FACTS ABOUT VIOLENCE

U.S. STATISTICS

Fact #1: 17.6 % of women in the United States have survived a completed or attempted rape. Of these, 21.6% were younger than age 12 when they were first raped, and 32.4% were between the ages of 12 and 17. (Full Report of the Prevalence, Incidence, and Consequences of Violence Against Women, Findings from the National Violence Against Women Survey, November, 2000)
Fact #2: 64% of women who reported being raped, physically assaulted, and/or stalked since age 18 were victimized by a current or former husband, cohabiting partner, boyfriend, or date. (Full Report of the Prevalence, Incidence, and Consequences of Violence Against Women, Findings from the National Violence Against Women Survey, November, 2000)
Fact #3: Only about half of domestic violence incidents are reported to police. African-American women are more likely than others to report their victimization to police Lawrence A. Greenfeld et al. (1998). (Violence by Intimates: Analysis of Data on Crimes by Current or Former Spouses, Boyfriends, and Girlfriends. Bureau of Justice Statistics Factbook. Washington DC: U.S. Department of Justice. NCJ #167237. Available from National Criminal Justice Reference Service.)
Fact #4: The FBI estimates that only 37% of all rapes are reported to the police. U.S. Justice Department statistics are even lower, with only 26% of all rapes or attempted rapes being reported to law enforcement officials.
Fact #5: In the National Violence Against Women Survey, approximately 25% of women and 8% of men said they were raped and/or physically assaulted by a current or former spouse, cohabiting partner, or date in their lifetimes. The survey estimates that more than 300,000 intimate partner rapes occur each year against women 18 and older. (Full Report of the Prevalence, Incidence, and Consequences of Violence Against Women, Findings from the National Violence Against Women Survey, November, 2000)
Fact #6: The National College Women Sexual Victimization Study estimated that between 1 in 4 and 1 in 5 college women experience completed or attempted rape during their college years (Fisher 2000).
Fact #7: Men perpetrate the majority of violent acts against women (DeLahunta 1997).
Fact #8: Every two minutes, somewhere in America, someone is sexually assaulted. (Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network (RAINN) calculation based on 2000 National Crime Victimization Survey. Bureau of Justice Statistics, U.S. Department of Justice)
Fact #9: One out of every six American women have been the victims of an attempted or completed rape in their lifetime. (Prevalence, Incidence and Consequences of Violence Against Women Survey, National Institute of Justice and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1998)
Fact #10: Factoring in unreported rapes, about 5% - one out of twenty - of rapists will ever spend a day in jail. 19 out of 20 will walk free. (Probability statistics based on US Department of Justice Statistics)
Fact #11: Fewer than half (48%) of all rapes and sexual assaults are reported to the police (DOJ 2001).
Fact #12: Sexual violence is associated with a host of short- and long-term problems, including physical injury and illness, psychological symptoms, economic costs, and death (National Research Council 1996).
Fact #13: Rape victims often experience anxiety, guilt, nervousness, phobias, substance abuse, sleep disturbances, depression, alienation, sexual dysfunction, and aggression. They often distrust others and replay the assault in their minds, and they are at increased risk of future victimization (DeLahunta 1997).
Fact #14: According to the National Crime Victimization Survey, more than 260,000 rapes or sexual assaults occurred in 2000; 246,180 of them occurred among females and 14,770, among males (Department of Justice 2001).

Fact #15: Sexual violence victims exhibit a variety of psychological symptoms that are similar to those of victims of other types of trauma, such as war and natural disaster (National Research Council 1996). A number of long-lasting symptoms and illnesses have been associated with sexual victimization including chronic pelvic pain; premenstrual syndrome; gastrointestinal disorders; and a variety of chronic pain disorders, including headache, back pain, and facial pain (Koss 1992).Between 4% and 30% of rape victims contract sexually transmitted diseases as a result of the victimization (Resnick 1997).
Fact #16: More than half of all rapes of women occur before age 18; 22% occur before age 12. (Full Report of the Prevalance, Incidence, and Consequences of Violence Against Women, Findings from the National Violence Against Women Survey, November, 2000)
Fact #17: In 2000, nearly 88,000 children in the United States experienced sexual abuse (ACF 2002).
Fact #18: About 81% of rape victims are white; 18% are black; 1% are of other races. (Violence Against Women, Bureau of Justice Statistics, U.S. Dept. of Justice, 1994.
Fact #19: About half of all rape victims are in the lowest third of income distribution; half are in the upper two-thirds. (Violence against Women, Bureau of Justice Statistics, U.S. Dept. of Justice, 1994.)
Fact #20: According to the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance Survey (YRBSS), a national survey of high school students, 7.7% of students had been forced to have sexual intercourse when they did not want to. Female students (10%) were significantly more likely than male students (5%) to have been forced to have sexual intercourse. Overall, black students (10%) were significantly more likely than white students (7%) to have been forced to have sexual intercourse (CDC 2002).
Fact #21: Females ages 12 to 24 are at the greatest risk for experiencing a rape or sexual assault (DOJ 2001).

Fact #22: Almost two-thirds of all rapes are committed by someone who is known to the victim. 73% of sexual assaults were perpetrated by a non-stranger (— 38% of perpetrators were a friend or acquaintance of the victim, 28% were an intimate and 7% were another relative.) (National Crime Victimization Survey, 2005)
Fact #23: The costs of intimate partner violence against women exceed an estimated $5.8 billion. These costs include nearly $4.1 billion in the direct costs of medical care and mental health care and nearly $1.8 billion in the indirect costs of lost productivity and present value of lifetime earnings. (Costs of Intimate Partner Violence Against Women in the United States, Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Atlanta, Georgia, March 2003).
Fact #24: Domestic violence occurs in approximately 25-33% of same-sex relationships. (NYC Gay and Lesbian Anti-Violence Project, October 1996.)
Fact #25: Boys who witness their fathers' violence are 10 times more likely to engage in spouse abuse in later adulthood than boys from non-violent homes. (Family Violence Interventions for the Justice System, 1993)
Fact #26: An estimated 50,000 women and children are trafficked into the United States annually for sexual exploitation or forced labor. (U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, 2000)
Fact #27: Somewhere in America a woman is battered, usually by her intimate partner, every 15 seconds. (UN Study On The Status of Women, Year 2000)
Fact #28: A University of Pennsylvania research study found that domestic violence is the leading cause of injury to low-income, inner-city Philadelphia women between the ages of 15 to 44 - more common than automobile accidents, mugging and rapes combined. In this study domestic violence included injuries caused by street crime.
Fact #29: Following the Supreme Court's decision in 2000 to strike down the civil-rights provision of the Federal Violence Against Women Act (ruling that only states could enact such legislation), only two states in the country (Illinois and California) have defined gender-based violence, such as rape and domestic violence, as sex discrimination, and created specific laws that survivors can use to sue their perpetrators in civil court. (Kaethe Morris Hoffer, 2004).
Fact #30: A study reported in the New York Times suggests that one in five adolescent girls become the victims of physical or sexual violence, or both, in a dating relationship. (New York Times, 8/01/01)
GLOBAL STATISTICS
Fact #31: At least 60 million girls who would otherwise be expected to be alive are "missing" from various populations, mostly in Asia, as a result of sex-selective abortions, infanticide or neglect. (UN Study On The Status of Women, Year 2000)

Fact #32: Globally, at least one in three women and girls is beaten or sexually abused in her lifetime. (UN Commission on the Status of Women, 2/28/00)
Fact #33: A recent survey by the Kenyan Women Rights Awareness Program revealed that 70% of those interviewed said they knew neighbors who beat their wives. Nearly 60% said women were to blame for the beatings. Just 51% said the men should be punished. (The New York Times, 10/31/97)
Fact #34: 4 million women and girls are trafficked annually. (United Nations)
Fact #35: An estimated one million children, mostly girls, enter the sex trade each year (UNICEF)
Fact #36: A 2005 World Health Organization study reported that nearly one third of Ethiopian women had been physically forced by a partner to have sex against their will within the 12 months prior to the study. (WHO Multi-country Study on Women's Health and Domestic Violence Against Women, 2005)
Fact #37: In a study of 475 people in prostitution from five countries (South Africa, Thailand, Turkey, USA, and Zambia):

62% reported having been raped in prostitution.

73% reported having experienced physical assault in prostitution.

92% stated that they wanted to escape prostitution immediately.

(Melissa Farley, Isin Baral, Merab Kiremire, Ufuk Sezgin, "Prostitution in Five Countries: Violence and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder" (1998) Feminism & Psychology 8 (4): 405-426)
Fact #38: The most common act of violence against women is being slapped—an experience reported by 9% of women in Japan and 52% in provincial Peru. Rates of sexual abuse also varies greatly around the world—with partner rape being reported by 6% of women from Serbia and Montenegro, 46% of women from provincial Bangladesh, and 59% of women in Ethiopia. (WHO Multi-country Study on Women’s Health and Domestic Violence Against Women, 2005)
Fact #39: So-called "honour killings" take the lives of thousands of young women every year, mainly in North Africa, Western Asia and parts of South Asia. (UNFPA)
Fact #40: The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan reported that 2002 saw a 25% increase in “honor killings” of women, with 461 women murdered by family members in 2002, in 2 provinces (Sindh and Punjab) alone. (Pakistan Human Rights Commission, 2002)
Fact #41: More than 90 million African women and girls are victims of female circumcision or other forms of genital mutilation. (Heise: 1994)
Fact #42: In eastern and souther Africa, 17 to 22% of girls aged 15 to 19 are HIV-positive, compared to 3 to 7% of boys of similar age. This pattern—seen in many other regions of the world—is evidence that girls are being infected with HIV by a much older cohort of men. (UNICEF/UNAIDS 2007)
Fact #43: : A 2005 study reported that 7% of partnered Canadian women experienced violence at the hands of a spouse between 1999 and 2004. Of these battered women, nearly one-quarter (23%) reported being beaten, choked, or threatened with a knife or gun. (Family Violence in Canada: A Statistical Profile, 2005)
Fact #44: In Zimbabwe, domestic violence accounts for more than 60% of murder cases that go through the high court in Harare. (ZWRCN)
Fact #45: a study in Zaria, Nigeria found that 16 percent of hospital patients treated for sexually transmitted infections were younger than 5. (UNFPA)

LINKS TO STATISTICS:

The following are a selection of other web sites at which to find and verify violence against women statistics.

Bureau of Justice: Crime and Victim Statistics

Department of Justice's Office on Violence Against Women

Family Violence Prevention Fund

RAINN Statistics

Violence Against Women Online Resources

World Health Organization: Gender Based Violence

GENDER EQUALITY AND SOCIAL INSTITUTIONS IN THE GAMBIA

Under the 1997 Constitution, women in the Gambia are accorded equal rights with men. Yet they continue to experience discrimination and inequality, largely because the patriarchal nature of Gambian society reinforces traditional roles of women. In addition, the country has a dual legal system that combines civil law (inspired by the British system) and Islamic Sharia. Provisions in Sharia are generally viewed to be discriminatory towards women, particularly in relation to marriage, divorce and inheritance.
Family Code:

Women in the Gambia face many discriminations and inequalities in regard to family matters. The laws recognise four forms of marriage: Christian, civil, customary and Mohommedan (which are governed by Sharia). The 1997 Constitution states that all marriages shall be based on the free and full consent of the intended parties, except under customary law which still supports the tradition of child betrothal. More than 90 per cent of Gambian women are governed by customary and Sharia law vis-à-vis their family relationships. The Gambia has no minimum legal age for marriage and the incidence of early marriage is high: a 2004 United Nations report estimated that 39 per cent of girls in the Gambia between 15 and 19 years of age were married, divorced or widowed. Child marriage is not prohibited by law, and some girls are married off as young as the age of 12 years.
Polygamy is permissible under Sharia and is practised; Muslim men may take up to four wives. Wives whose husbands enter a second or subsequent marriage have the option to divorce, but they have no legal right to receive advance notice regarding the husband’s intentions or to give their approval.
Women also face discrimination in regard to parental authority. Sharia considers husbands to be the natural head of the family; as such, they have sole responsibility for matters concerning the raising of children.
Women’s rights with regard to inheritance depend on the law applied. Sharia provides for detailed and complex calculations of inheritance shares, whereby women may inherit from their father, mother, husband or children and, under certain conditions, from other family members. However, their shares are generally only half of that to which men are entitled. Christian women and female children can receive properties under the wills of their husbands or fathers, but may also find themselves disadvantaged. Their law of inheritance permits husbands, if they so choose, to will away all property and leave nothing for their wives and children. Gambian law offers no protection to women in such cases. Under customary law, wives are not entitled to the property of their husband unless – and until – they agree to let themselves be inherited by the husband’s family. In effect, such women are treated as a form of property to be inherited along with the rest of their husbands’ assets.
Physical Integrity:

Protection for the physical integrity of Gambian women is weak. Violence against women, including domestic violence and abuse is rarely reported, but its occurrence is believed to be quite common. Even though wife-beating is a criminal offence (and constitutes grounds for divorce under civil law), the police typically consider such incidents to be domestic issues that lie beyond their jurisdiction. The Gambia does have laws prohibiting rape and assault, which are generally enforced. Spousal rape, however, is not specifically recognised.
Female genital mutilation (FGM) is widespread, especially in the Gambian countryside. The practice of FGM is illegal under the Penal Code but, to date, there have been no prosecutions for violations. Previous data from the Demographic and Health Surveys indicated that virtually all Gambian women had undergone FGM. A more recent estimate from the CPTAFE (Cellule de coordination sur les pratiques traditionnelles affectant la femme et l’enfant), a local NGO dedicated to eradicating FGM and ritual scarring, suggests the figure to be 65 per cent to 75 per cent. The lower figure, if accurate, would represent a decline over recent years, largely due to efforts by women’s rights groups to raise awareness about the health risks associated with the practice.

The population sex ratio in the Gambia has been stable for the past 50 years, suggesting it is not a country of concern in relation to missing women.
Ownership Rights:

Women in the Gambia have very few ownership rights. Concerning access to land, only a small proportion of women have titles to land property. The problem is especially acute in rural areas: traditional and cultural practices allow women to have the right to usufruct over land but forbid them from owning it. All women, whether married or single, have access to property other than land.
The law does not discriminate against women in the area of access to bank loans or credit facilities, but women in the Gambia face several obstacles in this area. For example, most financial institutions will not grant credit facilities unless the applicant has adequate security or collateral: in most cases, they will insist on property in the form of land. Since access to land is problematic for Gambian women, so is access to credit. Because of tradition and cultural practices, rural women are, strictly speaking, thereby effectively denied access to loans and credit.
Civil Liberties:

Women in the Gambia have civil liberty. There are no restrictions on women’s freedom of movement or freedom of dress.
Sources:

Afrol News (n.d.), Gender Profile: Gambia, www.afrol.com/Categories/Women/profiles/gambia_women.htm, accessed: May 2008.
CEDAW (Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women) (2003), Consideration of Reports Submitted by States Parties Under Article 18 of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women: Gambia, Combined First, Second, Third, Fourth and Fifth Periodic Reports of States Parties, CEDAW/C/GMB/1-3, CEDAW, New York, NY.

CEDAW (2004a), Summary Record of the 645th Meeting, CEDAW/C/SR.645, CEDAW, New York, NY.
CEDAW (2004b), Summary Record of the 646th Meeting, CEDAW/C/SR.646, CEDAW, New York, NY.
ECOSOC (United Nations Economic and Social Council) (2003), Integration of the Human Rights of Wo¬men and the Gender Perspective: Violence Against Women, E/CN.4/2003/75/Add.1, UN, New York, NY.

Morison, L., C. Scherf, G. Ekpo, K. Paine, B. West, R. Coleman, G. Walraven (2001), “The Long-term Reproductive Health Consequences of Female Genital Cutting in Rural Gambia: A Community Based Survey”, Tropical Medicine and International Health, Vol. 6 No. 8, Blackwell, Oxford, pp. 643-53.
UN (United Nations) (2004), World Fertility Report 2003, UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division, New York, NY.
US Department of State (2007a), Country Reports on Human Rights Practices: Gambia, The, US Depart¬ment of State, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, Washington, DC.

US Department of State (2007b), International Religious Freedom Report: Gambia, The, US Department of State, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, Washington, DC.

Rape : African Governments must Progressively and Aggressively Confront Pandemonium

The euphoria surrounding rape in Africa continues to be one of the most contentious issues facing governments around the continent. With the transformation of the continent along political, economical and social lines, the raping of women and girls brought to light the troubling reality for governments of both conflict and non-conflict-ridden societies. Rape has become so prevalent that a concerted global call for action has taken a forefront of international and African affairs.
International Human Rights Organizations and Non-Governmental Organizations, in collaboration with the United Nations, and grass-roots civil society organizations in Africa, took a leading role in urging governments to take punitive actions against the menaces of rape across the continent. However, until now, numerous African governments continue to struggle with the rape pandemic that is ravaging the livelihood of women and girls across the continent.

Nonetheless, with the concerted International efforts, several international legal instruments were introduced and adopted by governments around the world- African governments included. The world has since then seen the adoption of United Nations Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 1325 (Women, Peace and Security), 1820 (Sexual Violence in Conflicts) and most recently 1889 (Women, Peace and Security). These resolutions were founded on the fundamental premises of protecting women and girls, thus calling for their adoption, and punitive action against perpetrators.
Several governments responded positively through the adoption of prescriptive measures as codified under the doctrines of international legal mechanisms targeting rape and sexual violence. For example, countries such as Liberia, Sierra-Leone, Rwanda and Burundi adopted National Action Plans empowering and combating rape and sexual violence against women. Several other countries adopted legislations progressively and aggressively dealing with rape, sexual violence, and the empowerment of women. Today, almost all African countries have constitutional provisions targeting the onslaught. How that translates to protecting women remains to be the very good old question.

Even though constitutional provisions are the hallmark of Africa’s effort in combating rape and sexual violence against women, sporadic cases in thriving democracies makes the situation an abject matter of concern for pundits, scholars, and policy analysts. Implementation mechanisms of adopted international legislations are what many African nations are grappling with. It is therefore imperative that African governments introduce national awareness programs through education, and review policing procedures for appropriate response mechanisms at grass roots level. The experiences of Liberia, Sierra –Leone and Rwanda in combating widespread sexual violence could be very pivotal in crafting a continental plan to deal with the conundrum.

In a most recent development, growing sexual abuse against girls in Senegal prompted legal reforms. Although cultural and traditional barriers is expressed to be a major concern in dealing with rape in a predominantly Muslim country, Senegal is reported to be taking progressive and aggressive measures in combating the menaces of rape. According to the BBC,

The ministry wants to allow state approved associations to bring suits as civil plaintiffs. This will enable associations campaigning for the protection of the rights of women and children to press on with the process, even if the fathers and mothers of children who have been raped do not file a suit," says Judge Kandji. According to the judge, Justice Minister Moustapha Sourang also wants tougher rape sentences. He has proposed a minimum of 15 years jail time for perpetrators.

In view of the societal stigma attached to Rape, African governments must embark on legislative reforms for a progressive and aggressive confrontation of the rape pandemonium. Although an African Union Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights on the Rights of Women calls on the elimination of all kinds of Sexual violence against women, it is imperative that an additional protocol calling for legal reforms for governments to adopt tougher punitive actions such as long term jail sentences, national awareness programs, and provisions allowing suits as civil plaintiffs, be introduced by the African Union for adoption by all member states of the African Union.
There is no doubt that once such an additional protocol is introduced and adopted, progressively and aggressively enforced, the menaces of rape across the continent may likely be effectively contained. What else could one say?

source: gainako.com

International Women’s Day Message From the African Women’s Development & Communication Network

“Equal rights, equal opportunities: Progress for all”
March 8th is International Women's Day, a day that is recognized globally and in many countries
celebrated as a public holiday. Its annual commemoration brings into sharp focus the contributions
of women to the development efforts in all parts of the world. Bringing the focus closer home the
International Women’s day has been used by many African leaders to give an account of what they
have done successfully or otherwise to improve the lives of women and girls in their respective
countries. Since its first commemoration in 1975 during the International Year for women and later
throughout the global Women’s Decade (1976 – 1985) it was recognized internationally and in all
regions of the world that women and girls were not equally enjoying their rights compared to men
and boys. The purpose of the day therefore is to constantly remind men and women that without
the fulfillment of women’s rights to equality, development and peace we cannot achieve
sustainable progress for all.
Each year a theme is chosen at the international or national levels to guide the activities organized
in commemoration of the day. The theme for the 2010 women’s day celebrations is: “Equal rights,
equal opportunities: Progress for all.” It is the most appropriate theme for the year as 2010 is the
review of the implementation of the Beijing Commitments made to women by world leaders of 192
countries in 1995 at the Fourth United Nations World Conference on Women.
It is thirty–five (35) years since the first commemoration of the Women’s day. What is the
significance of the celebration today? Apart from the usual singing and dancing, spending the
meagre resources allocated to the national women’s machineries on the national celebration events,
the staging of colourful parades and the attentive listening to the rhetoric of our leaders, what are
we really celebrating on March 8th 2010? Have we achieved equal rights and equal opportunities for
all women, or for men and women?
The response to this question is a resounding “No.” Despite the promises and commitments made
by world leaders in four global conferences on Women to address the complex issues that deny
women equal rights and opportunities the pace of change has been very slow. At the Fourth World
Conference on Women held in Beijing, China in 1995 the Beijing Platform for Action (BPfA)
adopted as the blueprint or framework to promote gender equality and women’s empowerment
goals as essential requirements for achieving progress for all. In March 2010 representatives of
member states of the United Nations are meeting at the 54th Session of the Commission on the
Status of Women (CSW) to review the progress made in the implementation of the Beijing
Declaration and Platform for Action (BPfA). It is fifteen years since Beijing. Have the daily realities
of the lives of women and girls that make up more than half of the population of the world been
transformed? The reality is that women especially in Africa are still waiting for the promises of
Beijing to be realized in her life. SHAME!!!
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Based on the findings of the progress review reports from Africa the gains are far below the
expectations of women. The situation of the African woman has not indicated significant change in
terms of the quality of life and the current global economic and financial crises, the prolonged
conflicts and situations of insecurity in many parts of the continent plus the climatic changes
affecting agricultural production and food security all combine to pose new threats to the
sustainability of the gains. Inspite of the global focus on the reduction of poverty in the world,
which in 2000 led to the adoption of the 8 Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) majority of
Africans are still living in poverty.
All countries in Africa have placed poverty reduction high on their respective agendas and have
continued to heighten their actions and policies to address it especially in the last 15 years.
However, more than 50% of the people in Africa are poor. According to the UNECA Report of 2009
forty four per cent (44%) of Africa's population lives below the region-wide poverty line of $39 per
capita per month. However, the extent and severity of poverty varies among the sub-regions. The
least prevalent incidence of poverty is found in the North African sub-region where 22 per cent of
the population lives below the sub-regional poverty line of $54 per capita per month. In Sub-
Saharan Africa, 51 per cent of the population lives below the regional poverty line of $34 per capita
per month. In Sub-Saharan Africa, the incidence of poverty in rural areas tends to be higher than
that in urban areas. The majority of African women live in the rural areas engaged in agriculture
and it is this sector which has the lowest levels of income growth thus having women as the
majority of the poor people in Africa.
The key message for 2010 Women’s day celebrations is that the progress made in reducing gender
gaps in several sectors and under each of the critical areas of concern highlighted in the BPfA is far
below the expectations of the African woman. Fifteen years since Beijing majority of African
women are still experiencing discrimination in their public and private lives. Many still experience
poor health due to limited access to quality health services and poor economic capacity; majority
are in low paying jobs in the informal sector with no provision for social protection. One in every
three women in Africa experience some form of violence in their life time. The wars and conflicts on
the continent continue to expose women to untold suffering and loss of livelihood due to prolonged
periods of displacement and many have fled their countries as refugees and are living in squalid
conditions with little hope of over seeing their homeland again. The patriarchal systems continue to
perpetrate male dominance and control over resources combined with backward or outdated social
and cultural practices remain the biggest threat to African women’s emancipation and
advancement.
Women in low income brackets, internally displaced women, women with disabilities are often
among the most affected by the discriminations that manifest in different forms. Many African
women are denied equal rights in employment when they are paid less than men for similar or
comparable work; they are denied promotions and training opportunities due to their reproductive
roles and responsibilities; shut out of high paying jobs and occupations because of prejudices
towards women in leadership; subjected to sexual harassment and abuse in their homes,
communities and at their work places and penalized for taking time off time to attend to family
emergencies or needs.
The 15 years’ Beijing Review is taking place on the heels of the commemoration of 30 years since
the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW)
adopted in 1979. CEDAW prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex and includes guarantees to
ensure that women and men enjoy their civil, cultural, economic, political and social rights on an
equal basis with men. CEDAW (Article 2 (f) further obligates States Parties to the Convention to
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"take all appropriate measures, including legislation, to modify or abolish existing laws,
regulations, customs and practices which constitute discrimination against women. Fifty–one (51)
countries in Africa have ratified CEDAW. The BPfA is one of the mechanisms through which
specific actions were proposed by UN member states to stem out discrimination against women.
The failure to meet the Beijing commitments is a clear indicator that sustainable development
cannot be achieved without the full recognition and respect for women’s rights as human rights. No
commitment is worth the paper it is written on without actions to follow. Therefore, as we enter
into the last five years of implementing the Beijing framework FEMNET is appealing to all African
women to stand up and be counted by determining to shape the future of our continent and our
own destiny. It is obvious from the experience of the last 15 years that nothing is going to change
substantially without us being fully in charge of driving the change that we desire to see. We have
to stand up against the systemic oppression that denies us equal rights and opportunities.
The African Women’s Decade (AWD) (2010 – 2020) declared by the Heads of state and government
in January 20091 presents to us a platform and opportunity to taking women’s rights in Africa a
notch higher so that it is not just the privileged few that enjoy and benefit from the positive
changes. One of the first and critical steps that we have to take is to recognize women’s agency.
Secondly, women must take leadership at different levels and ensure the implementation of
governments’ commitment to women. Thirdly, we have to further strengthen our capacities to take
actions collectively and individually at all levels as a key component of our broader strategy for
achieving systems change which requires the conscious involvement of different actors. As
Mahatma Gandhi rightly said “whatever you do may seem insignificant to the struggle, but it is
most important that you do it and do it well.” It is the sum total of all our actions that will bring us
closer to the achievement of equal rights and opportunities for women for the progress of all.
Freedom and emancipation has to start from within. It is not imposed from outside. African women
this is out time to use our strength in numbers, our creativity, resilience and various capacities to
achieve what is rightly ours.
African women who have benefited from the gains of the last fifteen years must determine on this
year’s International women’s day to open a new page and lead by the examples of those who came
before us in this struggle for equal rights and opportunities for women. The struggle though must
be without violence. However our strategies must focus on dismantling the powers of patriarchy
that hold many women in slavery and ignorance of their potential. We have to combine these
efforts with improving the mechanisms for monitoring and evaluating the impact of our actions by
setting clear benchmarks for each year of the Africa Women’s Decade. As Roselyn Musa of AWDF
noted in one of her articles on the ADWF website “It is evident that we would not be able to make
much progress without a framework of knowing if and what progress we are making towards
transforming the lives of African women for the better. Advocacy has to be accompanied by
monitoring progress at different phases of the decade.”
Throughout the women’s decade they must write a different story. Adequate funding is very
crucial to making our dreams to come true. Therefore, we commend the efforts of the African
Union for the setting up a Women’s Trust Fund. This will be an additional source of the much
needed resources for programs aiming to contribute to the achievement of equal rights and
opportunities for women and girls. Africa grown initiatives to increase resources available for
women’s rights work like the Africa Women’s Development Fund (AWDF), Urgent Action Fund –
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Africa and the numerous ones that exist at the national and local levels must be sustained through
our contributions in addition to those attracted form other international sources.
The gender machineries at the country level, which are mandated with the promotion of gender
equality and women’s empowerment, have to be strengthened during the Africa Women’s Decade
in order to deliver reasonably on their agenda. African women must resist the current trends of
submerging the gender entities with many other under- resourced departments within
governments. Gender machineries must remain strong entities, with strategic positioning within
governments in order to have a clear voice within the decision making structures at the highest
level. They must be led by competent personnel at ministerial and departmental levels with a track
record of work on gender equality and women’s empowerment. They must be allocated adequate
resources needed to fulfill their wide and complex mandate and provide technical support to other
ministries on how to use a two–pronged approach to gender mainstreaming. The resources must be
adequate to support comprehensive monitoring of all other ministries and government institutions
on the impact of their actions and programs on the lives of both women and men. The existing
frameworks for monitoring and evaluation of women’s rights issues which be integrated in overall
monitoring mechanisms.
Ten years may give the illusion of a long time, but the reality is that time flies. With one wink of the
eye the decade is here and with another it will be gone. It is our commitment, determination and
resolve that will make the decade goals a reality. We must be able to look back with pride and
congratulate each other with a pat on the back for having made the best use of this unique
opportunity. Therefore on this Women’s day celebration we call upon all African women to hit the
ground running.
Women and girls’ empowerment and creating an environment that is conducive to the realization
of our full potential is a responsibility of not only governments but everyone in decision and policy
making positions and every man and woman in Africa and the world over. FEMNET calls upon all
actors, government, media, civil society organizations, the private sector, and most especially
religious institutions to contribute to building an ideal society based on the principle of equal rights
and equal opportunities for all. THIS WAY WE SHALL SECURE PROGRESS FOR ALL.
Some of the things that must achieve during the AWD include:
􀂾 The universal ratification and full implementation of the Protocol on the Rights of Women in Africa
(the Maputo Protocol).
􀂾 The review and amendment of all laws, policies and practices that are discriminatory against women
and girls;
􀂾 Unity of actors to end all forms of violence against women and girls in Africa
􀂾 Building a strong team of Eminent persons that are committed to the advancement of women as one
of the critical goals and indicators for sustainable development
Share with us stories on your activities during international women’s Day. Send your stories to:
communication@femnet.or.ke
Happy International Women’s Day!!
Norah Matovu-Winyi
Executive Director, FEMNET

WHY WOMEN CRY

A little boy asked his mother, "Why are you crying?" "Because I'm a woman," she told him.

"I don't understand," he said. His Mom just hugged him and said, "And you never will."

Later the little boy asked his father, "Why does mother seem to cry for no reason?"

"All women cry for no reason," was all his dad could say.

The little boy grew up and became a man, still wondering why women cry.

Finally he put in a call to God. When God got on the phone, he asked, "God, why do women cry so easily?"

God said:

"When I made the woman she had to be special.

I made her shoulders strong enough to carry the weight of the world,

yet gentle enough to give comfort.

I gave her an inner strength to endure childbirth and the rejection that many times comes from her children.

I gave her a hardness that allows her to keep going when everyone else gives up, and take care of her family through sickness and fatigue without complaining.

I gave her the sensitivity to love her children under any and all circumstances, even when her child has hurt her very badly.

I gave her strength to carry her husband through his faults and fashioned her from his rib to protect his heart.

I gave her wisdom to know that a good husband never hurts his wife, but sometimes tests her strengths and her resolve to stand beside him unfalteringly.

And finally, I gave her a tear to shed. This is hers exclusively to use whenever it is needed."

"You see my son," said God, "the beauty of a woman is not in the clothes she wears, the figure that she carries, or the way she combs her hair.

The beauty of a woman must be seen in her eyes, because that is the doorway to her heart - the place where love resides."


Please send this to five beautiful women you know today. You will boost another woman's self-esteem! Send it to every man, so he can understand!

FROM INVISIBILITY TO VISIBILITY WITH A VOICE-THE EVOLUTION AND TREND OF WOMEN’S RIGHTS AND CSW 1945 TO MARCH 2009

…To this end, we call on the Governments of the world to encourage women everywhere to take a more active part in national and international affairs, and on women who are conscious of their opportunities to come forward and share in the work of peace and reconstruction as they did in war and resistance. “Eleanor Roosevelt, in his open letter addressed to ‘the women of the world’ during the inaugural meeting of the UN General Assembly in London, February 1946 where he was a delegate of the United States of America. 


Historical Background of Women’s Charter and CSW
Prior to the above Roosevelt’s noteworthy remark, the UN Charter on the Advancement of Women was signed in 1945 in San Francisco, interestingly by mainly men representatives (only 4 women out of the 160 signatories). Few days after the signing of the Charter, a sub-commission was established under the Commission on Human Rights to look into the status of women. Upon start of work, the first Chairperson of the sub-Commission, Bodil Bosterup, a Danish re-echoed the necessity as been claimed by many women and Non-Governmental Organisations for the setting up of a separate body specially dedicated to women’s issues. The Chairperson requested the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) in May 1946 for a change to full commission status. In her efforts to pursue her case further, Bosterup said “Women’s problems have now for the first time in history to be studied internationally as such and to be given the social importance they ought to have, And it would be, in the opinion of this Sub-Commission of experts in this field, a tragedy to spoil this unique opportunity by confusing the wish and the facts. Some situations can be changed by laws, education, and public opinion, and the time seems to have come for happy changes in conditions of women all over the world”
The efforts of these women and their NGO partners was actualized on 21 June 1946, when the Sub-Commission was formally transformed into a full-fledge body called Commission on the Status of Women (CSW). The commission was aimed at ensuring women’s equality and to promote women’s rights. Its mandate was to “prepare recommendations and reports to the Economic and Social Council on promoting women’s rights in political, economic, civil, social and educational fields” and to make recommendations “on urgent problems requiring immediate attention in the field of women’s rights.” Shortly thereafter, the Section on the Status of Women of the United Nations Secretariat—which later became the Division for the Advancement of Women in 1978—was established in the Human Right’s Division of the United Nations to provide secretarial functions.
This proceeded the first meeting of the CSW in February 1947 in Lake Success, New York. It’s interesting to note that during this meeting all the 15 government representatives were women and this gave the Commission the unique character of gathering a majority of women delegates ever.
February 1947 session, the Commission also forged a close relationship with nongovernmental organizations. Several international women’s organizations addressed the Commission at the first session, and from then on, non-governmental organizations in consultative status with ECOSOC were invited to participate as observers. In the 1950’s, the average number of NGOs attending the Commission’s sessions rose to 30 and then 50. The openness of the Commission to civil society has continued up to the present time, and has allowed many NGOs’ contributions to be incorporated in its agreed conclusions and UN resolutions.
During the period 1946-1962, the Commission focused its attention on promoting women’s rights and equality by setting standards and formulating international conventions aiming at changing discriminatory legislation and fostering global awareness of women’s issues. However, the codification of the legal rights of women needed to be supported by data and analysis of the extent to which discrimination against women existed, not only in law but also in practice. The Commission, thus embarked on what could be referred to as a global research and polling of efforts to assess the status of women worldwide. Several questionnaires and studies were launched in order to collect information on the legal Status of women, their access to education, work opportunities and civil rights.
Member States provided the Commission with statistics, while non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and other UN agencies provided additional information, especially of a more qualitative nature. These fact- finding efforts produced a detailed, country-by country picture of the political and legal status of women, which over time became the basis for drafting human right instruments.
The Beginning of Greater Awareness on Women’s Issues
The l960s and l970s were a time of profound change in the United Nations, whose membership had begun to expand dramatically with the emergence of newly independent nations. The organization began widening its focus to include the concerns of developing nations. The 1960s and early 1970s also saw the emergence in many parts of the world of a greater awareness of discrimination against women, and a rise in the number of organizations committed in combating those discrimination. The mushrooming international women’s movement influenced the approaches to women and development within the UN, thereby compelling the Commission to increase its focused on the role of women in development, both as beneficiaries and as agents of change.
As evidence began to accumulate in the 1960s that women were disproportionately affected by poverty, the work of the Commission centred on women’s needs in community and rural development, agricultural work, among others. The Commission encouraged the UN to expand its technical assistance to further the advancement of women, especially in developing countries. This call was further influenced by a 1970 study on Women’s Role in Economic Development. In 1968, long-term Commission member Helvi Sipilä, a representative from Finland, was nominated as special Rapporteur for the Status of Women and Family Planning Project and in this capacity launched numerous studies on the subject. The Commission also appointed a Special Rapporteur to report on ways to eliminate stereotypes in the mass media portrayal and coverage of women and girl child issues.
In an effort to consolidate standards on women’s rights that had been developed since
1945, the General Assembly requested the Commission in 1963 to draft a Declaration on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women. Four years on, the declaration came to light. On November 7, 1967, the Declaration on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women was ultimately adopted by the Genera] Assembly. However, the declaration didn’t achieve much because it was seen as a mere ‘Statement of Intent’. Their reporting procedure was voluntary, and thus the level of response from Governments was low. There was the need for a legally binding Convention that defined women’s rights—the Convention for the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, which was ultimately adopted in 1979.
In the follow-up to a recommendation from the World Conference of the International Women’s Year, the UN declared 1976-1985 the United Nations Decade for Women
Equality, Development and Peace. The Decade contributed to bringing legitimacy to the international women’s movement, and moved women’s issues forward on the global agenda. Over the course of the decade, the belief that development served to advance women shifted to a new recognition that development was not possible without women.
The period 1986-1995 was considered as era of Putting Women on the Global Agenda. In 1987, the Commission began to meet annually instead of biennially. It took the lead in coordinating and promoting the UN system’s work on economic and social issues for women’s empowerment when the General Assembly mandated it to monitor the global implementation of the Nairobi Forward-Looking Strategies for the Advancement of Women. As a result, the Commission’s efforts shifted to promote women’s equality as a cross-cutting theme in economic development, human rights, political, cultural as well as social policy issues. Its approach was to deal with women’s issues as part of the mainstream rather than as a separate issue. The late l980s and early l99Os, the Commission, the CEDAW Committee and the Commission on Human Rights brought the issue of violence against women (which were then considered as a private matter, rather than a public or a human right issue requiring government or international action) to the forefront of the international agenda. This was encouraged by an active NGO movement that saw this issue as a major organizing tool for the women’s movement. The Commission undertook the drafting of the Declaration for the Elimination of Violence against Women in the early 1990s.
As the preparatory body for the 1995 Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing, the Commission was mandated by the General Assembly to play a central role in monitoring, within the UN system, the implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action and advised the Economic and Social Council. Multi-year programmes of work for the Commission were decided for 1997-2001 and 2002-2006, under which the Commission reviewed each of the 12 critical areas of concern, making recommendations on concrete measures to accelerate the implementation of the Platform for Action.
The 53 Commission on the Status of Women (53rd CSW)
Throughout its sixty three years of existence and its fifty third sessions, the Commission on the Status of Women has consistently promoted the advancement of women. It has been instrumental in expanding the recognition of women’s rights, in documenting the reality of women’s lives throughout the world, in shaping global policies on gender equality and empowerment of women and in ensuring that the work of the UN in all areas incorporates a gender perspective. It continues to play a critical role by bringing together governments, UN entities, NGOs, and other international and regional organizations to promote women’s rights and advance gender equality.
The 53rd Session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) was held in New York from 2’ to 13th March 2009. The session brought together participants representing Governments and Non-Governmental Organizations all over the world. In an effort to incorporate a gender perspective, the 2009 session being the 53rd, has its theme as “equal sharing of responsibilities between women and men including care giving in the context of HI V/AIDS”. The session witnessed various presentations around the theme from governments and non government entities. Other sessions focused on policy issues, governance and actions already taken by government and their agencies in connection to the theme.
Whilst governments sessions were more focus and directed towards governance and policy issues facing various continents, regions and governments, the non governmental organizations and other civil society organizations, are more concerned with the implementation of those policy issues, advocacy for policy pronouncements and implementation.
The Gambia, which was represented by personnel from government including Her Excellency the Vice President Dr Isatou Njie-Saidy and other high profile representatives and Non-governmental organisations, have a lot of good and similar practices in relation to the theme of the 53 CSW. However, the scope and scale is minor and therefore needs more expansion and active involvement of male especially on State run events and programs so as to enable the male counterpart become more active and committed to the fulfilment of women’s rights specifically, their economic, social and political empowerment.
Personal Recommendation for Further Events
Ø It’s always good for those participating in the CSW from the same country to team up as one delegation and strategies on who to attend which session and what to contribute. Meaning, the Gambia’s delegations from both government and NGO would teamed up and divide themselves on different thematic issues Most counties at the session has country delegation that employed this strategy and share a debriefing session at the end of the day
Ø The delegation to the CSW should always be more than one. There are so many interesting events being organized at the same time and so if there is more than one representative it would be easier for the delegates to attend as much forum as possible.
Ø There were side events organized by country’s permanent mission to the UN in collaboration with its national and international NGOs, and civil society organizations. In this kind of events, country specific experiences are shared from government and non government entities. Most Countries’ permanent missions had organized side events; such as Nigeria and Philippines. It would be great if The Gambia could do the same and use the platform to share experiences and challenges on the status of women.
Ø It is absolutely important for countries to gather data and shared them in audio visual forms. People are more likely to listen and watch audio visual materials than just verbal or power point presentations. Even though I shared the findings of the situational analysis I conducted before attending the session, people wanted to have copies of it in CDs because it is much easier to carry and store.
Ø It is always advantageous and good for first time delegate to the CSW to be chaperone/mentored/coach by someone who had participated in the event before. This will help the new recruit to understand how the whole process works. I was grateful I had the opportunity to be briefed adequately about this meeting.
The Author (Muskuta Badjie) is a Staff of the Child Protection Alliance and member of the Gender Action Team of the Gambia. She was an NGO Representative to the 53rd Commission on the Status of Women. Her participation was funded by African Center for Democracy and Human Rights Studies (ACDHR S).


source: Foroyya

Statement delivered by Fatou Bom Bensouda at The Gambia Bar Conference "Legal Practice in the 21st Century"

, February 23, 2010

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Thank you for being here, and thank you to the Gambian Bar Association for this kind invitation.

60 years ago, with the Nuremberg Trials, for the first time, those who committed massive crimes were held accountable before the international community. For the first time, the victors of a conflict chose the law to define responsibilities. In the word of the Nuremberg Prosecutor Justice Robert H. Jackson:

"That four great nations, flushed with victory and stung with injure stay the hand of vengeance and voluntarily submit their captive enemies to the judgement of law is one of the most significant tributes that power has ever paid to reason."

Nuremberg was a landmark. However the world was not ready to transform such a landmark into a lasting institution. The Cold war produced massive crimes in Europe, Latin America, and Asia; Africa was still under the rule of colonialism and apartheid.

In the end, the world would wait for almost half a century after Nuremberg, and would witness again two genocides - first in the Former Yugoslavia, and then in Rwanda - before the Security Council decided to create the ICTY and the ICTR, thus connecting peace and international justice again.

The contribution of the ad hoc Tribunals is yet to be fully recognized and measured. They developed the law, prosecuted the worst perpetrators, Generals, members of Governments. They contributed to restore lasting peace in conflict-torn regions. 

The ad hoc tribunals for Yugoslavia and Rwanda paved the way for the decision to establish a permanent criminal court.

The International Criminal Court is a new instrument of peace in a world where conflicts transcend borders. The ICC is not only about altruism, it is also about our self-interest. If States don't deal with massive crimes, there are no safe borders for the global community. A global problem needs a global solution. The ICC is more than a Court; it is a comprehensive and global criminal justice system.

In Rome in 1998, participants including civil society and countries with different legal traditions debated the creation of the Rome Statute from different perspectives, but all shared the same sense that this Conference was not just an exercise in putting ideas on paper. They knew that the new legal design would profoundly impact the way international relations are governed. Accountability and the rule of law would be the framework.

Under the Rome Statute, substantive law has been codified into one detailed text; States have reaffirmed their duty to prosecute the worst criminals; an independent, impartial and permanent International Criminal Court has been established; and authority has been vested in the Court to intervene if States fail to carry out their own responsibility to conduct genuine proceedings, while at the same time providing an incentive to States to assert their own responsibilities in the cause of international justice. The Court is complementary to national jurisdictions. But let us understand well the meaning of complementarity: if the States do not prosecute those most responsible, the ICC will do it. Impunity is not an option.

Furthermore, the drafters of the Rome Statute clearly recognized the intrinsic link between justice and peace. As stated in the Rome Statute Preamble, by putting an end to impunity for the perpetrators of the most serious crimes, the Court can and will contribute to the prevention of such crimes, thus having a deterrent effect.

Today, we are building a global community; new technologies and globalization have deeply contributed to this evolution. Communities and people that were isolated before are today coming together, exchanging and communicating at a tremendous speed.

This global community has also led to the consolidation of global criminality. Global crimes, that transcend borders, that affect entire regions and continents, but with no global government to fight it, and with poor institutional backing. With prevailing impunity.

The current global governance system is using old techniques against new threats. New models need to emerge.

The ICC and the Rome Statute are one of them: creating global governance without a global government but with global/international law and courts.

New challenges require new models. The Rome Statute defined three crimes that required global regulation ? genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. It called in its Preamble for the need "to put an end to impunity for the perpetrators of [the most serious crimes of concern to the international community] and thus to contribute to the prevention of such crimes."

There is a need for innovative, strong and consistent diplomatic and political action by all actors to ensure compliance with the Court's decision. When it comes to perpetrators of massive crimes, there should be only one answer: the full and transparent implementation of the law.

I will focus primarily on sketching out what challenges the Office of the Prosecutor, as an organ of the ICC, has faced in investigating and prosecuting crimes in the context of complex modern conflicts. 

1. The most challenging area for the ICC and the OTP is cooperation. The Rome Statute establishes a comprehensive regime for the repression of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. However, while the Court has the necessary judicial powers, it does not have an independent mechanism to enforce its decisions. Accordingly, the successful implementation of its work depends on cooperation with the international community, in particular States Parties - although our needs often need to be met by States which are not part of the Rome system. Cooperation is necessary, for instance, in assisting the Court with the protection of victims and witnesses, the execution of warrants of arrest, the transfer of suspects to the Court as well as logistical and administrative matters.

While cooperation in these fields is requested primarily from the territorial States, we have seen how the support of other States and organisations, particularly that of the UN in the context of the DRC, will often be essential to achieving arrests. 

While it is for the relevant actors to decide how best to facilitate arrests, we have in particular called on all State Parties to consider the following:   

(1) Support to those States on whose territory suspects are located through, for example: sharing information on suspect tracking; logistical support and specialised training for arrest operations;

(2) Investigating issues of supply and support and tackling these networks through domestic or international action, for example UN Security Council sanctions and freezing assets;

(3) Including, where feasible, provisions enabling cooperation with efforts to bring to justice individuals responsible for crimes under the jurisdiction of the Court within the mandate of relevant peacekeeping missions (and ensuring that the necessary resources are provided to effect arrests); and

(4) Creating operational groups comprised of relevant States and organisations to exchange information and coordination on military and diplomatic efforts to secure arrests.

Let me re-emphasize here that the assistance and support of States Parties and other international actors is indispensable for the Court to function effectively.

I would like to point out that 30 African States are State parties to the Rome Statute, which clearly demonstrates the high level of responsibility expressed by the African States, including the Gambia. ICC core values are consistent with African norms. Furthermore, it is clear that even those African countries that are not yet States Parties to the Statute share our objective of working for greater accountability.

2. Another challenge faced by the OTP specifically relates to how to initiate its investigations. For the Prosecutor and myself, our mandate is clear. We have to apply the law.  As an independent Prosecutor, with propio motu powers, the Prosecutor has the responsibility to select the cases of the Court. This was seen in Rome as the most sensitive of issues. But selection of cases is, at the end of the day, straightforward. The Prosecutor investigates those most responsible for the most serious crimes of the gravest situations under our jurisdiction. Nothing more. Nothing less. That is what we did and what we will continue to do.

As a result of the application of the law, we are prosecuting Thomas Lubanga for recruiting child soldiers.

We are prosecuting Joseph Kony and other leaders of the LRA for abducting children and transforming them into sexual slaves and killers.

We are prosecuting Germain Katanga and Matthew Ngudjolo for killing and raping civilians.

We are prosecuting Jean-Pierre Bemba, for a campaign of rapes and pillages.

We are prosecuting Harun and Kushayb for attacking civilians in villages.

We have requested an arrest warrant against Al Bashir for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes.

We are prosecuting Abu Garda for attacking AU peacekeepers in Haskanita on 29 September 2007.

As announced late November, we are seeking authorization from the Court?s Judges to open an investigation proprio motu regarding the situation in Kenya and the crimes committed during the post-election violence in December 2007.

We are also carrying out analysis activities in four continents, including in Colombia, Palestine, Georgia and Afghanistan.

3. As a permanent Court, we have to work in situations of ongoing conflict, which is also a constant and considerable challenge. In fact the challenges continue to increase in scope: in Uganda, the investigation proceeded in the midst of violence. In Ituri, we proceeded as local institutions had entirely collapsed. Darfur was the most difficult challenge: it was entirely impossible to protect witnesses in Darfur.

4. In the Courtroom, we are setting the framework for entirely new procedures:

- Victims are participating at all stages, with a right to send information to the Prosecutor to form the basis of the opening of an investigation, and to present their views and concerns during proceedings; they will benefit from a comprehensive system of reparations.

- Witnesses and victims are protected in accordance with statutory requirements while at the same time information is disclosed to defendants; it is a key part of fair trial concept; and one of the most serious challenges we are faced with. Over the last four years, no ICC witnesses or staff have been wounded or killed. This must remain so.

This Court is building the foundations of an international criminal system for centuries, based on the highest standards. This is justice done and not only seen to be done. Fair trials are the cornerstone of our legitimacy.

Possible perspectives on how the ICC and the Gambian Bar Association  can work together

Ladies and Gentlemen,

In the long term, the success of the Rome Statute will be the effective prosecution of these crimes at the national level and the prevention of such crimes through ending impunity around the world. This is an area in which I believe we can work together, since our separate mandates can complement each other. One of the tasks of the Prosecutor is to make it clear to States that he will do his part, but that a positive understanding of the idea of complementarity is essential. It is the key to the success of the system.

What does this mean in practice?

1. We firmly believe that a positive understanding of complementarity means making sure that firstly the Court is taken seriously as an enforcer of the Statute. We believe that we have after five years now crossed a critical threshold where the public and in particular governments realise that the rules have changed and that they have to act. This means for instance implementing the provisions of the Rome Statute into national legislations. This is an area in which the Gambian Bar Association can contribute in a crucial manner.

2. This is the first and necessary aspect of building the system. Secondly, we have created the practice of being as transparent as possible so that States and the public in general will know whether there are situations which may require investigations to be carried out. This gives the relevant States an appropriate opportunity to act: it also allows the public, and victims in particular, to organise themselves and do whatever they feel is correct either in relation to national proceedings or international proceedings.

3. A third thing that the Office can do and has done in the past is to use its access and experience to help broker certain kinds of assistance to national prosecution and judicial authorities. In all of the countries where we are engaged there are efforts to strengthen local justice systems. Wherever possible we have tried to contribute meaningfully in the light of our experiences to those developing such programs so that areas of particular priority might be strengthened and allow the national authorities as quickly as possible to be in a position to carry out genuine national proceedings.

4. The fourth thing that we can do that is addressed by the Statute is that we can provide information to national authorities that we have obtained in the course of our investigations. We are of course willing to do that but any such information will only ever be transmitted if we are satisfied that the security of witnesses can be adequately addressed by the national authorities in question. The Bar Association?s efforts to develop and strengthen the national legal system are complementary to this issue. We have a statutory duty to protect our witnesses and we will always take that duty extremely seriously and avoid putting them in danger.

There are some limits to the kinds of activities we can undertake in trying to make the system of the Rome Statute effective. We must maintain an objective relationship with national authorities because we must be in a position to evaluate impartially the genuine nature of their efforts. Here again, the Gambian Bar Association work regarding the promotion of the rule of law and the development of domestic legal systems can complement ours.

5. We can also work together in more general terms in order to enforce accountability for those who bear the greatest responsibility for the most serious crimes within the jurisdiction of the Court; the ICC could also benefit from the Gambian Bar Association's support in its outreach activities towards victims and affected communities in areas of concern for the Association.

Conclusion

Ladies and Gentlemen,

As Africans, we have drawn a universal lesson from the terrible crimes that have plagued our families, our communities, our continent; impunity is not an academic, abstract notion. This is true for Northern Uganda, Eastern Congo, the Central African Republic, Rwanda and Darfur.  Impunity and the continuation of crimes are obstacles facing all actors engaged in helping Darfurians.

For our part, as the OTP, we stand ready to discuss mutual concerns and areas of common interest. We have met in several occasions with lawyers in Africa in various fora; lawyers engaged in the promotion of international criminal justice and the need to put an end to impunity for the most serious crimes of concern to the ICC. The OTP has also developed over the years informal cooperation networks with different partners, such as civic organizations, NGOs, academia, lawyers' associations...

We would be happy to look on how the Gambian Bar Association and the ICC can work together in order to enforce our mandates and support each other's work. I would be interested to hear your views on this.

Thank you for your attention.

Source: Picture: Fatou Bom Bensuda