Human Rights Policy and Nonprofit Organizational Development

Archive for 2009|Yearly archive page


Women and HIV/AIDS

In Policy Blog on December 14, 2009 at 11:34 pm

This is a cross-posting of a column I wrote for Gender Across Borders in honor of World AIDS Day.

Halting the spread of HIV/AIDS is part of Millennium Development Goal 6, linked with “malaria and other diseases.”  The major international funding body for AIDS, the Global Fund works on HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, as the epidemiological issues are similar.  Health outcomes for women and girls lag behind those of men for all of these diseases, but women face added vulnerability and stigma in the case of HIV/AIDS.  According to UNAIDS, “gender inequality both fuels and intensifies the impact of the HIV epidemic,” and “women often experience the impact of HIV more severely than men.”  This is for a variety of reasons, which as in the case of maternal mortality, can only be truly addressed through the empowerment of women.

A global epidemic

An estimated 33 million people worldwide were infected with HIV/AIDS as of 2007, and in many areas infection rates are growing disproportionately among women and girls.  Women represent 60% of new infections in Sub-Saharan Africa, and ”globally, HIV is the leading cause of death in women of reproductive age,” according to the AIDS Accountability International Scorecard on Women 2009.  The UNAIDS Report on the Global AIDS Epidemic 2008 has stats on infection and mortality rates as well as a variety of related social factors.  For instance,  some countries including gender considerations in planning and funding HIV/AIDS program, but the vast majority still fall short.  The Report identifies the oppression of women as a major factor contributing to women’s increased vulnerability, and recommends programs to “forge norms on gender equity.”

Vulnerability related to social power

Both the Scorecard and the UNAIDS Report identify gender inequality as a root of increased risk and vulnerability to HIV infection.  As the Scorecard points out, “[gender] inequality may, for example, deny women the opportunity to negotiate safe sex, or force women and girls into abusive transactional sexual relationships in order to obtain food and other necessities.have access to the information, education and services needed to reduce their vulnerability to HIV infection. ”  In other words, many women don’t have the power to decide when they have sex, or to demand that their partner use a condom.
the UNAIDS Report explicitly identifies the kinds of programs that could lead to the empowerment of women and lead to lowered infection rates among women and girls, recommending that “strategies to increase women’s economic independence and legal reforms to recognize women’s property and inheritance rights, should be prioritized by national governments and international donors.”  The Report sites as evidence a study in Botswana and Swaziland that found that “women who lack sufficient food are 70% less likely to perceive personal control in sexual relationships, 50% more likely to engage in intergenerational sex, 80% more likely to engage in survival sex, and 70% more likely to have unprotected sex than women receiving adequate nutrition.”  Survival sex. That’s some serious oppression!
A SWEAT Workshop

Sex workers, a further marginalized group in most societies, are at elevated risk of contracting STIs.  Because of their stigmatized social status, they are also at elevated risk for receiving sub-par public health care.  Check out this IRIN report on the effect the FIFA World Cup will have on sex workers in South Africa, and on the failure of the South African government to effectively address the issue of HIV/AIDS for sex workers, in spite of high rates of infection in the country.  The upshot is that various advocacy groups are working specifically on the issue, including the Sex Workers Education and Advocacy Taskforce (SWEAT).  This quote from a testimonial on SWEAT’s blog exemplifies the compounded risks of sex work, and why their organizing and advocacy is so important.

While working this job, I met a certain man in the hotel where I reside, as there is a bar on its ground floor. This man told me he wanted to take me home with him and so having agreed to his proposition, he then left money for me where I reside. So we went together where he lives, without him telling me he lived there with many other men. I was to find out the hard way as all six men then slept with me without putting on condoms. I cried helplessly as I had nowhere to go and report. I was afraid to go to the police for fear of being returned home as my papers are not in order. In addition, sometimes going to the police when you are a prostitute they do not listen to you and instead say ‘she who goes looking for scars will get them, you got what you were looking for.’

In one state in India, a rights-based advocacy group called SANGRAM works closely with local communities, and advocates for the inclusion of the needs of marginalized communities in sexual and reproductive health policy.  Their empowerment bent is reflected in their mission: ”People should believe that they can change things. It is not about a few activists fighting for other people’s rights. Anybody who has imbibed this understanding should be able to go and fight for their rights.”

Here’s a powerful video highlighting SANGRAM’s work with sex workers.

At Risk: Rights Violations of HIV-Positive Women in Kenyan Health Facilities, a report published by the Center for Reproductive Rights (CRR) and the Federation of Women Lawyers-Kenya, provides an excellent case study of what gender-based discrimination can mean in the HIV/AIDS context.  In addition to health systems failures affecting women living with HIV/AIDS, the report details abuses including violations of confidentiality, detention for failure to pay healthcare fees, and nonconsensual HIV testing.  The report also does a great job of outlining how HIV/AIDS and reproductive rights dovetail for women.  CRR also points out that such conditions represent violations of a variety of human rights, including the right to health and the right to freedom from discrimination.

The AIDS epidemic affects women and girls in other ways too.  According to the UNAIDS Report, there will be a projected 14 million AIDS orphans by 2015, and AIDS orphans are far less likely to attend school then their counterparts.  We already know that girl children are far less likely to be sent to school than boys, so the marginalization of female AIDS orphans is compounded.  Zimbabwe, with the highest rate of HIV infection in the world, has had a rash of child rapesbecause of the myth, widespread in several African countries, that having sex with a virgin can “cleanse” you of AIDS.  Obviously, the bodily and psychic integrity of the girls and women who are violated has little value for their attackers.

In a recent post here on Gender Across Borders, Jessica Mack tells the story of a woman whose husband intentionally infected her with HIV.  She points out that the core of this incident “is a serious lack of respect for women as humans with rights.”  That’s right, sister.  Women’s sexual and reproductive rights are violated at the intra-personal and the systemic levels every day because of fundamental lack of respect for them (us!) as full human beings deserving of full rights and agency.  Policies and programs to empower women and challenge gender norms are necessary in every community to empower women, and comprehensive sexuality education is required to give women, men, boys and girls the tools to make health sexual choices.  HIV/AIDs, like maternal mortality, education and health are issues that will not be resolved without full respect for women’s rights and the full participation of healthy, empowered women.

Some actions you can take to help fight HIV/AIDS and empower women:

Sign With Women Worldwide: A Compact to End AIDS and keep up with the International Women’s Health Coalition (WHC)’s Action Alerts.  IWHC’s HIV/AIDS work seeks to “empower women and girls to stand up for themselves and make healthy choices about their lives and those of their families.”

Donate to AIDS Accountability International, and NGO doing advocacy for HIV/AIDS programming through research and assessing compliance with international standards and compromises.

,

Sexual Rights in Iran

In Policy Blog on November 10, 2009 at 11:40 pm

This is a cross-posting of a column I write on sexual and reproductive rights policy internationally for Gender Across Borders.

From FARS News Agency

inappropriate dress in tehran

This month I’m focusing on sexual rights in Iran.  First, let me give a quick overview of the concept sexual rights.  According to a groundbreaking declaration by the International Planned Parenthood Federation, sexual rights are simply defined as “human rights related to sexuality.”  They are listed in the publication linked above, and include the right to equality, equal protection of the law and freedom from all forms of discrimination based on sex, sexuality or gender.  It’s important that they be defined and delineated so that they may be specifically protected, especially at a time period where fundamentalist policies are restricting the exercise of sexual and reproductive freedom here and around the world.

The ten rights specifically identified by IPPF are based upon treaty law and on the underlying principle of nondiscrimination, in this case based on sex, gender or sexuality; and the principle that “sexuality, and pleasure deriving from it, is a central aspect of being human, whether or not a person chooses to reproduce.”  Violations of sexual rights in Iran range from arrests for “immoral” behavior or dress to sexual assault and rape by government agents, all in service of brutal repression and social control.

woman detained
A woman being detained at a protest, on the Women’s Freedom Forum this picture is entitled “normal arrest”

While the detainment of women for inappropriate dress (including too-tight overcoats and pants short enough to show ankle skin) is itself a violation, it also goes beyond “moral policing” to the widespread and purposeful intimidation of women and the use of their sexuality as a weapon against them.  Same goes for teenagers who were beaten for such “moral offenses” as an overly revealing veil or looking at girls.  Their sexuality is being used as a club to beat the individuality and resistance out of them.

Sexual offenses are punishable by hanging or stoning, especially for women.  When one brothel was raided, the prostitutes were arrested– including girls as young as 13.

People of Iran face the death penalty for “crimes against morality” and “sexual crimes,” includinghomosexuality.  Iranian President Ahmadinejad famously said that there are no homosexuals in Iran, a statement belied by the ongoing executions of people accused of “homosexual acts.”  This great editorial on Salon points out what is at stake in naming and categorizing sexuality in Iran.   It’s also interesting to note that the government subsidizes gender reassignment surgery.  In Iran, you must chose one or the other role in a gender binary or face stoning or hanging.  The documentary Be Like Others explores the phenomenon of sex reassignment in Iran.

There are even several young men on death row for alleged homosexual acts as children, in itself a grave violation of the prohibition against the death penalty for minors.  Another young person, a girl of 16, was hanged for “acts incompatible with chastity” (having sex outside the confines of marriage).  In her case, the religious judge actually placed the rope around her neck.  He also received congratulatory letters from the town’s governor for his “firm approach.”

Women are frequently detained for dress-code offenses, and such charges are often used to detain protesters.  Once within the power of the state, citizens are even more danger. Human Rights Watch has presented evidence that protesters arrested following the contested elections this year were rapedby guards.  One prisoner who was raped was left bound and bleeding on the street.  The medical examiner’s report in this case backed up the allegations of rape.  While HRW makes a practice of presenting individual cases with excellent proof, there is evidence that the practice of prisoner rape and sexual assault is widespread.  There are reports of prisoners being forced to rape other prisoners.  In August a pro-reform presidential candidate said that he had heard from former officers and detainees who had since been released that detainees were “savagely raped by their jailers to the point of physical and mental damage.”  Because the rapes seem to be focused on political prisoners, the violation of sexual rights in this case is clearly a tool of repression.

shirin ebadi

Shirin Ebadi

Those that defend human rights, including the famous Shirin Ebadi, are severely punished for their efforts to fight human rights violations.  Ebadi has been jailed and tortured and had her NGO, the Centre for Defense of Human Rights, raided and  shut down.

Let me be clear that my condemnation of the Iranian government and its ongoing direct violation of sexual rights, and human rights in general, is not a condemnation of Islam.  The conflagration is false, and has too often been used to whip up jingoist fervor for right wing fundamentalist regimes here at home.  I defer to Shirin Ebadi, who asserts that human rights are totally compatible with Islam can be guaranteed within a muslim legal framework.  She herself was a judge before the fundamentalist takeover of Iran in 1979.

I hope that the human rights framework continues to be a tool to put the fundamentalists of the world (within whatever religious tradition they fall) on notice that the violation of rights is unacceptable.  And I hope that the we can back such an assertion up by demanding, as a global community, respect for sexual and reproductive rights and for all human rights for all people.

Finally, I’ll leave you with a few sources from within Iran: the Women’s Freedom Forum- I attended a forum they co-hosted in support of a UN sanction on Iran, and they had a lot of interesting, on-the-ground information.  WFF has a great photo gallery on their site, and just released a book reporting on executions and torture, called Working from Within.  There’s also the Human Rights and Democracy International Project that has had great information on the post-election uprising and ongoing coverage of human rights defenders who are detained.

, ,

Maternal Mortality

In Policy Blog on October 12, 2009 at 11:51 am

This is a cross-posting of a column I write for Gender Across Borders.

This month instead of focusing on a specific country, I’m going to broaden the scope to address a global epidemic– maternal mortality.  Each year more than a half a million women die during pregnancy, giving birth, or in the critical few weeks following birth.  That’s one woman every minute; most from preventable causes, and most (99%) occur in poor countries.  In fact, the difference between maternal death rates in developing countries as compared to developed countries is absolutely staggering.  Women in the developing world are 300 times more likely to die in childbirth than their counterparts in industrialized countries.  According to a UNICEF report, “A woman in Niger has a one in seven chance of dying during the course of her lifetime from complications during pregnancy or delivery. That’s in stark contrast to the risk for mothers in America, where it’s one in 4,800 or in Ireland, where it’s just one in 48,000.”  In addition to those women those women who perish, for each death 20 women suffer from illness or permanent injury like fistula.

The reduction of maternal mortality is part of the fifth Millennium Development Goal (MDG), but has only recently really begun to garner international attention.  Anna Browne, wife of the British Prime Minister, just had a piece on maternal mortality on the Huffington Post- a ticket to issue stardom.   More voices than ever before are trying to put and keep maternal mortality on the agenda.

Says one UNFPA communications specialist, more women die in childbirth than in wars.  Ban Ki Moon recently called current rates of maternal mortality “inexcusable,” espcially in a world where we can “map the human genome and send vehicles to far reaches of space.”  In addition, simple clinical interventions could drastically reduce the numbers of deaths, according to public health journal The Lancet.

A few countries where high rates of maternal mortality have recently made news:

A hospital in Ethiopia. Image care of The Huffington Post A hospital in Ethiopia. Image care of The Huffington Post

Ethiopia: Twenty-two thousand women die every year in childbirth or of related causes.  According to this Huffpo series, the major issue is health systems and access.  The country of 77 million has about 200 gynecologists, and most women live far from clinics.  The Ethiopian government’s response is an army of “health extension workers,” but even they can’t provide all the necessary services to the 15% of women who experience complications due to pregnancy or birth.

Nigeria: As the Center for Reproductive Rights has reported, nearly 60,000 Nigerian women die every year from pregnancy-related causes, but only 5% of the country’s annual budget goes to the health sector.    And although “Nigeria accounts for only 1 percent of the global population, it contributes 10 percent to the number of global maternal and child deaths.”  Half of the maternal deaths are the result of postpartum hemorrhaging, which could be stopped with proper equipment and trained personnel.

Bangladesh: The BBC calls Bangladesh “one of the most dangerous places in the world to have a baby.”  As part of the “Survival” documentary series, the BBC has focused on maternal mortality there.  The documentary shows home births attended by traditional midwives, and points out that they lack access to lifesaving medical care if complications arise.  It also mentions that programs like microlending have led to the empowerment of women.

Sierra Leone: Amnesty International has just launched a campaign on maternal mortality in Sierra Leone, pointing out the fact that health is a human right.

Amnesty president Irene Khan has toured Sierra Leone and blogged the whole way, posting stats and pictures.  One in 8 women die during childbirth in the country, many because they could not afford the fees associated with reproductive health care.  In this report, Amnesty calls on the government to fix its corrupt and inadequate healthcare system, and to remove cost as a barrier to care.  The government of Sierra Leone denies the validity of Amnesty’s report.  You can write a letter to the president of Sierra Leone here.

Mother and newborn in India A woman and her newborn in India. Image care of the Swedish International Development Agency.

India: This Human Rights Watch report points out that maternal death rates in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh are the highest in the country, but that its not an isolated problem– about one in five maternal deaths last year took place in India.  All over India, women die from infection and shock after childbirth.  One nonprofit has anti-shock garments that have fallen out of favor in more developed areas because they are a time-consuming, yet simple, alternative to ongoing basic care.  The tight, girdle-like fabric must be worn on the trip home after giving birth to reduce the risk of hemorrhage, and then removed very slowly.  A friend and colleague from India once explained to me that her work with maternal mortality centered around the concept of the “five cleans,” basics like soap for washing the midwife’s hands, a clean razor, and a plastic sheet to deliver the baby on to.  Such simple interventions underscore the ease with which the international community could address maternal mortality, if the political will were there.

Swaziland: Rising maternal mortality has been attributed to “home delivery and lack of skilled attendants,” and poor health infrastructure.  The country is focusing on maternal mortality as part of its National Programme on Sexual and Reproductive Health.

It seems that most of these stories point to common causes for staggering rates of maternal morality.  Poor health systems come up over and over in accounts of African countries’ maternal mortality statistics.  This often includes lack of trained staff, lack of phsycial infrastructure making acess difficult, and inadequate healthcare delivery systems.  But given the health systems explanation for high levels of maternal mortality, what is the US’ excuse?

The United States: Black women in the US die from pregnancy or birth-related causes at almost double the rate of white women.   Check out this wonderful series on African American maternal health at Women’s Enews.

And overall, the US has been ranked among the worst industrialized countries for maternal health by Save the Children.  What’s going on here?

I think an overarching theme is the disempowerment of women by an international culture that seems to see women’s bodies as a commodity and females as expendible.  Although maternal mortality has become a bigger blip on the world’s radar, a woman dying a minute of a preventable cause is nothing short of outrageous– as Amnesty says, a human rights emergency.  The “position of women” emerges again and again as the root of maternal mortality.  “Study after study shows that investing in women brings broad economic and social benefits,” says Ban Ki Moon.  UNIFEM has said that although the medical and health systems causes are often emphasized, the solution truly lies in the empowerment of women.

Although health systems reform is critical, we must also keep working to force the heteropatriarchy to recognize women as agents in our own lives, as full citizens, and as equal human beings deserving of the full spectrum of human rights.

Brook Elliott-Buettner is a freelance human rights policy researcher and writer living in New York. More information and work is available at www.brookelliottbuettner.com.

, , , ,

Anti-Abortion Constitutional Amendment in the Dominican Republic

In Policy Blog on September 8, 2009 at 6:12 pm

aborto legal derecho fundamental RD

This is a cross-posting of a column I write for Gender Across Borders.

This month the SRHR Sit Report focuses on the total prohibition of abortion in the Dominican Republic.  The DR has one of the most restrictive policy regimes in the world and has led to maternal mortality and dire consequences for Dominican women’s health.  Now, a constitutional amendment seeks to further restrict reproductive rights.

The Situation

For years, the women of the Dominican Republic have faced one of the toughest abortion policies in the world.  According to a summary on the International Women’s Health Coalition blog, the 100-year old law prohibiting abortion even in the case of rape has been challenged by feminist and rights groups, while forces on the right pushed for a constitutional amendment to “protect life” from the moment of conception.  Article 30, passed by a majority vote in April of this year, defines life as beginning before implantation.  This is a crucial distinction because it means that the amendment will affect the legality of emergency contraception and IUDs.  It also means that more Dominican women will die because they are not allowed access to critical reproductive health technologies and services.

A classic: Get your rosaries off our ovaries! A classic: Get your rosaries off our ovaries!

I hate to sound like a broken record, but the Catholic church hierarchy has again been one of the key culprits in restricting women’s rights.  Article 30 comes in the wake of a “massive campaign” led by the Cardinal Archbishop of the Dominican Catholic church.  The Human Development Office coordinator for the UNDP in the Dominican Republic has criticized the church’s involvement, saying, “The Catholic Church influences everything… it has become a source for social exclusion in the Dominican Republic.  The dogma is placed ahead of the needs of the population, health, housing and better living conditions.”  Catholic hierarchy, stop your meddling!

Implications for Dominican Women and Girls

The Dominican Gynecology and Obstetrics Society is warning that Article 30 will mean an increase in maternal death, which is already far too high in the country.  Abortion can be an extremely safe procedure when performed in a safe and clinical atmosphere.  In countries where abortion is restricted, however, clandestine abortion is often a leading cause of maternal mortality.  In the Dominican Republic, there are 160 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births.  The Dominican Gynecology and Obstetrics Society’s president has said, “those deaths are the product of unsafe abortions.  I would like the honourable legislators to tell me what we are going to do before the presence of a woman with severe preeclampsia or eclampsia, convulsing in any emergency room around the country, what must we do?  See her die to protect ourselves from the repercussions stipulated by Article 30?”

In addition to the lives that will be lost unnecessarily because of this amendment, thousands of women will be denied their preferred method of contraception– the Intra-Uterine Device.  IUDs and emergency contraception (the morning after pill) would both constitute violations under Article 30′s restrictive framework.  There is a high contraceptive prevalence rate in the Dominican Republic, and a good chunk of that number is women with IUDs.  Both the IUD and emergency contraception are critical pieces of the reproductive healthcare spectrum and their restriction further limits women’s ability to control their reproductive lives and participate as full and equal members of society.  I’m not sure which I find more troubling: the blatant prohibition of abortion even given the scientific research that women will die because of it, or the more insidious restriction of women’s rights through closing down family planning options.

No to Article 30! Every woman's life matters No to Article 30: The life of every woman matters

Fighting Back

Our Dominican sisters are fighting back… tomorrow afternoon, Dominican women will march on the Congress against Article 30.  The march is being led by a coalition of feminist and human rights NGOs, including Colectiva Mujer y Salud (CESIM).  CESIM’s director, Sonia Galvan, has said that abortion “is a human rights issue.” A woman after my own heart!  I am especially pleased to see the Dominican women’s movement framing abortion as a human rights issue because it was a successful strategy in the decriminalization of abortion in Mexico City a few years ago.  It’s also great to hear a UN representative speaking out against the heavy-handed involvement of the Catholic church heirarcy.

If you are a Dominican citizen (even living in the U.S.), you can send an email to your representative with a little help from the International Women’s Health Coalition blog.  Pass it on to Dominican friends, too.  At this point, according to IWHC, the role of other international activists and feminists is a bit more ambiguous.  But keep your eyes on the developments in the Dominican Republic and continue raise your voice for the human rights of women everywhere.

, ,

Article published

In Policy Blog on August 21, 2009 at 12:36 pm

An article I wrote on the human rights legal framework and abortion, using Mexico City as a case study, has just been published.  Available online here.  The abstract is available on my Publications page.

, , , ,

Another one bites the dust: Yucatan state in Mexico restricts abortion

In Policy Blog on August 15, 2009 at 9:09 am

Since the passage of the law decriminalizing abortion in Mexico City was upheld as constitutional by the Supreme Court, there have been a number of backlash bills in state congresses. More than a dozen states have already seen constitutional amendments to protect life “from the moment of conception.”  Last week, Yucatan joined their repressive ranks.  The official law, passed July 15, was published on August 7th and it severely restricts reproductive rights and health.  The constitutional and penal code changes:

  • Criminalize use of IUD
  • Criminalize assisted reproduction
  • No medical services for women with ectopic pregnancy
  • No legal abortion for pregnancies that put women at risk or the result of rape

Mexican citizens can take action here by sending an email to the state’s governor and congress-persons.  I think US citizens could probably erase the text of the email and write something in English about how people all over the world care about the lives and health of women in Yucatan.

As I reported earlier, some Mexican NGOs are calling the rash of such ammendments a pact by the Catholic heirarchy.

, , ,

An epidemic of sexual violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo

In Uncategorized on August 3, 2009 at 12:37 pm
Cross-posted from Gender Across Borders, where I write a monthly column called the Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights Situation Report.  This month’s SRHR Sit Report focuses on the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where rape and sexual assault have become the tactic of choice for terrorizing and intimidating women and communities, and the conditions of the conflict have further degraded the status of sexual and reproductive health services.
 
A 12 year old girl, displaced by conflict, holds her baby sister. Image care of Reuters photographer Finbarr O'Reilly A 12 year old girl, displaced by conflict, holds her baby sister. Image care of Reuters photographer Finbarr O’Reilly

The war that has raged in eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo since the late nineties has a devastating effect for women– the use of rape and sexual assault as a weapon of war by troops on all sides– and no one is talking about it.  In the decade-long conflict, more than 5 million people have been killed in a country with a population of about 66 million, and tens of thousands of women have been victims of brutal sexual assault and then of stigmatization by their communities.  This Guardian report details the complex roots of the conflict, and its relationship with the Rwandan genocide.

An Epidemic of Sexual violence

The sexual violence and use of rape in Eastern DR Congo is being called the worst in the world, and the brutal attacks on women have become so commmon that they have become normalized in the mind of many Congolese.  Soldiers from militias as well as government troops are guilty, and even government funcitonaries and community figures have been reportely using sexual violence as a means of intimidation.

A woman undergoing surgery for fistula A woman undergoing surgery for fistula. Image care of endrevestvik’s flickr stream

The violence is often extremely vicious.  It is common for women to be raped with rifles, sticks and shards of broken glass.  Families are forced to watch mothers and daughters violated and men have been forced to rape their female family members.  Many women have developed tears in the lining of their vaginas, called fistula, which cause incontinence of urine or feces.  Women suffering from fistula are often ostracized from their communities or hidden away alone because of the stench.  Doctors have begun classifying the vaginal destruction caused by “exceptionally violent gang rape” as a crime of war.

In addition, the war has created a huge wave of internally displaced persons running from conflict areas or living in refugee camps (56,000 in the last two weeks alone).  Women who have fled conflict and now living in UN camps with poor conditions for sexual and reproductive health.   The UNFPA has been providing some women with sanitary napkins and clean birth kits, but overall the situation is not good.

Many women have become pregnant as a result of rape and none of the options are particularly good.  Unsafe abortion leads to maternal mortality, pregnancy and birth services are unavailable or clinics lack clean supplies.

A makeshift refugee camp in eastern Congo. Image care of Reuters photographer Finbarr O'Reilly A makeshift refugee camp in eastern Congo. Image care of Reuters photographer Finbarr O’Reilly

There are a number of great independent sources of information and groups working to raise awareness.  A new documentary called The Greatest Silence chronicles the effects of the rape and mutilation of Congolese women. South Kivu Women’s Media Association (AFEM) has raised awareness within communities in Eastern DR Congo and around the world.  By letting women tell their stories on the air, they have broken the silence and begun the healing process for many women.  In fact, it was a Women’s eNews panel featuring AFEM founder Chouchou Namegabe that brought the conflict to my attention.  The Boston Globe had a gorgeous photo essay on the DR Congo.

Conflict minerals

Much like the conflict in Sierra Leone was fueled by so-called “blood diamonds,” the war in the DR Congo is largely driven by conflicts over resources.  Charcoal, gold and minerals like Coltan, which is necessary for the manufacture of cell phones, have all been the root of militia actions.  Large international corporations (like the UK’s Amalgamated Metal Corporation) quietly draw out the resources and deal with militias while murky supply chains protect them from scrutiny.  Global Witness just released a much-heralded report on the “militarisation of mining” called Faced with a Gun, What Can you Do? which is available for download here.  It traces the various militias involved in the conflict, and the breakdown of the rule of law in Eastern Congo.  According to the BBC, “regional analysts say the international demand for coltan is one of the driving forces behind the war in the DRC, and the presence of rival militias in the country.”

Media Response

With one of the biggest humanitarian crises in recent history unfolding in the DR Congo, why don’t we hear about this more often?  Why aren’t we decrying the rampant use of sexual violence as a weapon of war?  This blog focuses on reporting of the war in DR Congo and investigates why it has received so little play in international media.  Recently, international attention turned more toward the DR Congo.  Ban Ki Moon has focused on the crisis recently and after a visit with survivors said that he was “humbled, saddened and shocked” by the level of violence.  The World Council of Churches has released a position calling on the church to become the conscience of the world in speaking up for Congo’s women.  Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is planning a trip to the DRC in the coming weeks, and she is expected to condemn the sexual violence, and Ben Afleck and Mick Jagger have created a short film to raise awareness and funds for the UNHCR’s work in DRC.

What can we do?

We don’t want our cell phones to fuel a war that destroys the lives of so many women, but lack of information about the supply chain of minerals coming out of the DR Congo makes it dificult to stop it.  As The Enough Project has pointed out, this is a tremendous opportunity for activism.  By making people aware of the the violence against women and the ongoing conflict in the DR Congo, and our part in it, we can start to build the international necessary to force mineral companies to stop fueling this war.

Learn more about the humanitarian aspects of the conflict from the International Rescue Committee.  Join the Raise Hope for Congo project as it builds a movement against conflict minerals.  Email president Obama and ask him to appoint a special envoy to the Great Lakes Region.  Donate to the Fistula Foundation which directly assists in restoring health and dignity to women suffering from fistulas, including supporting the pioneering Panzi Clinic for traumatic fistula in the DR Congo.

, ,

Means of Reproduction Reading at Babeland

In Policy Blog on July 9, 2009 at 12:11 pm

michelle goldberg

Michelle Goldberg gave a reading of her new book, The Means of Reproduction, at Babeland in soho for Planned Parenthood NYC‘s Activist Council Sex Ed Advocacy Group last Tuesday.  As a newly-minted “Activist” I was thrilled to attend.  The event was comprehensive and Michelle was well-spoken and very impressive.

She read snippets from the book and discussed  the ‘global culture war raging [over] who controls women’s fertility– and, more broadly, women themselves.”  The book traces public policy affecting women’s human rights through recent history and across the globe.  Here’s an interview with Goldberg on RH Reality Check.

ppnyc activist council

The Activist Council’s Sex Ed Advocacy Group, which hosted the event, “advocat[es] for comprehensive sex education and cultivating sexual health awareness.”  Their new campaign, “We’re going to the principal’s office!” is asking us to reach out to our contacts in the public school system to ask them to nudge their principals to bring comprehensive sex ed to their schools.

, , , ,

SRHR Sit Report: Philippines (cross-posted on Gender Across Borders)

In Policy Blog on July 6, 2009 at 4:27 pm

The Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights Situation Report is a monthly column I write for the feminist blog Gender Across Borders.  This month’s SRHR Sit Report focuses on the Philippines, where the Catholic hierarchy holds tremendous power over legislators to the detriment of women’s reproductive health.

The situation:

The Philippines is an island state, and the most populated Southeast Asian nation. Abortion there is banned, and the Catholic hierarchy exerts tremendous power over the political process in spite of the Philippines’ constitutional separation of church and state. President Gloria Arroyo is supported by the church and openly backs its anti-contraception stance.

Millions of women in the Philippines have more children than they want because of a public policy regime that either fails to fund family planning services or bans them completely under pressure from the politically powerful Catholic church hierarchy. Contraception is not funded by the Department of Health, and has been effectively banned in the capital city of Manila since 2000.

In January, the Supreme Court refused to hear an attempt to overturn the ban– on a technicality. That case was filed by twenty poor, slum-dwelling women demanding their right to access to contraception. Poverty is a huge problem in the Philippines, as population grows and rice prices rise. The country produces 16 million tons of rice annually, but imports 2 million tons more to meet national need. And the population growth trajectory continues to trouble experts.

In the capital city where 70% of women live below the poverty line, poor and marginalized women are disproportionately affected by the contraception ban. Women with means still have access to contraception through private clinics and healthcare providers.philippines/population

Until recently, condoms were distributed free in other parts of the Philippines with USAID funding, but even that was cut off last year. Many women are now unable to obtain any kind of contraception, and the consequences can be deadly. As in any country with restrictive reproductive health policies, clandestine abortion is a major public health problem. Maternal mortality is “a key challenge” in the Philippines, according to the UNFPA. It’s far too high; almost double that of neighbor Thailand. According to UN data, the vast majority of these deaths are are preventable. Maternal mortality, subject of the fifth Millennium Development Goal, clearly ties the need for comprehensive reproductive health care to the development agenda.

Often, unintended pregnancies drive families deeper into poverty– and according to a Guttmacher Institute report, more than half of pregnancies in the Philippines are unintended. Curbing unwanted pregnancies could have tremendous impact on poverty and on the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals. The public stance of the Catholic church, however, is that poverty is the result of corruption and economic policy. The stance blatantly flouts the international development community and the international laws that call for comprehensive reproductive health services to protect women’s reproductive health and human rights. This fact sheet illustrates the unequivocal link between forced maternity and poverty.

Angel LIn spite of all this, the City of Manila has “engaged in a campaign against modern contraception.” The city, in line with church demands, encourages the use of ‘natural family planning;’ in other words, the rhythm method. We’ve all heard the old joke: What do you call people who use the rhythm method? Parents. I actually think it’s offensive to rhetorically equate ‘natural’ and ‘artificial’ family planning given the irrefutable scientific evidence for the level of effectiveness of contraceptive methods and the frequent failure of ‘natural family planning.’

Given overwhelming public support for contraception, many activists have high hopes for the 2010 elections. And there is currently a Reproductive Health Bill before the Philippine congress. Catholic officials have gone on the offensive, adopting strong language equating politicians who support reproductive health with abortionists and threatening excommunication. Even as maternal mortality rises, anti groups have labeled the legislation immoral and “pro-abortion.”

The government’s refusal to fund contraception and the outright ban on all forms of contraception in the city of Manila means that thousands of Philippine women’s constitutional and human rights are being violated on an ongoing basis. The church’s heavy-handed activism has held back the Philippines on important development indicators, and doubtless caused the deaths of many women. You can help fight for the reproductive autonomy of the women of the Philippines by joining the Center for Reproductive Rights’ facebook cause to End the Birth Control Ban in the Philippines, and donate to support CRR’s powerful and effective advocacy work there.

For more on the ongoing crisis in the Philippines, also see J.Mack‘s great piece for Gender Across Borders in May called Ignoring the Truth in the Philippines, pointing to an RH Reality Check post and referencing several important reports.

Brook Elliott-Buettner is a freelance human rights policy researcher and writer living in New York. More information and work is available at www.brookelliottbuettner.com.

, , , ,

Policy Blog: Human rights orgs criticize the Merida Initiative

In Policy Blog on June 8, 2009 at 7:55 pm

I have written before about the Merida Initiative to fund the “war on drugs” in Mexico.  A few weeks ago, a group of several dozen civil society organizations and well-known individuals wrote a letter to the U.S. Congress voicing concerns about the initiative.

The memo raises several issues and points to human rights abuses by forces trained and deployed under the Initiative. 

The deployment of the Mexican army to carry out public security tasks that legally correspond to the civilian police has brought with it a significant increase in human rights violations in the last two years, including extrajudicial executions, torture, arbitrary detentions and rape.

Signatories include several organizations that I’ve worked with in the past and deeply respect, including Catholics for the Right to Decide (Católicas por el Derecho a Decidir, which also figured in this post) and the Fray Fransisco de Vitoria Human Rights Center (Centro de Derechos Humanos Fr. Fransisco de Vitoria).  Centro Fray Vitoria definitely knows what it’s talking about- one of their major issues is the militarization of civil policing for indigenous areas in southern states and the resulting rights violations, including political imprisonment and mass rape of indigenous women by military personnel. 

It has always been so clear to me that the “war on drugs” in the South of Mexico is a thinly veiled mechanism for repressing the poor, (justifiably) angry, and largely indigenous residents of southern states.  I’ll post some time in the near future on poverty indicators for the southern states and specifically on the situation for indigenous women.

Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.