Children

Earlier this month in a recent op-ed for the Washington post, Council on Foreign Affairs writer Michael J. Gerson asked, “What does rule of law can mean for women and children in Africa?” His answer, Justice for the Poorest . is what the International Justice Mission (IJM) hopes and works for. ‘The founder of IJM, Gary Haugen, argues that the legal empowerment of the poor is an essential precondition for development.’

While to most in the west when we think of legal empowerment, we think big or corporate, but in many developing nations rule of law is about protection of their basic rights. Women are especially marginalized in the developing world, and thus most have their rights to things such as property, easily violated with little option for legal recourse. Rule of law is absent in many cases of gender based violence, including sex trafficking and the use of rape as a weapon of war. The nature of most of these crimes makes reporting difficult, however it is the continuous impunity over such crimes that leaves most women with a feeling of hopelessness. As impunity only fuels violence and gender inequality for women and girls, it is time states and the international community took a stand. The silence of so many women and children’s pain must be broken, and appropriate justice must be served.

Thus we must end the perception that violations such as violence, slavery, and rape are common, and make it unacceptable for gender inequality to continue to thrive. In order to do this there are three main areas of focus; One the issue of gender inequality and bias must be removed in all countries, when such programs are in place at peace time it will significantly reduce the stigma and use of rape and GBV in times of conflict. Two, there must be a unified international response against such acts as the use of rape as a weapon of war, and thus strategies of prevention and awareness must be put into place, including in IDP camps and in times of post conflict. Three, impunity must end or victims will continue to remain silent and not seek medical, psychological or legal attention if they feel there is no retribution or care for which they are safe to receive.

If no one is listening, no one will talk. If one is to step forward and ask victims to come out then they must be willing to not only listen to their stories, but to provide them with care and support in both the short and long term, including providing physical and financial access to such services. Many are currently fixated on the trial of a Former Slave who is suing the State of Niger, which could set precedent for many other gender based violence and victims of slavery across Western Africa. Thus let up that rule of law is truly on its way to the women and girls across the developing world.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, April 16th, 2008 at 11:50 pm and is filed under Great Decisions Blogs, Children, Child Trafficking, Abuse, Slavery, Gender Inequality, sexual violence/rape. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.