SEXUAL ABUSE, VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN AND TRAFFICKING IN WOMEN

Commitments:

• Prosecute the perpetrators of all forms of violence against women and girls and sentence them appropriately, and introduce actions aimed at helping and motivating perpetrators to brake the cycle of violence and take measures to provide avenues for redress to victims.

• Treat all forms of violence against women and girls of all ages as a criminal offence publishable by law, including violence based on all forms of discrimination.

• Establish legislation and/or strengthen appropriate mechanisms to handle criminal matters relating to all forms of domestic violence, including marital rape and sexual abuse of women and girls, and ensure that such cases are brought to justice swiftly.

• Take appropriate measures to address the root factors, including external factors, that encourage trafficking in women and girls for prostitution and other forms of commercialised sex, forced marriages and forced labour (…) with a view to providing better protection of the rights of women and girls and to punishing the perpetrators.

• Devise, enforce and strengthen effective measures to combat and eliminate all forms of trafficking in women and girls through comprehensive anti-trafficking strategy consisting of, inter alia, legislative measures, prevention campaigns, information exchange, assistance and protection for and reintegration of the victims.

• Consider preventing, within the legal framework and accordance with national policies, victims of trafficking, in particular women and girls, from being prosecuted for their illegal entry or residence, taking into account that they are victims of exploitation.¹

Health and reproductive rights of women are very closely linked to their social and legal status. Violence against women is a serious threat to women’s rights and health. Violence against women is a manifestation of the historically unequal power relations between men and women, which have led to domination over and discrimination against women by men and to the prevention of women’s full advancement.² Discrimination is demonstrated in: widespread domestic violence, other forms of violence against women, tolerance for sexual harassment at work place and particularly visible in this region – trafficking of women.

Domestic violence is a widespread and serious problem in Central and Eastern Europe. However, it is often not well documented, there are no systematic and official statistics on the incidence of such violence. There is still a very low level of awareness of this problem in the society and among decision – makers. Heightened vulnerability of women to sexual harassment in the workplace is related to their difficult situation on the labour market. We can point out several areas of concern:

Preventive measures in this area are highly unsatisfactory. Educational and information programmes and campaigns to raise public awareness are very scarce. Often the only campaigns are organised on a small scale by NGOs. As a result, domestic violence frequently continues to be treated as a private matter and thus, is not being prosecuted. As far as sexual harassment in the workplace is concerned, there is a very high level of tolerance of this kind of sexual abuse.

Laws of the majority of CEE countries do not treat domestic violence or sexual harassment as specific crimes. There are no additional legal mechanisms developed to adequately respond to such crimes. For instance, the laws do not provide for such institutions as: order of protection or restraining order for the perpetrators.

Judicial and investigative officials are not adequately trained in dealing with cases of sexual or domestic violence. Their lack of sensitivity to these issues and the lack of capacities to deal with such crimes results in women disinclination to report cases of violence. This also applies to cases of marital rape, which are often not perceived as crimes and thus, not prosecuted.

Victims often do not know where to turn to for assistance. There are too few shelters for women. Existing non-governmental organisations and institutions specialised in providing help for victims of violence are too few or they do not have sufficient funds to provide help to all those that need it Women victims find a barrier of the lack of resources as well as legal and psychological assistance.

Trafficking in women for the purpose of sexual exploitation is a particularly serious problem in the CEE region. The main reason for the expansion of this phenomenon is the growing poverty and lack of opportunities for women in the CEE countries as well as the opening of borders. Central and Eastern European countries are in their majority the countries of origin of women trafficked or women travelling on their own will to get involved in the sex industry in Western Europe, the United States and other regions. Analyses show that strict anti-immigration policies introduced by the countries of destination increase the vulnerability of women to violence and abuse by criminal networks.³ Women are also often treated by authorities as criminals and illegal immigrants, who are automatically deported and are not recognised as victims of violence and do not find sufficient support.⁴

Law in Armenia, Bulgaria or Georgia does not specifically prohibit domestic violence against women. Marital rape is not recognised as a crime in Albania, Azerbaijan, Croatia, FYR Macedonia, Romania, Tajikistan, Ukraine and FR Yugoslavia. In Hungary, Poland and Romania the law does not specifically address sexual harassment in the workplace.⁵

29% of women in Romania, 22% in Russia and 21% in Ukraine, reported experience of spousal physical abuse.⁶

42,4% of all married and cohabiting women in Lithuania in a survey “Violence Against Women” reported that they have been victims of physical or sexual violence or threats of violence by their present partner. Only 10,6% of the victims reported the most serious incident to the police.⁷

53% of respondents of the survey conducted by Armenian Women's Rights Centre and Sociometer (Yerevan 2000) admitted that they have been abused 1-3 times in the course of their life, 23% experienced abuse 1-3 times in the course of a year, 14%- 1-3 times in the course of a month, 9,5% 1-3 times in the course of a week. The types of violence against women were: psychological abuse 56%, physical abuse 39%, sexual abuse 5%.

Almost one fifth of respondents of the reproductive health survey conducted in Ukraine recalled that their parents or stepparents abused each other while the respondents were growing up and almost 30% reported they were physically abused as a child by someone in their household. ⁸

In 1998, the Ukrainian Ministry of Interior estimated that 400,000 women had been trafficked from Ukraine in the past decade. Ukrainian NGOs and researchers believe the number is higher.⁹

EXAMPLE OF BEST PRACTICE

Inspired by the training organised by Network Women’s Program Open Society Institute based on the Duluth programme on prevention of domestic violence (operating in Duluth, Minnesota) in Targowek (one of districts of Polish capital – Warsaw) the Coalition “Stop Domestic Violence in Targowek” was established.

The Coalition consist of representatives of: police, prosecutors, social workers, anti-alcohol support group, health care workers, psychologists, NGOs and local self-government. Its goal is to offer a co-ordinated holistic support to victims of domestic violence (legal, financial, psychological assistance to victims). Coalition organises trainings for police and prosecutors, co-operates in drafting common standards and procedures, organises prevention and awareness-raising campaigns.

Vulnerability of women to violence is further exacerbated by armed conflicts, which have taken place and are still taking place in some countries of the region. This is a major and serious problem, which would require a more detailed discussion.

REFERENCES:

9 “New IOM figures on the global scale of trafficking” in Trafficking in Migrants, Quaterly bulletin of the International Organization for Migration, No. 23 April 2001.