Beijing Platform for Action. Chapter IV. D. Violence Against Women Paragraph 125(e)-(g)
Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Publication (Outlet/Website): The Good Men Project
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2019/02/02
Strategic objective D.1.
Take integrated measures to prevent and eliminate violence against women
Actions to be taken
125. By Governments, including local governments, community organizations, non-governmental organizations, educational institutions, the public and private sectors, particularly enterprises, and the mass media, as appropriate:
e. Organize, support and fund community-based education and training campaigns to raise awareness about violence against women as a violation of women’s enjoyment of their human rights and mobilize local communities to use appropriate gender-sensitive traditional and innovative methods of conflict resolution;
f. Recognize, support and promote the fundamental role of intermediate institutions, such as primary health-care centres, family-planning centres, existing school health services, mother and baby protection services, centres for migrant families and so forth in the field of information and education related to abuse;
g. Organize and fund information campaigns and educational and training programmes in order to sensitize girls and boys and women and men to the personal and social detrimental effects of violence in the family, community and society; teach them how to communicate without violence and promote training for victims and potential victims so that they can protect themselves and others against such violence;
Beijing Declaration (1995)
The Beijing Declaration in these sections is focused on organization, recognition, support, funding, and promotion in general, as actionable modes for the stipulations. In terms of the opening salvo, we can see the general framework of working for the community programs and initiatives aimed at the increase in awareness.
One of the myths abounding in many cultures may be marriage as a magical barrier to the acts of sexual and other violence against women. But there can also be the ways in which simple denial of the rates of violence against women, especially when data has been collected from nation to nation and region to region.
A collected set of data that provides the famous statistics about 35%, or 1 in 3, women undergoing some form of “physical and/or sexual intimate partner violence or non-partner sexual violence in their lifetime.” That’s high.
It is right in front of our faces with a firm empirical basis in “worldwide” data. Then we also have the issues following from the recognition. It is one thing for relevant sectors of the general public to know about the facts.
But it is another order entirely to work on the development of a grassroots coalition of people willing to even risk civil disobedience in order to create the change wanted in the current moment and into the next generations.
A world in which women can enjoy their “human rights and mobilize local communities.” There are, certainly, differences in the standard modes of conflict resolution. Some cultural sensitivity and knowledge will be needed in order to do it. But some novel means by which it can be done have been mentioned in other publications, including #RefugeeToo to help refugees or #Basma, and others, to help women in difficult circumstances.
It is more than simply a pragmatic issue. These are ethical and moral issues of a high order. On top of this, we find the need to “recognize, support and promote” the relevant intermediate institutions that can attenuate the negative effects of violence against women.
There is no doubt to the informed on the severe levels of violence against women more often perpetrated by men. But also, there is little doubt as to the negative impacts on the lives and livelihoods of women, and girls, who speak with one another as a group more probable to be violated in some way, to have violence cracking their human rights on the stone of injustice.
All the aforementioned secondary institutions – “primary health-care centres, family-planning centres, existing school health services, mother and baby protection services, centres for migrant families” – are important to have in place following or even coinciding with the higher acknowledgement and recognition of the problem.
But without the broader public knowledge, any strongman ideologue could emerge and strip these social programs overnight of their funding, because the public has been kept distracted or unaware and then the defunding can go on without a hitch or a stall, or a protest or a march.
But the active citizenry remain the prime force in the changes of societies. Those same citizens become the important members of a global community intended for the reduction and eventual elimination of violence against women. Those are represented in this and other documents in the stipulations orienting themselves towards the ultimate goal of a justice on a social level disproportionately negatively impacting women.
This can be derided as social justice activism by SJWs in some sense. But then this leaves a retort query, what form of mind mocks and ridicules and works to deter those working to improve the social justice implied in the reduction of violence against women – and others?
All these secondary programmes and initiatives are important infrastructure, but, as noted, the central need is the development of information campaigns, workshops, and other measures to begin to develop a deeper understanding of the context in which violence against women happens and, hopefully, to learn in community about its severity around the world. This may lead to conclusions about the realities in one’s own home country, not necessarily the most comfortable conclusions, either.
This education and training and be helpful in self-empowerment of those who have been violated or those who may be, in terms of providing a context speaking out for themselves on their own rights and then, also, improve their ability to fend off possible incursions into their rights, as happens around the world and, likely, right in the backyard of your own community.
–(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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