Men work to end violence against women in the Pacific

Men are increasingly speaking out against violence against women, a trend that the Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC), Pacific Island governments and the wider international community present at the 53rd UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW53) in New York are supporting and discussing in commemoration of International Women’s Day (IWD, March 8).

There are positive signs that men in the Pacific are seizing the opportunity to play an increased role in ending violence against women. In Samoa, for instance, a national plan is being developed to support programmes involving the Men Against Violence Advocacy Group.

Global examples the Pacific region can draw upon include the White Ribbon Campaign which was initiated by Canadian men in 1991 (http://www.whiteribbon.ca/) and the V-Day Campaign’s ‘V-Men’ counterpart (http://newsite.vday.org/). At community workshops in various parts of the globe, men are teaching other men that there is another way and that ‘real men don’t hit women’.

Treva Braun, Gender Equality Adviser for SPC says ‘A multi-pronged approach to ending violence against women — involving both women and men at all levels of society — is critical. This includes surveys to measure the prevalence of and factors causing violence against women; the enactment and enforcement of legislation criminalising such violence; the provision of social services for survivors, such as legal, medical and counselling services; and persistent public education and awareness campaigns.’
In Tonga, progress to challenge and overcome the stigma of violence and the perpetuation of a culture of silence is being assisted through the availability of services from a range of faith-based organisations, including the Salvation Army, and the Wesley Mission, according to Polotu Fakafanua-Paunga, the Head of Women’s Affairs for the Government of the Kingdom of Tonga. ‘¬This is an issue that requires the active involvement of both government and civil society; in Tonga it was the Catholic Women’s League which initiated the establishment of the Centre for Women and Children, which today provides a safe haven for survivors of domestic violence.
‘Men play an important part in ending the cycle of violence, especially in the domestic sphere,’ she added.

The commemoration of IWD at this year’s Commission on the Status of Women is also providing a valuable opportunity to create greater visibility of the link between violence against women and the spread of HIV/AIDS.

According to the UN Secretary General, in some countries, as many as one in three women will be beaten, coerced into sex or otherwise abused in her lifetime. Surveys on violence against women were recently carried out in Kiribati and Solomon Islands. The results of these will be made public as soon as they are available and will inform interventions to help eradicate such violence.

SPC Director General Dr Jimmie Rodgers is optimistic. ‘Our Pacific societies are characterised by strong community principles of working together and supporting each other. I believe that as long as we get hard evidence of the issue of violence against women out in the open, both men and women around the region will support its eradication for the benefit of all.’

In order to address the range of complexities and diversities in the region, Pacific governments will need to be proactive while also engaging the continued support of the UN and other regional development partners. This message was reinforced by the Hon. O’Love Jacobsen, Minister for Health and Women’s Affairs of the Government of Niue, who delivered a regional statement to CSW53 in New York on the eve of the UN commemoration of IWD. Through the statement, Pacific governments reaffirmed that combating gender-based violence must also remain a priority when addressing the implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action.

The United Nations General Assembly celebrates IWD to recognise that peace and social progress require the active participation and equality of women, and to acknowledge the contribution of women to international peace and security.

Contact
For more information please contact Treva Braun, SPC Human Development Adviser (Gender Equality) by e-mail teab@spc.int or Tione Chinula, Human Development Programme Advocacy and Communications Officer by phone: +687 26 01 57 or e-mail tionec@spc.int

Background notes

Background to IWD
International Women’s Day was born in 1909 following protests by American women workers in the textiles industry against sweatshops and child labour. In 1911 IWD was first celebrated in Europe after Clara Zetkin, a German socialist leader, called for 8 March to be recognised throughout the world as IWD. Britain first celebrated the day in 1926.
In 1977, 8 March was officially recognised by the United Nations as IWD, and it is now celebrated in a variety of ways throughout the world. It is a public holiday in a number of countries.

The Charter of the United Nations, signed in San Francisco in 1945, was the first international agreement to proclaim gender equality as a fundamental human right. Since then, the organisation has helped create a historic legacy of internationally agreed strategies, standards, programmes and goals to advance the status of women worldwide.
Over the years, United Nations action for the advancement of women has taken four clear directions: promotion of legal measures; mobilisation of public opinion and international action; training and research, including the compilation of gender disaggregated statistics; and direct assistance to disadvantaged groups.
Today a central organising principle of the work of the United Nations is that no enduring solution to society’s most threatening social, economic and political problems can be found without the full participation, and the full empowerment, of the world’s women.

Commission on the Status of Women (CSW)
The Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) is a functional commission of the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), dedicated exclusively to gender equality and the advancement of women. It is the principal global policy-making body. Every year, representatives of member states gather at United Nations headquarters in New York to evaluate progress on gender equality, identify challenges, set global standards and formulate concrete policies to promote gender equality and the advancement of women worldwide.

This year is the 53rd session of CSW. It runs from 2 to 13 March with the theme “The equal sharing of responsibilities between women and men, including caregiving in the context of HIV/AIDS”


For more information on CSW 53 visit http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/csw/53sess.htm