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This message summarizes the major discussion points made on the End-violence Working Group. Inevitably, many valuable points will not be captured here, and new Working Group members are encouraged to obtain past Working Group archives. Currently, they can be obtained from the GKP WWW site http://www.globalknowledge.org/

Key themes addressed by members of the Working Group were: the relationship between women's political participation and the impact of efforts to end violence; strategies aimed at community education and government action; and strategies involving information and communications technologies.

Strategies related to increased political participation by women

A member of the Working Group reported that her organization, the Coalition on Violence Against Women - Kenya, had trained election monitors during the 1997 general election to document violence against women candidates, as a means of promoting women's political participation. Educational programmes on political participation had traditionally focused on the importance of voting, how to vote, or for whom to vote. Training and monitoring which address the needs of women candidates target a previously neglected dimension of political participation. This member stated that "expanding women's political participation is an effective strategy for helping to end violence against women, if the women elected in parliament or local government have a conceptual understanding of violence against women and see it as a human right issue."

The issues of quotas was raised by a member who reported on the debate in India about the draft Women's Political Reservation Bill. Opponents of the draft bill, which would set aside 33 per cent of the seats in the Legislature and Parliament for women, blocked efforts to have the bill tabled for discussion in Parliament. The Working Group member stated that women in India who had participated in grassroots democracy movements, and were elected as members of village councils and district level councils, are now facing a backlash. A national debate by women activists on the issue of political reservation for women concluded that electoral reforms are needed as an initial step and women's quotas should be part of a broader reform package.

Another member observed that local campaigns begun spontaneously in the early 1990s by women in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh to prevent the importation of arrack into their villages have had long-term effects on their political participation. Arrack is an indigenous liquor, the production and sale of which generated large revenues for the state government. Women protested the aggressive marketing policies of the government, which they linked to higher levels of violence against women and alcoholism among men. Without support from political parties, many rural women emerged as leaders of a successful effort to force the government to ban arrack. In the ensuing elections, the government was defeated by the party which had declared prohibition as its major policy. The Working Group member observed that although the government has since repealed the prohibition of arrack due to excessive revenue loss, women who had participated in the anti-arrack movement have been politically empowered, especially at the village level.

Strategies aimed at community education and government action

A member working with an organization in Nigeria that is supported by the UNIFEM Trust Fund For Actions to Eliminate Violence against Women reported that their use of theatre, song, dance and video in anti-violence workshops has been resoundingly successful. Building on that experience, her organization will coordinate three theatre performances targeted to different groups, including market women, motor park worker/commercial drivers and academicians, as a part of the 16 Days of Activism against Gender Violence. In addition, her organization works with schools and colleges to develop peer education programmes using visual aids, pamphlets, and public speaking. A poster and poetry competition has been launched in six schools and the results will be used in future public education programmes for children and youth. This member stressed that her organization believes that these types of programmes to build constituencies in civil society must be matched by efforts to influence law and government policy. Her organization therefore holds trainings and symposia for High Court judges, magistrates, officials of the customary courts, law enforcement, and representatives of the ministries of justice, social welfare and women's affairs.

A member of the Working Group from Hong Kong gave an overview of the War-on-Rape campaign begun in the late 1970s by women's groups and social services organizations. Designed with a community-based focus, the campaign had four objectives: initiating aftercare services for victims; changing legislation; promoting public education to change attitudes; and training front-line workers and volunteers. The campaign was well-received by the public and has been followed up by women's groups, which continue to carry out consciousness raising programmes, provide hotline services, and train front-line personnel (such as police officers and social workers). They also set up a number of shelters for battered women which are now funded by the government.

In addition, the Working Group member outlined government action to prevent and respond to sexual harassment. Under the Sex Discrimination Ordinance, the Hong Kong Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC) is authorized to investigate sexual harassment. The Ordinance creates civil remedies for sexual harassment in employment and educational institutions, and in the provision of goods, services and accommodations. The EOC investigates written complaints and attempts to settle cases through conciliation. If conciliation is unsuccessful, the complainant may apply to the EOC for legal advice, legal representation by EOC lawyers or outside counsel briefed by the EOC, in order to take the case to court. To raise public awareness and to prevent sexual harassment, the EOC has produced educational materials, such as pamphlets, television programmes, and two training modules to help organizations to set up in-house policies and training for their staff. More information is available at: http://eoc.org.hk

Two members shared information related to the organization and staffing of police stations. One recommended that victim support units in police stations should be run by a staff consisting of survivors of violence, who will have a better understanding of the needs and concerns of victims. The second reported that Brazil now has 125 Women's Police Stations and such stations have also been set up in Argentina and Peru. These stations have raised awareness and provided a safe haven for women but have not resulted in increased prosecutions or convictions and the number of cases investigated remains low.

Strategies involving use of information and communications technology

A member writing from Dakar drew attention to the need for more support for the use of information and communications technologies (ICTs) by women's groups, civil society and NGOs. Based on her organization's experience, ICTs are a powerful tool in campaigns and ongoing programming. She described the organization's workshops aimed at: 1) promoting electronic communication and networking skills; and 2) building capacities to organize and participate in electronic solidarity campaigns for women's rights. These workshops used case studies from participants' ongoing work to explore how to organize a plan of action and a solidarity campaign. The workshops emphasized guidelines and skills related to: information verification; security; and identifying potential allies. Her organization, ENDA-SYNFEV, will cosponsor two workshops along these lines with Women Living Under Muslim Laws - one for Francophone African participants and the second for Anglophone African participants.

Resources

A.S.A.P. - A School-Based Anti-Violence Program offers a comprehensive resource kit for teachers and schools interested in starting the work against violence. The kit can be ordered from: London Family Court Clinic, 254 Pall Mall Street, Suite 200, London, Ontario, N6A 5PQ, Canada. Tel: (519) 679-7250; FAX: (519) 675-7772. Attention: Ms Karen Rhiger.

Alternative til Vold - Alternative to Violence - is a Norwegian research and treatment centre for men seeking to abandon their violent behaviour. The address is: Korsgate 28 B, 0551 Oslo, Norway.

Stopping Violence Services (SVS) is a centre in New Zealand that provides anti-violence support services to men and their partners, and a support and treatment programme for women. The address is: SVS, 160 Manchester Street, PO Box 774, Christchurch, New Zealand; Tel: (64) 356 6266; Fax: (64) 365 6180.

The National Compadres Network is a network of professional Latino/Chicano men that aims to transform macho male identities into a "hombre noble" identity, and substance abuse, violence against women, child abuse, teenage pregnancies and gang violence. The network can be contacted through Jerry Tello; Tel: (818) 333-5033, or Patrisia Conzales & Roberto Rodriquez, PO Box 7905,Albuquerque NM, U.S.A. 87194-7905; Tel: (505) 248 0092 or e-mail Xcolumn@aol.com

The International Association for Studies of Men (IASOM), an independent, non-commercial researchers' initiative that promotes studies of men from a gender-egalitarian, critical or pro-feminist perspective, publishes a newsletter that gives an international overview of current research on men and masculinity. The newsletter is coordinated by Oystein Gullvag Holter: e-mail ogh@afi-wri.no. A special issue on masculinity and violence is forthcoming, edited by Michael Kaufman, the founder of the White Ribbon campaign in Canada. The newsletter is also posted on the IASOM web page: http://www.ifi.uio.no/~eivindr/iasom.

The International Centre for Criminal Law Reform in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada is in the process of preparing a Resource Manual and Compendium of best practices based on the UN. Model strategies. The Manual will contain examples of means and measures taken by various states on how the Model Strategies are being implemented at a national level. The contact person is Eileen Skinnider, International Centre for Criminal Law Reform (e-mail: skinnider@law.ubc.ca).

In March 1998 the Southern African Development Community (SADC) sponsored a conference on the Prevention of Violence Against Women. The conference report can be obtained from Deputy Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang (E-mail: liezel@justice1.pwv.gov.za). It provides an overview of what is happening and not happening in the 14 SADC nations regarding violence against women. A "Progress and Accountability Framework" was adopted by the Conference, together with their Declaration on the Prevention and Eradication of Violence Against Women and Children. The Framework is a mapping of what a comprehensive response to violence against women and children would look like.  

 

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