20 August 2009
Clinton’s Message on Gender-Based Violence Resonates Worldwide
Efforts to fight violence against women part of many U.S. aid programs
Washington — Speaking out against gender-based violence was among the top priorities for Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton during her recent visit to seven countries in Africa, but it is a topic the United States takes seriously worldwide.
In Africa, however, violence against women is especially serious, and nowhere is it more horrific than in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), where fighting between factions has subjected women to unprecedented savagery — some 1,100 rapes are reported each month.
During an interview with Radio Okapi in Kinshasa August 10, Clinton condemned sexual violence in any context — as a tool of war or in a domestic setting. “There has to be strong prosecution and law enforcement and judiciary action to make it clear that this is unacceptable, that there is no excuse for it,” she said. Clinton also announced that the United States will provide $17 million to help survivors of sexual violence in the DRC.
ANTI-GENDER-BASED VIOLENCE PROGRAMS INTEGRATED INTO MANY U.S. AID PROGRAMS
The U.S. government, for more than three decades, increasingly has recognized violence against women as a human rights problem with far-reaching consequences. But a report released in 2008 by the Congressional Research Service (CRS) — the public policy research arm of the U.S. Congress — found that there was no U.S. governmentwide coordination of efforts to combat violence against women. The Obama administration, however, has sought to institute leadership and coordination by appointing Melanne Verveer, a longtime advocate of women’s rights and human rights, as the first U.S. ambassador-at-large for global women’s issues.
There are approximately 350 government programs to aid victims of gender-based violence, spanning the work of eight agencies, the CRS found. Of these, 22 percent were operated in Africa, 21 percent in Europe/Eurasia, 17 percent in the Western Hemisphere, 14 percent in South/Central Asia, 14 percent in East Asia/the Pacific and 2 percent in the Near East. Ten percent were operated globally.
The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Department of State (DOS) are the primary U.S. entities that implement U.S. international programs to combat violence against women (VAW), according to the CRS. Other agencies and departments that run some programs with anti-VAW components include the departments of Defense, Health and Human Services, Justice, Labor, Homeland Security and the Peace Corps.
CRS found that U.S. activities revolve around five key issues:
• Global Health. Recognizing that VAW often spreads sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV/AIDS, the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) — a five-year, $15 billion governmentwide initiative to address HIV/AIDS globally — has earmarked funds for activities with a gender-based violence component. In addition, USAID missions in Ethiopia, Egypt, Kenya and Guinea support programs to prevent female genital mutilation.
• Humanitarian Assistance and Refugees. Women and children often suffer the most during times of humanitarian crisis and/or armed conflict and are especially vulnerable to sexual exploitation. U.S. assistance in humanitarian and refugee settings generally incorporates programs to prevent violence against women. For example, U.S. programs to aid Afghan refugees in Pakistan and refugees throughout Africa contain elements aimed at protecting women and children in particular.
• Foreign Military Training. The issue of VAW awareness training and education for foreign military and peacekeeping troops was brought to worldwide attention in the 1990s by cases of sexual exploitation and abuse by U.N. peacekeepers in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo, Cambodia, East Timor and West Africa. Programs to combat violence against women are incorporated into training programs that the U.S. Department of Defense provides for international students and into foreign military training.
• Trafficking in Women and Girls. The International Labour Organization estimates that 98 percent of the women and girls caught up in human trafficking are forced into commercial sexual exploitation. U.S. agencies and departments support roughly 180 global and regional anti-trafficking programs in 90 countries.
• Legal and Political Rights. Among a plethora of U.S. government programs, the State Department’s Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor funds initiatives in sub-Saharan Africa to support empowerment of women and youth. The USAID Office of Women in Development also supports programs to strengthen economic legal rights for women in Albania, Guatemala, Benin, South Africa and Rwanda.
THE INTERNATIONAL VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN ACT
Although it is estimated that one in three women around the world will experience violence in her lifetime, many countries have no laws to prevent it. A report released by the U.N. secretary-general found that 102 United Nations member states have no specific laws on domestic violence.
The U.S. Congress is considering legislation that would tie U.S. economic assistance to governments to their treatment of women.
In remarks delivered April 22 at the Georgetown University Law Center in Washington, Vice President Biden expressed his support for the legislation.
“I think we can affect that behavior [treatment of women] literally by the aid we give or withhold,” Biden said.
