Download Committee: The Commission on the Status of Women

Committee: The Commission on the Status of Women
Topic: Women in Armed Conflict
Delegation: Peru
Highland Park High School
Shanna Cole
The world today is constantly plagued with wars, and every country has seen the effects
of conflict first-hand at some point. With every war comes harm to the people both in the regions
of the war and of the feuding parties. Although everyone is strongly affected by war, women are
caused the most harm because of gender discrimination and society’s accepted place for women:
lower than men. “Social, political and religious norms identify women as the property of
men…and legitimize the violent appropriation of women’s bodies for individual gratification or
political ends” (“Stop Violence Against Women”). Women are taken advantage of immensely in
times of conflict because of established views of society that they are not equal to men and can
be treated however men see fit. In times of conflict, these treatments are anything but just.
In almost every circumstance, women who are affected by conflict have done nothing to
deserve the terrible bloodshed and violence destroying their families, homes, and emotional
states. Yet they are the ones most harmed by the conflict, and it is their innocent lives that are
sacrificed in battle. When conflict occurs, men leave to join the army, or whatever armed forces
they are fighting with, and women must take over the men’s responsibilities in the family as well
as their own previous responsibilities. Now in addition to cooking, cleaning, caring for children,
and other household duties, women must also go out and gather or hunt for food, manage all of
the man’s business affairs, and protect the family during these tumultuous times, all of which can
be very dangerous. Gathering food usually requires going beyond the village, where women are
much more vulnerable to attacks by lingering troops. It is also extremely likely that women will
come across booby traps of land-mines, of which there are over 100 million in 64 countries
worldwide, (“The United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women”), making this an even
more treacherous task. These burdens are simply too big and hazardous for just the women left at
home to handle, and many times there may not be food for the family and it is extremely difficult
for women to find paying jobs. “In periods of extreme hardship and faced with a chronic lack of
resources in order to provide for their families, women may feel compelled to engage in work in
the informal employment sector, that place them at increased health and security risks,” such as
prostitution (“Stop Violence Against Women”). Many women are not even be able to find such
horrible jobs as this, and are forced to leave their homes and seek refuge in another country or
state. “Women and children constitute some 80 percent of the world's millions of refugees and
other displaced persons, including internally displaced persons” (“Beijing Declaration and
Platform for Action”). These women and their shrinking families are then trapped until the end
of the conflict in a poorly protected and supplied refugee camp, and then their needs as refugees
must be addressed.
However, the most common effect of armed conflict on women is the violence they are
subject to. Rape and other sexual assaults are the most prevalent attacks on these women. “Up to
500,000 women were raped, many at gunpoint, in Rwanda in 1994” (“Women in Armed
Conflict”). Rape is used as a war tactic on women by enemy troops. It could be used to humiliate
the woman’s male relatives, as they may be forced to watch the rape occur. Rape is also utilized
as a method for wiping out a people by planting the enemy seed in the woman and forcing her to
produce children, who are therefore enemies of the woman and her culture, or by infecting her
with a sexually transmitted disease, such as purposefully infecting her with HIV and therefore
killing her. Rape is also practiced purely for the pleasure of enemy troops, where women can be
abducted and forced to be sex and labor slaves (“Women in Armed Conflict”). Women who are
raped are usually beaten and very often killed. These women do not have access to any
contraceptive methods, creating the problem of pregnancy and potentially acquiring sexually
transmitted diseases, many of which are deadly. Any funds available to women for their health
are extremely minimal, as most money goes towards the on-going war (“Women in Armed
Conflict”). This unimaginably awful attack of rape is rarely prevented when women seek
protection in refugee camps; soldiers raid the camps and camp workers “often turn a blind eye to
violations for fear of compromising their ‘neutrality’” (“Women in Armed Conflict”).
Peru has experienced internal conflict, just like any other county. For over twenty years,
the guerilla group, Shining Path, has attacked the Peruvian governments in attempts of
revolution. The rise of another rebel group, the Moviemiento Revolucionario Tupac Amaru
(MRTA), has increased conflict and attacks on the government. MRTA seized the Japanese
Embassy in 1996 and captured over 500 hostages, followed by the Peruvian troops storming the
embassy 5 months later in 1997 (“Armed Conflicts Report”). This continuous conflict in Peru
has undoubtedly caused harm to many people, women especially. Rebel groups have attacked
villages, pillaged, and wreaked havoc, including attacking women. There is no question that
whenever a violent army invades a community there is going to be harm done to all people,
including rape of women. The Peruvian government wishes to resolve this conflict, in turn
helping and making up for the women that have been harmed.
The Commission on the Status of Women (The Commission) was established in 1946
and is a “functional commission of the United Nations Economic and Social Council
(ECOSOC), dedicated exclusively to gender equality and advancement of women,” and focuses
on “promoting women's rights in political, economic, civil, social and educational fields”
(“Commission on the Status of Women”). Its mandate is to strive for the objective of equality of
women on all levels worldwide, and it does so by reviewing the Beijing Platform for Action
regularly (“Commission on the Status of Women”). The Geneva Convention in 1949 also
outlines the Commission’s fundamental goals (“Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action”).
Recently, the Commission’s efforts include “establishing peace zones and peace coalitions” in
the Asia-Pacific region, where there has been a constant arms race and “instability” of countries.
In West-Africa, the Commission has helped women’s coalitions to be active in “implementation
of regional disarmament programs and peace processes” (“Women in Armed Conflict Caucus”).
The same sorts of “peace initiatives” have been present in the Middle-East and Europe, after the
“official peace negotiations” have not succeeded (“Women in Armed Conflict Caucus”).
The Commission should continue in their beneficial peace talks and initiatives, while at
the same time incorporating some new methods into their solutions. Peru is a signatory of the
ICC, or International Criminal Court, treaty (“Questions and Answers about the ICC”) and is
consequently in favor of punishing those who have committed war crimes, especially involving
human rights, and therefore women’s rights (“Women in Armed Conflict Caucus”). Peru
believes that involving women in country politics would be beneficial to this cause because
women have a better perspective for trying to help other women, and women’s voices need to be
heard in politics, especially relating to such a pertinent issue. Education of women is key to
succeed this, in addition to make them safer in general. Cooperation with NGOs such as
Amnesty International would be necessary in order to put these plans into action. Amnesty
International deals with the treatment of women in armed conflict and helps to provide women
job opportunities while men are at war. Women are educated in the fields of these jobs so that
once men return from war women can keep their jobs (“About Amnesty International”). Another
possible resolution would include enforcing women’s rights more during peacetime so that in
times of conflict, women’s rights are more “accustomed to.” This will cause men to be more
used to giving women these rights and women in turn will be more used to receiving these rights.
Therefore, it will be much harder to take these rights away or abuse them during times of
conflict. Amnesty International is concerned with the overall well-being of people during war
times and focuses on the security of human rights. They work towards protecting women’s rights
during times of conflict, when women are especially vulnerable. This provides the possibility for
a liaison with Amnesty International for this resolution as well (“About Amnesty International).
Both of these resolutions would begin to tackle the issue of unjust gender discrimination, which
is the root cause of women’s extreme sufferings during war times. Peru supports the Commission
and stands with other countries in favor of providing women with the protection and rights they
deserve during times of conflict.
Works Cited
“About Amnesty International.” Amnesty International n. pag. Web. 26 Oct 2009.
<http://www.amnesty.org/en/who-we-are/about-amnesty-international>.
“Armed Conflicts Report.” Ploughshares. 02 2002. Project Ploughshares, Web. 6 Oct
2009. <http://www.ploughshares.ca/libraries/ACRText/ACR-Peru.html#Background>.
“Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action .” Displacement for the Advancement of
Women. 09 1995. Fourth World Conference on Women, Web. 27 Sept 2009.
<http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/beijing/platform/armed.htm>.
“Commission on the Status of Women.” Division for the Advancement of Women. United
Nations, Web. 7 Oct 2009. <http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/csw/index.html>.
“Questions and Answers about the ICC.” International Justice. International Crime
Court, Web. <http://www.hrw.org/legacy/campaigns/icc/qna.htm>.
“Stop Violence Against Women.” Amnesty International USA. Amnesty International
USA, Web. 27 Sept 2009. <http://www.amnestyusa.org/women/armedconflict.html>.
“Women and Armed Conflict.” IANSA - International Action Network on Small Arms .
07 01 2003. International Action Network on Small Arms, Web. 27 Sept 2009.
<http://www.iansa.org/women/documents/women_armed_conflict.pdf>.
“Women and Armed Conflict Caucus.” Women Action. Women Action, Web. 29 Sept
2009. <http://www.womenaction.org/csw44/armedcaucus.html>.