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International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women

24 Nov 2006 13:25:00 GMT
Source: Trócaire - Ireland
Website: Website: http://www.trocaire.org

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21 year old Khadija, who was raped near the village of Jabra. She says the lorry she was travelling in was attacked, and she was raped for the first time by three Janjaweed militia men in front of Govt. of Sudan troops who stood by and watched. The second time, it was in front of her two daughters, who are aged six and four

Background

• Darfur conflict

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The 25th of November is International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women and marks the opening day of a worldwide campaign of 16 Days of Action against Gender Violence that seeks to raise awareness about gender-based violence. According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the term 'gender-based violence' (GBV) is used to distinguish violence that targets individuals or groups of individuals on the basis of their gender, from other forms of violence. GBV includes violent acts such as rape, torture, mutilation, sexual slavery, forced impregnation and murder. Violence against women continues in countries throughout the world as a pervasive violation of women's human rights and a major impediment to achieving gender equality. As highlighted in the October Report by the UN Secretary General on Violence Against Women, the high incidence of GBV in conflict zones is particularly alarming, and has been increasingly evidenced and documented in a range of conflict situations including; Afghanistan, Burundi, Chad, Colombia, Côte d'Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Liberia, Peru, Rwanda, Sierra Leone and the Sudan. Within the context of violent conflict sexual violence has been used for many different reasons, including as a form of torture, to inflict injury, to extract information, to degrade, intimidate and destroy communities. During almost four years of conflict in Sudan's western region of Darfur, more than 2.5 million people have been displaced and the region remains extremely insecure. Recent escalations in violence illustrate the vulnerability of the female civilians in Darfur, as horrific accounts of girls and women being subjected to rape and sexual violence continue to emerge from the conflict. Trócaire works with local partners in Darfur to promote care and protection of civilians from all forms of rights violations, including gender-based violence. More specifically, through involvement in the training of community mobilisers in GBV, and through the building of Community Centres across the region to accommodate, workshops, counselling sessions and recreation activities. Fighting the impunity of perpetrators is critical to the reduction of GBV. At present, those committing such human rights violations in the conflict in Darfur run virtually no risk of investigation, prosecution or punishment. Trócaire calls on the Government of National Unity to take urgent action to tackle gender-based violence in Darfur and facilitate legal redress for victims of GBV.

[ Any views expressed in this article are those of the writer and not of Reuters. ]

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Last updated:Fri Nov 24 13:36:04 2006