Imagine the Girl Guides with racier uniforms accessorised with pickaxes, chains and scythes and what have you got? Answer: a women's youth movement sweeping Ukraine
By Sally Howard
Published: 7:00AM BST 12 Sep 2010
It's 5.30am and dawn is breaking in the Carpathian Mountains. Morning mist garlands the mountaintops as the sun rises over a view that's as old as the hills: headscarved babushkas push carts of hay by hand, white-tailed eagles circle drowsily above and the air is scented by the ancient spruces of Europe's last stretch of virgin forest. Only the rumble of cargo trains driving west to Hungary disturbs this bucolic scene. That and the peals of three bikini-clad girls as they jump into the frigid Dniester, the fast-flowing river that courses south across the length of eastern Ukraine to the Black Sea.
Katya Rebrova, 22, Yulia Serafiniora, 20, and Daria Rodnar, 15, have been up since 4.30am, practising a peculiar martial art involving weapons that closely resemble agricultural scythes; the curved blades slice though the crisp morning air as they swivel and high-kick with blurring speed. Their dress, before they strip for their daily pre-breakfast dip, is similarly exotic to Anglo-Saxon eyes – the baggy tight-ankled trousers of the traditional Cossack warrior teamed with cropped sports tops and swinging plaited hair. It's a striking mixture of ancient and modern that embodies the Asgarda, a new women's movement that – against steep odds – is attracting attention in Ukraine, where 80 per cent of the unemployed are women and domestic violence is common.
I am joining the Asgarda – the name derives from Asgard, the city of the gods in Norse myth – at the focal point of their year, a two-month-long summer camp. Here, girls and women from across the country meet to study history, life skills and the aforementioned Cossack martial art, Bojovyj Hopak, where not only scythes but Japanese chained nunchucks and pickaxes are regularly wielded. The Girl Guides was never like this.
The drive here, earlier in the week, had taken me deeper and deeper into silent, thickly forested mountain terrain – three hours from Ukraine's second city, Lviv, but almost another world. I had arrived to an unusual scene. Besides a wooden cabin, the group's founder, Katerina Tarnouska, a 36-year-old single mother, was pacing the length of a line-up of seven- to 10-year-old girls like a dyspeptic squadron leader, urging them to punch their small fists into the air towards invisible assailants, or drop to their hands and knees for press-ups.
A former PE teacher, Tarnouska is a formidable presence – handsome Slavic bone structure and wheatish skin accented by a tattooed bicep bearing the insignia of the Ukrainian National Movement (a centuries-old resistance movement to Ukraine's many occupiers). Yet her 200 followers clearly dote on her rousing brand of girl power. Between issuing imperious orders she told me that her charges were heirs to the Amazons: the proud warrior women first celebrated by the Ancient Greeks, said to have hailed from Scythia, to the east of modern-day Ukraine.
Tarnouska set up the Asgarda in 2004 amid the heady days of the Orange Revolution – the youth-led regime change that brought the pro-Western Viktor Yushchenko to the presidency and launched the career of the glamorous economist Yulia Tymoshenko, who became Ukraine's first female prime minister in 2005. Though this period was a catalyst for a national optimism that in part persists, many of its real gains have now been lost, especially for women.
In February 2010 Yushchenko's government – dogged by corruption scandals and blamed for an economic crisis – was voted out in favour of Viktor Yanukovych, whose government has pursued reactionary politics with brio, clamping down on media freedom and – famously – justifying his all-male cabinet with the line, 'Reforms do not fall into women's competence.'
Yet, in forming the Asgarda, Tarnouska was motivated not by politics but a desire to empower Ukrainian women. 'I wanted girls to gain confidence to be themselves, and not just quiet wives working, working and swallowing all the time their own dreams – the lot of our mothers and grandmothers under the Soviets,' she explains. 'As a nation, too, we're unsure of ourselves, our national identity and history having been suppressed for so many years, or rewritten to fit the communist ideal.'
The way to counter this epidemic of lost confidence, Tarnouska felt, was to remind Ukrainian girls of their nationhood, of powerful figures in history such as the Cossacks. This warrior race flourished for four centuries and was fêted for its strength, martial skills and fearless independence in the face of the Russian tsars (as well as for its prodigious vodka intake). For many modern Ukrainians the Cossacks have become emblems of a golden era, when Ukraine was free from Moscow's control.
There's certainly no lack of confidence among the girls here today. Now in its fifth year, the summer camp is an opportunity for older members such as Katya, Yulia and Daria to be joined by younger girls, from seven up, who come for two-week courses in 'Asgarda skills'.
Lessons are diverse, ranging from yoga and handicrafts to martial arts and Ukrainian national dance. The older girls receive masterclasses from visiting experts – including Volodymyr Stepanovytch, a Soviet former karate master – and the younger girls are taken on afternoon excursions to historical sites. Prayers are also an integral part of camp life, held before meals and bedtime, a non-denominational giving of thanks for food and the opportunity to learn. Asgarda membership is free, although those who can afford it pay about 150 Ukrainian hryvnia, or £9, a day for the camp's bed and board.
I pull up a chair with Katya, Yulia and Daria one evening. Over cups of sweetened black tea, Katya talks excitedly of her dream of training in film and, eventually, being part of developing a viable Ukraine cinema. 'There is nothing on our screens that helps our self-image as Ukrainians,' she says. 'Freedom of the press improved after the revolution, but now it's going back to the way it was, promoting Russian ideologies. And our films are the worst action movies produced by the USA – with pointless violence and swearing. I want to propose an alternative that helps children to learn something of our Ukrainian history. There's so much to be proud of, but we never see it reflected back on our screens.' The hubris of youth, perhaps, but expressed so gutsily you suspect she'll achieve it.
The others, too, have big ambitions – Daria wants to work to battle the culture of corruption in local politics, and Yulia hopes 'to be a mother and a career woman, but also – always – an Asgarda'. She and Katya are both in relationships. What do their partners make of the girls' commitment to the group? 'My boyfriend is proud of me,' says Katya. 'Mine too,' says Yulia, 'he sees the Asgarda as part of a development of Ukrainian national pride and he also practises martial arts.' None of the girls sees a tension in wanting to marry and start a family and also be members of the Asgarda. 'Although I understand it might be hard work to have a family if I have ambitions too,' says Katya.
I ask the girls what they have gained from their time as members. 'One of the sad facts of modern Ukrainian life is sexual violence, and this worried me as a teenager,' says Yulia, who has been an Asgarda for five years. (Indeed, 49 per cent of Ukrainian women have suffered domestic violence, according to a recent report by the European Union and UN Development Programme.) 'I joined the Asgarda because I wanted to protect myself. Then I saw that I was developing in confidence, and becoming a strong woman, and I don't think I understood how much I'd been holding myself back.'
Daria, a member since she was nine, nods enthusiastically. 'I joined precisely because I wanted to find my confidence. There are a lot of problems among young people in Ukraine: drugs, unemployment and promiscuity. I saw the Asgarda as a positive alternative. My parents say they noticed a huge difference in me as soon as I joined.'
The girls' eclectic costume is detailed in the Asgarda manual, an eccentric tome that runs from traditional sewing techniques to self-defence with an umbrella (the salient point being, it seems, to jab at the assailant's crotch). The loose-fitting trousers (similar to harem pants) are a nod to the Cossacks but – importantly – practical fighting wear. Embroidered white shirts – which the girls wear for competitions and formal gatherings such as their annual winter performance of martial arts in Lviv – also bear a rich cultural significance using symbols such as the kalyna berry, said to confer prosperity and luck.
A combination of sports and traditional attire is the preferred daywear for most Asgarda at camp, although a few girls work a racier fantasy-warrior look of leather wrist-straps and skirts. Make-up is minimal, shoes are flat for practicality, and hair is worn plaited in the traditional Ukrainian style, or sometimes shaved by way of an initiation ritual. To understand how much of a statement this aesthetic is you need only walk a few minutes around any modern city in Ukraine. The clothing favoured by most young women is tight and bright, with bunion-inducing heels.
Ekaterina Stupak, a 34-year-old former government worker living in Kiev, explains the provenance of the 'Ukraine look' as she sees it: 'It's everywhere and it's seen as trendy,' she says. 'You go into a government office here and the women have these long painted nails, heels and miniskirts. My idea is that it comes from competition. After the Soviet regime the gender balance was skewed as so many men had been sent to Siberia, or killed in pogroms, particularly in the west of Ukraine, where resistance to the regime was strongest.'
Ukrainian popular culture seems to bear this out. The current must-see television show is a documentary series called Svitske Zhyttya, or Posh Life, where rich Ukrainians – mainly industrial oligarchs or children of politicians – showcase their lavish lifestyles and flamboyantly dressed model wives. The message to young Ukrainian women is clear: the ultimate prize is to snare a moneyed man. This priority is expressed, too, in the Kiev nightclub scene. Strip shows are integral to every city nightclub, with chains such as Pink Unicorn offering striptease alongside a diet of Western and Ukrainian dance music. Young women go 'oligarch hunting' – dressing up to the nines to prowl around these venues or Kiev's well-heeled shopping districts during the day. They walk back and forth,' says Stupak, 'swaying their hips in these tall heels'.
'It's sad, but many women feel they have little choice but to pursue a rich man,' says Anna Hustol, from the Ukrainian 'female rights group' Femen, which has made headlines with direct actions such as 'Ukraine is not a brothel', a demonstration against sex trafficking and sexual tourism to Ukraine. 'Endemic gender discrimination means women in Ukraine get lower salaries, fewer opportunities to move up the career ladder and even fewer opportunities to get a good job or a good education. This is seen in the stark fact that unemployment rate of women is very high compared with men with the same educational background.'
Gender relations in Ukraine are indubitably strained. Yet the existence of groups such as Femen and the Asgarda shows how far Ukrainian women have come in breaking free from the constraints of the Soviet regime, under which feminism was despised as 'bourgeois ideology'.
Indeed, a few days spent with the happy, politicised and ambitious young women of the Asgarda made me wonder if British girls too wouldn't benefit from such a regime. With many young British women aspiring to the Katie Price lifestyle, perhaps a movement that empowered girls to be martial artists, rather than sex objects, would be a useful antidote.
After a pathetic attempt to master a few scythe skills, I ask the Asgarda what they'd say to young women in Britain. 'To believe in themselves,' says Daria, 'and that women are as strong as men.'
'You are not just a housewife or a girlfriend or an object to look at,' Katya adds, 'you are a person and you can choose your own path.'
http://www.edmontonjournal.com/entertainment/ready+high+heels+fight+domestic+violence/3504648/story.html
Monday, September 13, 2010
Sunday, August 15, 2010
Colts help fight domestic violence
This is kind of a cool idea... I didn't think that the 8 phones sitting in a drawer in my parents' kitchen could be put to better use :)
Sunday, August 15, 2010 11:00 AM
Cell Phone Gameday Collection
View Gameday Collections Section
On Sunday, August 15, the Indianapolis Colts are teaming up with the Indiana Coalition Against Domestic Violence (ICADV) to collect cell phones and monetary donations prior to kickoff of the Colts vs. 49ers game. From 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., volunteers will be stationed outside each Lucas Oil Stadium gate. Fans are encouraged to bring any new or used cell phones that they no longer need to donate for victims of domestic violence. All phones will be re-programmed and used as 9-1-1 emergency phones for women and children in the Indianapolis area.
Cell Phone Gameday Collection
View Gameday Collections Section
On Sunday, August 15, the Indianapolis Colts are teaming up with the Indiana Coalition Against Domestic Violence (ICADV) to collect cell phones and monetary donations prior to kickoff of the Colts vs. 49ers game. From 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., volunteers will be stationed outside each Lucas Oil Stadium gate. Fans are encouraged to bring any new or used cell phones that they no longer need to donate for victims of domestic violence. All phones will be re-programmed and used as 9-1-1 emergency phones for women and children in the Indianapolis area.
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
44% of Ukrainians...
The EU delegation is against violence in Ukraine
44 PERCENT OF UKRAINIANS ARE VICTIMS...
The heads of the European Union delegation to Ukraine and Ukraine’s Ministry on Family, Youth, and Sport welcomed the start of the new social campaign “I’m against violence!”, aimed at uniting over 200,000 people in the entire country for a public protest against all forms of domestic violence, reports the EU delegation to Ukraine. The campaign will be continued on billboards and in the Internet, and also with outdoor publicity activities. Volunteers will participate in national festivals, they will work on beaches and streets of big cities, where they will encourage others to wear the symbol of the protest — a pink bracelet with the words “I’m against violence!”
In August, 200,000 of these bracelets (and also a big amount of virtual bracelets, which social networks users in the Internet can attach to their photos) will be distributed. The pink bracelet is a bright symbol called to bring up the only simple message: I refuse to be a victim, I refuse cruelty and tolerating cases of cruelty in my own family or among my friends.
“All countries of the world face the problem of domestic violence. But it depends on the attitude of the society whether a victim will be able to find help and the offender will be punished according to the law. In Ukraine gender stereotypes and the opinion that violence is a solely family affair is deeply entrenched in society. The European Union, together with the government of Ukraine, work to change the attitude to domestic violence,” stated Jose Manuel Pinto Teixeira, the head of the EU delegation to Ukraine.
Statistics show that about half of Ukrainian women suffer from some form of violence at home. It’s extremely difficult to get precise figures due to the wall of silence surrounding this problem. The number of domestic violence victims in Ukraine is much bigger than that of other crimes or car accidents taken together. The worst is that this problem involves not only adult women. Many of those who are cruel to their partners treat children in their family the same way.
Many victims never appeal for help. And even those who dare to break the wall of silence very often don’t know who to go to. As Svitlana Tolstoukhova, the deputy minister of Ukraine’s Ministry on Family, Youth and Sport, pointed out: “Within the framework of the campaign a wide-range informational work among the Ukrainian population will be held, and practical measures will also be taken to help victims of violence. As of today, over 20 centers for social and psychological assistance, and eight rehabilitation centers for victims of domestic violence work in all Ukraine. Moreover, within the campaign framework, information materials with practical advice to victims of violence will be distributed.”
http://www.day.kiev.ua/305397
44 PERCENT OF UKRAINIANS ARE VICTIMS...
The heads of the European Union delegation to Ukraine and Ukraine’s Ministry on Family, Youth, and Sport welcomed the start of the new social campaign “I’m against violence!”, aimed at uniting over 200,000 people in the entire country for a public protest against all forms of domestic violence, reports the EU delegation to Ukraine. The campaign will be continued on billboards and in the Internet, and also with outdoor publicity activities. Volunteers will participate in national festivals, they will work on beaches and streets of big cities, where they will encourage others to wear the symbol of the protest — a pink bracelet with the words “I’m against violence!”
In August, 200,000 of these bracelets (and also a big amount of virtual bracelets, which social networks users in the Internet can attach to their photos) will be distributed. The pink bracelet is a bright symbol called to bring up the only simple message: I refuse to be a victim, I refuse cruelty and tolerating cases of cruelty in my own family or among my friends.
“All countries of the world face the problem of domestic violence. But it depends on the attitude of the society whether a victim will be able to find help and the offender will be punished according to the law. In Ukraine gender stereotypes and the opinion that violence is a solely family affair is deeply entrenched in society. The European Union, together with the government of Ukraine, work to change the attitude to domestic violence,” stated Jose Manuel Pinto Teixeira, the head of the EU delegation to Ukraine.
Statistics show that about half of Ukrainian women suffer from some form of violence at home. It’s extremely difficult to get precise figures due to the wall of silence surrounding this problem. The number of domestic violence victims in Ukraine is much bigger than that of other crimes or car accidents taken together. The worst is that this problem involves not only adult women. Many of those who are cruel to their partners treat children in their family the same way.
Many victims never appeal for help. And even those who dare to break the wall of silence very often don’t know who to go to. As Svitlana Tolstoukhova, the deputy minister of Ukraine’s Ministry on Family, Youth and Sport, pointed out: “Within the framework of the campaign a wide-range informational work among the Ukrainian population will be held, and practical measures will also be taken to help victims of violence. As of today, over 20 centers for social and psychological assistance, and eight rehabilitation centers for victims of domestic violence work in all Ukraine. Moreover, within the campaign framework, information materials with practical advice to victims of violence will be distributed.”
http://www.day.kiev.ua/305397
Monday, August 9, 2010
Ukraine Update
Today, after 17 months of fundraising, 100+ donors, 50+ volunteers, 27,000 miles traveled, 19 ATM withdrawls and 1 sacrificed faux Jimmy Choo purse (ripped out the lining to stash the cash I was carrying).... the women's center in Kiev, Ukraine finally has funding for 3 new programs and 2 specialists serving 7,000+ victims of domestic violence.
Thanks to so many of you who made sacrificed much more than my faux purse to improve the quality of life of thousands of Ukrainian women and families.
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
Ex throws woman out of sixth-floor window in Girona
 A WOMAN has lost her life after being thrown from a sixth-floor window by her ex-partner in Girona today.Olena K, 37, originally from Ukraine, died instantly from the impact, emergency services reveal. Her former boyfriend, Hafid C, 33, a Moroccan national, has been arrested. They are said to have argued some time this morning in their home on the C/ Riu Ser, leading the accused to end his former girlfriend's life. The road was blocked off from 10.20hrs to 14.30hrs today. Mayoress of Girona, Anna Pagans, has expressed her condolences to the family and her disgust at the crime. Olena is the third fatal victim of domestic violence in the province of Girona this month alone. http://www.thinkspain.com/news-spain/18280/ex-throws-woman-out-of-sixth-floor-window-in-girona |
Thursday, April 8, 2010
Walk a Mile In Her Shoes
Walk a Mile in Her Shoes:
A little discomfort will make the difference!
University Mall, Orem, UT
Begins at 8:00 AM
Walk a Mile in Her Shoes asks men to literally walk one mile in a pair of women's shoes, while raising fund for The Center for Women and Children in Crisis (www.cwcic.org). It is not easy walking in these shoes, but it is a fun opportunity for men to educate the community about a very serious subject. So challenge your buddies and help get the community to talk about something that's difficult to talk about: sexual violence. Registration is only $5.
Why Walk? One in three women has experienced sexual assault in her lifetime. One in six boys are sexually assaulted by the time they are 18. That means someone you know, someone you care about has been a victim of sexual assault. So walk for your daughter, your son, your wife, your mother, your niece, your nephew, your colleage, yourself!
Of course, women are welcome to walk - the men might need a little support along the way!
More Questions? Contact: Lindsee Anderson, 801/380-9714 or lindsee.anderson@gmail.com
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Why gender equality and women's empowerment must lie at the heart of EU external action?
These norms are accepted in all countries of the world as part of human rights law. The international community is also equipped with bodies that can effectively monitor the implementation of women's rights. This is the case of the UN Committee on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women (the 'CEDAW Committee') and the recently-established Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General on violence against women in conflict situations.
However, implementation is slow in many countries of the world. From a new 10-country study on women's health and domestic violence conducted by the World Health Organisation, it appears that between 15% and 71% of women reported physical or sexual violence by a husband or partner. Between 4% and 12% of women reported being physically abused during pregnancy. Every year, about 5,000 women are murdered by family members in the name of honour each year worldwide. Under these conditions, women's rights mechanisms remain under-exploited, and the possibility for individual victims to submit complaints to the UN, for example, is unknown to most women. These are key challenges for the EU human rights policy in third countries. And we must also lead by example in our EU internal policies.
On the eve of the International Women's Day, the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy/Vice-President of the European Commission Catherine Ashton said:
"International Women's Day provides a great opportunity for each one of us to reflect on our responsibility for working towards the eradication of gender inequality. This is very much true also in international relations, where all must play their part in reaching this common goal. Sustainable peace and security cannot be achieved without the full participation of women. Unfortunately, the persistence of constitutions and laws that blatantly discriminate against women still undermines the development of countries around the world. Violence against women has direct negative consequences on women's access to education, job and on to their participation in the public life. The impact of the marginalisation of women is not only at the expense of women, but runs counter to the overall empowerment of local communities. There remains a huge amount to do in all parts of the world."
"This is a global challenge of the highest order, to deliver gender equality and empower women, within Europe and beyond. That is why the EU will continue to put pro-active work in this field at the heart of our policies, both internal and external. Heads of EU Delegations throughout the world have just received clear instructions in this respect", she added.
Background
In December 1977, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution proclaiming a United Nations Day for Women's Rights and International Peace to be observed on any day of the year by member countries, in accordance with their national traditions.
The EU has a long-standing commitment to promote gender equality; already in 1995, for instance, it played a leadership role at the 1995 Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing. Since then, the EU has sought actively to integrate the priorities and needs of women and men in all its key policies, notably in external assistance. Annually almost 35% of the European Commission's development aid is spent on projects that have a gender dimension. A forthcoming “EU Action Plan on Mainstreaming Gender Equality in Development” will aim at strengthening the coordination of activities in this field by EU institutions and individual EU Member States.
This gender mainstreaming strategy is reinforced by specific measures, programmes and projects to support the empowerment of women. The EU closely monitors women's rights and gender equality in third countries, including issues such as discriminatory laws and women's participation in public life. In 2008, the EU adopted new Guidelines on violence and discrimination against women and girls, which foresee regular reporting from EU Member States’ embassies and EU Delegations in third countries. As a way to implement these Guidelines, the EU urges third countries to enhance the fight against impunity and to support the protection and reintegration of victims, in close cooperation with civil society organisations and with defenders of women's rights. This includes protection against traditional practices that are harmful, such as female genital mutilation. The implementation of these Guidelines involves the work, as of today, of some 90 EU Delegations and EU Member States embassies in third countries.
This first-hand information forms the basis for constructive discussion with third countries' governments in the framework of human rights dialogues and consultations as well as in ad hoc conferences, such as the follow-up meetings of the 2006 Euromed ministerial conference on 'Strenghtening the Role of Women in Society'. Most recently, a meeting at the ministerial level was held in Marrakesh on 11-12 November 2009, in the framework of the Union for the Mediterranean.
The EU is an active actor in the international implementation of UN Security Council resolutions 1325 of 2000, 1820 of 2008, and the most recent 1888 and 1889 of 2009: these resolutions concern 1) the protection of women from violence in conflict and post-conflict situations and 2) women's participation in peacebuilding. The work of the Union in this area is guided by the “EU Comprehensive Approach for the implementation of UN Security Council Resolutions 1325 and 1820 on women, peace and security”.
This policy document, which was adopted by the Council of the EU on 8 December 2008, presents a vision of the role and obligations of a regional actor such as the EU in protecting women in conflict situations and in facilitating their pro-active role as peace-builders. The EU has been instrumental to ask the UN to organise, in October 2010, a ministerial review conference of resolution 1325. By then, the EU aims at achieving concrete results on the implementation of its policy on women, peace and security.
Election observation is another relevant tool to promote women’s role and participation in post-conflict or conflict-prone societies. Reports of EU electoral observation mission systematically include a comprehensive analysis of women’s participation as both voters and candidates as well as a set of recommendations.
Various financial instruments provide support to NGOs working in third countries on women’s rights. The European Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights (EIDHR) includes the equal participation of men and women as a core goal of its Objective 2 on “strengthening the role of civil society in promoting human rights and democratic reform, in supporting the peaceful conciliation of group interests and consolidating political participation and representation”.
In future, the EIDHR should also provide opportunities to support NGOs activities to implement the EU Guidelines on violence and discrimination against women and girls. The thematic programme Investing in People also contains a separate financial envelope for funding NGOs actions in the area of promoting gender equality and the empowerment of women. The Stability Instrument is currently used to integrate a gender perspective into EU activities in the area of conflict prevention, for instance through support to training, research and capacity building activities implemented by specialised NGOs.
The European Commission works closely with international inter-governmental organisations working for the protection of women’s rights. In particular, in April 2007, the European Commission jointly with UNIFEM and the International Training Centre of the International Labour Organization (ITC-ILO) - launched the EC/UN Partnership on Gender Equality for Development and Peace: this programme seeks to build capacity of relevant actors and improve accountability for gender equality in 12 focus countries: Cameroon, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Ghana, Honduras, Indonesia, Kyrgyz Republic, Nepal, Nicaragua, Papua New Guinea, Suriname and Ukraine.
However, implementation is slow in many countries of the world. From a new 10-country study on women's health and domestic violence conducted by the World Health Organisation, it appears that between 15% and 71% of women reported physical or sexual violence by a husband or partner. Between 4% and 12% of women reported being physically abused during pregnancy. Every year, about 5,000 women are murdered by family members in the name of honour each year worldwide. Under these conditions, women's rights mechanisms remain under-exploited, and the possibility for individual victims to submit complaints to the UN, for example, is unknown to most women. These are key challenges for the EU human rights policy in third countries. And we must also lead by example in our EU internal policies.
On the eve of the International Women's Day, the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy/Vice-President of the European Commission Catherine Ashton said:
"International Women's Day provides a great opportunity for each one of us to reflect on our responsibility for working towards the eradication of gender inequality. This is very much true also in international relations, where all must play their part in reaching this common goal. Sustainable peace and security cannot be achieved without the full participation of women. Unfortunately, the persistence of constitutions and laws that blatantly discriminate against women still undermines the development of countries around the world. Violence against women has direct negative consequences on women's access to education, job and on to their participation in the public life. The impact of the marginalisation of women is not only at the expense of women, but runs counter to the overall empowerment of local communities. There remains a huge amount to do in all parts of the world."
"This is a global challenge of the highest order, to deliver gender equality and empower women, within Europe and beyond. That is why the EU will continue to put pro-active work in this field at the heart of our policies, both internal and external. Heads of EU Delegations throughout the world have just received clear instructions in this respect", she added.
Background
In December 1977, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution proclaiming a United Nations Day for Women's Rights and International Peace to be observed on any day of the year by member countries, in accordance with their national traditions.
The EU has a long-standing commitment to promote gender equality; already in 1995, for instance, it played a leadership role at the 1995 Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing. Since then, the EU has sought actively to integrate the priorities and needs of women and men in all its key policies, notably in external assistance. Annually almost 35% of the European Commission's development aid is spent on projects that have a gender dimension. A forthcoming “EU Action Plan on Mainstreaming Gender Equality in Development” will aim at strengthening the coordination of activities in this field by EU institutions and individual EU Member States.
This gender mainstreaming strategy is reinforced by specific measures, programmes and projects to support the empowerment of women. The EU closely monitors women's rights and gender equality in third countries, including issues such as discriminatory laws and women's participation in public life. In 2008, the EU adopted new Guidelines on violence and discrimination against women and girls, which foresee regular reporting from EU Member States’ embassies and EU Delegations in third countries. As a way to implement these Guidelines, the EU urges third countries to enhance the fight against impunity and to support the protection and reintegration of victims, in close cooperation with civil society organisations and with defenders of women's rights. This includes protection against traditional practices that are harmful, such as female genital mutilation. The implementation of these Guidelines involves the work, as of today, of some 90 EU Delegations and EU Member States embassies in third countries.
This first-hand information forms the basis for constructive discussion with third countries' governments in the framework of human rights dialogues and consultations as well as in ad hoc conferences, such as the follow-up meetings of the 2006 Euromed ministerial conference on 'Strenghtening the Role of Women in Society'. Most recently, a meeting at the ministerial level was held in Marrakesh on 11-12 November 2009, in the framework of the Union for the Mediterranean.
The EU is an active actor in the international implementation of UN Security Council resolutions 1325 of 2000, 1820 of 2008, and the most recent 1888 and 1889 of 2009: these resolutions concern 1) the protection of women from violence in conflict and post-conflict situations and 2) women's participation in peacebuilding. The work of the Union in this area is guided by the “EU Comprehensive Approach for the implementation of UN Security Council Resolutions 1325 and 1820 on women, peace and security”.
This policy document, which was adopted by the Council of the EU on 8 December 2008, presents a vision of the role and obligations of a regional actor such as the EU in protecting women in conflict situations and in facilitating their pro-active role as peace-builders. The EU has been instrumental to ask the UN to organise, in October 2010, a ministerial review conference of resolution 1325. By then, the EU aims at achieving concrete results on the implementation of its policy on women, peace and security.
Election observation is another relevant tool to promote women’s role and participation in post-conflict or conflict-prone societies. Reports of EU electoral observation mission systematically include a comprehensive analysis of women’s participation as both voters and candidates as well as a set of recommendations.
Various financial instruments provide support to NGOs working in third countries on women’s rights. The European Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights (EIDHR) includes the equal participation of men and women as a core goal of its Objective 2 on “strengthening the role of civil society in promoting human rights and democratic reform, in supporting the peaceful conciliation of group interests and consolidating political participation and representation”.
In future, the EIDHR should also provide opportunities to support NGOs activities to implement the EU Guidelines on violence and discrimination against women and girls. The thematic programme Investing in People also contains a separate financial envelope for funding NGOs actions in the area of promoting gender equality and the empowerment of women. The Stability Instrument is currently used to integrate a gender perspective into EU activities in the area of conflict prevention, for instance through support to training, research and capacity building activities implemented by specialised NGOs.
The European Commission works closely with international inter-governmental organisations working for the protection of women’s rights. In particular, in April 2007, the European Commission jointly with UNIFEM and the International Training Centre of the International Labour Organization (ITC-ILO) - launched the EC/UN Partnership on Gender Equality for Development and Peace: this programme seeks to build capacity of relevant actors and improve accountability for gender equality in 12 focus countries: Cameroon, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Ghana, Honduras, Indonesia, Kyrgyz Republic, Nepal, Nicaragua, Papua New Guinea, Suriname and Ukraine.
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