The woman was furious but mastering herself said to her husband, “Today there are ships coming into the harbour, go there and buy all their cargo.” The man laughed and said ‘ are you out of your mind, we have already many debts and not enough to buy food tomorrow.’
She said,  ‘Buy the whole cargo’
He went to the port and using his father’s name got the credit to buy everything there was in three ships.
After a few days, the merchants became impatient and came to the door to claim their money. The woman opened the door and gave them the same benediction she had got. And sent them on their way.
The merchants went to the judge, the cadi, who was visited by the vizir and the sultan, When the sultan heard of the case he wanted the culprits brought to him and handle the case himself. When everyone was there the sultan asked, “Is it true that you did not pay for the cargo?” The young woman answered, “We did pay, isn’t it true that I gave you my precious benediction?” The merchants had to say yes.
“You see, your Highness, we are foreigners and when I got for my beautiful tapestries a benediction, I assumed that that was the money you use in this country.”
The sultan asked to bring him the tapestries and when he saw them his eyes shone. The young woman was overjoyed that finally, someone would appreciate her work.
The sultan made the cadi and the vizir pay the merchants with their own money. He said to the husband, ”  the merchandise is yours2,  and he made the young woman “Queen of Weavers” in his country.
That way the woman had procured their economic independence.

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Mohinder Watson, a colleague in Geneva for the ICW, wrote probably the first report about them. She is the driving force behind Action on Child, Early and Forced Marriage. In her work for this NGO she came across an even sadder kind of girl: the Child Widow.

Child widows – young girls who have suffered both child marriage and widowhood before the age of eighteen – are a neglected group of vulnerable children, They have experienced multiple violations of their human rights from their premature and unlawful marriage to the compounded effects of widowhood, poverty, illiteracy, youth and lack of education. Mostly they lack access to justice and are unable to claim their inheritance as they are unknowledgable about the law or manipulated by others. Upon the death of their husbands, many are evicted from their homes and left destitute, some bound by cultural traditions never to remarry.

Mohinder Watson undertook research about what these children need and how they can be supported.

The first thing they need is recognition of their existence, to be nationally and internationally on the agenda. Another important thing is play and contact with other girls.

In the last session of the Human Rights Council a resolution about the consequences of child, early and forced marriages was adopted without a vote. Resolution A-HRC-41-L.8-Rev.1 in its operational paragraph 17 Calls upon States, (…………)

‘to support girls and women who are affected or at risk, who have fled such a marriage or whose marriage has dissolved, and widowed girls or women who were married as girls, including through the strengthening of child protection systems, protection mechanisms such as safe shelters, access to justice, the sharing of best practices across borders and the collection of relevant, reliable and disaggregated data‘

This seems to be the first time that child widows are mentioned in a UN document.

Mohinder Watson, PhD MPH, founder of Action on Child, Early and Forced Marriage is the author of the report.

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This is good news for anyone advocating for reproductive health and rights, like our good friend Gudrun Haupter

Gudrun Haupter, convener of the IAW Health commission comments:

My short assessment of the prospects of better access to abortion care in all countries according to international human rights standards is at best mixed.

Refusal by healthcare professionals on grounds of “conscientious objection” is wide-spread. The AGENDA EUROPE supporters led by ultraconservative forces in and beyond European countries are working on the roll-back of reproductive health legislation and its implementation. Their list of prohibition includes women’s and adolescents’ access to contraceptive options such as emergency contraception, one of the keys to lowering abortions rates.

After a period of relative openness following the ICPD politics of treating family planning as a taboo in development policies at national and international levels, is once again widely the norm.

Another alarm signal is the expected life-time nomination of one more conservative judge to the US Federal Constitutional Court. Brett Kavanaugh is said to be the first choice of conservative Evangelical Christians. The reason: they hope that he would vote to overturn Roe v. Wade in order to uphold the dignity of all human life – the well-known position of all pro-life missionaries. These are known to spread their message all over the globe, partly with dubious methods.

Finally, I wish to mention that the implementation of women-friendly abortion laws still meets with many challenges, particularly – but not only – in rural areas. At the IAW board meeting in Lusaka some 20 years ago IAW-member Zambia Alliance of Women was complimented on the country’s liberal abortion legislation. We were told that women seeking an abortion faced disgracing conditions such as procedure performed on the bare floor, without even a blanket, no empathy of the medical personnel.

https://www.facebook.com/safeabortionzambia/posts/is-abortion-legal-in-zambiayes-safe-abortion-is-legal-in-almost-all-circumstance/1564225963794970/

Gudrun Haupter, 20 September 2018

Convener of Commission on Health

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Dear High Commissioner Bachelet,

As local, national, regional, and international civil society organizations from every corner of the world, we offer warm congratulations on your appointment as United Nations (UN) High Commissioner for Human Rights.
We are committed to a world in which every person enjoys human rights and dignity and in which our communities are fair, just and sustainable. We consider that a strong High Commissioner, working in strategic partnership with independent civil society, can contribute significantly to the realization of this vision.

You take up office at a time when human rights are under attack and when we risk the reversal of many of the achievements of the modern human rights movement. We look to you in these troubled times to be an unwavering voice in the defence of human rights, and of victims, rights-holders and human rights defenders around the world.

On every continent, the rights of individuals, communities and peoples are being violated and abused by governments and non-state actors, often with complete impunity. Civil society, peaceful dissidents, and the media are often brutally silenced. The role of your Office in ensuring robust monitoring of, and reporting on, such situations is essential for curbing violations and deterring further abuse, as well as for ensuring justice and accountability. Technical-assistance and capacity building by the OHCHR is also critical and, to be effective, should be approached holistically alongside a rigorous assessment of the rights challenges in the country, including through key indicators to measure progress and assess the degree of engagement and cooperation by the State.

As High Commissioner, you have a unique role to play in bringing country situations of concern to the attention of the UN Human Rights Council and other UN bodies, particularly situations that may not be on their agenda or which receive limited attention, often because of political pressure. This role should extend to providing briefings to the Security Council on situations either on its agenda or that, if left unattended, could represent a threat to international peace and security. Monitoring missions and inter-sessional briefings to the HRC can be initiated at the High Commissioner’s prerogative, on the basis of your Office’s universal mandate, bringing attention to neglected country situations and contributing towards the achievement of the Council’s mandate to prevent human rights violations.

We are aware that the position of High Commissioner comes with its own challenges. Many States will insist you avoid “naming and shaming” and push you to engage in “quiet diplomacy” and to respect national sovereignty. Often, those most intolerant of criticism and most forceful in suppressing dissent will speak the loudest in seeking to mute your voice. Survivors, victims and defenders on the front line in countries where their rights are being violated will rely on you as a human rights champion, to have the courage and conviction to call out violators clearly and publicly, even when it’s challenging or unpopular with governments.

Globally, the rights essential to civic space are being systematically undermined. Civil society and human rights defenders face severe daily risks in their struggle to defend human rights on the ground, including imprisonment, asset-freezes, defamatory campaigns, torture, enforced disappearance, and even death. Risks are also present in the UN context, where individuals frequently face intimidation, harassment or reprisals for their engagement with the UN. We urge you to be a staunch defender of the rights of defenders both on the ground and at the UN, to publicly call out violators, and to undertake or push for investigations into attacks and reprisals. We also encourage you to take full advantage of the distinct, often innovative complementary role of civil society to the work of the OHCHR, and ensure the Office works closely with civil society as a strategic partner at the national, regional, and international levels.

Currently, the human rights framework itself is under unparalleled attack. Authoritarian populists are attacking the universality of human rights, disproportionately and unlawfully restricting rights in the purported interests of “national security,” often tacitly or openly encouraging attacks by their followers or vigilantes on rights defenders as well as the vulnerable and poor, while selectively interpreting human rights and seeking to co-opt or subvert human rights mechanisms to suit their political agendas. Safeguarding and strengthening universal human rights norms and mechanisms should be a core responsibility of the High Commissioner.

The current climate highlights the need for a strong public advocacy role for your mandate in the defence of international human rights law and the international human rights system, as well as a strong role internally within the UN to mainstream respect for human rights throughout the work of UN organs and agencies, and within the Sustainable Development Agenda.

Once again, we congratulate you on your new role, and stand ready to support you and your Office in the fulfilment of your vital mandate.

With assurances of our highest consideration,

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The mood was jubilant. For the first time in at least five years, every paragraph met with consensus and that did not harm the content. The unity of the European Union was maintained, the EU delegation worked hard!

Positive results are the recognition of women human rights defenders, diversity of women and girls, new agreements on reproductive health disparities, maternal mortality, health workforce en reaffirmation of existing commitments to Sexual Rights and Health Rights (SRHR).

There is a strong text on girls education, including all the barriers to it, such as the feminization of poverty, child labour that girls undertake, child, early and forced marriage, female genital mutilation, early and repeat pregnancies, all forms of gender based violation in and outside of school, including sexual violence and harassment on the way to and from school, the lack of safe and adequate sanitation facilities, the disproportionate share of unpaid care and domestic work, and gender stereotypes and negative social norms that lead families and communities to place less value on the education of girls than boys.(para 21)

The Commission expresses deep concern that as a result of lack or limited access to essential healthcare services and information and limited agency over their own lives rural women experience significant disparities in health, including reproductive health outcomes, such as higher rates of maternal and infant mortality and morbidity, obstetric fistula and limited options for family planning, than women in urban areas. These disparities are further exacerbated by multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination, (para 24).

Positive was also that instead of ‘the’ family now the word ‘family’ was used, not, as we would want, ‘different forms of family’, but it meant progress. In that paragraph (28) it says further that the rights, capabilities and responsibilities of all family members must be respected.

There is also recognition for the contribution of older women, including widowed women, to households and communities, especially where they are left behind by migrating adults or as a result of other socio-economic factors to assume childcare, household and agricultural responsibilities.(para 40).

There is a call for men to take on family responsibilities, including childcare and for paternal leave!(gg)

In the calls for action there is also an emphasis on education for girls, revising textbooks, recruiting of qualified (female) teachers, combat gender norms that devalue girl’s education and prevent women and girls from accessing education. (para kk)

para ll: Take steps to promote educational and health practices in order to foster a culture in which menstruation is recognized as healthy and natural, and girls are not stigmatized on this basis, recognizing that girl’s attendance at school can be affected by negative perceptions of menstruation and lack of means to maintain safe personal hygiene, such as water, sanitation and hygiene facilities in schools that meet the needs of girls.

Also the necessity of sexual education got a paragraph: oo. It is very long and shrouded, so it does not tread on any toes, but the idea is saved and it should further self-confidence and respectful relationships.

The delegation was disappointed that labour rights and ILO conventions were not in the text, but the are in the preamble. We would also have liked ‘women and girls in rural areas’ instead of rural women and girls, to show that not everyone in a rural area is a farmer. And SOGI (sexual orientation and gender identity) has disappeared from the text.

This year for the first time there was a NGO member included in the delegation! It was a great success, she was an expert on land rights. So the civil servants were not sure if next year there would a similar person be found, but it was mentioned that for the communication with the NGOs it was also necessary. So it is almost sure there will be someone included in the delegation.

The Women’s Representative has a different role, she was not in the delegation but there was a meeting every day. She attended and contributed to a huge number of side events and got a lot of contacts. In the GA meeting, she will be in the delegation and she gets to address the General Assembly. The Dutch have had a Women’s Representative (selected by the Dutch Women’ Council) since the beginning of the UN. It was an initiative of our then Queen Juliana.

The NGO lunch at the Permanent Representation is very useful every year as is the EU lunch.

The question now is: how are the AC’s implemented? Ideas are: a follow up in the shadow report of CEDAW, the progress report on the SDG’s, involving other departments than External Affairs and Education/Emancipation, a symposium.

Cooperation of all was very effective and very pleasant. With Anje Wiersinga we were very happy with this meeting.

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The letters are from her famous trip around the world with IWSA president Carrie Chapman Catt. I got this book (2d ed.1915) for my 80th birthday and I was delighted to see that there were also some letters from Sweden and Norway. Actually, the book opens with a description of the sixth congress of IWSA, the predecessor of IAW. That was quite an occasion.Directly at arrival in Stockholm, the delegates were greeted by an enormous flag in the colours of IWSA, white with golden yellow.

Monday morning, 11 June, at 10 o’clock sharp the President opened the sessions. In the morning there were all kinds of domestic matters, such as translations. One of the American delegates presented the International Alliance with a beautiful gavel. It was a gift of the women from the state of Washington to thank the Alliance for her support in regaining their political rights on the 8th of November 1910. ‘Regaining’ because the women from Washington had equal political rights with men when Washington was a territory. When it became a state in 1890 the women lost their political rights. It took them twenty years of arduous struggle to regain their rights!

When the roll call came to Finland it was apparent that among the Finnish delegates there were quite a few members of parliament. Former Congresses had seen delegates with political voting rights, even some female city councillors. This was the first time to have members of parliament amongst us. It was completely understandable that when their names were called with the addition ‘MP’ they were greeted with great enthusiasm.

In the afternoon the festive opening of the Congress took place in the big hall of the Royal Academy of Music. The government of Sweden had sent the minister of Foreign Affairs, Count Taub, to represent it. This Conservative minister had shown himself to be a great opponent of the recently rejected bill on women’s suffrage. It was a sign of the brilliance of the opening speech by Mrs Chapman Catt, and all he had heard and seen that afternoon, that at the end of the ceremony this minister went to the podium, pressed Mrs Catt’s hand and assured her that in this one afternoon he had  changed from opponent to ally.

The big event of this afternoon was the presentation to IWSA of a gold embroidered white banner. The IWSA now has its own banner that from now on will grace the podium at all Congresses. The banner was carried by six girl students in their student’s uniforms,  followed by a choir of thirty girls, who sang the Swedish women’s song of freedom.

So far my translation of Aletta’s letter on the Congress.

We know now first hand what the official colours were: white and golden yellow, and we have witnessed the presentation of the gavel and our banner.

From the rest of the letters, it is apparent that it was (and still is) very important to have the support of men, how crucial it is to get an education and equal pay for equal work.

A hilarious example of unequal pay was told by Rosika Schwimmer: in a canton of Switzerland the female teacher was paid less than the male teacher, part of the salary was a cow. The female teacher got half the fodder for her cow, the male teacher got full fodder.

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In short, it sets standards for the labour relations. And for social justice.

I was inscribed in the wrong commission, the one on the recurrent discussion on the principles and fundamental rights at work in the context of the Declaration on social justice for an equitable mondialisation, 2008. There are four principles and rights- the freedom of association and the right to collective bargaining, the elimination of any form of forced or compulsary labour, the effective aboliton of child labour, the elimination of discrimination in employment and profession.

I was in the workers section of the commission, and frankly, I didn’t understand half of what was said, except that the right to collective bargaining seemed to be somewhat threatened.

I had gone to the ILO Conference, as convener of the Human Rights Commission,  because I wanted to know how they would make the link between all these labour principles and rights and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The SDGs have as first goal an end to poverty ( less than 1,25$ pp per day), goal 5 is Equality and the empowerment of all women and girls, goal 8 Decent work and economic growth, and goal  10: Reduced inequalities within and between countries.

All these can be furthered by applying the ILO conventions and Recommendations. First I attended a side event on ´Labour inspection as an instrument to protect workers in

First I attended a side event on ´Labour inspection as an instrument to protect workers in informal economy.´ Already in 1919 there was the recommendation for all countries to have a public service to protect workers.

There is a convention of 1947 about Labour Inspection, and one about labour inspection in Agriculture from 1969. The ILO stresses the necessity of labour inspection and regards it as an essential part of shaping a responsible and sustainable employment policy, as it is currently discussed in the initiative ´Future of Work’ and the Agenda 2030.

So in theory it looks promising; for the moment, in spite of the idea that labour inspection is a task of the state, certification by private agencies seems to be slightly more effective. Non-binding instruments like the the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises and the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights are useful but cannot replace public labour inspection. (Based on ´ Labour Inspection in a Globalised World’, a position paper by the German Commission for Justice and Peace and the German Confederation of Trade Unions DGB).

An effective way to diminish poverty and inequality and empower women is described in ´Basic Income: and how we can Make it Happen’ by Guy Standing, Penguin Random House UK, 2017. I acquire a signed copy at another side event. Mr Standing is one of the founders of the Basic Income European Network (BIEN) established in 1986 to promote debate about the issue. BIEN means ´well’ in French, and so is a word for what a basic income would provide. Michel Rocard, former French Prime Minister and Bishop Desmond Tutu belong to the few people who saw the potential of Basic Income. Now with austerity policy and robotisation, interest is growing.

Basic income is a right, paid in cash(or equivalent) to all individuals regardless of age, gender, marital status, work status and work history.

And the main rationales for it are justice, freedom and security, and there is an economic perspective.

A basic income should be paid to all individuals in a certain community who have a legal right to be there. It should be unconditional, that is to say, there would be no strings attached, it should be non refundable, paid at regular intervals, so that people would feel secure. They would have the security, for instance, to leave or refuse an unpleasant job, to study, to leave a relationship that has turned sour, to care for friends or relatives, to pay for child care so they could take a job, to take part in social movements.

The most common claim to favour a basic income is that it would be the most effective way to reduce poverty. Most systems to relieve poverty are means tested. To get a benefit people have to go through all kinds of administrative unpleasantness, they have to try to get a job with the risk of losing the benefits either because they have lost the job or because they do not( in the eyes of the administration) try hard enough to get one. Many people see being ´on welfare’ as a social stigma. A basic income paid as a right would remove the worst ‘poverty trap’, and social stigma.

Basic income paid to every individual would surely enhance the freedom of women, they would not have to wait for handouts from the head of the household. It would also reduce inequality. If everyone would get the same amount on top of the usual one, it can be argued that inequality would stay the same. But to people on low incomes, the same sum would mean much more than to high earners.

Basic income would help economic growth because people would have more to spend.

Would a basic income be affordable? This of course depends on the hight of the basic income and what it would replace. It is not a calculated means of dismantling the welfare state. It could be paid out of raising taxes, or value added tax, out of saved administrative costs. It mainly depends on political will to do that.

To help this political will basic income should not be framed as a means of tackling poverty, rather as a matter of social justice, freedom and basic security. Another rhetorical justification might be strategic preparedness for possible large-scale disruption of jobs and employment. It would be like disaster preparedness or measures to mitigate climate change, or military defence policy.

Being in the ‘wrong committee’ made me think that my travel and hotel costs were spent in vain. However, a better understanding of what the value of all the ILO Conventions and Recommendations could be, and the side events with those dedicated people and interesting perspectives made my time and money worth while.

PS IAW should keep promoting Recommendation 202 on social protection floors, that we made a resolution about in our last Congress.

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The NGO is ‘Maat for Peace, Development and Human Rights’. It has consultative status with Ecosoc, and the project was funded by the European Union.

Maat is the ancient goddess of justice.

Maat drafted a rather critical report on the implementation of the 2015 recommendations of the UPR by the Egyptian government. I will not go into that. Maat also formed a Civil Society Coalition for the UPR, a network including 227 Egytian ngo’s, directed by an elected Board of Trustees, established in May 2016.

I summarize their report here because their method of involving civil society in the UPR process can be useful to other countries than Egypt. (It must have been a generous subsidy!)

The UPR
The UPR was established when the Human Rights Council was created on 15 March 2006 by the UN General Assembly in resolution 60/251. This mandated the Council to “undertake a universal periodic review, based on objective and reliable information, of the fulfilment by each state of its human rights obligations and commitments in a manner which ensures universality of coverage and equal treatment with respect to all States”.

The project
The opening conference for the project was in January 2016. It hosted more than 150 media figures, Egyptian and international civil work organization leaders, representatives of  diplomatic missions and from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Visits
In March 2016  a ‘Technical and Legal Unit’ was formed , two people who visited 182 NGO’s in the country from March til February 2017.

Maat made visits to marginalized areas to document human rights issues.

52 NGOs (participating in the training program or not) organized 137 local activities to increase awareness, benefitting more than 2 million citizens across the republic.

Media
Maat produced a theatre play which was viewed over 10000 times on MAAT You Tube channel   since it was uploaded in June 2016.

A media training program for audio-visual media was performed, and a training program for on-line activities was implemented. An app for smartphones publishing 2200 news items was designed and launched . It was downloaded almost 1000 times till February 2017.

In addition an official page for the project was created on Facebook, which reached 3 million users.

Maat also printed 5000 leaflets on UPR in Arabic and 1000 in braille.

It produced 4 short movies to introduce the UPR, 7 short movies to increase awareness of the recommendations, and 23 episodes of a program called “What’s Your Right” about the most controverial issues on the Egyptian arena, including enforced disappearance, the right to demonstrate, arbitrary detention, civil society organizations crisis, etc.

Organization
The project’s steering committee was formed in January 2016. It consists of 11 MPs, heads of Egyptian NGO’s, media figures and online activists. The SC met to coordinate the project efforts on the local level between different stakeholders and contribute to the results. So public policies in accordance with Egypt’s commitments to the UPR recommendations were adopted.

In February 2016 the ‘Public Policy Analysis and Human Rights Unit was formed, including 2 senior researchers and 6 public policy analysts. They organized round tables for policy experts. They also developed and published appeals, policy papers (on domestic violence and early marriage) and law drafts (local administration law, comprehensive social medical insurance, churches construction and renovation law, and the rights of people with disabilities). And they also organized high level meetings with MPs on the proposed laws.

Conclusion

MAAT existed already under Mubarak  and the Moslim Brotherhood.It seems to me that this project was successful and useful.

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Last year in the Palais des Nations in Geneva I saw a photo exhibit of indigenous women. They looked great and seemed to have a good life and many friends.

Therefore I was shocked at the figures presented yesterday (20 September) during a panel discussion on Violence Against Indigenous Women and Girls, including those with disabilities  (vaiw). The aim of this panel was to assess the development of legal and policy responses to violence against indigenous women, based on art. 22 of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, and identify good practices and challenges in addressing structural forms of vaiw.

Adam Abdelmoula, director of the Human Rights Council and Treaty Mechanism Division, Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, opened the discussion. He said that there was ample evidence that indigenous women and girls are at disproportinate risk of physical, emotional and sexual violence, of being married as children, of being trafficked, of undergoing forced sterilization, or of being exchanged for a bride price in some parts of the world. They suffer from discrimination, both within and outside their communities because of their unequal position in society. Vaiw can not be separated from broader violations of indigenous peoples’ rights, including rights to their lands and resources. This is another cause for violence.

Access to justice is a key to reduce vaiw. That is impeded in various ways, but sometimes it is a success, as the Sepur Zarco case in Guatemala showed that access to justice for the gravest violations of women’s rights could be achieved: for the first time in the history of Guatemala, sexual violence committed during the military conflict in the 1980s has been successfully prosecuted, leading to the conviction of two former members of the military to 360 years in jail for the murder, rape and sexual enslavement of indigenous women. Yet, not many indigenous women get past the barriers to justice, because they don’t know their rights and the services and protections available to them, because those services do not exist, because of sheer discrimination, or because of  mistrust in the judicial system. No wonder that they don’t trust the system, they are often treated as offenders, and they are not believed if they come to complain. There are not many data available, but those we have are alarming. In Australia 2% of the female population are identified as Aborginal, yet indigenous women make up one third of the female prison population.

The panelists added to this sad story: The President of the Sámi Parliament of Norway, Ms Aili Keskitalo, said that 48% of Sámi women had experienced some kind of violence during their life, as opposed to 29% of the members of the general public. The issue of vaiw cannot be solved in isolation. The reasons for that violence can be found in gender imbalance, and power and lack of power within indigenous peoples, and between indigenous peoples and majority communities. The loss of languages, culture, resources and territories that often accompanied colonization and assimilation policies put great pressure on indigenous peoples’ own mechanisms for conflict resolution, and make indigenous women and children vulnerable.

What the Member States should do to empower indigenous peoples is implement the UN Declaration. States must also provide immediate appropriate assistance to indigenous women, children and persons with disabilities in the form of culturally sensitive protection, health care and legal assistance in their own language to the victims of different kinds of vaiw. The Human Rights Council should keep the matter high on its agenda.

Education, in general, and for everyone about violence, education of the police, lawyers and judges about the rights of indigenous women would help to put an end to vaiw, was the message of the Graduate Women International, supported by IAW.

Therewith GWI echoed Olga Montufar Contreras from Mexico. She advocates for disabled people. Human rights covenants need to be read in a systematic way regarding women and girls with disabilities. Those women and girls suffer from multiple forms of discrimination. Many of them have been taught to be grateful for favours of being given some attention. Asked about their expectations in a survey, they did not expect much. Then they had a training on their human rights, nevertheless, in a repeated study, they did not consider verbal violence, rejection and coercion as violence against them. If women don’t know their rights, they cannot defend them.

Hannah McGlade, Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights Senior Indigenous Fellow, said that Aboriginal women and girls of Australia face unacceptably high levels of violence. Aboriginal mothers are 17,5 times more likely to die from homicide then  non-Aboriginal mothers, and they are also at increased risk of suicide related to intimate partner violence and sexual abuse. The lack of responsiveness of the justice system is a major issue faced by aboriginal women. Fortunately Australia has made a commitment to combat violence against women, including indigenous women, through a National Plan of Action.

Australia must ensure equality before the law and further develop a strategy and policy to increase access to justice, ensure the full participation of indigenous women in the administration of justice, and develop human rights programmes aimed at the enforcement officials and the judiciary.

Victoria Tauli-Corpuz, Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples said that the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples applied equally to indigenous men and women.

Art. 22 provided that States should take measures, in conjunction with indigenous peoples, to ensure that indigenous women and children enjoyed full protection and guaranties against all forms of violence and discrimination.It is a fine line between self-determination of indigenous communities and the responsibility of the State to protect indigenous women and girls as citizens from violence within indigenous communities. States should also build the capacity of female indigenous leaders to advocate for the rights of women and girls.

In the discussion States with and without indigenous peoples within their borders intervened. Ecuador with 14 different indigenous nationalities and 18 ethnicities in the country said that it had taken measures to foster the participation in policy formulation and in political life, including through affirmative action on employment of indigenous women with disabilities in the public sector. Guatemalmajoritya had put in place measures to prevent gender-based violence and had created an office of the Ombudsperson for indigenous women, DEMI, which sought to tackle viaw as a community issue rather than an individual issue.

Fiji had a singular problem: as a country with an indigenous majority in the population they had trouble saying that between indigenous people there was a higher incidence of violence.

The Council of Europe reminded that its Istanbul Convention broke new grounds by requesting States to criminalize various forms of vaw, including physical, sexual and psychological violence, as well as stalking, sexual harassment, FGM, forced marriage, forced abortion and forced sterilization. It was emphasized that the Convention is open to non-European states as well.

The panel was a welcome contribution to the rights of indigenous women and girls, including those with disabilities. My conclusion is  that access to justice, training of law enforcement officers, and education and participation of indigenous women in policy making is of the greatest importance. In order not to forget that, every country with indigenous people(s) within its borders should, together with those peoples and especially the women, make and implement a NATIONAL PLAN of ACTION.

The panelists showed the capacities of indigenous women!

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