding in time and surrounding in context conditions for them.
We find acts of violence without the force of law to protect them. But as per the stipulations above, if there can be an enforcement of laws for both civilians and law enforcement alike, then any forces or state enforcers can use their legitimate authority in illegitimate ways, where the general tenor is an expectation of the police using the force of the law and the possible need for physical force as a means by which to accrue justice over time.
In the performance of civilian life, as we all know by now, extensively, women and girls face extreme bias. But we should also look into the ways in which the law enforcement themselves can engage in acts of violence, where the violence against women, and girls, is peculiarly and grotesquely inflicted by those whom women, and girls, are expected to trust in these matters; and, as a result, they may not trust the enforcers of the law as much in the future, further leading to a hidden level of violence against women – potentially explaining part of the lack of proper reportage.
Women talk; women teach their daughters mostly, in most cultures; and this can become a part of common wisdom in the culture based on the sharing of information and experiences of women with and girls with one another and across generations about what to coldly, and rationally, to expect in the world or their locale given experiences with men, with the law, and with the enforcers of the law, i.e., with the culture at large.
The governmental budget line items should incorporate these finances as well; the monies for the resources capable of helping the community mobilize in these instances, where there can be further activities for the reduction of the current status and eventual elimination of violence against women. This means “all appropriate levels,” which sounds as if most conceivable ones, and then need to include this funding into the plans of actions.
That which sets about pragmatic steps for progress for the aforementioned reduction and eventual elimination of violence against women. Then there are a variety of reports, to catalog the rates and types of violence against women, in the United Nations with the Declaration mentioned as another important document. But this all requires time, commitment, sacrifice, education – personal and otherwise, and work to advance the basic human rights of the individuals involved in these, at times, atrocities or simply abuses: women and girls.
–(Updated 2018-11-10) One can find similar statements in other documents, conventions, declarations and so on, with the subsequent statements of equality or women’s rights:
- The Universal Declaration of Human Rights in the Preamble, Article 16, and Article 25(2).
- Convention Against Discrimination in Education (1960) in Article 1.
- The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (1966) in Article 3, Article 7, and Article 13.
- International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (1966).
- Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (1979).
- Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (1984).
- The Declaration on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women and the optional protocol (1993).
- Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (1995), Five-year review of progress (2000), 10-year review in 2005, the 15-year review in 2010, and the 20-year review in 2015.
- United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 (2000), and the UN Security Council additional resolutions on women, peace and security: 1820 (2008), 1888 (2009), 1889 (2009), 1960 (2010), 2106 (2013), 2122 (2013), and 2242 (2015).
- Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, especially Women and Children (2000).
- The Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa or the “Maputo Protocol” (2003).
- Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence or the Istanbul Convention (2011) Article 38 and Article 39.
- UN Women’s strategic plan, 2018–2021
- 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
- 2015 agenda with 17 new Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) (169 targets for the end to poverty, combatting inequalities, and so on, by 2030). The SDGs were preceded by the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) from 2000 to 2015.
–Human Rights
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Led by: Scott Douglas JacobsenTo the socio-political Right, a disclaimer; to the socio-political Left, a trigger warning: the subject matter may be disturbing or triggering for some listeners, speakers, or call members. The statistics on international violence against women is disproportionately more than violence against men. In turn, there is violence against women committed by women against women but more often by men against women. It is the statistical difference, which is the basis for the international emphasis on violence against women in multiple spheres rather than localized differences. Wednesday morning, we will speak on violence against women for one hour or so.
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