Learn about Gendered Violence against Women.
The Coalition Against Global Genocide’s mission is to educate, motivate and empower individuals and communities to oppose Genocide and Crimes Against Humanity. It is imperative to recognize the experiences of women in conflict and genocide and stand up against this gendered violence.
We celebrate Women not only to lift up and recognize the often-overlooked contributions of women in history, but also “to recognize the fact that securing peace and social progress and the full enjoyment of human rights and fundamental freedoms require the active participation, equality and development of women; and to acknowledge the contribution of women to the strengthening of international peace and security.” (The United Nations).
Please read the attached fact sheet that contains informational resources and statistics.
Some Examples of Women’s Experiences during War & Genocide –
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
–https://www.ushmm.org/genocide-prevention/blog/womens-experiences-of-genocide
Stats from UN Women
https://www.unwomen.org/en/what-we-do/ending-violence-against-women/facts-and-figures
Globally, 35 per cent of women have ever experienced physical and/or sexual intimate partner violence, or sexual violence by a non-partner.
137 women are killed by a member of their family every day. It is estimated that of the 87,000 women who were intentionally killed in 2017 globally, more than half (50,000) were killed by intimate partners or family members. More than a third (30,000) of the women intentionally killed in 2017 were killed by their current or former intimate partner
Rwanda
Between 250,000 and 500,000 women were raped during the 100 days of the Rwandan genocide.Up to 20,000 children were born to women as a result of rape.
https://survivors-fund.org.uk/learn/statistics/
Uighur Women:
Two articles about the systematic rape/abuse of Uighur women in the detention camps:
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-55794071
https://www.cfr.org/article/women-week-violence-against-uighur-women
Burma (Myanmar)
In 2019, Rohingya and other ethnic minorities remained at risk of conflict-related sexual violence. There is increased fighting between the Myanmar armed forces (Tatmadaw Kyi) and various armed groups, including the Arakan Army, the Kachin Independence Army. Women, girls and boys remain at risk of trafficking, especially from Northern Shan and Kachin States, and from refugee camps in Bangladesh.
Today, women’s bodies remain a battlefield for violence. In Burma, the systematic rape and gang-rape of Rohingya women and girls—and pregnant women in particular—has been a key strategy of the genocide.
Human Rights Watch found that Burmese security forces raped and sexually assaulted women and girls both during major attacks on villages. In every case described to us, the perpetrators were uniformed members of security forces, almost all military personnel. While it is difficult to estimate the numbers of rapes that occurred, humanitarian organizations working with refugees in the camps in Bangladesh have reported receiving dozens or sometimes hundreds of cases.
These likely only represent a portion of the actual number of women and girls who were raped. Some witnesses reported seeing women raped and then killed. Of the survivors that Human Rights interviewed, almost two-thirds had not reported their rape to authorities or humanitarian organizations.
https://www.hrw.org/report/2017/11/16/all-my-body-was-pain/sexual-violence-against-rohingya-women-and-girls-burma
https://www.un.org/sexualviolenceinconflict/countries/myanmar/
Tigray
https://www.un.org/sexualviolenceinconflict/press-release/united-nations-special-representative-of-the-secretary-general-on-sexual-violence-in-conflict-ms-pramila-patten-urges-all-parties-to-prohibit-the-use-of-sexual-violence-and-cease-hostilities-in-the/
https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-ethiopia-conflict/ethiopia-confirms-widespread-rape-in-conflict-hit-north-idUSKBN2AC0WQ
The state-appointed Ethiopian Human Rights Commission said that 108 rapes had been reported in Tigray – nearly half in the regional capital Mekelle – in the last two months. The Rights Commission said many rapes were likely to have gone unreported
“The war and the dismantling of the regional administration have led to a rise in gender-based violence in the region. Local structures such as police and health facilities where victims of sexual violence would normally turn to report such crimes are no longer in place,” it said.
South Sudan and Sudan
https://www.un.org/sexualviolenceinconflict/countries/south-sudan/
https://www.un.org/sexualviolenceinconflict/countries/sudan-darfur/
The United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) documented 224 cases of conflict-related sexual violence affecting 133 women, 66 girls, 19 men and 6 boys. Prior incidents, which had taken place between 2014 and 2018, affecting 55 women and 26 girls, were also verified during the period under review. Delays in reporting and persistent underreporting are linked with fear and stigma, limited humanitarian access and the occurrence of sexual violence in remote areas.
The South Sudan People’s Defence Forces were implicated in 37 per cent of the cases. Cases were also attributed to members of the South Sudan National Police Service and the National Security Services, the pro-Riek Machar Sudan People’s Liberation Army in Opposition (SPLA-IO/RM), the National Salvation Front (NAS), community-based militias and unidentified armed men accounted for the balance of reported incidents. The Panel of Experts on South Sudan of the Security Council Committee pursuant to resolution 2206 (2015), reported on the use of sexual violence by state security forces against alleged supporters of NAS and civilians.
Patterns of attacks against women while travelling to or from urban centres, or during home invasions, persisted in 2019. The violence did not spare pregnant women, or children as young as 3 years of age. In some cases, civilians were killed after being sexually assaulted.
Also of note:
Genocide was committed against Native American Women. The following is about what is happening in the USA Today.
According to the Urban Indian Health Institute’s 2018 report, data from the National Crime Information Center shows that there were 5,712 reports of missing American Indian and Alaska Native women and girls in 2016. However, the US Department of Justice’s federal missing persons database, NamUs, only logged 116 cases. In addition, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has reported murder as the third-leading cause of death among American Indian and Alaska Native women and that rates of violence on reservations can be up to ten times higher than the national average.
https://www.csvanw.org/mmiw
http://www.uihi.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Missing-and-Murdered-Indigenous-Women-and-Girls-Report.pdf
Intersectionality
Intersectionality is the interconnected nature of social categorizations such as race, class and gender as they apply to a given individual or group, regarded as creating overlapping and interdependent systems of discrimination or disadvantage.
In 1989, Kimberlé Crenshaw coined the term “intersectionality” in a paper as a way to help, to understand, and to explain the oppression of African American women. Going back in time as far as slavery, black women were stereotyped as being “The Black Venus” (TBV). The Black Venus traps black women in a lubricious image of primitive and excessive sexuality. TBV was a woman in “no need of protection because she felt no pain or no emotions, so she was repeatedly raped, beaten by not only the white slave owners, but also from their partners.” It was stated that a black woman could not be raped because a black woman innately seduces and provokes the attack.
Fast forward to today in society, and black women are still experiencing intersectionality on a daily basis. In the workplace, if she shows strength she’s labeled as “too aggressive” and in her home life she’s “the angry black woman.” These women who experience domestic violence have a fear of calling out for help today as much as they did back in 1860s. The spousal homicide rate among black women in 1998 was 8.4 times more than for white women. Black families are often brought up with the saying, “whatever happens in this house stays in this house,” meaning you don’t tell a soul what happens in your home, much less reach out to a white man.
We as a society have to play a bigger part in recognizing that there is a big difference in how the world views black women, and seek out the common ground on how to best assist black women when they do seek help. Intersectionality has to be taken very seriously if we are to reach every race and culture
(Written by Cassandra Wesley, program manager at Genesis Women’s Shelter & Support.)