STANCE

Violence Against Women within the personal and public spheres
by Farida Naccache, Egypt

With a fluid movement of her hand, the woman tore off the veil covering her from head to toe, with only two slits allowing her to see only in front of her, albeit breathing with difficulty. 
Amid the stupefaction of the crowd, the woman declared: I'm doing this in protest against the violence and destitution that women suffer beyond any conceivable and imaginable bound, under the rule of the Taliban and in the name of religion…". The speaker is of course forced into exile and not allowed back into her homeland. 
The woman was speaking at the UN Headquarters in New York, part of a group of 6 women who came from different areas suffering from armed strife in the world. They came to New York to participate in the World March for Women against poverty and violence, and met with Ms. Louise Tatchet, Vice-President to the Secretary General of the UN Mr. Koffie Anan, who was away on a mission for the Palestinian cause. 
The Palestinian delegate herself spoke of the dire conditions suffered by the women and children in the occupied territories and in the refugee camps. She expounded on the extreme poverty, malnutrition and the lack of education opportunities, as well as on the daily killing exercised by Israel against the children, armed only with stones.
I have chosen these two testimonials out of the six presented by women on the existing violence
in all parts of the globe, as prototypes that summarize so clearly the vision behind the World

March for Women against Violence. A vision that has helped elaborate the March and has achieve a number of goals, starting with the demand for the eradication of all forms of occupation and an end to all sieges imposed on all people; to the condemnation of all forms of violence whether exercised individually or in groups, and which mark women and children. It has also helped emphasise the need to undertake measures and formulate laws capable of putting an end to violence, whether for individual states or at the U.N level as representative of World Order, even if this was(cont'/17... from Page 1...)true only in name. But laws alone are not enough without the necessary implementing devices. Governments are also asked to condemn any authority, whether religious, cultural, political or economical that control women, only to subjugate them; moreover, the same government has to admit, through laws and practices, that all forms of violence against women constitute a violation of basic Human Rights. Governments should secure for women the basic right of deciding over their fate, body and reproductive functions.
Furthermore, action plans should be evolved to support these goals, in both the media and educational sectors. Media campaigns should be launched against pornography, the trade of female bodies and against prostitution. Accordingly, offenders should be punished, policemen and judges should undergo special training and a work plan should be adopted for the implementation of the 1949 Treaty on Human trade and prostitution. All governments should unreservedly and without exception sign the treaty for the eradication of all forms of discrimination against women and ratify the treaty on Children Rights; admit to the Higher authority of the International Criminal Court, and comply to the regulations defining rape and sexual abuse, considered to be crimes against humanity.
Amnesty International and in its report on women in Afghanistan presents blatant examples of the recurrent violations of Women Rights and of the violent practices exercised against woman. She is and because of her sex not only relegated to an inferior status in a society- which remains overwhelmingly traditional-but the mujahiddine have also bestowed a religious legitimacy on the inferior status and allowed its combatants to subjugate women, and submit them along with civilians and children to all kinds of Human Rights violations: like rape, sexual abuse, forced marriage and prostitution. Whilst the men played the Death game, women struggled along with the burden of caring for their families through the long years of fight and discrimination.
Also and during their struggle for power after the Soviet withdrawal, the armed guards raped women to spite the armed combatants. It seemed that the chiefs blessed rape as reward for their soldiers and as an effective means to spread fear amongst the oppressed. A fifteen year old, raped repeatedly in her home, five years ago said:
"They shot my father in front of me, he was a store owner and it was nine in the evening… They came to our home and said they had orders to kill him because he had allowed me to go to school".
Furthermore, inhabitants told of how several girls committed suicide to escape being raped and that several fathers killed their daughters because they could not defend them against the Mujahidine leaders who were kidnapping dozens of women, holding them for sexual abuse or selling them into prostitution. In addition, a fatwa was issued by the Taliban leaders denying women the right to work away from home in other but the health sector,in which men workers were separated from the women. Consequently, health care for women deteriorated and their education was stopped until necessary funds could be raised for non-mixed schools. A strict veil from head to toe was also imposed. The same veil Afghani protesters in the World March for Women had to wear in order for the Taliban spies not to recognize them. Women that did not comply with the Hijab were publicly flogged and stoned. Families who tried to provide private schooling for their girls, had there schools raided by the Taliban forces and closed down on the ground of insidious schooling programs.
As for the violence in Palestine and the abuse of women and children by the Israeli occupation forces, its tanks, guns and planes; testimonies are redundant here. For these crimes against humanity are aired on televisions all over the world every day, hour on the hour.
Several days ago, Amnesty International published a report issued by its field team on mission in the occupied territories. Its findings reiterated those of a report made by the UN Commission on Human Rights, concluding that Israeli actions were a crime against humanity. Thus it was not surprising that Arab Women in the March raised a banner that read "Occupation breeds poverty and violence".
Moreover, a fact-finding report was presented at the Beijing Conference, by two Egyptian organizations. Entitled "Women: Old and New", it provided some statistics on the abuse of women at the work place:

66% of the women in the sample admitted to being insulted at their work place
70% to being sexually harassed
30% to being subjected to verbal sexual harassment
17% to being directly harassed by hand contact
20% to being harassed by hand contact and flirting

What according to the women in the sample constituted an act of violence committed by their husbands, was:
-Denying them the right to disagree on any issue 88%
-Denying them the right to travel 69%
-Denying them the right to go out 82%
-Forced sex 93%

Furthermore, the Official Information Agency in Egypt ...admitted to the violence exercised against Egyptian women. The Egyptian El-Ahram newspaper, published in its issue dated 7/2/1997 numbers from a research conducted by the National Commission on Population … which confirmed that: 35% of Egyptians are beaten by their husbands, at least once during their marriage and that pregnancy does not protect a woman… It should be mentioned here that the study took a sample of 7.000 wives, age ranging from15-49, 69.9% of who admitted to being beaten if they refused sex, 69.1% for daring to answer back.
Violence, both in individual and group manifestations, is firmly rooted in our economic, cultural, and political realities. It is not a predisposition or a natural inclination born with men, unless the men in question are suffering from psychological disorders. Violence in the world is the result and to varying degrees of the policies of discrimination grounded in the patriarchal order and in the racial, sexual and religious differences. These are exercised in Egypt as well as in the whole world for private interests and against humanity. This is true whether it is dune in the name of the imperialist powers or in the interest of local class alliances through which a few control the fate of millions in order to accumulate profit and wealth. This, in turn, has lead to the double standard being exercised so blatantly by the hegemonies powers in the world today.
The World March for Women against Poverty and Violence has exhibited a firm understanding of all the reasons that lead to violence against women and children. It did not presume to separate the general from the particular, the reasons for individual manifestations as opposed to those of groups; instead, it has delved deeply into the heart of the argument in an attempt to find effective solutions.
 

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