Remarks presented at the NGO/CSW/NY luncheon in
honor of CEDAW Committee experts
July 26, New York, NY
By Pramila Patten, Chair, Working Group on the GR1
CEDAW General Recommendation on the human rights protection of women in
conflict and post conflict situations
The interest which this proposed GR by the Committee, has generated, is understandable in
this world of continuing instability and violence in which we are living, with civilian victims
especially women and children often outnumbering casualties among combatants.
There is enough evidence that women experience armed conflict in a different way than men.
These effects differ widely across cultures depending upon the role of women in particular
societies. What is also clear is that armed conflict exacerbates inequalities that exist in
different forms and to varying degrees in all societies and that make women particularly
vulnerable when armed conflict breaks out.
Women’s rights violations occurring during armed conflict and situations of
political unrest
During conflict, women are mostly portrayed as victims of conflict; and, of course to a large
extent, they indeed are being targeted for rape; they become widows; and they suffer most
from decay of social sectors.
Conflict is accompanied by gender-based violence and evidence suggests an increasing scale
and brutality of sexual violence. For too long, sexual violence was just seen as “collateral
damage” of conflicts, a “random, private, inevitable by-product of war”. Now, it is widely
1
Ms. Patten can be contacted at: 204 Sterling House, Lislet Geoffroy Street, Port Louis, Mauritius
Email: patra@intnet.mu
acknowledged that women/girls are increasingly targeted as a tactic of war to humiliate,
dominate, instill fear in, punish, disperse and/or forcibly relocate members of a
community/ethnic group. The trend is continuing. An average of 40 women is being raped
every day in South Kivu, DRC where it is said to be more dangerous to be a woman than to be a
soldier.
In addition to gender-specific violations, women are subjected to various forms of human rights
violations, including, killings, summary and arbitrary executions, torture and mutilation, cruel,
inhuman and degrading treatment, forced displacement, abduction, arbitrary detention,
enforced disappearances and trafficking.
During periods of armed conflict, women are often the first to become unemployed, have less
access to education opportunities and suffer disproportionately from lack of access to basic
necessities such as food, shelter, water and health care. Women are sidelined when resources
become scarce, and consequently unable to claim their right to food, health care, shelter,
education and documentation. Power relations within their own families may change in the
new environment, resulting in tension and violence in their homes. These rights violations
occur throughout all phases of the conflict, in the immediate aftermath of the conflict and
women live with the consequences for a long time in the post-conflict setting. The violations of
international human rights law and international humanitarian law occur whether women
remain in their homes, in their communities, whilst attempting to flee the conflict and while
they are in camps for the displaced.
Refugees and internally displaced persons-a large percentage of whom are women and girl
children-are an almost inevitable result of armed conflict, and the problem is growing. Evidence
exists of widespread mistreatment of women in refugee camps and these women also face
distinctive problems that are largely unacknowledged as they attempt to rebuild their lives as
refugees in a new country.
Another facet of women during conflict time- which is not always portrayed is about women as
agents, active participants in war, directly as combatants or supporting rebels. Women also
frequently take on new economic roles during war, as men join the fighting, leaving jobs
unfilled and losses in family incomes, for which women have to substitute.
Women are also often very active in civil society, peace movements: e.g. in Colombia, women
were responsible for complex networks of pro-peace movements; in Northern Ireland, Burundi,
Liberia, there were female coalitions across warring partners.
But women are largely neglected once peace occurs: Despite their active role in war, women
are too often neglected in the post-conflict situation, in terms of peace negotiations;
demobilisation programmes; and post-conflict reconstruction. They rarely participate in formal
peace negotiations; they are too often ignored in post-conflict politics and economics. And
potentially they could greatly improve the peace process, the sustainability of peace and postconflict society and make an important contribution to the economy. In 2008, UNIFEM
estimated that women account for less than 10% of members in formal peace negotiations and
less than 2% of signatories to peace agreements.
One of the direct consequences of conflict is the total breakdown of government infrastructure
followed by its incapacity to deliver essential services to populations. In such situations, women
are at the frontline of suffering – bearing the brunt of socio-economic dimensions of the
conflict. It is in economic reconstruction, that women tend to be most neglected. There is heavy
emphasis on macro-stabilisation and pro market reforms – and gender issues are ignored.
Economic infrastructure tends to be privileged before social. There are problems for women in
formal sector employment – as men return from conflict; and pre-conflict gender attitudes
often resume. Women suffer disproportionately from high unemployment rates and lack of
access to education opportunities which force many women to work in illegal sectors and in
primarily precarious situations – such as engaging in exploitative sexual transactions to access
food for themselves and their families.
Other critical women’s concerns in the immediate aftermath of conflict / transitional period
include the need to end impunity and ensure accountability for gross violations of international
human rights law and humanitarian law;
Amnesties for gross violations of international human rights law and serious violations of
international humanitarian law is not uncommon- Often there are amnesties that prevent the
prosecution of individuals who may be legally responsible for war crimes, crimes against
humanity and other gross violations of human rights, in particular sexual violence. Granting
amnesty for serious violations of women’s human rights impedes their rights of access to
justice, to an effective remedy and to reparations for harm suffered.
Application of CEDAW - The principles enunciated in CEDAW constitutes the essential
elements of the international protection regime for women in situation of armed conflict as
well as refugee and internally displaced and stateless women. Of course, in addition to CEDAW
and other major international human rights treaties, there are other important international
policy frameworks which make an important contribution to the international regime of
protection and advancement of women’s human rights in conflict and post-conflict situations,
namely SCR 1325 as well as the other 5 resolutions (SCR 1820, 1888, 1889, 1960 and the last
one SCR 1983 adopted in June 2011) which have considerably strengthened the international
legal framework on women, peace and security.
Noting that situations of armed conflict and states of emergency due to political events or
natural disasters have a profound impact on women’s ability to enjoy their fundamental human
rights and freedoms, in GR 28, the Committee spelt out that States parties obligations do not
cease during these situations.
CEDAW also provides the normative foundation to protect three interrelated kinds of rights,
which must be guaranteed to women in the post-conflict period, namely:
 The right to participate meaningfully in policy-making and resource allocation;
 The right to benefit equally from public and private resources and services; and
 The right to build a gender equitable society for lasting peace and prosperity.
Since its establishment, the Committee has worked towards clarifying the relevance of CEDAW
to the situation of women in armed conflict through recommendations in its concluding
observations, through its General Recommendations, through exceptional reports or through
statements drawing State Parties attention to the need to address the specific needs of
women in general as well as vulnerable groups of women, to have a gender analysis of the
consequences of the armed conflict and in post-war transition period, to promote women’s
human rights and gender equality, in particular in the peace building and reconstruction
processes- the latest statements it issued were addressed to the Governments of Iraq and
Afghanistan.
At the same time, since I have been on the Committee, I have seen very few State parties who
provide comprehensive information on the situation of women in the conflict or the post
conflict phase. Traditionally, reports on the effects of armed conflict tend to incorporate
women in the general category of civilians without regard to the different experiences of men
and women civilians and this information is usually contained, if at all, in the core document.
The particular concerns of women are thus regarded as peripheral in such analyses.
Sometimes we also see State parties who hide behind definitions of “armed conflict” or deny
the existence of armed conflict within their territory in order to evade international
accountability. It is not uncommon for some States to call such situations by other names (such
as disturbed areas, insurgency infested areas) but in fact such situations are for all intents and
purposes equivalent to armed conflict situations.
The scope of application of CEDAW is broad and the GR will certainly spell out that CEDAW is
applicable in diverse situations and contexts of conflict such as international and noninternational armed conflicts as well as in situations of extreme violence and internal
disturbances ………situations which may not necessarily be classified as armed conflict in terms
of international humanitarian law.
A specific GR on the application of CEDAW to the situation of women in conflict and post
conflict will no doubt be extremely useful. The GR will, of course, build on principles articulated
in previously adopted GRs and will clarify the application of the Convention to situations of
armed conflict and political crises; to prevention and resolution of conflicts and to the various
complex peace building and post-conflict reconstruction processes. By giving normative
content to the relevant provisions of CEDAW, and considering how they relate to each other,
the proposed GR will outline the content of the obligations assumed by States parties and also
make suggestions to non-State actors.
But, of course, the primary purpose of the GR is to provide authoritative guidance to States
parties on the legislative, policy and other appropriate measures they need to take to ensure
full compliance with their Convention obligations to protect, respect and fulfill women’s human
rights in conflict and post-conflict contexts.
Paper presented by:
Pramila Patten
CEDAW Expert