66b-en_vio
... Violence
European Council of Europen -
Human Rights
Section Equality between
women and men
Seminar : Men and Violence
Against Women
Strasbourg, 8
October 1999 - Palais de l'Europe - France
Recommandations
Violence
against women is one of the major obstacles to the achievement of real
equality between women and men. The phenomenon has its roots in the very
structure of European societies, based on patriarchal values and
principles. Although male violence can also be directed against other
men and incidents concerning violent women are reported, the vast
majority of victims of violence in the Council of Europe's member States
are women and children.
Most European societies remain tolerant towards violence against
women, considering it acceptable according to tradition. They continue,
directly or indirectly, to lay the blame on the victims by suggesting
that they would not have been assaulted if they had or had not acted in
a certain way. Men are often excused by saying that they are subject to
stress from overwork or unemployment, under the influence of alcohol or
drugs, sick and so on.
Women suffer from violence resulting in physical, sexual or
psychological harm or suffering, both in private and public life.
Violence can take different forms, such as sexual assault, violence
within the family or in the domestic unit, sexual harassment and
intimidation (in education, at work, in institutions or in any other
place), denial of reproductive rights, genital mutilation, trafficking
in human beings for the purposes of sexual exploitation and sex tourism,
rape or assaults in (armed) conflict situations, honour killings and
forced marriages.
Being conscious of the above, the participants at the Seminar
on “Men and violence against women”, organised by the Council of
Europe in Strasbourg on 7 and 8 October 1999, agreed on the following
recommendations.
Recommendations
to Member States of the Council of Europe
Research and in particular surveys are
essential because there is still denial of the phenomenon of violence
against women: they can be used as tools to convince the decision makers
of the real extent of violence against women. In order to have a better
understanding of the prevalence of violence, standardised instruments
are necessary in order to obtain valid, reliable, comparable data as
well as results which are representative of the reality. This
effort should be pursued at the local, regional, national and
international level and in this perspective Governments should:
Encourage and support national and transnational research projects and
surveys on different forms of violence against women taking into account
the following parameters which, if neglected, may alterate the
results of the research:
the gender perspective including the element of gender conflict which is
present in all European societies;
the variability of meanings and of the perception of concepts in
different contexts determined by various factors (such as differences in
social classes, as well as in regional, cultural and linguistic
backgrounds): different groups or persons may have different
understanding of the same notion, such as violence;
the stigmatisation of concepts (such as rape), encouraged notably by the
mass media;
the developments and changes in cultural values;
the changes in society especially where instability has arisen (be it
due to socio-economic reasons or to a conflict): even if the source of
instability disappears, the level of violence does not decrease;
Encourage the standardisation of research methodologies by using, among
others, the following elements:
a representative sample of the population (1,000 respondents minimum);
a scale with very detailed descriptions of acts of violence;
input from battered women and victims of violence (also to design
questionnaires);
training for interviewers and researchers which should include
information on how to take into account cultural, ethnic, social and
economic differences, as well as on how to have access to isolated or
marginalised groups;
precautions in order to prevent the dangers that the respondents of
surveys or of case studies could encounter;
for research conducted at European level, recourse to language
specialists in order to avoid translation problems;
Encourage and support national and transnational research into the
following aspects:
-- what prevents a person from becoming violent;
-- ways to reach violent men and how to bring them into education
programmes;
-- the prevailing polarisation in the construction of gender identities,
with a view to promoting a more open perception of feminities and
masculinities;
-- to what extent and in what way do social instability and social
change affect gender relations and violence against women;
-- the consequences violence in the home has on children and adolescents
and how it affects their socialisation and their future integration into
work, as well as their relations with peers and partners;
-- ways to prevent elder abuse and violence among elderly people;
-- the financial costs of violence;
Improve interactions between the scientific community, the NGOs in the
field, political decision-makers and legislative bodies in order to
design co-ordinated actions against violence;
Encourage the diffusion of all relevant information (results of studies
and research, statistical data, etc.) on violence against women at all
levels and across the life course;
Ensure that statutory agencies which respond to men's violence convey
clearly to the men that their behaviour is unacceptable and develop
further strategies for repeat offenders, including multi-agency
approaches at the community level;
Making use of the gender mainstreaming strategy, involve all the
relevant actors normally involved in policy-making, in order to fight
violence against women, even if they are not currently working on the
issue;
Reinforce national legislations and measures aiming at fighting violence
against women, also by introducing innovative approaches based on
experiences conducted in other European countries: the pooling of
experiences is essential to progress on this issue;
Adopt or reinforce social protection measures so that injuries caused to
women and children by violent acts are provided for under social
protection schemes;
Promote training of those involved with young people, as well as health
personnel, to identify children and adolescents growing up in violent
homes and to take the necessary measures to help and assist them;
Ensure training of medical personnel to enable them to identify victims
of violence;
Promote the participation of women in politics and decision-making: a
higher number of women in politics is important in order to adopt an
increased number of measures to combat violence against women;
Promote human rights education, and especially education on equality
between women and men, in all member States of the Council of Europe,
especially where there is social instability;
Create a more proactive police response to violence against women;
Promote training for the judiciary regarding violence against women;
Enhance research on, and take all possible measures to prevent,
development of gender dichotomy and inequality as well as male
aggressiveness in the army and all military contexts (especially during
military service), including armed conflicts;
Condemn all forms of violence against women and children in situations
of conflict;
Condemn systematic rape, sexual slavery, enforced pregnancy of women and
young girls and all forms of violence against women and children, as
these, as shown in recent conflicts, tend to be used as a weapon of war;
In post-conflict regions, promote a public debate and disseminate
information concerning abuses of women and children in order to prevent
repetition of violence.
Recommendations
to the Council of Europe
The participants emphasised that the
international community – especially international organisations such
as the Council of Europe – have a major ethical role to play in
promoting zero tolerance towards violence against women. By condemning
this violence, they can give an important political signal to
governments and to policy-makers.
The participants noted that the continuous
work achieved by the Council of Europe, and in particular by its
Steering Committee on Equality between women and men (CDEG), to combat
violence against women have substantially assisted in increasing the
visibility of the problem. The Action Plan published in 1997 was
considered as an effective platform on which to formulate national
measures.
The Council of Europe should continue to play a key role in the combat
against violence. The need for transnational actions to be undertaken at
legislative, policy and research level to enhance international
co-operation can be the basis for the future action of the Council of
Europe.
The following activities could be conducted in the Council of Europe or
with its assistance:
Continue and complete, as rapidly as possible, the preparation of the
draft Recommendation on protecting women and young girls against
violence, which is being prepared under the aegis of the Steering
Committee for equality between women and men (CDEG). Once adopted, the
Recommendation may serve as a reference for national policies on actions
against violence;
Prepare as soon as possible a study on the position as regards
legislation in the field of violence against women in the member States;
ensure the translation and diffusion of this document in member States;
Organise, possibly in co-operation with other competent bodies and
International Organisations, regular meetings involving in particular
policy-makers, researchers, practitioners and police, in order to take
stock and exchange information on the current stage of research and
practice in the area;
Compile country reports, based on research and information collected at
national level, focusing on violence against women and the measures
taken to combat it;
Following the recent conflicts in South-East Europe, contribute to the
efforts undertaken at European level to foster peace and stability in
countries of the region by organising activities aiming at combating
violence against women in all its forms;
Foster research on the development of violence against women in its
different forms during and after the conflicts which have recently
affected South-East Europe, including the increase in domestic violence.
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