06 March 2004

by Anai Rhoads

AnaiRhoads.org - Amnesty International recently launched a campaign to stop the brutal physical, psychological, and sexual acts against women world-wide. The movement also spotlights the inappropriate behaviour of servicemen who have crossed the line with fellow female cadets.

Sexual Abuse in the Military

Whether it be education, pension, travel or fighting for one's country, women make the choice to join the military for the same reasons men do. One thing women do not count on however, is having to defend themselves from a fellow service member.

The Department of Defence, in co-operation with Congress, have begun responding to the avowal statements by dozens of women who served in the Iraq war.

The Miles Foundation has recorded 83 cases of sexual attack on female soldiers and other service related employees between October 2002 to 01 March 2004. Fifteen new cases have surfaced since the 1st bringing the total of victims to 108. The violations occurred in Afghanistan, Iraq and on other Middle Eastern military posts.

Amnesty is asking Congress to set aside $10 million for an Office of the Victim Advocate based at the Pentagon. The programme would oversee abuse cases and assist abused women on all military bases world-wide as well wives of service men.

According to the executive director of Amnesty.org's U.S. affiliate, William Schulz, more than 10,000 cases of abuse have been reported to the military.

Statistics of Abuse World-wide

One out of every three women has been maltreated, raped or subjugated by a male in her lifetime. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has reported that nearly 70% of women murdered were done so by their male counterparts.

Handguns and other small weapons are used as the main tool of torture or death in almost every conflict. According to the United Nation Secretary General, women and children account for nearly 80% of the casualties.

The United States is no exception. In the U.S. a woman is raped by her husband or partner on average every ninety seconds. Every fifteen seconds she is overpowered and beaten by a male that she knows or a stranger.

Women as Property

Honour killings are based on a combination of male ego and family honour. In many many parts of the world, men have the right to pick and choose a bride, but when a woman rejects an approaching suitor or attempts to choose her future husband without family consent, she is killed by stoning, gun or other weapon in order to preserve respect.

At least 270 women were murdered by either their husband or other male family member in "honour killings" in 2002 in Punjab province alone.

Women are also killed for what some men view as unauthorised relationships. An allegation of a inappropriate sexual behaviour, without valid proof, causes the male to murder her for dishonouring the family. Almost all of the men who commit these crimes go unpunished.

In situations of forced marriage, browbeating is employed in the form of abduction, confinement, emotional blackmail, physical suppression, and the threat/or by violence.

Women and AIDS

HIV/AIDS has reached pandemic proportions predominately in sub-Saharan Africa. Close to 60% of those infected by HIV/AIDS are women. With limited funding, and poverty on the rise, unconventional remedies or "cures" run rampant in the area. A percentage of those had contracted the immune deficiency disorder through a parter, rape or via molestation, however, a majority of young girls and women (virgins) are raped in the belief that having intercourse with a virgin cures the person of the virus.

Rape During War

Women are most vulnerable in times of war. Rape is used as a form of revenge and "ethnic cleansing" by troops. The chaos of war also allows rapists to seek out their victims while policing of the areas are minimal.

In addition to the humiliation of rape there are unwanted pregnancies. In the former Yugoslavia, non-Serbian women were told by their rapists that they will be forced to carry and give birth to Serbian babies. Many of those women who gave birth then committed suicide. Almost 3,000 children are abandoned in Ex-Yugoslavia as a result.

In Iraq, Saddam Hussein's brutal regime gave way to a slew of rapes by his sons Uday and Q'usai. The aftermath of the U.S/U.K invasion left women in children in jeopardy as troops stormed through their streets. Prior issues with ex-husbands or disputes with males returned to haunt the women as most hid from public view for several weeks to months.

Fortunately, the International Criminal Court (ICC), the Statute of Rome, rape is now fully recognised as a war crime (article 8), as a crime against humanity (article 7) and through a explicit statement in the commentaries as genocide (article 6).

The treaty makes enforced prostitution, rape, sexual slavery, forced pregnancy, enforced sterilisation and other forms of sexual violence of comparable severity illegal.

The U.S. is not a part of the Statute of Rome. On 06 May 2002, the U.S. sent the following statement to the Secretary-General of the United Nations:

"This is to inform you, in connection with the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court adopted on July 17, 1998, that the United States does not intend to become a party to the treaty. Accordingly, the United States has no legal obligations arising from its signature on December 31, 2000. The United States requests that its intention not to become a party, as expressed in this letter, be reflected in the depositary's status lists relating to this treaty."

Female Genital Mutilation (FGM)

According to Amnesty, more than 135 million girls and women world-wide have had or will undergo female circumcision with the numbers expected to sharply rise at a rate of two million per year.

FGM is a procedure that removes most or all of a female's clitoris. This is done prior to onset of adolescence and is designed to remove the female's sexuality in hopes that she will not have pre-marital relations or seek out another mate during her marriage as an adult.

The operation, which is done in most part with anaesthetics or sterile instruments, traumatises the child and leaves her without sexual sensation or orgasm after she reaches puberty. Since "surgical" environment is insanitary and the procedure itself unskilled, the patient is left with scarring, sometimes chronic pain and infection.

Due to the ages, legal consent for the operation is not given by the child. For the most part, a parent or family friend will accompany the child to a location where it is done without the child's prior knowledge. When resistance is apparent, the child is told the operation will help her blossom and be envied by other girls.

In countries (one of which was predominately Africa) where FGM is part of normal culture, an uncircumcised female is not considered marriage material. In fact, the excuses for men not approving an uncircumcised wife range from genital odours to future likelihood of lesbianism.

FGM has been banned in several African nations, including Burkina Faso, the Central African Republic, Djibouti, Ghana, Guinea, Senegal, and Togo. In the West, it is outlawed in Canada, France, Sweden, Switzerland, U.K. and in the U.S.

The Federal Prohibition of Female Genital Mutilation of 1995 was passed in September of 1996. Section 273.3 of the Canadian Criminal Code protects Canadian citizens and residents from being taken out of the country for the intended purpose of FGM. Unfortunately, family still attempt to circumcise the female members within the legal bounds of the home. This may lead to post-procedure medical issues, but the girl may not tell anyone in case it harms her family's honour.

The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child see-saws back and forth on the appropriateness of FGM:

Article 24-3(b): "To ensure the provision of necessary medical assistance and health care to all children with emphasis on the development of primary health care"

Article 29-1(c): "The development of respect for the child's parents, his or her own cultural identity, language and values, for the national values of the country in which the child is living, the country from which he or she may originate, and for civilizations different from his or her own."

"Violence against women is a 'cancer' eating away at the core of every society," stated Amnesty International Secretary General Irene Khan on Friday.

"From the battlefield to the bedroom, women are at risk. Governments are failing to address the real 'terror' of our world that millions of women face every day," said Khan.

Amnesty introduced the 122 page report that illustrated a calibration of violence against women. The organisation is pleading for immediate action and conversion to international law.

Sources:

Amnesty.org

Miles Foundation

UN Convention on the Rights of the Child

International Criminal Court (ICC), the Statute of Rome

Further Reading

Afghanistan 'No one listens to us and no one treats us as human beings'

© Copyright 2004 Anai Rhoads. International law prohibits resale, repost and reprint of any kind without the author's permission.