Justice and security for women in peace reconciliation
- Author(s):
- Parliamentary Assembly
- Origin
- Assembly
debate on 22 June 2022 (22nd sitting) (see Doc. 15525, report of the Committee on Equality and Non-Discrimination,
rapporteur: Ms Yevheniia Kravchuk; and Doc. 15538, opinion of the Committee on Political Affairs and Democracy,
rapporteur: Ms Boriana Åberg). Text adopted
by the Assembly on 22 June 2022 (22nd sitting).
1. The vital role of women in building
and safeguarding peaceful, democratic societies has never been as evident
as it is now, in the wake of a series of crises affecting global
stability and amplifying the strengths and weaknesses of our societies.
2. The Covid-19 pandemic showed that the majority of primary
carers within the family unit and within the community are women;
that women have the capacities to resist, adapt and innovate, heal
and communicate; and that they must also be seen as leaders. Women
heads of State or government, for instance, were among those who
handled national public health measures during the pandemic the
most successfully, through collaborative and consultative approaches.
3. The #MeToo movement spearheaded the denunciation of the hegemony
of patriarchal attitudes. These attitudes complicate the recognition
of women’s capabilities for leadership wherever old inequalities
have embedded privileges and sanctioned the misuse of power and
where acceptance through force of habit and fear of retribution
have stopped all but a small number of women from daring to speak
out.
4. The return of the Taliban to Afghanistan has shown the fragility
of progress in women’s rights and exposed the vulnerabilities of
women and girls under fundamentalist regimes. The ongoing war in
Ukraine is demonstrating once again that while women and girls are
among the first casualties of war, notably as victims of conflict-related
sexual violence – among the most systematic and cruel acts of warfare
– women are also at the political, military and humanitarian forefront.
It is therefore unrealistic and even surreal to see that women are
absent from the negotiating table during peace talks. This state
of affairs is nothing new, as can be seen by looking at the peace
negotiations in the countries of the former Yugoslavia. United Nations
statistics show that between 1992 and 2019, on average 13% of negotiators,
6% of mediators and 6% of signatories in major peace processes worldwide
were women. Approximately 7 out of every 10 peace processes did
not include any women mediators or women signatories. Change must
come if the processes themselves are to have lasting positive effects.
5. In light of the above, the Parliamentary Assembly considers
that it is time to put justice and security for women at the top
of the list of priorities for global action, and for women to be
empowered to act in all stages of conflict resolution and peacebuilding,
in line with the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 (2000)Resolution
1325 (2000) on women, peace and security. The women among Ukrainian
parliamentarians have shown during the ongoing war that they are
capable of drawing the world’s attention to the unfolding drama
and of acting tirelessly to put an end to the conflict, while reflecting
on how legislation and policies can contribute to peace and reconciliation
after the war.
6. The Assembly recalls its
Resolution 2351 (2020) “The gender
dimension of foreign policy” and
Resolution 1385 (2004) “Conflict
prevention and resolution: the role of women”, reiterating with
the latter text that as “the main civilian victims of conflicts,
[women] are often powerless to prevent them, excluded from the negotiations
when it comes to their resolution and confined to a marginal role
in the post-conflict reconstruction and reconciliation efforts”.
The Assembly draws attention to the Council of Europe’s Gender Equality
Strategy (2018-2023), of which two main objectives are to ensure
equal access to justice for women and to achieve a balanced participation
of women and men in political and public decision making. It also
recalls Recommendation CM/Rec(2010)10 of the Committee of Ministers
to member States on the role of women and men in conflict prevention
and resolution and in peace building, and calls for work to begin
on a new recommendation focusing on the role of women.
7. With respect to women’s role in peace and security policy
and action, the Assembly calls on Council of Europe member States
and national parliaments to:
7.1 employ
all means, including by introducing feminist foreign policies, to
implement the four pillars of the United Nations women, peace, and
security (WPS) agenda, namely participation, protection, prevention
and relief and recovery. To this end, member States should promote
and implement the provisions of the United Nations Convention on
the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW);
7.2 make further efforts to implement UN Security Council
Resolution 1325, which provides a framework for WPS by acknowledging
the disproportionate and unique impact of armed conflict on women
and girls, calling for the adoption of a gender perspective to consider
the special needs of women and girls during conflict, repatriation
and resettlement, rehabilitation, reintegration, transitional justice, policy
making and post-conflict reconstruction and by calling on States
to engage women in all stages of peacebuilding and State governance
in general;
7.3 design, implement, monitor and revise national action
plans under Resolution 1325, modelled on those which have already
shown positive results and which ensure the participation of national authorities
and civil society organisations in development, implementation and
monitoring (such as the Netherlands National Action Plan Supervisory
Board). In particular, the integration of gender mainstreaming in
implementation processes in all areas must be a priority objective.
8. Women form part of every country’s military forces. For instance
in Ukraine they make up 17% of the army, and as such participate
fully in the defence of the country. With respect to women’s role
in the armed forces, recalling
Resolution 2120 (2016) “Women in
the armed forces: promoting equality, putting an end to gender-based
violence”, the Assembly urges member States to:
8.1 recognise that women, far from
being solely the victims of war, are in the front line both of national defence
and of humanitarian action and as such must be given equal rights
coupled with gender-specific means to uphold these rights;
8.2 take measures to promote the recruitment of women to the
armed forces and ensure that women in the armed forces are given
the same opportunities and incentives as their male counterparts
to participate in strategic planning and decision making at the
highest levels;
8.3 provide for military training that includes awareness
of gender sensitivity and gender specificity, including with respect
to physical contact during combat, military accommodation conditions
and the provision of medical and psychological support;
8.4 ensure that women are protected against violence within
the armed forces, by measures of prevention, awareness raising and
sanctions for perpetrators;
8.5 address women’s needs in post-conflict situations of disarmament,
demobilisation and reintegration;
8.6 include teaching on the gender dimension in all stages
of military training and make sure that both women and men teach
in military academies.
9. Transitional justice is a precondition for rebuilding peaceful
societies and attaining justice and closure for victims. Therefore,
the Assembly welcomes the decision by the Prosecutor of the International
Criminal Court to investigate the crimes committed by the Russian
Federation in its war of aggression waged against Ukraine and the
establishment of a special investigation commission by the United
Nations Human Rights Council, following the unprecedented collective
call for action by States members of the court.
10. With respect to the investigation and prosecution of crimes
committed during armed conflict, the Assembly calls on member States
to:
10.1 ratify the Rome Statute
of the International Criminal Court if they have not already done
so, in order to allow for international prosecution of crimes against
humanity, war crimes and aggression;
10.2 empower witnesses, survivors and affected communities
to actively contribute to investigations, leaving no bystanders
to the efforts to establish the truth and pursue those who may be
responsible for international crimes;
10.3 facilitate gender-specific collection of testimonies from
persons having suffered sexual violence during conflict, taking
care to avoid re-traumatisation by providing expert support and
guarantees of confidentiality. States must ensure that appropriate
medical and psychological support is given before and during the
collection of testimonies;
10.4 support the independence and action of ombudspersons in
Europe, especially those who are women, and sustain their ability
to investigate human rights abuses;
10.5 provide training for women as mediators to be involved
in peace missions, conflict resolution and peace support operations.
11. Women’s civil society organisations are at the heart of national
and international frameworks to accompany women who suffer the consequences
of conflict – migrants, refugees, asylum seekers and internally
displaced persons and victims of gender-based violence – and to
support women who are survivors of violence due to war in their
own countries, for instance in the former Yugoslavia. The Assembly
therefore calls on member States to:
11.1 directly allocate funds to women’s civil society organisations
advocating for peace and reconciliation and those dealing with the
serious and lasting physical and psychological consequences of conflict
for women;
11.2 promote inclusive dialogue and participation of minorities
in decision-making and political processes, including in peace negotiations
and transitional justice processes, and provide capacity‑building
support.
12. Stressing that quality education, notably with regard to citizenship,
conflict transformation and human rights, is essential for developing
peaceful societies, the Assembly calls on Council of Europe member
States to include democratic citizenship and peace education in
formal school curriculums from an early age.
13. Finally, the Assembly calls on all member States to ratify,
if they have not already done so, the Convention on Preventing and
Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence (CETS No.
210, “the Istanbul Convention”), which provides for the protection
against and prevention of violence against women, prohibits rape
and applies to all women, including migrants, refugees and asylum
seekers, in peacetime as well as during conflict.
