UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women
Radhika Coomaraswamy
UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women
World Conference Against Racism, Racial Discrimination,
Xenophobia and Related Intolerance
Durban, South Africa 31 August - 7 September 2001
Mme President, Delegates, Ladies and Gentlemen.
It is an honour to address the World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination,
Xenophobia and Related Intolerance in my capacity as UN Special Rapporteur on
violence against women. I would like to take this opportunity to refer you to
my written contribution to the World Conference on the subject of race, gender
and violence against women, conference document
In a recent work, Prof. Saskia Sassen, an economist of great repute, argued
that the most vulnerable people in the world today are women who are poor and
from racially marginalised groups. Looking around the globe at the most vulnerable
and unregulated work, whether it is sex work, domestic service or sweatshop
labour, it is women who are often physically abused, who have to work long hours
and who bear the brunt of social and economic impunity. If the United Nations
is concerned with the fight for human rights and social justice, it is poor
women from racially marginalised groups who must take centre-stage. They suffer
the greatest indignities, and the most brutal abuses with few avenues for recourse
or redress. Race, like gender, is a social construct that allows us to understand
why some people suffer discrimination and others do not. People's perceptions
of, and attitudes toward, the `other' often result in social structures that
perpetuate abuse, exploitation and vulnerability.
As UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women, I have clearly seen the
intersection of race and gender in my work. One such intersection is when women
victims of violence approach the criminal justice system. Members of the criminal
justice system are often totally insensitive to poor women from the marginalized
groups in society. Sometimes, as in uppercaste violence in India, members of
the criminal justice system are often in league with the perpetrators of violence
thus turning away victims who seek recourse in the courts. In other cases such
as the United States, racial profiling and race-relations between the police
and the AfroAmerican community result in police being totally insensitive to
the needs of the community. In these circumstances that parallel other realities
around the world, crimes of violence against poor women from racially diverse
communities acquires a measure of impunity. Since violence against these women
is rarely punished, women from such communities remain fearful and often do
not take action to fight to vindicate their rights.
In the area of trafficking, the intersection of race, gender, poverty and resulting
violence becomes even clearer. Women from minority and caste groupings often
want to migrate to escape persecution and discrimination at home. Their desire
to migrate is exploited by traffickers who themselves often belong to racially
marginalised groups living at the fringes of the host community. At the point
of entry, immigration officials racially profile women and subject many to interrogation
and detention, all with the supposedly benign aim of fighting trafficking. Once
in the host country, trafficked women live in slavery like conditions, without
passports, working extended hours as sex workers, domestic servants and sweatshop
labourers. We have heard a great deal about reparations for slavery of the past.
We must also face up to modern forms of slavery, such as trafficking, where
women are physically abused, restricted in movement and live under the menace
of penalty.
In today's world where most of the wars are ethnic in dimension, the intersection
of gender and race during armed conflict often has horrific consequences. In
Bosnia, Kosovo, Rwanda and East Timor, the international community witnessed
atrocious crimes of sexual violence that has shocked the system into taking
effective action against the perpetrators by setting up international tribunals
of justice. These tribunals and the Statute of the International Criminal Court
make it clear that sexual violence during wartime is a war crime and a crime
against humanity. A commentator wrote, "the honour of a community lies
in the body of its women". Historical campaigns of waging war against the
honour of the enemy by raping their women can no longer be tolerated. There
must be an urgent call to all States to sign and ratify the Statute of the International
Criminal Court.
It is not only in the area of violence against women that issues of race and
gender intersect. For most women, their sense of dignity comes from not only
being a woman but from also being members of a larger community whether it be
racial, indigenous, ethnic, religious or by descent. Therefore women are often
in an ambivalent position. They want to fight for justice and equality within
their community, while ensuring that their community as a whole is respected
among the peoples of the world. Their struggle is often made worse by the arrogant
gaze, where outsiders, especially from the west, fight their cause with what
is seen as contempt for their culture and their community.
The United Nations Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women
is very clear. "States should condemn violence against women and should
not invoke any custom, tradition or religious consideration to avoid their obligations
with respect to its elimination (Article 4)." The Convention on the Elimination
of Discrimination Against Women clearly sets standards for women's equality
in the family and in the community. In this conference where men from racial,
ethnic, indigenous and religious groups, marginalised from the mainstream, fight
for the equality and social justice, we must remind them of women's equality
and women's autonomy, for their collective identity are unconcerned with the
fact that many of their laws and practices discriminate against women. The World
Conference Against Racism is a good time to remind the leaders of these groups,
fighting for just causes, that they must also turn the searchlight inward. Equality
and freedom that they demand at the global level must also be applied internally.
All laws and practices that discriminate against women must be brought in line
with international standards of human rights. I call on all leaders of racial,
indigenous, ethnic and religious groups fighting for justice and equality to
make a pledge to ensure that women's equality is also an essential part of their
struggle.
In conclusion, Mme. President, I would like to say that we often portray women
as victims, passive entities with no agency. However, increasingly throughout
the world women are becoming empowered. Bitter controversies and strident polarities
have characterised this conference, whether it is on the issue of reparations
or Zionism. In this context, it is often women who break the boundaries. Black
and white women work together to ensure justice for victims of slavery, Women
in Black come out in Jerusalem calling for peace. Whether in Northern Ireland,
Burundi, Somalia or Colombia, women increasingly are peacemakers, breaking boundaries,
providing that generosity of spirit that Her Excellency Mary Robinson called
for in her speech. In this context, I urge governments, mediators and facilitators
to involve women in the peace process, to ensure that voices of nurture and
care are given a place at the negotiating table and that their interests are
represented. Women and children often bear the brunt of increasing conflict;
women are often alone in picking up the pieces after the war; it is only fair
that their voices are heard. Women's equality is not only about the sharing
of societal resources. It is also about vision, process and practice. Women
throughout the world have challenged the boundaries constructed by race, ethnicity,
nationalism and nation-states. All forms of extreme nationalism are racist,
excluding people and limiting participation. Such nationalism and exclusivism
is the cause of much of the world's conflict. Women peacemakers around the world
have given an alternative, more inclusive, way to resolve conflict. Surely we
have everything to gain by involving them actively in making peace, creating
bridges and planning for the material and spiritual reconstruction of war-torn
and divided societies. Not all women are peacemakers, but many are. They argue
that those who give birth are averse to having life taken away. Whatever may
be the truth of this argument, the international community should harness this
sentiment to bring women to the negotiating table, to include them in the give
and take of national and international consensus making, and to listen to their
vision and concern for the future.
Thank you.