VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN: REPORTS ON TEN COUNTRIES

A third collection of reports, Violence Against Women: 10
Reports/Year 2002 has been published by the World Organisation
against Torture (OMCT) within the framework of its Violence against
Women Programme.

Over the past year, OMCT submitted ten alternative country reports
to the five "mainstream" human rights treaty bodies on: Croatia,
Czech Republic, Moldova, Poland, Spain, Sudan, Togo, Uzbekistan,
Venezuela, and Yemen. Besides being the victims of violence
perpetrated by state agents and armed groups, women are frequently
victims of physical and psychological violence within the domestic
sphere and within the community. This violence by the hands of
private individuals may include; domestic violence, crimes committed
in the name of honour, female genital mutilation, rape and sexual
assault, and trafficking into forced prostitution or forced labour.
The reports show that while there are some encouraging signs of
progress in the development and implementation of new legislation
and procedures with respect to violence against women, States are
overwhelmingly failing to uphold their international and national
obligations to women.

Across the board, these OMCT reports found that the vast majority of
violence against women takes place within the family. For example,
information from the Croatia report reveals that as much as 98% of
all violence against women is family violence. The report on the
Czech Republic notes that spouses or partners are responsible for
51% of all rapes in that country. In Moldova, one study asserts that
22% of all the women interviewed reported having been a victim of
abuse by their husband or partner, while in Poland, researchers have
concluded that as many as 1 in 6 women are victims of domestic
violence.

In the two years from 2000-2001, 82 women were killed as a result of
violence in the domestic sphere in Spain. OMCT’s report on Sudan
notes with concern that marital rape is not criminalized there and
that although statistics concerning domestic violence are not
available, such violence is suspected to be widespread. Domestic
violence is also a serious problem in Togo where 85% of women
interviewed reported that they knew at least one woman victim of
such violence and 52% reported having been victims themselves. In
Uzbekistan, an inspector estimated that 80% of the calls he receives
concern family quarrels and 50 to 60% of them involve injuries.

The OMCT report on Venezuela highlights that in Caracas, a woman is
killed every 12 days by a man for reasons related to their
relationship. In Yemen, only 26% of women who participated in a
survey reported never having been subjected to violence in the home.
While OMCT recognizes that more States are beginning to develop laws
against domestic violence, the problem remains grave in most
countries. Lack of awareness raising, which results in police and
judicial personnel who are ill equipped to handle domestic violence
complaints and a continued culture of silence surrounding the crime,
perpetuates this form of violence against women and hinders its
eradication.

In the 10 reports, OMCT also expresses considerable concern about
the prevalence of trafficking in women and the failure of many
States to enact specific legislation to address this form of
violence against women. For example, there is no comprehensive
legislation to prosecute traffickers in Croatia, Uzbekistan, Sudan,
or Venezuela.

In Poland, it is estimated that as many as 10,000 women and girls
are trafficked out to foreign countries every year and 60% of the
prostitutes in Poland are suspected of being trafficking victims and
the OMCT report on Togo notes that trafficking in children for
domestic servitude is a growing problem.

The Czech Republic has made trafficking a distinct crime, it focuses
on the border crossing element of trafficking and thus does not
cover trafficking within Czech borders. Further, Czech legislation
does not provide financial and other social assistance to
trafficking victims who are returned to the Czech Republic Violence
in the family and trafficking are only two examples of the many
forms of violence against women which persist in today’s world.
Recognizing the important of raising awareness about violence
against women in all of its forms, the OMCT country reports compiled
in this publication serve as important documentation of the
widespread and pervasive nature of violence against women in the
family, in the community and at the hands of State agents.

Source: Carin Benninger-Bude and Joanna Bourke-Martignoni, Violence
Against Women: 10 Reports/ Year 2002, OMCT, 8.7.03.

E-mail: omct@omct.org Website: www.omct.org

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