CONTEXTO LABORAL
OS CUATRO PILARES DE LA EDUCACIÓN : LA EDUCACIÓN ENCIERRA UN TESORO
After the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948, the Commission on Human Rights drafted two human rights treaties, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.
Together with the Universal Declaration, these make up the International Bill of Human Rights.i The provisions of the two Covenants, as well as other human rights treaties, are legally binding on the States that ratify them.Both Covenants prohibit discrimination based on sex as well as to ensure the equal right of men and women to the enjoyment of all rights contained in them.i
In 1967, United Nations Member States adopted the Declaration on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, which states that discrimination against women is an offence against human dignity and calls on States to ―abolish existing laws, customs, regulations and practices which are discriminatory against women, and to establish adequate legal protection for equal rights of men and women‖.i Subsequently, the CEDAW was adopted by the General
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Assembly in 1979. Its preamble explains that, despite the existence of other instruments, women still do not enjoy equal rights with men.The Convention articulates the nature and meaning of sex-based discrimination, and lays out State obligations to eliminate discrimination and achieve substantive equality.As with all human rights treaties, only States incur obligations through ratification.i
In addition to international human rights standards, regional human rights treaties include crucial provisions aimed at promoting and protecting women‘s human rights in Africa.Article 2 of the African Charter prohibits discrimination on any grounds, including sex, in the enjoyment of the rights guaranteed by the Charter. Article 18 of the Charter specifically mentions the obligation of African States to ―ensure the elimination of every discrimination against women and also ensure the protection of the rights of the woman and the child as stipulated in international declarations and conventions‖. The African Charter is further complemented by the African Women‘s Protocol,which unequivocally reinforces women‘s rights in totality, while expounding on specific and unique experiences of African women regarding inheritance, widowhood and harmful practices.In particular, the African Women‘s Protocol sets the standards for women‘s human rights in Africa. The definition of violence against women recognizes both physical and emotional violence as well as threats of violence.i It recognizes the role of women in political and public life while encouraging state parties to invest more in legislation and other measures to secure equal representation of women and men in decision-making.i More importantly, the Protocol takes into the consideration the protection of women‘s rights in armed conflicts.i
The protection of women against violence and harmful practices and eliminating all forms of discrimination against them are fundamental human rights, as such all these instruments
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exist for the sole purpose of ensuring that these rights are duly protected. Consequently, they all culminate to provide protection for women at all times, both in peace time and in the times of armed conflict. However, to enjoy these rights, a universal ratification and domestication of the instruments that contain them must be achieved by African states.
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CHAPTER FOUR
SEXUAL VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN IN ARMED CONFLICTS: A VIOLATION OF INTERNATIONAL HUMANITARIAN LAW AND INTERNATIONAL HUMAN
RIGHTS LAW 4.1 Sexual Violence against Women in Armed Conflicts
Sexual violence is prevalent in contemporary armed conflicts.i International humanitarian law and human rights law absolutely prohibit all forms of sexual violence at all times and against anyone; international criminal law moreover provides for the individual criminal responsibility of sexual crimes‘ perpetrators.i These three bodies of law importantly reinforce each other in this field.
Sexual violence has occurred during armed conflicts at all times, on all continents. It is still prevalent in a number of contemporary armed conflicts, such as in the Central African Republic, Colombia, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Mali, South Sudan and Syria.iIn the July 2016 conflict in South Sudan, women and girls suffered physical assaults and sexual violence including rape, gang-rape and sexual assaults.iThe United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS)documented 217 victims of sexual violence that included rape and gang-rape that were committed in various areas across Juba between 8 and 25 July, at Sudan People‘s Liberation Army (SPLA) checkpoints. In most of these cases, victims and witnesses reported that the alleged perpetratorswere SPLA soldiers and police officers.i
According to the United Nations, over 200,000 women have suffered sexual violence in the DRC since the armed conflict began; between 250,000 and 500,000 women were raped during the 1994 genocide in Rwanda; and between 20,000 and 50,000 during the armed conflict in Bosnia in the early 1990s;i but this data may show only the tip of the iceberg. One of the specific issues related to sexual violence is that it remains an ―invisible‖ crime because feelings of guilt or shame, fear of retaliation or taboos may prevent victims from coming forward and
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talking about it.i Material barriers such as security risks, physical distance and transportation costs may also prevent victims from seeking help.i For humanitarian organizations that want to prevent sexual violence and respond to the needs of victims, this is a challenge.i In its operational work, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has therefore recently adopted a new approach. It presumes that sexual violence occurs in armed conflicts and endeavors to provide an appropriate humanitarian response to the victims of sexual violence even in the absence of allegations.i
Sexual violence, including when conflict-related, often has no relation to sexual desire, but is instead linked to power, dominance and abuse of authority.iOften, sexual violence is not perpetrated in isolation but accompanied by other violations, suchas unlawful killings, child recruitment, and destruction of property or looting.i Its causes (direct and indirect) can be numerous, including the climate of impunity which is rampant in armed conflicts, the absence of clear orders and instructions prohibiting sexual violence, the proliferation of small arms and light weapons used to threaten victims, the increased vulnerabilities of victims of armed conflicts (internally displaced persons, migrants, widows, etc.), and the destruction of community ties and individual coping mechanisms.i
Sexual violence can also be used in a strategic or tactical way by parties to armed conflicts. In all cases, it has devastating consequences, primarily for the victims themselves, of course, because of its negative physical, psychological, social and economic effects, but also for the victims‘ relatives, who face possible trauma, feelings of indignity and guilt at having been unable to protect their next-of-kin. It may also have consequences for entire communities when it creates fear and destroys the social fabric.i
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Despite its prevalence, sexual violence is not an unavoidable consequence of warfare and violence.i Like any other violation, it can be prevented. A precondition for this, is a strong legal framework and the existence of solid institutions to implement the prohibition of sexual violence.
It will be demonstrated that sexual violence is absolutely and adequately prohibited under international law, and more precisely under international humanitarian law and human rights law. Moreover, during the last twenty years, international criminal law has considerably evolved and has criminalized the most serious forms of sexual violence at the international level. These three bodies of international law strongly complement and positively influence each other in this field. This is not to say that sexual violence does not give rise to legal controversies, but rather that international law, howeverimperfect has recognized the impact of sexual violence in armed conflict and has providedlaws in an attempt to end the menace. The implementation of these rules at the national and international levels, however, needs to be strengthened to effectively eliminate or at least reduce the occurrence of sexual violence.