II Plenary Conference of the Drugs and Alcohol Women Network Project Speech for UNICRI Conference June 20, 2012 Rome, Italy

Transcription

1 II Plenary Conference of the Drugs and Alcohol Women Network Project Speech for UNICRI Conference June 20, 2012 Rome, Italy Good Afternoon. My name is Theadora Shihadeh. I work in the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs in the U.S. State Department. I am honored to be here today to discuss these very important issues. Thank you to UNICRI for their excellent job in organizing and facilitating this important event and thank you to the other panelists for participating in these informative discussions. The United States is firmly committed to the principles of women s equality and the well-being of women around the world. These principles are of vital importance to the security interests of the United States of America because the suppression of women is a threat, not only to the U.S. national security, but to the common security of our world. The suffering and denial of the rights of women and the instability of nations go hand in hand. In 1994, the United States enacted the landmark Violence against Women legislation and launched a multifaceted effort to respond to domestic 1

2 violence, dating violence, sexual assault, stalking and other forms of violence against women. In 2000, the Security Council addressed these issues when it adopted the UN Security Council Resolution 1325, which reaffirms the important role of women in the prevention and resolution of conflicts, peace negotiations, peace-building, peacekeeping, humanitarian response and in post-conflict reconstruction. The resolution stresses the importance of women s equal participation and full involvement in all efforts for the maintenance and promotion of peace and security. Resolution 1325 urges all actors to increase the participation of women and incorporate gender perspectives in all United Nations peace and security efforts. It also calls on all parties in conflict to take special measures to protect women and girls from gender-based violence, particularly rape and other forms of sexual abuse, in situations of armed conflict. In 2004, the Security Council, through a Presidential Statement (PRST/2004/40), encouraged governments to develop National Action Plans to implement To date, 35 countries, including the United States, have developed National Action Plans. President Obama released the U.S. Plan in December 2011, along with an Executive Order (13595) directing the Plan s implementation. 2

3 The Plan describes the course the United States will take to accelerate, institutionalize, and better coordinate our efforts to advance women s inclusion in peace negotiations, peace-building activities, and conflict prevention; to protect women from sexual and gender-based violence; and to ensure equal access to relief and recovery assistance, in areas of conflict and insecurity. The Action Plan establishes new initiatives to empower women and measure progress toward the achievement of our goals. It lays out five areas in which we will redouble our efforts: o First, we will partner with women in vulnerable areas toprevent conflicts from breaking out in the first place. o Second, we will strengthen protection for women and girls during and after conflict. Naturally, the best way to protect citizens is to end the conflict itself. But steps are also needed during such conflicts. o So a third focus of the National Action Plan is expanding women s participation in peace processes and decision-making institutions before, during, and after conflicts. o A fourth focus of our plan is ensuring that relief and recovery efforts address the distinct needs of women and girls who are the linchpins of 3

4 families and communities and invaluable partners in stabilizing countries scarred by conflict. o The fifth focus is institutionalizing this network of monitoring and support across the United States Government This Action Plan reflects a broader vision of the Obama Administration, that investing in women is at the very heart of U.S. foreign policy. We know that women s participation is essential to addressing virtually every challenge we face as nations and as a community of nations. Women cannot achieve their potential in society or their individual communities if they are addicted to drugs and alcohol or fall victim to violence. Research shows that in a significant number of cases, violence against women and substance abuse co-exist. Women who are abused may use alcohol or drugs as a coping mechanism, and, in turn, women who abuse alcohol and drugs are at a heightened risk for victimization. The U.S. supports programs that help women overcome drug addiction and gender based violence and ultimately assists these women in leading sustainable, drug and violence free lifestyles. Specifically, the U.S.supports programs in the law enforcement sector that provide training to police officers, which enables them to handle the special needs of women who fall victim to sexual and gender and based violence. 4

5 This specialized training not only helps to protect victimized women from violence but also to create a network in which women feel comfortable reporting incidences of violence in the first place. For example, Senior Police Advisors collaborate with the United Nations in the development and implementation of peacekeeper training on sexual and gender based violence awareness and the investigation of sexual and gender based violence in post conflict countries. The United States also implemented the International Police Education and Training Program, a new initiative, which requires participating countries to demonstrate their commitment to promote the full participation of women in professional police programs, conferences and seminars. In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the United States and the American Bar Association implemented the Rule of Law Initiative Program, which is designed to raise awareness about gender based violence and improve the capacity of countries and local stakeholders to investigate and prosecute perpetrators. The program assists female victims of rape and abuse through psycho-social counseling and post exposure medical care. Additionally, the program also increases a woman s access to legal aid by providing a free legal aid clinic and also mobile courts throughout the region. 5

6 Between January and March in 2012, the American Bar Association s clinic received 129 new cases and filed 129 complaints with the police prosecutor s office. So far, of these 129 new cases, 28 cases were heard in court resulting in 19 convictions, 6 acquittals and 3 referrals to the Children s Court. Additionally, in February of this year, the American Bar Association hosted a 15-day mobile court session, which heard 26 cases, 20 of which involved sexual violence. These cases resulted in 14 convictions for rape. These numbers are small. But these convictions are sending out a strong signal that sexual violence is not acceptable and that perpetrators will be punished. They are helping to produce a cultural change on sexual violence. In Jordan, the United States supports the Jordanian Family Protection Department, which provides police, forensic doctors, social workers, medical clinics, and psychologists to victims of gender based violence. The Jordanian Family Protection Department has 10 regional offices around the country, with an eleventh scheduled to open at the end of this year. The Department investigates and assists victims in three types of cases: (1) sexual assault of women and men by any perpetrator; (2) physical and/or psychological abuse of minors by family members; and (3) physical abuse of females by family members. Once a case has been processed by the 6

7 Department, the cases are referred to social services, the regional Governor or the Court system. In Afghanistan, the United States combats gender based violence by supporting 8 of 14 women s shelters called Women for Afghan Women and also corresponding public referral centers for women and families seeking protective services. These shelters are run by Afghan women, for Afghan women and serve over 1,000 women and children each year and provide legal aid, medication, education, health care and related services to women and children in crisis. These shelters help women like Sahar Gul a fifteen year old Afghan girl who was locked in a basement bathroom and tortured by her husband and inlaws after refusing to go into prostitution. She finally escaped after six months of confinement in January, Sahar was finally released after her mother traveled to Baghlan, where Sahar was being kept and her Uncle alerted the local authorities who forced open the basement door, where Sahar was being kept. Sahar was taken to a hospital in Kabul to get treatment. Once she was well enough, she was sent to a Women for Afghan Women shelter in Kabul. While Sahar s husband has not yet been found, Sahar s in laws were arrested by the police for their involvement in her 7

8 abuse. Sahar is being represented by a lawyer who was provided by the shelter. On May 4, 2012 her in-laws were sentenced to 10 years in prison. These shelters also help women like Mumtaz. Mumtaz and her family were attacked with acid by an armed gang of nine brothers. Women for Afghan Women helped Mumtaz get emergency medical treatment in India to save her life. Mumtaz and her family are being represented by a Women for Afghan Women defense attorney. Six of the gang brothers are in Kabul awaiting trial in the coming months. Additionally, the shelters help women like Parigul who was abused regularly by her husband. She finally left her husband after he attacked her with a shovel, breaking her arm so severely that it no longer functions. Parigul pressed charges against her husband but her husband countered the charges and had Parigul jailed for 8 months for running away. Parigul was assisted by a lawyer who was provided to her by these shelters. She is now filing for divorce. The U.S. also supports an Afghan Violence against Women Unit in the Office of the Attorney General in Kabul. Since its opening in March 2010, this unit has initiated over 750 cases, resulting in 26 convictions, including one for murder. Women have come from 22 different provinces in Afghanistan to initiate cases. In 2011, the Kabul unit received over 500 8

9 cases. The Unit is staffed by 18 Attorney General Prosecutors, who receive technical assistance and training from the International Development Law Organization. The head Prosecutor says her team prosecutes crimes against women in order to do justice, showing that no individual is above the law, nor too low to receive the laws protection. We are hopeful that our efforts will bring a positive change and will reduce violence against women. The U.S. is developing a comprehensive training manual for Rule of Law practitioners in Afghanistan that contains 20 open-source primers on Afghan justice institutions and processes, civil law, Sharia law, human rights, and the Law on the Elimination of Violence against Women. This manual includes practical resources for United States government officers and contract employees in the field, such as: instructions for referring Afghan women to shelters, and contact information for family guidance centers and legal aid offices in the provinces. Once this document is final, it will be fully available to the public. A priority for U.S. foreign assistance is combating violence against women but another priority is supporting a variety of drug demand reduction programs, which are tailored to addressing the specific needs of drug addicted women. 9

10 One of these programs supports drug demand reduction in pregnant and addicted women. The objective of this project is to develop treatment protocols for treating pregnant and addicted women and to train the drug abuse treatment staff to specially handle these delicate situations. In Pakistan, the United States supports a drug advisory program, which aims to train 125 drug treatment professionals throughout Pakistan on internationally recognized best practices. This program allowed us to address a particular challenge related to providing assistance to women. In Pakistan, the easy access to a wide range of drugs allows for addiction among women from all socio-economic backgrounds to increase at an alarming rate. Women do not typically seek treatment because of the social stigmas associated with drug addiction and the risk of becoming excommunicated from their families and communities. These stigmas have inhibited U.S. efforts to help female addicts. However, in an effort to overcome this challenge, the U.S. is providing specialized training to Pakistani counselors that will offer new and innovative approaches for addressing drug addicted women. Another of these programs, entitled Guiding the Recovery of Women, or GROW, supports specialized training to female treatment staff on substance abuse treatment for women. The curriculum is trained internationally in 10

11 collaboration with model female treatment centers, which also implement best practices in a clinical setting. The U.S. is committed to developing this comprehensive curriculum in an effort to train substance abuse treatment and other health care providers to address the specific needs of drug addicted women. The trainings are currently offered in Latin America, Asia and Africa. Women who participated in the GROW program reported that no one had ever asked these women about their thoughts or feelings. Khatera Alizada, a woman who grew up in Afghanistan and spent much of her time there working on women s rights issues, participated in this program as a consultant, trainer and Dari translator. Khatera was part of a team that provided a three week program for 33 Afghan women. The participants were from various U.S. funded substance abuse treatment programs in Afghanistan, and included counselors, social workers, treatment coordinators, and psychologists. The training program covered basic issues of gender-responsive drug treatment, along with specific training focused on treatment issues of women and children. As an Afghan women, Khatera was able to make the female participants feel more comfortable opening up to her. The other translators were men and 11

12 these men noticed a distinct difference in the group responsiveness when Khatera was translating. TheU.S.also supports regional substance abuse treatment services in select African and Asian countries. This program assists service providers in improving the quality of drug treatment services and focuses specifically on the gap in services for women and adolescents. When women are afforded their rights and given the opportunity o live sustainable, violence free and drug free lifestyles, they are also given the opportunity to pursue education, employment, and political participation. They are given the chance to be leaders. Offering women these opportunities is part of whatdrives social and economic progress. The United States aims to advance the inclusion of women in training, policies, programs and activities worldwide. We will work to establish new initiatives to help ensure representation of women in the full range of peacemaking, peacebuilidng, and reconstruction efforts. We will continue working to protect women and men from sexual and gender based violence. And also on developing drug treatment programs that are geared towards the specific needs of drug addicted women. Finally and fortunately, the United States is not alone in these efforts. Other countries and organizations are also active on these issues. We will 12

13 continuebuilding upon existing efforts, and ensuring coordination with our bilateral and multilateral partners, including the United Nations, who share our ultimate goal, which is peace and security for all. Thank you for your time and attention 13

14 Drafted: INL/PC Teddi Shihadeh June 11, 2012 Clearances (1) INL/PC: N.Pettit (ok) (2) INL/C: T. Browne (ok ) (3) INL/CAP: S. Fields (ok) (4) INL/AP: J. Kim (ok ) (5) INL/AP: Krystin Borgognone (ok) (6) INL/AP: A. Dolgetta (ok) (7) INL/AME: R. Beauchamp (ok) (8) INL/AME: L. Lopez (ok) (9) L/LEI: P.Prugh (ok) (10) S/GWI: S. Kotok (ok) (11) DOJ/ATJ: M. Jweied (ok) (12) DOJ/VAW: V. Davis (ok ) 14